The Davos elite and GM’s Factory Zero workers in Detroit live in parallel universes.
One gets fawning corporate media coverage, access, and spectacle. The other gets layoffs, uncertainty, and attention only from a socialist website.
Business
China’s EVs Expose the Lost American Dream
After driving a Chinese EV for several weeks, Wall Street Journal technology columnist Joanna Stern wrote that she would prefer never to buy an American-made vehicle again.
If middle-class Americans fully understood why their counterparts in China can buy far more technologically advanced vehicles for considerably less, the reaction here would be anything but complacent.
The Powerhouse Lawyers Defending GM and Ford
At General Motors and Ford, litigation is no longer a side effect of doing business. It is a core business function.
The résumés of the lawyers running point at both automakers reflect how central legal strategy has become.
Ponzi Schemes & Wall Street’s Dumb Money
Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered.
Some thoughts on Ponzi schemes, perfectly legal Wall Street products that burn retail investors, and why doctors and small business owners are often the easiest targets.
When Leaders Lose: Josh Allen vs. Mary Barra
Josh Allen lost a playoff game and took responsibility.
Mary Barra presided over billions in EV losses and said she had no regrets.
This isn’t about football or automobiles. It’s about how leaders respond when outcomes can no longer be spun — and how accountability often seems easier to find in locker rooms than on CNBC.
Can Jamie Dimon Survive Trump’s Stress Tests?
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is among Wall Street’s — and the media’s — most admired executives, closely identified with the bank he has led for nearly two decades.
President Trump, however, is no admirer of Dimon’s stewardship of America’s largest bank.
Here’s why Trump’s promised lawsuit alleging JPMorgan debanked him for political reasons — along with the president’s broader pressure on banking practices — could open a level of scrutiny Dimon’s admirers don’t yet appreciate.
Among the questions such scrutiny could raise: why JPMorgan severed ties with Trump while continuing to bank Jeffrey Epstein until 2013, despite internal objections from some senior executives.
China’s EV Barbarians at Detroit’s Canadian Gates
Canada’s Mark Carney has said bonjour to China’s EV manufacturers. It may mean au revoir to GM and Ford’s EV ambitions.
Why Uber Turned Me into a Waymo Convert
Never in a million years did I expect I’d trust a robot over a human driver.
But after years of rising prices, declining service, and watching Uber enrich its CEO while degrading both drivers and riders, I found myself choosing Waymo — reluctantly at first, then repeatedly.
This isn’t a tech love letter. It’s a story about how Uber hollowed out ride sharing so thoroughly that automation began to feel like relief.
A Man-Bites-Dog Car Dealership Repair Story
Car dealerships are deservedly among the most distrusted businesses in America. So when I was told this past weekend that my six-year-old, out-of-warranty vehicle needed a major engine repair, I braced for the worst.
The bill never materialized. I don’t know why Subaru absorbed the cost, and I didn’t press my luck by asking. Given how rare that outcome has become in the car business, the experience was worth noting.
Wall Street Owns America’s EV Debacle
In 2021, Wall Street analysts spoke about EVs with near-messianic certainty. Four years later, the strategy is being unwound, billions have been written off, and the media has largely allowed those same voices to move on without explanation or accountability.
Alas, I’m not so charitable.