Dean Barber on LinkedIn: People's last words are often these 4 phrases: What they teach us about… (2024)

The1980s minivanreplaced the 1960s station wagon. In the 2000s, the sport-utility vehicle spurred the minivan’s retreat. Socioeconomic shifts drove Americans’ move out of gas-guzzling embellished land yachts and into tiny, economical Japanese imports following the oil crises and new tailpipe emissions standards of the 1970s.This hasautomotive designers, executives and analysts focused on a big question: What comes after the SUV? The SUV now dominates the American car market, making up nearly 60% of new vehicle purchases. However, the increasing options and higher interest rates are pricing out younger and lower-income consumers, with the average new car costing nearly $50,000. “People just can’t afford larger vehicles like they did before,” says Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds.Stricter efficiency standards and the push toward electrification could challenge the SUV's dominance, says Paul Snyder, chair of transportation design at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. Designers seek more character and emotion in vehicles, says Michael Simcoe, global design director at General Motors.Future vehicle designs might prioritize space efficiency, leading to boxier forms. Electric vehicles, with no need for hoods, and potential autonomous vehicles, which won’t need dashboards, could evolve into a new vanlike shape dubbed “the Toaster.”Internal GM research shows that the spacious, boxy shape of future autonomous vehicles can make passengers feel safer by providing more distance from potential accidents, says Michael Simcoe. He adds that this shape has a "functional, happy character," unlike the aggressive appearance of SUVs.A similar "one box" design is emerging for individual chauffeured passengers, resembling a van resurgence. This trend, originating from China, features luxury vans like the Buick GL8, Zeekr 009, and Toyota Alphard, offering the utility, flexibility, and interior luxury of SUVs in a different form, according to Felix Kilbertus, chief creative officer of Pininfarina.Upright electric robotaxi vans could navigate cities autonomously at lower speeds, where aerodynamics and frontal area have minimal impact on range and energy consumption, says Paul Snyder of the College for Creative Studies. For higher speeds and longer distances, lower and sleeker electric vans would be more efficient due to their better aerodynamics.The SUV's dominance has led some to believe we've reached a peak in car design. "The SUV absolutely fulfills drivers’ needs," says Alexander Edwards of Strategic Vision. "There is nothing that will necessarily come next, at least not in the next decade or two."Popular SUV features like elevated ride height, flared fenders, and all-terrain tires may migrate to other vehicle types. Pininfarina’s Enigma GT concept blends giant wheels, all-wheel drive, and a slightly lifted stance into a futuristic, hydrogen-powered two-door.

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The recession, predicted by business executives, economists, and investors, refuses to show up.Steady hiring continues to fuel consumer spending and, in turn, an economic expansion unlike any the U.S. has seen. Employers added 2.75 million jobs over the last 12 months,including 272,000 in May, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate has been at or below 4% for 30 months, something that last occurred during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and the Korean War in the early 1950s.Of course, just because everyone who predicted a recession has been wrong doesn’t mean they won’t eventually be right. Though the unemployment rate remains low, it’s risen from its postpandemic extremes: The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.0% last month from 3.9% in April. It was as low as 3.4% in April 2023.Already, the rate at which companies hire workers has fallen to levels last seen seven years ago. Job vacancies, which soared during the pandemic, have returned to prepandemic levels; if they fall much lower, a higher unemployment rate beckons. So far, labor market imbalances have resolved themselves without a recession.If the economy is a mountain climber on a ridge, “there are times when that ridge is extremely broad and even a major event isn’t going to knock the economy off the ridge,” saidGlenn Kelman, chief executive of real-estate brokerageRedfin. Now, “it feels like the ridge has gotten much narrower,” he said.Two years ago, the Federal Reserve jacked up interest rates at the fastest pace in decades to combat inflation that it initially misdiagnosed as likely to be short-lived. Companies were scrambling for workers, offering large raises and bonuses, and prices were soaring. Investors, economists and some Fed officials thought higher unemployment would probably be needed to bring supply and demand back into balance.Businesses aren’t shedding workers, though pressures to do so will mount if a longer period of higher rates erodes margins and profits slump.

