
An iPhone that doesn’t break the bank & congestion pricing didn’t last long
Loading summary
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
Mint Mobile Announcer
Of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com.
Neal Freyman
Good Morning Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.
Toby Howell
And I'm Toby Howell.
Neal Freyman
Today Trump wants to scrap New York City's congestion pricing plan. But can he?
Toby Howell
Then Apple added a new cheap iPhone to its lineup. But it's what's under the hood that has investors excited. It's Thursday, February 20th. Let's ride.
Neal Freyman
Good morning. If it were 2009, our Facebook wall would be pouring in with messages from R.A. randos. Because it is our birthday, morning Brew Daily is turning to today. On our first episode way back in 2023, some topics we covered were meta charging for verification, Biden taking a train trip and ice cover on the Great Lakes. A real scintillating debut from your boys. Thank you so much to all the OGs who've been listening since that first episode and to everyone who has hopped on the bandwagon since it is a real privilege to be able to do this for two years now. And Toby, I'm pretty excited about being to lots milestones that we should be able to say at least two words together, walk up a few stairs without help and eat from a spoon.
Toby Howell
Time flies when you're saying let's ride. I will spare you all my rendition of Happy Birthday. Instead just pass along how thankful Neil and I and the whole team is for you guys from the literal day oners who comment on every YouTube video to our brand new listeners. You all are what make mbd. Mbd. Now let's go and party. And by party I mean tell you about today's sponsor which is LinkedIn ads. Neil and I were golfing the other day. Yes, in February and we saw this guy on the range.
Neal Freyman
He was just firing balls out left and right. Wouldn't even stop to aim. Just swing, swing, swing, swing. Made the whole round a disaster because he wouldn't even look at where he was hitting the ball on the course. It was ready, fire, aim.
Toby Howell
It's the exact wrong way to golf and the exact wrong way to run.
Neal Freyman
Ad campaigns, just like taking a moment to center yourself before a golf swing will lose, lead to better outcomes. Using LinkedIn ads to target your audience by industry, company and role will prevent ad waste and get your company in front of the right people.
Toby Howell
Man, I am still mad at that dude for ruining a lovely February round. If you're interested in testing out LinkedIn ads, LinkedIn will give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Just go to LinkedIn.com/MBD. That's LinkedIn.com/MBD. Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads.
Neal Freyman
Long live the King. That's what President Trump declared when he announced that he was killing congestion pricing in New York City yesterday. His Transportation Department rescinded its approval of the city's new tolling system, which would bar New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority from collecting tolls. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the plan a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners, echoing critics who called it a tax on drivers. It's been about a month and a half since New York's first of its kind congestion pric plan went into effect, which charges most vehicles $9 to enter the core of Manhattan at peak times. The goal was to clean up the air, reduce car traffic in busy areas and fund $15 billion worth of transit projects. And so far it seemed to have been working. Drivers are saving about 20 to 30 minutes traveling into central Manhattan, while about 1.2 million fewer vehicles entered the area in January compared to a year earlier. But unlike the newsies, Trump may have been too quick to declare himself king of New York. In a lawsuit against the Transportation Department, the MTA argued that the federal government does not have the authority to unilaterally kill congestion pricing and pledged to continue collecting tolls until a judge told it not to. In a statement, New York Kathy Hochul said, we are a nation of laws not ruled by a king. We'll see you in court.
Toby Howell
This has a long way to go before we have an outcome on either side, but let's dive deeper into the numbers on if it was working or not. In the first week of February, traffic inside the toll zone dropped about 10% compared to the same time last year. There was on average about 50,000 less vehicles entering, according to the MTA, so that is a big check in its corner. Also foot traffic, which is a good measure that businesses want to see to make sure that they're still getting enough people to come frequent their shops. That has improved since the tolls took effect as well. Through the end of January, 35.8 million pedestrians entered that major business district in the tolling zone. That's about 5% more than the same period last year. And it's been really freaking cold in New York City, too. So those are impacting numbers as well. But on the flip side, this toll had a lot of powerful opponents. One of them is actually the governor of New Jersey. He said, you're basically just rerouting traffic into our neck of the woods. That traffic has to go somewhere. You're just putting it on our plate. So he has the ear of Trump as well. A lot of powerful people in New Jersey were not happy with this, which is why Trump kind of made it a campaign promise. This is him trying to, you know, execute on that campaign promise.
