# Longer-Lasting Tires Did Not Make People Drive Four Times as Much by Bill Gates > “When you invent radial tires that last four times as long, for some weird reason, people didn’t drive four times as much.” > **— Bill Gates**, *The Ezra Klein Show, September 29, 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Published source:** [The Ezra Klein Show, September 29, 2026](https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/08/bill-gates-dangers-ai/688418/) — direct or near-primary publication carrying the complete statement. - **Article placement:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] supplies the interpretive placement and links the statement to public competence, AI danger, strategic acceleration and machine succession. - **Editorial treatment:** The Reminder reproduces Gates's complete contiguous analogy and changes the article's reporting comma to a standalone period. - **Context:** Gates uses tire durability to reject a universal version of the Jevons paradox. Lower unit cost or greater efficiency expands employment only where demand grows enough to absorb the productivity gain; many complete tasks do not generate proportionally greater consumption. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] - **Companion article:** [[articles/Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen|Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen]] - **Companion article:** [[articles/Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse|Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Bill Gates|Bill Gates]] - [[wiki/Jevons Paradox|Jevons Paradox]] - [[wiki/AI Economy|AI Economy]] - [[wiki/Economics|Economics]] - [[wiki/Efficiency Frameworks|Efficiency Frameworks]] - [[wiki/Substitution Thesis|Substitution Thesis]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “When you invent radial tires that last four times as long, for some weird reason, people didn’t drive four times as much.” — Bill Gates, The Ezra Klein Show, September 29, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bill-gates-longer-lasting-tires-demand-elasticity ```