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The U.S. economy keeps throwing up surprises, making it difficult to get a read on what’s happening for everyone from ordinary investors to the Federal Reserve. A growing disconnect between the fortunes of upper- and lower-income Americans could account for some of the crossed signals. In the latest shocker, the Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S.added 272,000 jobsin May, up from 165,000 in April and much higher than economists’ expectations. The strong reading is especially perplexing because it comes on the heels of astring of weak economicreports in recent weeks, including soft income and spending data for the month of April and a lower-than-expected reading on manufacturing sentiment in May.It isn’t just government reports: Companies have been warning in recent weeks that consumers are pulling back. To cite one example among many,Campbell Soup, owner of Pepperidge Farm and other snack brands, just days agolowered its sales forecastbecause it said shoppers are increasingly economizing on snack purchases and switching to private label alternatives. There were also disconnects within the May jobs report that had analysts scratching their heads. For instance, while the overall unemployment rate remains quite low by historical standards at 4.0%, unemployment among 20- to 24-year-olds was 7.9%, up from 6.3% a year earlier. And earlier this week, job openings fell to their lowest level in more than three years.One possible reason for the mix of caution and abandon is that people lower on the income ladder who spend a bigger share of their income on necessities are feeling pinched and less confident about their job prospects. Meanwhile,wealthier householdsare still spending. Consider one of the biggest surprises in the May jobs report, which was that the leisure and hospitality sector added 42,000 jobs. That was up from 12,000 in April and better than an average of 36,000 over the prior 12 months. By contrast, the entire goods-producing sector of the economy added just 25,000 jobs in May. Within leisure and hospitality, food services and drinking places added 24,600 jobs and the “amusem*nt, gambling, and recreation industries” added 10,200.This is partly the continuation of a pattern seen since the pandemic of spending on services outperforming goods aspeople catch up on missed experiencesbut don’t need any more things like home furnishings that they loaded up on during lockdown.According to the Commerce Department’s data on personal expenditures, spending on services rose by a real, inflation-adjusted 2.9% in April from a year earlier, up from an average 2.3% pace last year. Goods spending was 1.9% higher in April compared with a 2.0% average in 2023.

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The Biden administration tightened fuel economy standards for cars and SUVs Friday, issuing rules that officials estimate will push the average efficiency of new vehicles beyond 50 miles per gallon by 2031.The rules, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, call for improvements over a five-year span starting with 2027 models, and are projected to cut fuel consumption by 70 billion gallons of gasoline by 2050. The fuel savings translate into about $600 less in gas costs over the life of a new vehicle, NHTSA projects.The final version of the standards is weaker than an initial proposal by the agency that automakers argued would be all but impossible to meet.The fuel economy standards published Friday are designed to complement emissions rules set by theEnvironmental Protection Agency in March, and take into account efforts led by state regulators in California to spur the adoption of electric vehicles. Private cars and trucks are a major source of carbon emissions, and a key part of the Biden administration’s environmental agenda involves pushing for a dramatic increase in the number of battery-powered vehicles on roads.Automakers can comply with the new standards by both improving the fuel efficiency of their gas-burning vehicles and by boosting the number of models they produce that run on electricity.“Not only will these new standards save Americans money at the pump every time they fill up, they will also decrease harmful pollution and make America less reliant on foreign oil,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.The response from environmental advocates to the new rules was mixed, with some arguing they don’t go far enough and others praising them as an important step forward.The Biden administration has taken several steps to get more drivers into electric vehicles, backing tax credits for purchases and investing in a network of public chargers. But sales growth has slowed in recent months, as the size of the electric fleetoutpaces the number of places to plug in.The push has also faced opposition from Republicans.Donald Trump, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, has said hewould ditch climate rules issued by Biden.

