You can’t make up in taxes what you keep spending, and deficit spending is insane right now.

Why is this not part of the conversation? I have no problem paying higher taxes, but without responsible spending it’s just pouring gas on an out of control fire.

The proof is simple. If you move this system from a single workplace to multiple workplaces with an ID for the worker, you get social credit.

This is a system that many governments and corporatists are in love with, as it generally “punishes troublemakers” without having anyone who’s a lawsuit target get overly involved. In my opinion, social credit systems are repression and totalitarianism masquerading as systems of personal responsibility.

It’s really commentary on how bad streaming services are becoming.

I think people don’t understand how important just being there for your family actually is. Sometimes it’s enough just to be reliable, stand for good and just be present. Sounds like he really knew it.

I can’t imagine a landlord in existence that wouldn’t throw a fit about something like this.

They are not limited in profit, but they are limited in what they can do, when they are required to total a car, etc.

Take a look at how parts suppliers are segmenting their businesses and it will make sense (article below).

I completely agree with your conclusion, but none of the manufacturers have incentives that line up with limited liability.

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/growth-strategy-tier-o...

> Suppliers looking to formulate a successful portfolio strategy should begin with a careful review of their existing product groups, broadly allocated to three segments based on their growth and profitability outlooks.

- Booster parts. The major source of growth, this category includes such trend-driven parts as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), battery management systems (BMS), and fuel cells. These parts offer generally greater profitability, though profits will depend on the specific niche—higher for software, lower for increasingly commoditized segments like power electronics.

- Carry-over parts. These include a range of parts that will be predominantly trend-agnostic and stable, such as exterior parts, HVAC, seating, lighting, and the like. Profitability for this category will generally be stable.

- Legacy parts. These include ICE engine systems and conventional transmissions, exhaust systems, fuel systems, and older generations of electronics and human-machine interface (HMI) systems no longer applicable for connected cars—all of which are generally declining as a result of trends in mobility. In general, future profitability for this category of parts will be declining as suppliers struggle with overcapacity.

> Many tier-one suppliers will likely offer a mix of all three types of products. A proper portfolio strategy, however, will require the development of a separate, distinct strategy for managing each product group.

The problem is that the manufacturers are incentivized to build them with high repair costs based on how they make money… they make a ton from parts. And there are massive changes forecast for the parts market.

If you really want to dig in, and you may know all of this already, this is a great article outlining the transition currently happening for tier1 parts suppliers:

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/growth-strategy-tier-o...

All of these changes are coming out in the insurance industry, but the insurance industry is constrained by what insurance commissioners will allow, and of course there’s the point you are making at core — they’re not making parts affordable because it’s become a profit center for them. A lot of money is now being made in the backend as companies optimize their supply chains for BEVs.

Take a look at the New Strategies section of that article.

Theory meets the road so to speak. I think it’s likely an artificially created profit center to keep the upfront cost of vehicles very low, as in Tesla’s case.

Electric cars lead this change with eye watering repair costs, but just look at the cost of replacing the headlight on a 2024 f-150 — it is almost 1400 bucks, plus labor. Each. So a minor fender bender is thousands and for insurance you have to use approved parts, which are most always OEM and painfully expensive.

Cars are complicated and expensive to repair and getting more complicated. And manufacturers are doing strange things. Like the 2024 Lexus GX has a hutch included in every model (yay, finally), but then it sticks out several inches and is welded to the frame so even a minor fender bender can total the car — it’s the first thing that gets nailed when someone read ends it and it goes straight to the frame. That’s not a good plan, and could (in my opinion definitely will) lead to totaling the car from minor fender benders.

And electric cars in general are even more expensive to repair.

https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2022/07/12/ccc-report-rep...

It all comes out in higher insurance costs.

It seems almost inevitable that everyone will move to subscription / surge pricing models unfortunately. There are no structural incentives for retailers to keep prices lower. Perhaps bulk purchasing will change the game at some point, but it seems unlikely.