Poor old Elon: what a waste

If there’s one thing proven by the steady decline in Tesla’s share price in the wake of Elon Musk’s decision to join the most toxic government America has ever seen, it’s that politics and business don’t go together.

Musk is still the world’s richest individual, and the decline in his personal wealth is relative, but it’s clear that huge numbers of people have decided not to buy a Tesla on the basis of his bromance with Donald Trump.

Nevertheless, it would appear that Elon Musk has decided to move on; for the moment at least, his business empire can look after itself now that he has made the leap into politics and enjoys de facto (nobody elected him) control of the richest and most powerful country in the world, even at the cost of looking like a caricature henchman at Trump’s side.

Sales of Teslas, his only listed company and the one that contributes most to his wealth, are stalling everywhere on the planet. In the United States, while rival EV sales are growing, this is obviously because progressives (his biggest customer base) concerned about the climate emergency are deciding to punish Musk not just for his far-right stance but for the destruction he is wreaking throughout the administration.

The Trump administration has eliminated subsidies for the purchase of EVs and charging networks, given the oil industry carte…