While U.S. policymakers escalate Cold War-style rhetoric and impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, most Americans remain unaware that the world’s best-selling EV isn’t a Tesla—it’s China’s BYD. Meanwhile, General Motors now sells more cars in China than in the U.S., and China is steadily expanding its influence across global industries, from technology to infrastructure. Washington’s response? Protectionist policies and economic nationalism that leave American consumers paying more for less.
In this eye-opening lecture, economist Richard Wolff explains how the U.S. has become the world’s largest debtor, borrowing from China even as it engages in proxy conflicts against Russia, China’s ally. Wolff reveals the contradictions of a capitalist system in decline: while foreign nations build railroads in Africa, Americans struggle with overpriced everyday goods. The global economic balance is shifting rapidly. BRICS countries now outpace the G7 in production, China and India grow at twice the U.S. rate, and Western governments lack a clear plan to regain competitiveness. According to Wolff, America’s challenges are not the result of foreign interference—they are the outcome of decades of corporate profit-driven decisions.
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China’s BYD poised to overtake Tesla as world’s top EV seller for the first time
Chinese auto giant BYD on Friday is expected to dethrone U.S. rival Tesla
as the world’s biggest seller of electric vehicles on a calendar-year basis.
The milestone would cap an extraordinary rise for BYD, a company Tesla’s Elon Musk once dismissed by laughing at their products during a 2011 Bloomberg interview.
The two carmakers are poised to publish their final annual sales figures for 2025, although based on available sales data, it appears all but certain that BYD will officially surpass Tesla.
In a statement published Thursday, BYD said sales of its battery-powered cars rose nearly 28% to 2.26 million units. Tesla has not yet released its 2025 sales figures, although it is expected to do so later in the day.
On Monday, Tesla compiled an average estimate for 1.6 million vehicle deliveries in 2025, down roughly 8% from 2024, putting the company on track for its second straight annual drop.