27 September 2015 - Volkswagen 1

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You have to admire Volkswagen, in a way. Maybe German thoroughness makes it possible to differently burn regulators, and dealers, and customers, and the breathing public, all with a single fraud. Thanks to general human thoroughness in the power arrangements, those who are most harmed are, as usual, least able to claim compensation. Nevertheless, we denizens of the environment, the breathing public who are theoretically protected by the Clean Air Act, demand our 35 cents each (after laywers’ fees)!

clue:

Estimates of the number of deaths from the extra air pollution are super uncertain. The low end of the lowest back-of-the-envelope estimate I saw was only 3, suggesting that it might be unlikely for a class action lawsuit to score a large settlement on pollution grounds. Of course, far more people were harmed than killed outright, but that harm is even harder to estimate. The harm is ongoing, since not all the cars will ever be fixed.

take oh take this clue away

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