Economy
The wonders of large, bureaucratic planning:
The "inventory of Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size trucks stood at 122 days at the end of June, according to the Automotive News Data Center." AN says the preferred inventory number is 80 days. . . .
And guess who is profiting from the change of fortunes?
Midsize-truck buyers must look to Japan. The midsize-truck segment has largely become a neglected stepchild of the U.S. auto market. . . . The domestic Big Three have essentially mothballed their midsize efforts to focus on more popular - and higher-profit -- large pickups. The Japanese giants in the U.S. now dominate the midsize-truck business.
Bonus question: are American bureaucracies worse than those of other countries? If there is truth to multiculturalism, presumably some cultures create more and others less efficient bureaucracies.
I think it's true that our culture produces more selfish jerks, and many of those become lobbyists and politicians. We've always had less sense of "community" than east Asians, which is both good and bad. It's bad because we end up with short-term every-man-for-himself political decisions, but it's good in that this competitive individualism is the wellspring of our cultural dynamism (i.e., creating the modern world and all).