Jerry Flint (June 20, 1931 – August 7, 2010) was a senior automotive editor for Forbes magazine, continuing as a columnist from his official retirement in 1996 until his death.
Flint also wrote articles for a variety of media, including Ward's AutoWorld, with whom he continued until his death, from a stroke on August 7, 2010.
Of Polish Jewish descent, Flint was born in a working-class neighborhood, in Detroit, on June 20, 1931, a time when the Great Depression had sunk so deep he and family would walk miles to the Fisher Theater, for a film, hoping to save a few nickels on streetcar fares.
In this article, Flint proposed the controversial measure of taxing all U.S. auto sales in order to fund legacy healthcare and pension costs for GM, Ford and Chrysler workers.
He premised this proposal on the idea that, in bankruptcy, the United States public would have to pay these costs anyway due to the American government's pension guaranty program.