Neal Freyman
This may be the stiffest legal challenge that congestion pricing has had, but it is certainly not the first. It was hit with lawsuit after lawsuit by New Jersey and others. It survived all of those legal challenges, and it went into effect on January 5th. After years and years and years of planning. The chair in chief executive of the MTA said, look, we've been, we've been sued everywhere. We've been sued in every federal court and state court east of the Mississippi, and we're batting 1,000. We've won every single time. So we'll see how this, this court fight plays out against perhaps the most powerful opponent of all, the White House.
Toby Howell
One real issue with this, though, is that this plan was supposed to, if, if congestion pricing goes away, it will really hurt the MTA, because they were expecting $1 billion in extra revenue. They were going to use it to fund all these improvements to the, the subway system. And they've already started borrowing against future toll revenue. So if that gets taken away, it really throws the MTA into limbo. It really puts their plans on, you know, giving a facelift to one of the, you know, most extensive transportation systems in the US City, but also an aging transportation system. So I do think that they are watching nervously and saying, oh, no, we've already, you know, started cashing checks from this program. What happens if that income stream is taken away?
Neal Freyman
This is history, what we're witnessing, because first of all, this is the first congestion pricing plan that has been implemented by any United States city. It exists in London, in Stockholm and Singapore and other places around the globe. But this was the first experiment that happened in the United States. So that was unprecedented. And then what is also unprecedented is the reversal of such a large scale transportation project by the federal government. This hasn't happened before. If it sounds like a lot of whiplash. That's because you've never experienced something like this in US history. So the magnitude of what is going on is a really big deal because many other cities are watching New York to see whether they want to implement their own congestion pricing plans around the country. Now it moves to court for another drawn out legal battle.
Toby Howell
Apple rolled out a budget friendly new face to its LineUp yesterday. The $599 iPhone 6 16e. It clocks in at 600 bucks cheaper than Apple's most souped up iPhone, but will run you $170 more than the iPhone SE it is replacing. What's the extra cash getting you? Say goodbye to the old home button that somehow your mom's phone still has and say hello to face ID. It also contains the same A18 chip as the iPhone 16, which is powerful enough to run Apple intelligence. And there's an updated USB C charging port. But what has a lot of people excited is a small piece of tech under the H Inside the 16e is Apple's first ever in house cellular chip, which represents the culmination of a years long effort by Apple to make more of its technology itself to save having to pay billions of dollars to suppliers like Qualcomm. This launch also signals Apple's intention to push into the the lower end of the smartphone market, typically dominated by rivals like Google and Samsung. So Neal, one little phone here, but a lot of implications.
Neal Freyman
Sure. I mean Apple's iPhones are in a bit of a slump right now. Sales fel in the holiday quarter. Volume, the amount of actual phones that they're shipping is pretty stagnant. Everyone, you know, kind of has a phone they're just upgrading. So at this point it's selling about 230 million iPhones a year. And it's just that is a number that has not, that is not going to budge in the near future. So what they need to do is raise prices to get more revenue. So this is $170 more than the last iPhone SE version. It's still cheaper than its other models. But you're right, this is I guess the entry level model to get people hooked on the Apple ecosystem. And then maybe once they're, they're, you know, fed up with their se, they'll upgrade to a pro or a max or whatever they call it these days. That is the hope to get people, especially in international markets, into the Apple world and then they'll continue to pay for upgrades later on.
Toby Howell
But let's talk about this in house modem this is sort of a test run for these, these chips that allow your phone to connect to cellular providers around the world. What they're doing is trying it out in this cheaper iPhone to see if they can roll it out to their entire suite. And the reason why they've been trying to do this is that Apple's been very reliant on Qualcomm for most of its history. But Qualcomm, you know, charges them one, money to make the chips, but then also two, they have to pay a royalty of like six to seven dollars on every single chip that, every single iPhone that contains the chip. So over, you know, 230 million iPhones. That is billions of dollars we're talking about. So Apple has been slowly chipping away at figuring out how to make this one critical component themselves. It's been a very long process. They hired a bunch of people from Intel's modem division. They hired some people from Qualcomm as well. It's a little contentious because they've been trying to, you know, keep Qualcomm happy while also trying to derive or take away a major source of revenue from it. So this has been a project that's been ongoing. We've seen them do it with their, you know, actual chips that power the phone. Now they're trying to do it with their cellular chips as well.
