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995 sats \ 9 replies \ @kepford 22 Jan \ on: Expensive fridges are dying young. Owners are suing, claiming fraud tech
Fiat at work.
i’m not so sure it’s as simple as that.
elon has managed to build a total tank of a pickup truck, surely some entrepreneur could build a tank of a fridge and steal a bunch of market share from all the bland, faceless brands that are allergic to innovation and QA testing.
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I'm not convinced Elon could have built the things he has built without the fiat system and the market manipulation of the state.
But to your point there is more to it but a frig is a utility device. The Tesla is very different. Its built for the wealthy and "green" conscience. Its also trendy and kitchen appliances are not.
My theory is that due to monetary inflation the cost of making things has increased and companies are striving to keep costs down by cutting corners. We know that for most mass market products price is a huge factor. There are exceptions like Apple and Tesla. Those to me are status brands. Not appliance companies. Not yet.
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yes, Elon’s DoE loan from 2008/2009 was very helpful (maybe necessary) for Tesla’s survival, but the latest set of ZEV credits don’t seem to have changed Tesla’s position as a profitable business.
Tesla continues to be profitable without them, and there remains a wide gap between Tesla and all other EV companies even though most other companies still have access.
I learned lots about state intervention from reading Americana, including that the Erie Canal the US steel industry both owe their existence to US subsidies in their earliest stage.
The Erie Canal was essential for settling the Great Lakes region, and the US steel industry in the Carnegie era couldn’t compete with imported British steel in a free market.
Both of those events occurred before the Federal Reserve was created.
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This is a good point. Its not that the Fed is the central enemy. The central villain is the state. The US government stealing the money of people and deciding where it should be directed. The Fed is a more efficient mechanism than taxes. Corporations/Business interests aligned with governments doing as they please.
My issue is with the system of theft. Not people like Elon or even just the Fed. This belief that it is OK to steal from people just because you are a government. They exercise god like authority over the plebs.
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Also there are many components that make up a fridge. With appliances the cost of repair is much higher than replacement. I would say that is largely due to fiat. So as a manufacturer it is more profitable for you to build with cheaper components. There are competing forces though. We have fiat currency inflation against technology advancement. I'm convinced tech advancement has greatly reduced the pain of inflation. So if the state continues to stifle innovation eventually it will be to much and kill the golden goose of tech.
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I suspect there are even more components in a pickup truck than in a fridge, but I agree that the relative cost of repair vs. replacement is definitely higher for a fridge.
I wonder if someone could succeed by building a “buy it for life” fridge that is essentially bulletproof, and use some of Elon’s marketing stunts from the Cybertruck launch to sell it.
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Yeah no question. I know some people that work in the auto components industry and it is wild how much goes into making an automobile.
My guess on Elon is that he has no desire to make a "buy it for life" anything. Not under fiat I mean. Especially not as a publicly traded company. The fiat system pushes for short term financial gains. That is the other aspect that affects everything. Its more indirect but all of our time preferences are affected by the money used by society. Bad money. Bad incentives.
That's my thought at least for what its worth.
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