My end-of-week morning reads:
• One Million New-Car Buyers Are Gone and They’re Not Coming Back Soon: WSJ on the demand hole left by affordability — a million households permanently priced out of the new-car market. The structural part of the auto cycle that doesn’t show up in monthly SAAR. High gas prices, rising interest rates and stubborn inflation are keeping buyers at home and cars on the lot...
The curated collection of observations reveals a deep anxiety about the perceived stability of established economic and cultural narratives. The juxtaposition of macro-level structural pain (the car market, regional decline) with micro-level behavioral corrections (the economics of wages, sleep hygiene, focus rituals) suggests a systemic tension between perceived immutable economic laws and the highly malleable, often performative, choices individuals make daily. The patterns indicate a resistan...