Chips: The Crude Oil of the 2020s?
I heard on the news this morning that Ford was slowing down production of their F-150 line. This is the crown jewel of the company's offerings, and has been the best selling model of any make of car or light truck in America. For almost four decades. (Note that last year, GM's Silverado and Sierra models combined just barely outsold F-150 for the first time.) Why would Ford slow production of their most popular offering, especially when they are neck and neck with a fierce competitor? Was it slackening demand? Production problems? Reliability issues? No, none of the above. They were missing a chip. A tiny, little, piece of silicon, perhaps the size of your fingernail, brought the Ford Motor Company to their knees. They can't produce an F-150 truck without it. There is an average of 3000 chips in each and every car which is manufactured these days. And these little pieces of silicon are needed not only for cars and trucks, but for refrigera...