So many ideas worth discussing but so little time. Here’s a collection of interesting Tweets. 
Tesla Hype
Tesla to Build 25,000-Euro Car in Germany
Reuters reports Tesla to Build 25,000-Euro Car in Germany
Tesla (TSLA.O) plans to build a 25,000-euro ($26,838) car at its factory near Berlin, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday, in a long-awaited development for the electric vehicle maker which is aiming for mass uptake of its cars.
The source, who declined to be named, did not say when production would begin.
The average retail price of an EV in Europe in the first half of 2023 was over 65,000 euros, according to autos research firm JATO Dynamics, compared to just over 31,000 euros in China.
Musk had long planned to make a more affordable electric car, but said in 2022 he had not yet mastered the technology and shelved the plan.
Still, sources told Reuters in September the carmaker was closing in on an innovation that would allow it to die cast nearly all of the underbody of the EV in one piece, a breakthrough that would speed up production and lower costs.
Blowback
Waymo
Thoughts on Inflation
Productivity
Commercial Real Estate
Arctic Beavers Are a Climate Threat
Save the beavers!
A Word About TIPS
The Obligation to Bid on Treasuries
ALL very interesting …..let me share my very intimate, empirical train of thought on this matter with you though : the more I know, the more I know I know nothing ! Well,these were actually Socrates words , but please don t tell anyone , it sounds good after all don t it ….
The latest concept in electric motor technology: put the electric motors into the wheels, removing the axles altogether.
I like the trajectory of that mortgage default plot!
So how is the “pro-rata share” of the primary dealer calculated? By historical purchases, by total equity, etc?
Tesla at least has their charging stations. Ford et al..are stuck with some real crap like Chargepoint. Slow and often non-functioning stations. The lines for charging make the OPEC embargo seem tame in places like LA
“The @Tesla Gen3 $25,000 car is NOT talked about enough! This will be the last nail in the coffin of ICE and Legacy auto.”
I was reading the other day, that 15 minute cities may ban privately owned vehicles. No need for a an ice or EV, if one is confined to walking there in 15 minutes.
How many people will want to or more importantly will be able to live in 15 minute cities that bans cars?
The idea of walking everywhere is great when you are young and single or even middle age and single.
But parents with young kids can’t or won’t walk everywhere with babies. Older retired people (of which this country is increasingly made up of) physically can’t walk far once they are past a certain age.
On top of that, what do you do on days that it rains or snows. Or how does one carry multiple bags of groceries or cases of beer or sports equipment etc.
Cars are absolutely needed even in 15 minute cities.
Babies?
strollers
Privately owned would be the key term. It used to be that people had to walk, unless they owned a horse. With private autos banned, there may be some sort of public transportation in 15 minute cities.
It would be nice if society was moving forward and not sliding backward to walking and public transportation. Next up in these cities will be weekly deliveries by the milkman.
we’ll all be working for store
Does the politburo assign the homes closest to hospitals and grocery stores to the elderly, in these 15 minute cities?
“As beavers expand their range in the Arctic, they may also be causing more greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change.”
The answer is to confine them to 15 minute cities.
And they should also eat more bugs, and stop spreading disinformation. Damn wildlife Trump voters.
Too much fat in academia or government, and little instinct of self-preservation? Whoever produced this “research”.
But I think, Mish just picked up some hoax.
Who would want to buy a more expensive EV when manufacturers are signalling prices are going to fall dramatically in the near future? Maybe this is part of the reason EV sales growth is slowing and inventory is building.
Following the rate of births in the last 80 years, the number of people hitting 65 and 16 have now peaked and for the next 15 years will decline. The number of 50 year olds has bottomed and will now increase every year for the next 20 years. So, the number of people hitting “old age” drops every year forward, the number of kids to do easy jobs drops every year going forward. And the number of 50 year olds, who spend the most money they will ever spend in their lives at 50 per Harry Dent will grow and grow and grow for the next 20. I see lots of spending going forward and fewer workers.
I believe that is the definition of inflation.
“Productivity goes up in recessions and economic slowdowns because companies get rid of the least productive workers first.”
I have a bad feeling that ESG and DEI are changing this. Citi just announced that they intend to lay off 10% of their workers. They admitted to hiring a company to make these decisions. I’m guessing the company will measure these decisions based on productivity. Hiring a third party will release Citi from any liability if it makes Citi less DEI.
– People Are Paid More to Work Less. This Explains Job Shortages and Productivity
> In past years, when things were slow, I recall everybody working harder and for less, and not the other way around. So this poor labor effort of todays workers, and obviously the business owner’s collective idiocy, does explain the drop in productivity.
– Expanding benefits, especially more vacation time and paid family leave, helps explain job shortages and declining productivity.
> So who is running these companies, that have the workers dictating more benefits and vacation time? Act more like a Parent and not a Friend to your workers. You are hired to work hard while you are there. If you don’t work hard, expect to take all sorts of time off, and expect more and more from your company, then you are either delusional or your company is really stupid and won’t be around very long in this slowing environment. I would change jobs to a more reputable, organized, well run, and owners that are looking long term and not to appease people so that they stay.
The workers with their hands out all the time, are not the ones you want on your payroll. The workers that are producing you give raises to and show others that hard work pays off. You let go the slouches, takers, complainers and people who think they are in H.S. and chat about TV shows and what they did last night. This isn’t hard…
I said this before:
In my experience…. over the years I’ve gone from an office, to a cubicle, to a smaller cubicle, to an open office desk, to an open office shelf. I laid down the law, said I was being paid to do very taxing and complicated work and I required space for about 50 books, quiet, and decent computer monitors. Said I had all of that at home and none of that at work, and I wasn’t going to take a hit for the project going sideways because I couldn’t be productive. Surprisingly, I now have to come into the office only one day a week (I figured I’d get canned). Of course, that reduces my productivity by 20% since it’s impossible for me to accomplish anything when I’m in the zoo, er, I mean office, but I can understand why my boss would want to see if I’m still alive and a “team player”.
I suspect in many cases the deterioration in the quality of the workspace has been an issue in reduced productivity, if it really is reduced. I’m not less productive because I get a few extra days of vacation each year. I work hard and a chance to actually live and recharge the batteries is a good thing for everyone.
Nice start to the week. The Tesla and EV stories are NEVER accompanied by the news that the GRID IN AMERICA has already collapsed and that there are ROLLING BROWN OUTS in Cal and they blame the WIND. Cal shut down one of its biggest Nuclear Power Plants (Near Avila Beach, CA) and we were there only a few years back where there were CREWS OF PEOPLE re-building the Inner Vessel. WHAT A SHAM!
If the Primary Dealer Banker does not buy his quota of Treasury Bonds he gets escorted to the roof of the bank for one last view of the city.