Mark Gilbert , Columnist

Ford's Bow to Trump Benefits Robots, Not Workers

While the auto industry is at the vanguard of automation, we're all potentially replaceable.

January 5, 2017 at 11:51 AM UTC

Mark Gilbert is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering asset management. A former London bureau chief for Bloomberg News, he is author of “Complicit: How Greed and Collusion Made the Credit Crisis Unstoppable.”

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Ford Motor Co.'s decision this week to scrap a $1.6 billion investment in Mexico, following criticism from Donald Trump, shows government intervention can be "good for industry and it's good for employment," according to French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. As far as the workers in this particular case are concerned, the numbers suggest otherwise.

The U.S. automaker says abandoning its Mexico plan and instead spending $700 million to expand its domestic operations in Michigan will create just 700 jobs. Even I can work out that's $1 million per new employee hired.