Elon Musk lies. Employers lie.

benfell

Pandemic

Elon Musk

Antony Currie expresses doubt about Elon Musk’s stated reasons for moving Tesla headquarters to Austin, Texas.[1] Musk had been an ass about the pandemic and furiously resisted stopping production at the old NUMMI plant in Fremont, California,[2] The Washington Post article also pointed out that the move would bring Tesla headquarters closer to SpaceX headquarters,[3] but if indeed you reject the stated reasons for the move, it’s gotta be damn near impossible to escape the suspicion that Musk is still nursing a grudge about the lockdown.[4]

Faiz Siddiqui, “Elon Musk announces Tesla is moving its headquarters from California to Texas,” Washington Post, October 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/07/musk-tesla-texas/

Antony Currie, “Tesla’s move to Texas further mars ESG credentials,” Reuters, October 8, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/teslas-move-texas-further-mars-esg-credentials-2021-10-08/

Economy


But of course, employers are still[5] whining, with Wall Street Journal support, about a so-called “labor shortage.”[6] I am utterly unimpressed[7] and will remain so unless and until I actually have a real job.[8]

Josh Mitchell, “U.S. Economy Added Only 194,000 Jobs in September,” Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/september-jobs-report-unemployment-rate-2021-11633641477

Justin Wolfers, “Non-farm payrolls in September rose by only +194k, after +366k last month. . . .” Twitter, October 8, 2021, https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/1446453154975977489

  1. [1]Antony Currie, “Tesla’s move to Texas further mars ESG credentials,” Reuters, October 8, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/teslas-move-texas-further-mars-esg-credentials-2021-10-08/↩
  2. [2]Tim Higgins, “Elon Musk’s Defiance in the Time of Coronavirus,” Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-defiance-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-11584733458; Kari Paul, “Elon Musk rails against ‘fascist’ shelter-in-place orders in Tesla earnings call,” Guardian, April 29, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/29/tesla-quarterly-earnings-coronavirus-shares; Faiz Siddiqui, “Tesla’s Elon Musk reopens factory, defying county orders and daring officials to arrest him,” Washington Post, May 11, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/11/musk-tesla-factory/; Faiz Siddiqui, “Tesla defied county orders so it could restart production. Days later, workers tested positive for the coronavirus,” Washington Post, June 9, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/09/tesla-factory-coronavirus/↩
  3. [3]Faiz Siddiqui, “Elon Musk announces Tesla is moving its headquarters from California to Texas,” Washington Post, October 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/07/musk-tesla-texas/↩
  4. [4]Antony Currie, “Tesla’s move to Texas further mars ESG credentials,” Reuters, October 8, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/teslas-move-texas-further-mars-esg-credentials-2021-10-08/; Faiz Siddiqui, “Elon Musk announces Tesla is moving its headquarters from California to Texas,” Washington Post, October 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/07/musk-tesla-texas/↩
  5. [5]Sven Beckert, “Slavery and Capitalism,” Chronicle of Higher Education, December 12, 2014, https://www.chronicle.com/article/SlaveryCapitalism/150787/; Eric Levitz, “Letting the Economy Create Jobs for Everyone Is (Sadly) Radical,” New York, June 4, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/biden-full-employment-policy-labor-shortage-inflation.html; Heather Long, “It’s not a ‘labor shortage.’ It’s a great reassessment of work in America,” Washington Post, May 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/07/jobs-report-labor-shortage-analysis/; Heather Long and Andrew Van Dam, “States that cut unemployment early aren’t seeing a hiring boom, but who gets hired is changing,” Washington Post, July 27, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/07/27/unemployment-insurance-go-away/; Matt Petras, “In the continuing pandemic, businesses need workers, but are jobs meeting the needs of residents?” Public Source, August 12, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-workforce-covid-unemployment-hiring-worker-shortage/; Greg Rosalsky, “Is There Really A Truck Driver Shortage?” National Public Radio, May 25, 2021, https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/05/25/999784202/is-there-really-a-truck-driver-shortage; Jon Schwarz, “The Business Class Has Been Fearmongering About Worker Shortages for Centuries,” Intercept, May 7, 2021, https://theintercept.com/2021/05/07/worker-shortage-slavery-capitalism/↩
  6. [6]Josh Mitchell, “U.S. Economy Added Only 194,000 Jobs in September,” Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/september-jobs-report-unemployment-rate-2021-11633641477↩
  7. [7]David Benfell, “About that alleged ‘labor shortage,’” Not Housebroken, June 10, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/05/09/about-that-alleged-labor-shortage/↩
  8. [8]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/↩

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