Bob Smith, for twenty five years the host of “1370 Connection,” used to say, “Follow the money.” By starting there he could explain almost everything. It does sort of make the world go ’round. Lately I’ve been starting with the Business Section of the NYT instead of the A section and I’m finding the articles there, grounded in business practices as they are, bring a certain amount of clarity to the topics that can produce rage in the A section. Tariffs, the Big Beautiful Bill, War in Ukraine, China, Crypto and AI.
When I went away to school I was asked to choose a major. Up until then I had not given a thought to that subject. I really had no idea what my father did at Kodak. A Mechanical Engineer working as a Design Engineer, the lens projects were top secret at the time. I put down “Business.” I guess I was thinking about my grandfather behind the counter in his small grocery store. Turned out my roommate, already a junior, was also a business major. His father owned a jewelry store on the town square in New Castle, Indiana. My first semester I took Business Admin 101. Classes were held in a big auditorium just down the street from my dorm. All I remember about it was the IU football players coming in late, en masse, like someone was shepherding them through the academic phase of their careers. People called it a “pud course.” I switched majors in the first few weeks.
Our president got his BS in bs from Wharton Business School, went into business with his dad and was quickly sued for racial discrimination. He is a talented snake oil salesman with an insatiable appetite for attention. How much money can you make on perfume? Capitalism has its aberrations but I believe it is as good an organizing principal as any. I just wish Trump was a better business man.
China already has global dominance in high-tech industries like batteries, robotics and drones. They control the supply chains for rare earth minerals used in electric vehicles and they have the best electric vehicles on the planet for the best price. If you follow the money you see how the Big Beautiful Bill funnels money to the top, the tired “trickle down” theory. The Chinese government provides financial support for aggressive innovation. Trump is crippling green energy initiatives. China is going to have our lunch.
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Growing up and into adulthood it was told to us that China just tried to copy our tech and wasn’t very good at it. Now they surpass us.