Jul 3, 2017

The new Tesla arrives this week

Elon Musk above ground. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted this morning that the Tesla 3 passed regulatory requirements 2 weeks ahead of schedule and the first production model will roll off the assembly line on Friday. First delivery to customers will be July 28. Musk says production will hit 100 cars/month in August, 1,500 in September and 20,000 in December.

Why it matters: The Tesla 3, at around $35,000, aims to be a more mass-market electric car than Tesla's other, more-expensive versions. The key test will be whether the company can hit its ambitious production targets (Tesla is aiming for 500,000 cars in 2018 vs. more than 10 million made by each of the largest automakers).

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Felix Salmon, author of Capital
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A white-collar crime crackdown

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

America has waited a decade for an aggressive government crackdown on white-collar crime. Now, just before the election, and in the middle of a bull market, it has arrived.

Why it matters: When times are good, investors become more trusting and more greedy. That makes them more likely to put their money into fraudulent or criminal enterprises.

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Ashley Gold
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Lawyers crystal-ball the Google antitrust case

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

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The big picture: Winning any antitrust case is a heavy lift. It's even more of a challenge to pull off victory in a future-looking case that seeks to make room for potential new competition to flourish.

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Sam Baker, Andrew Witherspoon
51 mins ago - Health

The pandemic is getting worse again

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Data: The COVID Tracking Project, state health departments; Note: Due to a database error, Missouri had a 3 day gap in reporting from Oct. 11-13; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Every available piece of data proves it: The coronavirus pandemic is getting worse again, all across America.

The big picture: As the death toll ticks past 212,000, at a moment when containing the virus ought to be easier and more urgent than ever, we are instead giving it a bigger foothold to grow from.

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