Neal Freyman
Let's talk about the marketing strategy. Basically, when Apple has released a product in the past, there's been a huge pageantry around it. They have a huge event, they do keynote and very buzzy marketing around product launches. This one, they just issued a press release and it went a little under the radar. They didn't hype up this modem at all, which I don't know if it's even possible to hype up a modem, but they didn't do it and they kind of let this fly under the radar a bit. What do you think is behind that particular strategy?
Toby Howell
I mean, it's not necessarily that exciting of a project because it is just a more expensive entry level version of their phone. And it doesn't come with a ton of bells and whistles. Most of the bells and whistles are actually stripped away. Like you're not going to get those higher end features that you come to expect. It doesn't have the dynamic island at the top. It doesn't have the MagSafe wireless charging. It only has one back camera. So if you make a big deal out of it, some people might say, wait, you're just releasing a less souped up iPhone. Why should I be excited about that? So I do think this, the reason why we're talking about it is because the modem and what it represents for Apple going forward, but a modem is not exciting for consumers, which is why they didn't make a huge deal about it. Nikola Motors, an electric truck company that once had a market cap higher than Ford, filed for bankruptcy yesterday, completing its slow downhill roll towards the EV junkyard. This company's worth eulogizing, though not for its contributions to the EV industry, but for its insane backstory. Nikola was founded by Trevor Milton amidst the green auto investment boom that characterized the early part of the COVID pandemic. It promised semi trucks that would run on environmentally friendly hydrogen and a network of fueling stations along major interstate corridors to keep everything moving. When it went public via SPAC, it reported orders for 14,000 of its hydrogen fuel cell trucks. However, the famed short seller Hindenburg soon took notice and released a report that Nikola was likely overhyping its business. The report also made the sensationalist claim that in some of its promotional videos, Nikola rolled a truck down a hill and pass it off as moving under its own volition, which prosecutors found to be true. Needless to say, instead of ushering in a green revolution in trucking, Trevor Milton was convicted of securities fraud in 2022 for allegedly misleading investors. And Nicola is now a poster child for meme stock froth and founder Megalomania. What a downfall.
Neal Freyman
Neal, this was a mess of a company. They were on their fourth CEO in as many years. They were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars on every truck they sold, which they weren't selling many trucks at all, even despite ramping up production. It was a symbol of the excesses of the SPAC boom that we had in 2021 and the EV boom that has faltered from both macro conditions because higher interest rates, less demand for EVs than what was expected, but also missteps on the part of these individual companies that thinking that they could be the next Tesla and not realizing the capital that was required. And many EV companies have been accused of fraud and accounting shenanigans. And clearly this was a business model that didn't work for Nikola, but also many other EV startups in the space.
Toby Howell
Yeah, there is almost two factors that sunk Nikola. One was Trevor Milton was literally, you know, defrauding investors by. I remember when this happened, when their video of this truck, you know, steaming down the highway, Hindenburg kind of said, we found out that they can't actually drive these trucks. These trucks don't work. They are literally using gravity and passing it off as, you know, self powered trucks. So that was this whole separate issue. But then there's also just normal startup problems. They are saying its current CEO cited the fact that it's really hard to find hydrogen fuel cell parts because it's just not a big market also.
Neal Freyman
And you should have thought about that.
Toby Howell
I know, but they, I think these are things that they thought they could just build or like the industry would grow alongside. So yeah, some of it was just a miscalculation of that. All told though, this was a money lighting on fire machine. It's lost $3.6 billion in capital. It's just been literally setting money on fire. And it joins, you know, that, that graveyard. I mean the Fisker Motors of the world, the Lordstown Motors of the world. These companies that thought they were going to be Tesla and instead are just a cautionary tale.
