So far, it is unclear whether they will fully back DaimlerChrysler: although they have in effect washed their hands of Mitsubishi, they might still block reforms such as aggressive job-cutting if they felt these might tarnish the group brand.

ECONOMIST: Daimler and Mitsubishi Motor

Among economic historians there is a growing consensus that guilds in Europe lost their ability to block new technology once society realised that innovation had a beneficial effect on humanity, and was thus not a zero-sum game.

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