Maybe so, but I think the actual problem was too much of a black swan. There were certainly executives who voiced concerns about the asset side of Capital’s balance sheet and were vindicated in the crisis; Jack might have listened to them better than Jeff did. But I don’t think anyone really even considered the idea that you wouldn’t be able to find buyers for the commercial paper of a AAA-rated issuer pretty much until it was happening.

That said, there were outside commentators who’d raised questions about GE’s liquidity in the 2000s (notably Bill Gross) which did get Immelt and co. to term out some of GE’s debt. Maybe Jack would have been foresighted enough to do more. But that would have hit earnings (you’d pay a higher interest rate on longer term debt), so it would have been a tough sell, I think.