Neal Freyman
There are a few walking dead EV startups. One of them is Rivian. Their share price is about a tenth of where it was in late 2021, but they produce pretty well regarded electric pickups and SUVs, so they're still kicking. And then Lucid Motors is another EV startup that is still around. It makes luxury electric cars and SUVs at the top end of the market. To look at, their share price this morning is down 95% from their peak.
Toby Howell
Up next, hold on to your frontal lobes. It's Neil's numbers. This message. It's a paid partnership with Apple Card. Did you know you can earn up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase when you have an Apple Card? I said what I said. Up to 3% on every purchase. You can even take that daily cash back and save it automatically when you open a high yield savings account through Apple Card. Whether you're embarking on an overseas trip or just grabbing a bite around the corner, Apple Card is built to be your smart spending sidekick wherever you are. It also helps that there are absolutely zero fees. To get started, head to the Wallet app on your iPhone where you can apply in minutes and start using your Apple Card right away to watch that daily cash roll in. Let's ride. Subject to credit approval, savings is available to Apple Card owners. Subject to eligibility. Apple Card and Savings by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch. Variable APRs for Apple Card range from 18.24% to 28.49% based on creditworthiness rates as of January 1, 2025. Member FDIC terms and more@applecard.com what does.
NetSuite Announcer
The future hold for business? Ask nine experts and you'll get 10 answers. It's a bull market.
Neal Freyman
It's a bear market. Rates will rise or fall.
NetSuite Announcer
Inflation's up or down. Can someone invent a crystal ball? Until then, over 41,000 businesses have future proof their business with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one Cloud ERP bringing accounting, financial management, inventory and H R into one fluid platform with one unified business management suite. There's one source of truth giving you the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions. With real time insights and forecasting, you're peering into the future with actionable data. When you're closing the books in days, not weeks, you're spending less time looking backwards and more time on what's next. Whether your company is earning millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite helps you respond to immediate challenges and seize your biggest opportunities. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at netsuite.com/brew that's.
Neal Freyman
Netsuite.Com/Brew netsuite.com/brew welcome to Neil's Numbers, the segment where I share three stats from the week's news that will turn you into the most insufferable. Know it all for my first number how much has Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency, saved American taxpayers? It depends on who you ask. About a month into its effort to slash fraud and waste, Elon Musk's cost cutting outfit says it saved $55 billion in federal spending. But look closer and things get a little more suspect. The Doge website itself only accounts for 16.6 billion of the 55 billion claimed to have been saved. And that 16 billion also comes with an asterisk, because there is a major error. Doge mislabeled a contract as costing $8 billion, when in reality that contract cost 8 million. So when you do all the math, the total savings generated by DOGE amount to about $8.6 billion, a fraction of what had been broadcast. So how the M and the B get screwed up in September 2022, D&G Support Services was awarded a contract to provide services for the Office of Diversity and civil rights within U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The original value was listed at $8 billion, and it stayed that way for years until last month when it was adjusted to the correct amount of 8 million. It certainly was just an $8 million contract, because ICE's entire budget is around 9 billion. So an 8 billion contract is just not feasible either way, as Bloomberg notes This SUS accounting raises questions about Doge's reliability and accountability.
Toby Howell
Yeah, this is the transparency side of Doge that, you know, they invited when they put this website up. If you want to show their work, people are going to start, you know, parsing through that work and whether it was actually you could credit Doge and say, wait a second, they actually found a government contract that was mislabeled. That was soon changed right before, you know, the inauguration. What is clear though, that $8 billion is certainly not even close to what this contract could possibly be worth. Also, 8 million is the upper bound on what you could hypothetically say you saved as well, because two and a half million dollars has already been spent on that $8 million contract. So it just shows that when you're going line by line and trying to cancel and add up these savings, you're going to run into some of these hurdles. Maybe it's a mislabeled contract, maybe it is, you know, just an overexaggeration. But I do think that they thought they found the perfect Doge fodder here. And if you dig a little deeper, it wasn't the perfect Doge fodder.
