I’ve been out in Los Angeles for the last few days, and the big economic problem here is the strikes against the movie studios, which have shut down production. More broadly, as I read the news, the biggest economic stories are the high cost of living, and then the United Auto Workers going on strike against the Big Three car companies.
The Washington Post had a good article asking workers why they are striking. Most cited inflation and fairness. “We’re not making enough money,” said Petrun Williams, a 58 year-old Ford repairman. “People should be able to buy their own houses, but right now it’s not possible.”
It’s a hard problem to tackle, because GM, Ford, and Stellantis are giant, wildly inefficient bureaucracies with high costs optimized to make $75,000 trucks, and electric vehicles are a completely different product. But “Bidenomics” isn’t necessarily helping.