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s outgoing president pledged Friday to press ahead with judicial reforms despite nervousness among investors and suggestions from his own handpicked successor that he should go slow.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would pursue 20 constitutional changes after his Morena party won a two-thirds majority in Congress in Sunday’s elections, including making all judges run for election and enshrining a series of unfunded benefit mandates in the Constitution.Sunday's elections ensured that Claudia Sheinbaum, the candidate of López Obrador's Morena party, will be the next president. Sheinbaum had spent most of the week talking to international financial organizations and investors, trying to calm markets after a 7% drop in the value of the peso.My take: AMLO, a divisive populist, continues to be the proverbial bull in a china shop. The same cannot be said of Sheinbaum, a more pragmatic and educated person.She suggested Thursday the reforms had not yet been decided and should be subject to dialogue.“It has not yet been decided,” Sheinbaum said Thursday. “My position is that a dialogue will have to be opened, the proposal must be debated.”But on Friday López Obrador mocked any opposition to the changes. He called critics of the reforms “the promoters of nervousness," and claimed that big corporations were worried about losing judges who he claimed are protecting them. At present, judges are appointed or approved by legislators.“There are justices who are employees of the big corporations,” López Obrador said at his morning press briefing. “They have some judges on their keychains.”Analysts say the president is angry that the country's judiciary has blocked several of his previous reforms because they were ruled unconstitutional.López Obrador’s Morena party won a two-thirds majority in Congress, which would allow them to pass changes to the Constitution, like the judicial reform, as well as mandates for a series of yet-unfunded government benefit programs.He pledged to continue to press for 20 constitutional changes, including one that would undo the country's current system of individual retirement accounts and the elimination of most independent government oversight and regulatory agencies.

Mexico’s peso sank after the leader of the ruling party in the lower house said lawmakers would seek to pass a swath of reforms proposed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that could remove checks on the government’s power.Ignacio Mier, the leader of the ruling party in the lower house, said lawmakers will start discussions aiming to vote on the reforms when the new congress is seated in September, according to a video shared on X.The prospect of an overhaul of the country’s institutions before President elect-Claudia Sheinbaum takes office in October sent the peso tumbling near 3% to 18 per dollar, by far the worst performer among majors and on track to close at its weakest since October. A gauge of the currency’s one-month implied volatility also jumped after the post, reaching 14.8%.“Volatility is going to be here to stay,” said Brad Bechtel, global head of FX at Jefferies in New York. “It could be a wild time in the MXN for a while.”AMLO’s Morena party and its allies won the Sunday elections in a landslide, getting more than two-thirds of the lower house of congress and falling slightly short of that in the Senate. The outcome surprised investors, who are concerned about proposed reforms that could increase state meddling on the economy and remove checks on the ruling party’s power.The result sent shockwaves across Mexican assets, with money managers rushing to cut their exposure to the peso. The post-vote reaction was likely exacerbated by a wave of stop-losses, given the currency was over-owned by speculative traders, Macquarie strategists wrote earlier this week.The currency, which had become a favorite of carry traders, has shed more than 5% in the wake of the election, by far the worst performer among emerging markets in the span. Just a week before the election, the peso had been the best performing currency in the world.Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex USA, said the push to pass Lopez Obrador’s stated list of reforms was also raising concerns the ruling party could take even more radical steps.“The desire to go hard at reforms this way is a sign that perhaps Morena will push for items, enjoying the lack of checks and balances from opposition, to deviate from business interests that have helped in propping up what was the Super Peso effect,” he said.Miguel Iturribarria, a strategist at BBVA Mexico, said the most concerning reforms for investors include a bill to replace the current Supreme Court with elected justices, overhaul electoral laws and eliminate autonomous regulators.“It concentrates a lot of power in the government,” Iturribarria said. “As a result we should have an increase in the premium for local assets.”