Neal Freyman
And Elon Musk has said himself that some things will be incorrect and should be corrected. But when you're putting out false numbers consistently like this and overinflating your impact on, you know, this is the budget's trillions of dollars. And to say you found, you know, a couple few billion, you're, you know, you're going to lose trust with the public about your effort. My next number is three, which is how many companies control an estimated 70 to 80% of the fire truck manufacturing market. This stunning industry concentration, reported by the New York Times, was on full display during the L A fires last month when many firefighters who could have been deployed to the front lines were not able to get there because dozens of fire trucks were out of service, accumulating rust at the city maintenance yard. Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristen Crowley said that about 100 fire vehicles were out of service in January, which blunted their efforts to control the blazes. Fire leaders across the country say recent industry consolidation in fire truck manufacturing has caused higher prices and long delivery delays, impeding their ability to do their jobs. Tack on Covid, which caused major supply chain disruptions and worker shortages. And the situation at firehouses has become dire. Auditors in Atlanta found that more than a third of the city's firefighting fleet was out of commission. Chicago firefighters held a satirical birthday party for a 30 year old engine that had double its lifespan.
Toby Howell
Yeah, this is a interesting industry. One because fire truck manufacturing is an incredibly bespoke process. Every single fire department wants their truck made to their specific specifications. And so therefore it's not something that you can just mass produce like you know, a normal automobile. Then also it is a very consolidated industry. If you look at the top, you know, name there, it's called Rev group, it controls 30% of the fire market. But then you go down the list and three of the largest companies control about 70 to 80% of the market. And if you dig into those companies financials, they have backlogs stretching years and billions in dollars of orders. But there's just not a ton of rush to fulfill those orders because again, it's not a very competitive marketplace. So a lot of these fire stations are looking around and they're making do with what they have. They're making do. A 30 year old fire trucks are throwing birthdays for these fire trucks because they are forced to, because no new fire trucks are coming to replace their old ones.
Neal Freyman
For my final number, a movie you've probably never heard of just surpassed Pixar's Inside Out 2 to become the highest grossing animated film of all time. Najat to, a Chinese film about a monster fighting demonic child, has earned $1.7 billion since its debut over the Lunar New Year holiday, making it not only the number one animated film ever, and not only the number one Chinese film ever, but also the eighth biggest film in history. It's an astonishing result for a homegrown Chinese movie considering that Najat 2 is the only film in the top 20 all time box office list whose original language is not English. And even more remarkable, very few people internationally have seen it. Over 99% of its box office income has come from mainland China, making it the biggest haul ever in a single country by $600 million. That was a lot of superlatives. But Nejatu's success is unprecedented and it shows the power of the Chinese consumer market. When things are clicking, there is a good chance that this will be the highest grossing movie of 2025, depending on how Avatar 3 does later this year.
Toby Howell
This is a culmination of a trend that has really emerged over the past decade. If you go back to 2012, seven of the top 10 releases in China were from Hollywood, were from American studios. But then you go back to last year, no American movie broke the list of the top 10 highest grossing movies in the China. And it really just speaks to the emergence of China's movie making machine. They are one, improving in quality and two, showing that it reflects wider societal issues as well. This is a movie that is based on a 16th century story from Chinese culture and so audiences, domestic audiences are showing out in droves. One, just showing their national support for stories like this and then to just showing that these movies are good movies and they do draw in audiences in droves. At this point. It's coming to America too. You looked at the Showtime to see it. It's pretty widely distributed within New York City, so we should give that a try.
Neal Freyman
Let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. US Support for Ukraine in their war against Russia has never been more precarious. One day after President Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war, when in fact Russia invaded Ukraine unprovoked, he laced into Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky, calling him a dictator without elections and claimed he misused US Aid. The anti Zelensky rant on social media comes as the Trump administration is rapidly improving relations with Russia, holding high level talks this week about resolving the war that sidelined Ukraine and European leaders. Critics blasted Trump for repeating what is essentially Russian propaganda. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, it is disgusting to see an American president turn against one of our friends and openly side with a thug like Vladimir Putin.
