In terms of identity theft, wouldn't it make more sense to steal the identity of the first-borns of the 80s? They've had enough time to establish a career and maybe accumulate assets.

I had a Chinese friend who said if we saw tofu being made we wouldn't think of it as health food anymore.

Or, sudden massive heart attack or stroke. But someone should be keeping an eye out when you have water deep enough to drown in.

The country of Georgia did just that. Seems to have worked well.

Perhaps. In Germany, the right to drive fast on the Autobahn is considered "self expression" and is protected by the Constitution. In the US driving is privilege, not a right, alas.

Auto accidents cost society too much in lives and $s for human-driven cars to remain legal, once there's a reliable and affordable alternative.

Once self-driving cars become reliable and relatively affordable, they'll be mandatory. Accidents cost society far too much.

You make a good argument. If I had to guess, there's probably something unique about the Chinese market that makes this a rational strategy.

Henry was a product of his times, unfortunately. Antisemitism didn't become a major taboo until the West found out about Hitler's Final Solution.

If you're my age (53) you remember when people traded in every 3 years, and a car with a 100,000 miles on it was a junker. Unless you're a car buff, you probably don't realize how much things have changed.

The problem with "long term" growth is that it's impossible to plan for, because disruptive technologies / ideas / events always come along. Corporations plan short term because that's the only thing that makes sense.

But China will be increasing its amount of drivers for the foreseeable future. They're like the US in the period from the 20s-60s.

"Never buy someone else's project" is a good reason to CP this. OTOH, how many rust-free examples are left? (Assuming it IS rust free - hard to tell from the pictures).

Most banks will finance older cars if they're listed in the book "Cars of Particular Interest."

Happened to my grandfather. When I turned 17, my dad strongly warned me against buying a second-hand Model T. This was in 1978, so I'm not too sure what he was thinking.

Nope. The instability created by the end of Pax Americana would cost way more than $900 a person. Heck, almost all the wars we've fought since WWII were caused by the sudden end of the British and French empires.

It won't, though. Unless a) the high explosive trigger is present; it probably is not present. And b) you know the arming code. You will not know the arming code.

The dealer only sold Renault and Lotus, so yeah, they didn't last out the 80s.

As I said in another reply, for this to make sense, they must believe we can take out their fixed ICBM launch sites without any warning - ie, we have a "stealth" first strike weapon who's launch / deployment isn't detectable until the mushroom cloud goes up over the target. There's no other reason to hide your launch…

It's the "it looks just like a regular train" aspect that's destabilizing. Conventional land-based sites can be monitored via satellite. Bombers need to get airborne - and then it take hours for them to reach their destination. Ballistic missile submarines can be tracked, albeit with difficulty.