To see Mount Rushmore in 3D, you travel to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

For the U.S. economy in 3D, I hit the open road.

I'm David Brancaccio.

First, the price of crude oil is down 1% at $110.50 a barrel now.

The oil producers' cartel OPEC plus did agree Sunday to slightly increase pumping to perhaps calm prices. Yet, many countries can't increase because of the U.S. Iran War. Stocks, Dow futures are flat at this hour. S&P futures up 3 tenths percent. We get a revised economic growth figure GDP covering late last year this Thursday, but let's go beyond flat statistics here.

On this 100th anniversary year of what's called the Mother Road, I wanted a more immersive, updated view of the U.S. economy by traveling a length of historic Route 66, linking Chicago and Southern California, where I started.

For road-tripping 66 in 2026, we go for a variety of vehicles starting in a Waymo robot taxi at the pier in Santa Monica, California, myself and two friends.

So this is Route 66 right here, right? Yep, Route 66. The robot turns onto a stretch of 66 called

Santa Monica Boulevard in a city at the sharp end of the coming economic transformation. Headquartered

here are some of the entertainment companies soon to be amped up

or wiped out by artificial intelligence.

Skydance, which just bought Paramount.

Also, the gaming company Activision Blizzard is here,

but Santa Monica, with its elevated coefficient of economic inequality,

is not all fancy studios.

Doesn't smell.

We limit our drive to just 25 miles in a carbon-intensive 1966 Oldsmobile 442, followed by a stint in my plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt.

But the bulk of the 900-mile journey with two buddies

will be in a spiffy 26 all-electric Rivian SUV,

which is so darn quiet even at speed that we need to add a playlist.

Which version of Stones?

Now, Chuck Berry.

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