How is a single control surface (the screen) enabling multitasking? My experience is the exact opposite. With my physiical button car, I can start the car and get back out of the driveway while turning on the AC and turning off the radio in a half-second mussle memory action.
On my EV: start car, "hello driver" message until you ack, put car in R, fiddle with screen to get out of backup camera and to the AC controls, turn it on, fiddle with the screen to go back to backup camera, radio blasting some annoying crap, fiddle with with screen to turn the radio off, now back to backing out of the driveway, 60 seconds later....

There is a ton of reasons/excuses for touch screen controls, but multitasking ain't one of them.

This.
Insider trading is happening all the time anyway. The participants do not need it to be officially documented with a paid subscription to insider trading.

Absolutely.

The profits of the rent-seekers and middle-men are through the roof, while labor is in the gutter.
Another example: my local Hyundai dealership charges $300/hr, the most senior mechanic there makes $48/hr - the difference goes to the private equity owner, landlord, insurance and whatever other middle-men not directly contributing to getting your car fixed.

A lot of labor has moved to the gray economy and a lot more to follow as the rent-seekers are squeezing every last drop of blood out of the system.

Another app, another account, more random issues with authorization and connectivity - nice! I already have 11 charging apps on my phone that need updating, password resetting, etc.
The reason my next EV is a Tesla.

They want UBI - the govmt to deal with the impoverished masses by giving them a pittance of printed fiat money, while the real wealth concentrates in hands of the oligarchs. That UBI won't come from taxing "the rich" - it will be funded with the destruction of the $USD.

Leadership don't care long'term. They will make bank to comfortably retire in the next 5 years. Generational fortunes to be made right now for some.

AI is a real productivity boost for Sr. Engineers. I'm on the front lines, I see it.
They no longer have to spend half their time in meetings, asking for resources, training Juniors only to see them leave in 18 months - now, they just get it done.
Vibe-coding is a different story.

I'm on my phone because the plot is unengaging. It's usually a bunch of random events and/or "everybody is an idiot" that drive the plot - there is no story line.
Repeating that multiple times doesn't fix it. Most content has turned to background noise for my living room.

Being on my phone is not the cause, it's the effect of unengaging story lines.

Costco meat has been a disappointment for the past couple of years in my area.
TJ now has better pork chops, chicken and salmon at same prices. Costco chicken is particularly bad - watery and stringy - consistently bad for years now.

Not really "popular" but the only sensible choice due to heavy taxation of ICE cars. EVs are exempt from VAT tax, registration tax, circulation tax, even free parking, toll roads and ferrying in some cases.
ICEs are effectively double the cost due to govt mandates.
Whether the govt mandates are a good or a bad thing - it's another debate, but EVs were forced on people and not that popular.

After two decades of bidding wars and job hopping, managers have realized that training your employees just benefits the next company (competitor). So everyone resorts to paying top $$$ for talent that exactly matches the current need. Full-time employment has turned into a chain of 6mo contracts.

It will take another decade or so with no career mobility to get back to long-term employment with training, if things don't get completely offshored.

That's exactly it, from a highly visible corporation.

CEOs are fearful for their jobs if they don't demonstrate progress towards adopting AI and keeping up with the times. We will be seeing a lot of "AI driven efficiency" signaling from executives to keep investors and the board happy.

It is interesting to observe how the narrative for the same process is different in the US and Europe.
In Europe, the talk is all about how AI is going to make workers more productive and relieve them from tedious work, but not a whiff of layoffs.
In the US, the talk is all about cutting jobs and increasing profitability.

What you say is true - it's common sense. And is also common sense for the JPM management.
The fact that they know this and still press hard with RTO means there are other forces at play which we don't see.
Maybe the company is ok with all office employees quitting? Who actually generates the business? - maybe a bunch of servers and top-level political connections? Maybe the in-office employees are just for customer service? Maybe super capable in-office employee is simply not set up to generate value due to org structure, and therefore it doesn't matter how talented. Maybe as long as the phones are manned from 9-5 that's all that is needed. Who knows....

Become an employer of at least 15 people and see how this goes.
https://www.eeoc.gov/overview

Yeah, tell that to the NBA.

Sounds like your definition of meritocracy is nepotism, and you want to fight nepotism with reverse discrimination - good luck.