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US workers at John Deere plants have accused the company of acting on “greed” as America’s most famous agricultural equipment company plans to shift more production toMexico.The company – famous for its green tractors and leaping deer logo – has announced layoffs of several hundred workers over the last several months with more layoffs planned for later this year.“We get wind of more layoffs daily, it seems, and it’s causing uncertainty all over,” said a longtime John Deere worker at the Harvester Works plant in East Moline, Illinois, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “The only reason for Deere to do this is greed.”They cited the company’s recent profits. John Deerereporteda profit of over $10bn in fiscal year 2023 and its CEO John Mayreceived$26.7m in total compensation. John Deerespent over $7.2bnon stock buybacks in 2023 and provided shareholders with more than $1.4bn in dividends.In October last year, John Deereannounced250 indefinite layoffs at the Illinois plant. Another 34 workers werelaid offin May.Earlier this year,at least 650 jobswere cut at John Deere’s plants in Iowa, with 500 jobs cut in Waterloo and 150 jobs cut at the Ankeny plant. Another103 workerstook an early retirement offer at the Ottumwa plant after the company announced plans to cut more jobs at the plant later this year and shift that production to Mexico.Deereannouncedplans to move production of skid steer loaders and compact track loaders from a Dubuque plant to Mexico by late 2026.In 2022, the company hadannouncedplans to move cab production from Iowa to Mexico, impacting 250 employees.John Deere stated its 2023 annual report that it employs33,800 workersin the US and Canada.

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Red Lobstercould close additional restaurants if it is unable to renegotiate their leases, according to bankruptcy documents filed last week.The company listed 228 rejected leases it says will keep losing money if they continue operating as they currently are. The list of restaurants includes at least some of the restaurants it has already closed, according to Restaurant Business.As of May 22, the company's website listed 99 locations closed across 28 states, with some of them having their kitchen equipment auctioned off on an online restaurant liquidator. This means that an additional 129 restaurants are in danger of closing.

Steel manufacturer Grupo Deacerosaid it will spend US$600 million to build a new steel mill at its existing industrial complex in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.The expansion is expected to create more than 1,000 new jobs.Governor Manolo Jiménez said Coahuila has seen investments of over 70 billion pesos in 2024 alone, creating thousands of jobs, and he expects more investments to continue.The new steel mill will use environmentally friendly electric furnace technology, significantly reducing CO2 emissions compared to traditional blast furnaces. The plant will feature advanced digital technology to ensure the scrap melting process does not impact the national power grid, making it the first of its kind in Latin America. Additionally, the plant will use treated water from Ramos Arizpe and Saltillo to prevent aquifer overexploitation.The Ramos II Investment Project aims to be one of the world's most modern steel mills, featuring intelligent, automated, and sustainable operations focused on employee safety and high-quality productivity standards.

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Another hotter-than-expected employment report Friday buffeted Joe Biden's labor-market performance, with 15.6 million more jobs now than when the President took office.But what remains to be seen is if voters give him credit.The record so far suggests that the answer will be no. What voters have told pollsters again and again is that their perceptions of Biden's economic record often begin and end with inflation.The President and his allies nonetheless responded in force Friday, with Bidensaying in a statement"the great American comeback continues" and adding that unemployment has now been at or below 4% for the longest stretch in 50 years.Friday's overall numbers saw the economy again defy worries of a slowdownand add 272,000 non-farm payroll jobs in May, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 4% from 3.9% in April.When Biden took office in 2021 following a year of pandemic job losses, about 142.9 million Americans were working. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday put that figure over 158.5 million."This is the coveted soft landing that many people said wouldn't happen," acting Labor Department secretary Julie Su added in a Yahoo Finance Live interview.But in perhaps an acknowledgement of the political reality, Biden in his statement quickly pivoted to prices."I will keep fighting to lower costs for families like the ones I grew up with in Scranton," he said, focusing equally on inflation as on his jobs record.There are now5 more job reports(as well as5 Consumer Price Index readings) between now and when voting ends this fall in the race between Biden and former President Donald Trump.The question for Biden and his campaign is whether any message focused on jobs can break through. For their part, Republicans are unlikely to change their focus between now and November of hammering homethe 20% increases in prices since Biden took office.House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, even brushed past the jobs gains entirely in a statement Friday, choosing to focus instead on how under Biden "a paycheck doesn’t stretch as far as it once did."The polling data has also shown an uphill climb for Biden, even in data gathered by his allies.Arecent survey from Blueprint 2024— a Democratic-aligned group — found that 91% of respondents described inflation as a "serious problem." Among those respondents, 37% also described inflation as among "the most important issues."Just 25% said the same about jobs and the economy.

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