Toby Howell
You are seeing a widening gap between the US And Ukraine. Obviously, the US has been a huge backer of Ukraine's efforts against Russia. But Trump has said in his on the campaign trail and since he's taken office that he quickly wants to settle this war, but he's taken a turn to increasingly blaming Ukraine and Zelensky personally and spoken with Putin about ways to end it. So we've entered into this balancing act where Zelensky does want to push back against these claims thrown his way without badmouthing the backer of, you know, its biggest the badmouthing its biggest backer while also trying to end the war. So it's a very precarious situation. While Apple was busy announcing a cheaper iPhone, Microsoft was cooking up an entirely new state of matter. It unveiled a quantum computing chip yesterday that it says is powered by eight topological qubits, a exotic form of matter that is not based on a solid, liquid or gas. The idea is for this new phase of physical existence to be harnessed to solve mathematical and scientific problems, eventually bringing quantum computing into the mainstream. This sparks two big quantum breakthroughs in just a few months. In December, Google unveiled its own quantum computer that needed just a few minutes to solve a calculation that would take most supercomputers 10, septillion years to finish. And many believe that Microsoft's new technology could leapfrog that chip. Neil. Now many believe that instead of decades, it could just be years until we get viable commercial applications of quantum computing.
Neal Freyman
Still, guys, go travel the world. We got the asteroid coming in 2032. You're not going to be able to get a quantum computer by then, but this is a tremendous breakthrough and we'll see the quantum computer arms race is on before you know we're all blown to smithereens in a few years. Let's say you were on a flight that crash landed and flipped upside down while skidding down the Runway. How much do you think the airline should pay you for your troubles? For the passengers who survived that ordeal on Monday in Toronto, the answer is $30,000. Delta Airlines, which operated the flight that went belly up, said it was offering 30k to each passenger aboard the flight with quote, no strings attached and does not affect rights. Interesting to compare that to what Alaska Airline offered passengers on its flight last year when that door panel blew out. That was fifteen hundred dollars.
Toby Howell
If all 76 passengers on that Delta flight took up its offer, it would cost Delta $2.3 million in total, which feels small for, you know, how large that accident was. But you're right, when you compare it to the Alaska Airlines flight, it is substantially more. I also went back and looked at, remember the miracle on the Hudson flight in 2009? Those passengers got $5,000. I mean, I guess you can, that's not inflation adjusted, but that was $5,000 going towards replacing possessions lost, not necessarily as an act of goodwill. So in the grand scheme of things, $30,000 is a lot of money, but also, I'm not sure if it's enough for given what those passengers went through. The SS United States, once a grand symbol of American maritime engineering, is making its way beneath the sky blue waters off the Gulf coast of Florida. No, it didn't run aground on some reef. In fact, the ocean liner is set to become a reef itself. A $10 million project aims to create a new habitat for marine life by sinking the ship, while also hoping to boost tourism and fishing in the process. The transformation from a 990 foot long mid 20th century marvel that carried four presidents across the Atlantic into an environmentally sound reef will take about two years and will include the removal of hazardous materials like fuel still sitting in its tanks. But it will give second life to the once proud ship that to this day is the largest passenger ship ever built. In America.
Neal Freyman
And it's super fast across the Atlantic Ocean in three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes. Which maybe doesn't sound fast because we can do in about five hours in a plane now. But that still holds the records to this day for the transatlantic for an ocean liner crossing. So pretty cool ship. And I didn't know this was a thing where they deliberately sink ships to create artificial reefs so people can go scuba diving. But it seems like a very cool use for this ship that I've seen in South Philadelphia. And anyone who drives a 95 or is around Philadelphia through there you see this, you know, this rusting ship and it looks like they're going to put it to some interesting use. But I have a question for you, Toby. What does SS stand for? This is the SS United States. Maybe some. I know we just got after Neil's numbers, but I still want to teach people a thing. And I didn't know this before looking it up, the SS stands for steamship.
Toby Howell
I was going to guess super ship so I thought that was a dumb guess.
Neal Freyman
But back in the 19th century there was, you know, they wanted to, the marketing folks at these ocean liners wanted to distinguish from the wind powered ships that came before it. So they called it steamship. And then it also came to represent what they call screw steamers, another SS or single screw steamship. So the SS stands for steamship.
