re: #29 Love-Child of Cassandra and Sisyphus

And this is why the Tesla layoffs need to be more towards the top of our news stories.

What Americans do not want to hear is that you do not have a right to an automobile.

Back when my immigrant grandfather was coming of age, back at the turn of the last century (yeah, I know, a long time ago) the automobile was a novelty. He farmed with horses.

Automobiles were a toy of the wealthy.

Much like Tesla has been.

As I’ve noted many times, I am not a near term doomer or a pro-doomer. I am long-term doomer.

The unravelling will take many decades.

Americans do not want a President to come onto the TV and say to them: you are not going to be able to afford to drive your own automobile.

Just ask Jimmy Carter how well a message like that goes down.

In a hundred years I expect the personal automobile to be owned only by the well off.

In two hundred years I expect the personal automobile to be owned by one the most well off.

There’s no right to own an automobile but there is a right to move freely about the country and cars have allowed more people to exercise that right than any other technology. I don’t think cars become the toys of the wealthy unless and until some technology replaces them.

Also, adjusting for inflation, the cost of owning a car hasn’t really changed that much over the decades. A 1965 Mustang (base model) cost $2427 new, adjusted for inflation that’s $23,271; a 2022 Mustang (base model) cost $27,470. As long as that remains the case, people aren’t going to be priced out of cars.