Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to factory workers in 2023 • Hacker News Board

Re: Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to factory workers in 2023

#131

Post by SecretDreams » Fri, Oct 03, 2025, 12:57 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #97

rurp wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, how many people have rents locked in from a previous era? The vast majority of rental agreements I'm aware of renew every year or so and the landlord is free to charge market rate at that point. Older generations get hit with high rent the same as Gen Z. No argument on housing prices. It's crazy how high they are in a lot of cities relative to the median salary.

Rent controls exist, although they're mostly a legacy thing now.

Yes.. and who benefits most from favourable legacy policies? Older gens.

Re: Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to factory workers in 2023

#132

Post by jkestner » Fri, Oct 03, 2025, 1:09 PM UTC

deaux wrote: post #129

jkestner wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was the Dodge brothers back when they were minority owners of Ford, and it was the case that poisoned us with “fiduciary duty to the shareholder”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co .

It didn't poison us at all, it's meaningless. Not a single one among the millions of societally-damaging decisions made by companies in the pursuit of profit ever since that case, was made because of that case. A. It doesn't mean companies have to maximize shareholder wealth. B. Even in the scenario that it did, it doesn't set a time horizon for this maximization C. Anything can be construed as being good for compani…

You’re right, and I could be more precise. It’s poisoned the narrative to give business psychopaths cover. That only works as long as people believe the law will hold them accountable, which the CEO of UnitedHealth discovered is no longer true.

Re: Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to factory workers in 2023

#133

Post by ratelimitsteve » Fri, Oct 03, 2025, 1:34 PM UTC

jkestner wrote: post #132

deaux wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It didn't poison us at all, it's meaningless. Not a single one among the millions of societally-damaging decisions made by companies in the pursuit of profit ever since that case, was made because of that case. A. It doesn't mean companies have to maximize shareholder wealth. B. Even in the scenario that it did, it doesn't set a time horizon for this maximization C. Anything can be construed as being good for compani…

You’re right, and I could be more precise. It’s poisoned the narrative to give business psychopaths cover. That only works as long as people believe the law will hold them accountable, which the CEO of UnitedHealth discovered is no longer true.

I mean, when the state prosecutes a case it styles itself "The People". Maybe the idea that justice can, should and must come only from The People isn't entirely frippery.

Re: Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to factory workers in 2023

#134

Post by 0xbadcafebee » Fri, Oct 03, 2025, 3:25 PM UTC

justin66 wrote: post #38

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty crazy improvement, seems like he's putting his money where his mouth is

Once those UAW workers achieve seniority they might be able to afford a very small house.

We need a different metric of wealth generation than home ownership. It used to be very safe, but now it's an anchor as much as it is a lifeline. Home ownership can't pay off forever; eventually either mortgage rates, supply/demand, or construction costs will force homes to either lose value or become too expensive. Those with a house or mortgage are subject to the whims of the market.

Home ownership is tax-advantaged because the government wanted to create a real estate market. Well, it's here, but it's not that great anymore, and most people don't get to take advantage of it. So Congress needs to make paying rent tax-deductible.

Re: Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to factory workers in 2023

#135

Post by IAmBroom » Fri, Oct 03, 2025, 3:41 PM UTC

CamperBob2 wrote: post #117

nerdsniper wrote: post #3

> Ford’s signature element in its new labor agreement was to get full wages to entry-level workers. But beyond that, he began looking at the labor shortage in trade work, starting with technicians.“Old-timers in our plants were saying, ‘It’s no longer a career, Mr. Farley. Working at Ford is no longer a career.’” He warned that millions of well-paid jobs are going unfilled because they require specialized skills. Put…

Why does it take five years' training to "work on" a diesel F-150? That's longer than most undergrad engineering degrees!

Because ... arrogant handwaving ... I'm special, that's why!

Re: Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to factory workers in 2023

#136

Post by michael1999 » Sat, Oct 04, 2025, 1:51 AM UTC

runlaszlorun wrote: post #123

michael1999 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could call that excess capital as easily as a labour shortage. Or a shortage of training pipelines in an irresponsible industry. When GM realized they needed more mechanical engineers than existed, they built a whole university. These days, capital just whines. If you can spend $100 BILLION on data centers, you have the budget to stand up a proper school.

> If you can spend $100 BILLION on data centers, you have the budget to stand up a proper school. That is a good point. Odd that our reactions, including my own given that I think the AI data center boom is pretty nuts, to that much being spent on data centers is "not surprising" while a company standing up a school sounds like something from science fiction.

It was normal for large firms to build schools. All the big 5 accounting consultancies had a month or two of residential boot camp. Toyota built a school. GM too. When you’re that big, you can make your own weather.