Toby Howell
A bonus nails fact right there.
Neal Freyman
Let's wrap it up there. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Thursday. For any questions, comments or feedback, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom. And if you're enjoying the show, share it with a friend, family member or coworker. Toby, who should everyone listening share with today.
Toby Howell
This one goes out to all the OGs. If you've been here for two years now. First, thank you. But you've probably told all of your immediate friends about your favorite morning show. So let's dig deep here. Hit up your Exes, text your third cousins twice removed and knock on your technologically illiterate 70 year old neighbor's door. Bottom of the barrel stuff, but thank you for your loyalty.
Neal Freyman
Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our executive producer. Raymond Lu is our producer. Olivia Graham is our associate producer. Eugenia Ogu is our technical director. Scoop star Darius is on audio hair makeup is considering whether to go to Boston for the US Canada hockey game tonight. Only problem, tickets for the four nations face off title game are rivaling the super bowl costing upwards of $4,000. I say YOLO Devin Emery is our chief content officer in our shows of production of Morning Brew.
Toby Howell
Great show, Danielle. Let's run it back tomorrow.
Morning Brew Daily: Apple Unveils Budget-Friendly iPhone & Congestion Pricing Gets Axed?
Release Date: February 20, 2025
Hosts: Neal Freyman and Toby Howell
In this episode, Neal Freyman and Toby Howell delve into the contentious issue of New York City's congestion pricing plan and President Trump's recent efforts to dismantle it. Introduced on January 5th, the plan aimed to reduce traffic in Manhattan's core by charging vehicles $9 during peak hours. The initiative not only achieved its environmental goals by lowering emissions but also improved traffic efficiency, saving drivers 20 to 30 minutes daily and reducing vehicle entries by approximately 1.2 million in January compared to the previous year.
Notable Quote:
Neal Freyman [03:00]: "Long live the King."
Trump emphatically declared his intention to "kill congestion pricing," labeling it a "slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners."
However, the plan's success has made it a target. Trump's Transportation Department rescinded federal approval, claiming overreach and labeling the toll as an unfair tax on drivers. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) swiftly responded with a lawsuit, asserting that the federal government lacks unilateral authority to terminate the program. Neal remarks on the unprecedented nature of this showdown, highlighting that no U.S. city had previously implemented such a congestion pricing scheme and that this legal battle could set significant precedents for future urban transportation policies.
Impact on MTA: The potential revocation of congestion pricing threatens $1 billion in projected revenue crucial for funding transit projects. The MTA has already begun leveraging future toll revenues, placing its infrastructure improvements in jeopardy should the plan be halted.
Apple's latest release, the iPhone 16e priced at $599, marks a strategic shift towards a more budget-friendly smartphone option. While it is $170 more expensive than the previous iPhone SE, it remains $600 cheaper than Apple's high-end models. This new iteration boasts significant upgrades, including Face ID, the powerful A18 chip, an updated USB-C port, and most notably, Apple's first in-house cellular modem.
Notable Quote:
Toby Howell [07:46]: "It's one little phone here, but a lot of implications."
He emphasizes the broader strategic implications of Apple developing its own cellular chips, aiming to reduce reliance on suppliers like Qualcomm and eliminate hefty royalties per device.
The introduction of the 16e is seen as Apple's response to stagnating iPhone sales and the need to entice new users into the Apple ecosystem. By offering a more affordable entry point, Apple hopes to increase its market share, especially in international markets where competitors like Google and Samsung dominate the lower-end smartphone segment.
The in-house modem represents a significant technological advancement for Apple, potentially saving billions in royalties and giving the tech giant more control over its hardware pipeline. Although the modem itself isn't consumer-facing, its development is a critical step towards greater self-sufficiency and innovation in Apple's product offerings.
The show transitions to the downfall of Nikola Motors, an electric truck company once valued higher than Ford. Founded by Trevor Milton during the EV boom of the early COVID pandemic, Nikola promised revolutionary hydrogen-powered semi-trucks and a vast network of fueling stations. However, skepticism arose when short seller Hindenburg exposed misleading claims, such as promotional videos where trucks appeared to move under their own power but were actually rolled downhill—a fact that prosecutors later confirmed.
