Weekend Economists' Hostile Takeover of "Car Talk" April 23-25, 2010 [View All]

[Demeter]

Well, maybe not so much hostile as "the sincerest form of flattery".

We are the Children of the Automobile. We of the Boomer generation were usually raised with instant transportation, both as a daily event, and on vacations with interminable car trips. Some of us may even have been conceived or born in an automobile. It is the salient feature of the American Way of Life. That and supermarkets.

Those of us not blessed with hundreds of horsepower were to be pitied. The dream of every young person was to get his/her first car, a measure of independence and freedom that only adulthood brings.

The 20th century United States, thanks to the insight of Henry Ford, who reasoned that he would sell a lot more cars if his own employees could afford one, was built on the automobile. Technology in all areas of manufacturing, basic business practices, marketing schemes, all got a great boost from autos.

And in the 21st century, the shadow banking system and the financiers brought this great engine to its knees. We will look at the economy through the windscreen of the motor vehicle in all its manifest forms.

Please add your stories, gleanings, and opinions--this thread is a cooperative venture!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJYXUkqpA40