Tesla is the company of the moment the prime exemplar of just about any big and important trend that you might care about. <\/p>\n
Why it matters: Almost every reader of finance and business news will have at least one strongly-held opinion about Tesla. What you might not realize is just how widely those opinions range, and the degree to which they map onto much broader views of the world.<\/p>\n
Tesla, especially after its merger with Solar City, sometimes feels like a Utopian project an attempt to populate a carbon-neutral future with fast, efficient vehicles that don't contribute to global warming.<\/p>\n
Tesla has already benefited from the Fed's zero-interest rate policy following the global financial crisis a policy designed to incentivize capital-intensive investment.<\/p>\n
Capitalists love and fear natural monopolies. Tesla's flagship product its cars, powered by its batteries, its home-built software, and its network of charging stations is years ahead of the competition, and is synonymous with \"electric vehicle\" for many.<\/p>\n
The one thing Tesla hasn't made, despite many years' worth of promises that it was just around the corner, is a self-driving car. That hasn't stopped the company from advertising a feature called \"autopilot.\" <\/p>\n
Depending on whom you talk to, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is the archetypal cartoon-villain billionaire or else he's the archetypal planet-saving billionaire.<\/p>\n
Go deeper: Tesla goes from electric vehicle to gambling vehicle<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See the rest here: <\/p>\n
Breaking down the Tesla obsession - Axios<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tesla is the company of the moment the prime exemplar of just about any big and important trend that you might care about. Why it matters: Almost every reader of finance and business news will have at least one strongly-held opinion about Tesla. Continue reading