Notable Quote:
Neal Freyman [13:24]: "They were on their fourth CEO in as many years. They were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars on every truck they sold."
He underscores the company's operational failures and the broader issues plaguing EV startups, including high capital requirements and market miscalculations.
In 2022, Milton was convicted of securities fraud for misleading investors, leading to Nikola's eventual bankruptcy filing. The company's collapse serves as a cautionary tale within the EV industry, highlighting the risks of overpromising and underdelivering, especially in a highly competitive and capital-intensive market.
1. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Savings Discrepancies
DOGE, led by Elon Musk, claimed to have saved American taxpayers $55 billion in its first month by cutting fraud and waste. However, upon closer examination, only $16.6 billion was accounted for, with significant errors such as mislabeling an $8 million contract as $8 billion.
Notable Quote:
Neal Freyman [17:50]: "When you're putting out false numbers consistently... you're going to lose trust with the public."
He criticizes DOGE's reliability and the potential erosion of public trust due to inflated savings claims.
2. Fire Truck Manufacturing Market Concentration
An estimated three companies dominate 70 to 80% of the fire truck manufacturing market, leading to high prices and significant delivery delays. This consolidation has resulted in over 41,000 businesses future-proofing with NetSuite's ERP solutions, while fire departments face shortages, with cities like Atlanta and Chicago struggling to maintain adequate firefighting fleets.
Notable Quote:
Toby Howell [22:48]: "A lot of these fire stations are looking around and they're making do with what they have."
He highlights the dire state of firefighting resources due to industry monopolization and supply chain issues.
3. Chinese Animated Film "Najat to" Surpasses Pixar
"Najat to," a Chinese animated film about a monster battling a demonic child, has become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, earning $1.7 billion during its Lunar New Year release. Notably, it is the only non-English film in the top 20 highest-grossing movies globally, showcasing the growing strength and quality of China's film industry.
Notable Quote:
Toby Howell [23:51]: "It really speaks to the emergence of China's movie making machine."
He comments on the film's success as a testament to China's advancing capabilities in cinema and its resonance with domestic audiences.
1. US Support for Ukraine Under Strain
President Trump has intensified rhetoric against Ukraine, labeling President Zelensky a dictator and accusing him of misusing US aid. This stance coincides with improved US-Russia relations and high-level talks aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict. Critics, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, condemn Trump's remarks as aligning with Russian propaganda, creating a precarious situation for US-Ukraine support.
2. Microsoft’s Breakthrough in Quantum Computing
Microsoft unveiled a quantum computing chip powered by eight topological qubits, an exotic state of matter not classified as solid, liquid, or gas. This innovation aims to solve complex mathematical and scientific problems, potentially leapfrogging Google’s recent quantum advancements. Experts believe that viable commercial applications of quantum computing could emerge within years rather than decades.
3. Airline Compensation Disparities
Delta Airlines has announced a $30,000 compensation package for passengers who survived a recent crash-landing, significantly higher than Alaska Airlines' previous offer of $1,500 for a similar incident. While $30,000 may alleviate some distress, it remains debated whether this amount sufficiently compensates for the trauma experienced by passengers.
4. SS United States to Become an Artificial Reef
The historic SS United States, once a pinnacle of American maritime engineering, is set to be sunk off the Gulf Coast of Florida as part of a $10 million project to create an artificial reef. This transformation aims to foster marine life habitats, boost tourism, and enhance local fishing industries. The project includes removing hazardous materials, ensuring an environmentally safe deployment of the 990-foot-long ocean liner.
Neal Freyman and Toby Howell wrap up the episode by reflecting on the diverse and impactful stories discussed, from urban transportation policies and technological advancements to corporate scandals and environmental initiatives. Their engaging analysis provides listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the latest developments shaping the business and economic landscape.
Notable Quote:
Toby Howell [31:12]: "This one goes out to all the OGs... Thank you for your loyalty."
A heartfelt acknowledgment to long-time listeners and a call to share the show with a broader audience.
For more detailed discussions and daily updates on the latest business and economic news, tune into Morning Brew Daily on your preferred podcast platform or YouTube.