31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling G.M.

Washington DC June 2, 2009; The AIADA newsletter reported that there are not many 31-year-olds who, in a first government job, find themselves dismantling General Motors and rewriting the rules of American capitalism.

However, the New York Times reports that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry.

According to those who joined him in the middle of his crash course about the automakers' downward spiral, he has emerged as one of the most influential voices in what may become President Obama's biggest experiment yet in federal economic intervention.

Last month, Mr. Deese spoke out strongly against simply letting Chrysler go into liquidation when the administration was divided over whether to support Fiat's Chrysler bid.

His role is unusual for someone who is neither a formally trained economist nor a business school graduate, and who never spent much time flipping through the endless studies about the future of the American and Japanese auto industries.

To read more about Brian Deese and his influence in the administration's focus on the auto industry, click here.