What Just Happened at GM?

Just a day after the U.S. Treasury Department sold the last of its interest in General Motors, Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson, in a surprise to many, has announced his retirement. And the board chose Mary Barra (whom Tim Higgins profiled for Bloomberg Businessweek in June) to run the company.

The events bring to a close a chapter in American public life that will be studied for years to come, asking—and, for many, answering—questions about the responsibilities of government, the abilities of government, the capabilities of American management, the role of unions, and the future of what seems in many ways a lost city. And it’s going to be interesting to follow Barra, the first woman to run an automobile company, as GM attempts to keep on track.