[7leafer]

> When did losing money become acceptable and the new normal for publicly traded companies?

It's when big investors decided they'd better keep a selected few companies on life support while they kill fair competition with their suicidal price dumping, and then milk the monopolies they inevitably become.

They don't lay off because they're on their deathbeds, they do so because of automation and optimization. No need for that many mechanical turks.