I proposed a bailout for the doughnut industry a few years ago; I don't think it went anywhere. The doughnut bubble appears to have burst near the end of summer 2003, and the share price fell from a high of $48.90 on August 11, 2003 to a price of $2.02 in its last trade a little over fifteen minutes ago. Shouldn't we be helping an ailing company whose shares have lost about 95% of their value in five short years? After all, there are important spillover effects. If Krispy Kreme dies or if people start eating healthier diets, what will happen to all those high-wage cardiologists? And medical device manufacturers? And sugar farmers? And the construction industry?

12/16 Update: On our way back from lunch yesterday, Mike pointed out that since cars are consumer durables while doughnuts aren't, the uncertainty about whether the Big Three will still exist in a few years can have more pronounced effects than low-carb diets. We both agree, though, that this should all be captured in the price. For more, here's today's column from Don Boudreaux.