NYT Gift Article: What Elon Musk Didn’t Count On: Firing Workers Costs Money, Too

[Anonymous]

This is a very good read — providing a gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/us/politics/musk-cuts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CE8.3NwF.fh-LJ1MGpR7D&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[Anonymous]

I’m curious how people who are supposed to be geniuses didn’t understand how to analyze the cost of firing so many federal workers.

[Anonymous]

Haven’t read the article but saving money was just a cover story for politically shaping the government, reducing regulation on his company, and slurping up data for corporate espionage and LLMs.

They knew not much money would be saved; long term many functions will be contracted out at higher cost but Elon and friends will be the companies taking a healthy cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how people who are supposed to be geniuses didn’t understand how to analyze the cost of firing so many federal workers.

It's a core tenet of their techbro culture that they are the only ones who know anything. If they don't know it, the information must not exist - rather than simply be unknown to them.
That's why you see people say "Oh, we won't know the effects of [policy] until we try" or "Oh, we don't know how many staff we need until after we've fired them and seen what breaks" - no, we actually do know, there are whole fields of study on how to forecast that. You just didn't bother to listen to the people who knew.

I would be deeply embarrassed to be so catastrophically wrong about things other people could have told me (or did tell me). But it doesn't seem to bother them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how people who are supposed to be geniuses didn’t understand how to analyze the cost of firing so many federal workers.

And the "geniuses" fired the HR people first in our agency, so no one is around to process all the resignations and retirements that are voluntarily happening now that everyone wants out.

As well as the feds who are on administrative leave who want to resign to take their new job, but can't, because there is no one to resign to.

Such "stable geniuses" indeed.

[Anonymous]

Yes, only the idiots at DOGE would fail to consider that if you fire hundreds of people at the IRS, that might negatively impact revenue collection (to the estimated tune of 8.5bn per year according to this article). But I guess Republicans do prefer not paying taxes, so perhaps this is all intentional.

[Anonymous]

Haven’t they openly admitted that they’re not really concerned about saving money? That’s just red meat for the rubes. They’ve more than accomplished their actual mission of creating chaos and misery for Feds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how people who are supposed to be geniuses didn’t understand how to analyze the cost of firing so many federal workers.

It's a core tenet of their techbro culture that they are the only ones who know anything. If they don't know it, the information must not exist - rather than simply be unknown to them.
That's why you see people say "Oh, we won't know the effects of [policy] until we try" or "Oh, we don't know how many staff we need until after we've fired them and seen what breaks" - no, we actually do know, there are whole fields of study on how to forecast that. You just didn't bother to listen to the people who knew.

I would be deeply embarrassed to be so catastrophically wrong about things other people could have told me (or did tell me). But it doesn't seem to bother them.

Our society should never trust anyone from Silicone Valley (or any other techbro place) to do anything other than start tech companies. The fact that we do is just mind blowing. And I work in tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how people who are supposed to be geniuses didn’t understand how to analyze the cost of firing so many federal workers.

It's a core tenet of their techbro culture that they are the only ones who know anything. If they don't know it, the information must not exist - rather than simply be unknown to them.
That's why you see people say "Oh, we won't know the effects of [policy] until we try" or "Oh, we don't know how many staff we need until after we've fired them and seen what breaks" - no, we actually do know, there are whole fields of study on how to forecast that. You just didn't bother to listen to the people who knew.

I would be deeply embarrassed to be so catastrophically wrong about things other people could have told me (or did tell me). But it doesn't seem to bother them.

The very definition of confidently incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Loud and wrong, as always, and we end up shafted either way

[Anonymous]

Taxation is theft.

[Anonymous]

Dunning Kruger in action. Let’s call them Dunning Trump and Dunning Musk from now on.

They’ll think we said “cunning” and consider it a fawning compliment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Taxation is theft.

War is peace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how people who are supposed to be geniuses didn’t understand how to analyze the cost of firing so many federal workers.

It's a core tenet of their techbro culture that they are the only ones who know anything. If they don't know it, the information must not exist - rather than simply be unknown to them.
That's why you see people say "Oh, we won't know the effects of [policy] until we try" or "Oh, we don't know how many staff we need until after we've fired them and seen what breaks" - no, we actually do know, there are whole fields of study on how to forecast that. You just didn't bother to listen to the people who knew.

I would be deeply embarrassed to be so catastrophically wrong about things other people could have told me (or did tell me). But it doesn't seem to bother them.

Thanks to the OP for posting a gift link.

I studied Silicon Valley for trends analysis purposes before Covid. All the startup companies, unicorns, etc. So many jerks and so much broken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how people who are supposed to be geniuses didn’t understand how to analyze the cost of firing so many federal workers.

It's a core tenet of their techbro culture that they are the only ones who know anything. If they don't know it, the information must not exist - rather than simply be unknown to them.
That's why you see people say "Oh, we won't know the effects of [policy] until we try" or "Oh, we don't know how many staff we need until after we've fired them and seen what breaks" - no, we actually do know, there are whole fields of study on how to forecast that. You just didn't bother to listen to the people who knew.

I would be deeply embarrassed to be so catastrophically wrong about things other people could have told me (or did tell me). But it doesn't seem to bother them.

Thanks to the OP for posting a gift link.

I studied Silicon Valley for trends analysis purposes before Covid. All the startup companies, unicorns, etc. So many jerks and so much broken.

Anyone missing Donald Rumsfeld's unknown unknowns? Amazing that was less hubris than we are dealing with today.