Sears and Kmart -- Two Drunks Propping Each Other Up
Back in Texas in the 1980's, a number of large tottering banks merged, in an attempt at survival. The result was called two drunks propping each other up, and it seldom worked. The classic example is the Pennsylvania-New York Central railroad merger which ended in one of the most catastrophic bankruptcies of all time, and the largest industry nationalization in US history.
It was exactly these precedents that occurred to me today when I heard that Sears and Kmart are merging. Scrappleface apparently was thinking the same thing, but is much funnier than I am.
UPDATE:
Other good examples in the comments. I fell over laughing at "the EU".
Jackal:
We always used to call it "Tying two rocks together to make them float."
Unisys (Burrough/Sperry)
November 17, 2004, 7:42 pmStudebaker-Packard
Republic/Northwest
USAir/Piedmont
Eastern/Continental
The EU