I love this (most likely, apocryphal) story: So, Henry Ford one day was taking Walter Reuther, the United Auto Workers president, on a tour of a newly automated Ford plant that had replaced many of the workers with mechanical robots.  And as he’s showing off, Ford says to Reuther, “Well Walter, how are you going to collect union dues from these robots?”  And Reuther laughs and says, “Well Henry, how are you going to get these robots to buy Fords?”

When it comes to the U.S. auto industry, I don’t think robots even rate in the top 10 concerns of either the manufacturers or workers. There have been so many problems and ground shaking changes over the years that it’s almost impossible for any one radio piece or producer to take it all on, so PRX, WDET in Detroit  and a whole consortium of editorial partners at stations around the country collaborated on two remarkable one-hour specials that try to break it all down for us. Shifting Gears lead producers are Kate Hinds from WNYC, and Ron Jones and primary host Craig Fahle, who are both from WDET in Detroit. This is hour #2 of the special—Shifting Gears: The Retooling of the U.S. Auto Industry. You can (and should!) listen to hour #1 at PRX.

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.

Over at EconomyStory.org yesterday, one user posted this comment:

It’s time for my micro indicator to broaden its horizons. For 20 years, I’ve interpreted cars with a burned out headlight as an indicator of economic decline. If I see three in the 25 minutes it takes me to get home, it’s still a recession. I’ve only tested this within a 50 mile radius of D.C.’s Beltway. Would love observations from other parts of the country.

So we wondered if anyone else has observed this. A Google search found these mentions of the phenomenon:

baselle’s Financial Diary

Two more recession observations – the grocery store clerks seem to be so much nicer than they have been for months. Disguising their Valentine’s Day hard sell perhaps, but it’s better than being surly. Tonight I noticed more cars driving on the road with one headlight.

Post on Asimov’s Science Fiction forum

Here on the West Coast I saw much worse fractures in the social/civic fabric — people shot dead before me on the steets in Oakland, crowds of twenty or so hookers on a popular corner, that sort of thing — during various economic downticks in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. All I’m seeing now is mostly stuff on the level of more people driving with one headlight out. That ain’t the apocalypse.

Jan. 2008 post on Crosscut.com’s blog:

Over the years, I have noticed that when the economy is turning down, there is an increase in the number of cars with one headlight out. Why, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because people can’t afford to replace a burned out bulb, maybe it’s because folks are distracted with bigger worries. Or maybe my crackpot theory is simply a case of looking for broken headlights when I personally begin to worry about the economy. But I swear it’s true.

On a recent road-trip, I counted nearly a dozen one-headlight cars in one two-hour stretch from roughly Hood Canal to Madison Park–and that doesn’t count the car with no headlights. I just figured that driver was King County Council member Jane Hague.

You can hardly drive around town these days without seeing plenty of one-eyed autos. I even had a headlight go out recently. I replaced it, but even the new one is looking a little dim. I don’t take that as a very good sign.

From Boards.ie, an Irish message board site.

Anyone else notice the increased number of cars with only one headlight or backlight working at night ?

Makes you wonder if people are skimping on car servicing, how long it’ll take for their brake pads to wear out or the like.

In agreement:

Have noticed this myself, crazy carry on with the weather the way it has been lately hard enough seeing in the evenings with all the lights working.
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Seems much worse this year I have to say, lots of one-eyed jacks around.
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This was one of the little differences I noticed after returning to Ireland after 7 years abroad.. So many cars with knackered lights or fog lamps on.
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Me too … after 21 years on the ‘continent’ it was one of the first obvious things that I noticed.
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One evening in the space of half an hour I stopped two drivers for having no rear lights at all. Both of them gave the usual excuse of “they are just gone a few minutes ago” and both looked at me like I had two heads when I asked them “have you got any spare bulbs in the car?” Incredible. And yes one or more bulbs out does seem to be on the increase

To find the lowest prices in your area, just type in your zip code and a list of gas stations with the lowest-reported prices in the last 36 hours appears. This represents potentially serious savings — in my city, the site shows a 50 cents per gallon differential between the lowest and highest prices.

The site also includes a trip cost calculator and a blog at which you can monitor pricing trends. Yesterday’s post:

For those of you who haven’t filled up lately, I suggest you do it sooner rather than later to take advantage of lower prices that are slowly evaporating… (P)rices will continue to rise, some places may rise a few pennies a day, some might see double digit gains. We’ll likely see the “$3″ sign come back out in more areas of California and the West Coast, with Gulf States closer to $2.60-$2.75.

So fill ‘er up…

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, American “consumer units” (similar to a household) spent an average of $8,758 on all forms of transportation in 2007 (up 2.9 percent from 2006). We’re a car-owning country, so only $537.81 of our average spending went to public transit, including taxis and air travel.

You can use this “Real Costs of Car Ownership” calculator to determine your own outlay. Or, if you haven’t already done so, you might just get rid of your car, save thousands of dollars each year, and re-discover your inner pedestrian.

The Web, naturally, can help. Financial considerations are just one factor driving—or should we say, powering but not via the internal combustion engine—the car-free movement. Environmental, quality-of-life, and even geo-political concerns have motivated this growing community to take to the Web.

Blogs like Carfree USA and Car-Free Talk cover issues of concern to the automobile-less; Car Free with Kids provides support and encouragement for parents.

Regional resources also abound. The San Francisco Bay Area, a hotbed of pro-bike, anti-car activity, boasts perhaps the deepest network of sites on the topic. Less Car, More Life, for example, is written by “a group of San Franciscans who believe that life is better the less you drive. Getting out of your car is fun, freeing, and financially smart.” And a new blog called Car-Free Outdoors features “Bay Area adventures” accessible without a car. But you can find similar blogs and web sites covering just about any area in the country:

• carfree chicago
• WalkBoston
• Car Light Family Minneapolis
• Streetsblog LA
• Streetsblog New York
• Saint Louis Urban Workshop
• Bike Portland
• Bike Pittsburgh
• D.C. CommuterPageBlog

So take that pedal off the metal, run don’t walk to the nearest bike or mass transportation station, and quit driving yourself crazy, already. It can be done.

got a new CAR! but have to give up an old friend to do it, Obama offered me 4500.00 for it, i feel like a cheap prostitute cause i jumped at the money.

And here’s a guy who seems to be in charge of making sure traded-in clunkers will never put rubber to road again. He has documented dozens of such mercy killings and enjoys his job as the Dr. Kevorkian of polluting vehicles about as much as any pet owner who has to accompany his sick dog or cat on that final journey to the vet. “As much as I don’t like doing this, I gotta do it,” he laments before he administers a fatal dose to the engine of a Ford Explorer. “It’s fighting,” he says of a Cadillac Deville that refuses to seize up.

Of course, there’s always the exception to the rule. The owner of this 1994 Ford Ranger hoots and hollers gleefully during the “clunker-bombing” of his car.

So here’s hoping all of your clunkers, no matter their gas mileage, rest in peace in that great big junkyard in the sky…

As it turned out, eager recipients of the $3500 or $4500 government subsidy—offered for trade-ins of low-gas mileage vehicles for a more fuel efficient ride—used up the original $1 billion appropriation within a few days. The House then overwhelmingly approved an additional $2 billion to replenish the kitty, and Senate majority leader Harry Reid says the Senate will do the same this week.

By most accounts, the program has been a success.  Yesterday, Ford reported its first sales increase since 2007, which it attributed in part to the clunker deals, and July sales for the entire industry rang up at an 11-month high. Furthermore, according to Morningstar,  almost half of the new cars bought were from U.S. automakers.

As usual, though, anything related to government spending is going to be spun according to pre-determined beliefs. The Wall Street Journal, true to form, called this further foray into governmental problem solving  “Crackpot Economics.” That editorial drew 194 comments online, most of which, to say the least, did not express undying gratitude for the latest in state largesse. And Another upholder of free enterprise weighed in, too:
Ron Paul doesn’t like Cash for Clunkers

Of course, the Keynesian crowd has taken to the keyboard as well. Over at the Huffington Post, one blogger writes about “Conservative Hating on Cash-for-Clunkers.” The PoliticalBuzz blog claims the program has “saved the auto industry.”

If you really want to get your clunk on, click on over to Twitter and keep hitting refresh on the #clunkers feed, or just do a search. There’s also plenty of opinion to go around on Facebook.  And the Flickr Clunkers Pool makes for interesting viewing. Browse it to an internal sound track: clunk, clunk, clunk…