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Economics

Saturday, October 25, 2008

HALLOWEEN AT A TRUE-BLUE DEMOCRAT’S HOUSE…..

Posted by Earl on 10/25 at 06:32 PM
Politics • Domestic • Economics • Comments •

Thursday, October 23, 2008

IN AN AGE OF “BAILOUTS”, WHAT’S ONE MORE…..BUT ETHANOL?!?

Remember…...the federal government has a tariff on imported sugar in order to protect the cane farmers in Florida (and the campaign contributions they supply to incumbents in Congress).
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Furthermore, the replacement for cheap sugar from the Caribbean is high-fructose corn syrup, produced by (perhaps) the MOST subsidized agricultural corporations in the United States - corn farmers like ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND (ADM). This stupid policy (not stupid for the Congress-critters, of course, who get massive campaign contributions from corn producers) not only costs the taxpayers billions of dollars, distorts the market, and feeds the epidemics of diabetes and obesity, it is also an environmental disaster, creating a massive DEAD ZONE off the coast of Louisiana, where excess nitrogen fertilizer stimulates algal blooms than then die and suck the oxygen out of the water column. AND, to top it all off, 15% of Iowa’s carbon dioxide emissions are being spewed into the air by the state’s ethanol plants.

Posted by Earl on 10/23 at 08:40 PM
Science • Environment • Miscellany • Food • Politics • Domestic • Economics • Comments •

THERE REALLY IS A PRICE TO BE PAID FOR “EXPERIMENTING” WITH ALTERNATIVES TO THE FREE-MARKET ECONOMY

One is inclined to murmur something about “karma” when contemplating those who seem highly committed to the most recent enthusiasm for “soak the rich”. That would, of course, be wrong. Christianity forbids schadenfreude, for one thing….and then one does have to think about the grandchildren.
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It does seem odd that people don’t want to admit that there actually are economic laws, but that doesn’t change the facts of the matter—and like natural selection, these laws operate without our permission, and despite our disapproval.

The economic tides will not stand still while Washington experiments with European-type social democracy, even though the dollar’s role as the global reserve currency will buy some time. Our trademark competitive advantage will be lost, and once lost, it will be hard to regain. There are too many emerging economies focused on prosperity and not redistribution for the U.S. to easily recapture its role of global economic leader.

Tomorrow’s children may come to question why their parents sold their birthright for a mess of “fairness”—whatever that will signify when jobs are scarce and American opportunity is no longer the envy of the world.

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The author is talking about the “tax tipping point” when there are more people getting money from the government than there are people paying it in….suddenly, there is a majority constituency for higher taxes! Veeeeery interesting…...
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READ THE WHOLE THING

Posted by Earl on 10/23 at 06:50 PM
Politics • Domestic • Economics • Comments •

Friday, October 17, 2008

MICHAEL POLLAN HAS WRITTEN AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT—START THINKING ABOUT FOOD

MICHAEL POLLAN has written A NUMBER OF BOOKS, the last several of them about food, and the U.S. food supply, and our peculiar way of producing it.

I recently finished THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA, and Thank You, LAURA for insisting, and for loaning me the book. I truly enjoyed the last half of it, where he talks about sustainable agriculture and about hunting and gathering…but the first half about U.S. factory agriculture, is pretty horrifying. Even given that, I recommend the book - it will change the way you look at the grocery store, and for the better.

Posted by Earl on 10/17 at 03:47 PM
Miscellany • Education • Food • Politics • Domestic • Healthcare • Economics • Comments •

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

PORTABLE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS…..?

Is that a dream…..or a nightmare?

I’m thinking the former…...

The Hyperion Power Generation uranium hydride reactor will weigh fifteen to 20 tons…designed to fit on the back of a flatbed truck because most of our customers are not going to have rail….It will generate 27-30 Megawatts of electrical power from 70 MW of thermal power….Here is a comparison to help put the system’s potential into perspective. A single truck can deliver the HPM heat source to a site. The device is supposed to be able to produce 70 MW of thermal energy for 5 years. That means that the truck will be delivering about 10.5 trillion BTU’s to the site. Natural gas costs about $7 per million BTU which would would cost $73 million….about 3 times as much as the announced selling price for an HPM…(but), it would be better to compare the HPM to diesel fuel, which currently costs about 2 times as much per unit of useful heat as natural gas and still requires some form of delivery for remote locations. In some places, fuel transportation costs are two or three times as much as the cost of the fuel from the central supply points.

Wouldn’t THIS be incredible? READ THE WHOLE THING

Posted by Earl on 10/08 at 06:09 PM
Science • News • Politics • Economics • Comments •

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

NO TAXPAYER-FUNDED BAILOUT—DON’T TREAT THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ANY BETTER THAN ENRON…UPDATED

When Enron was revealed to be a shell—its assets not worth what they had claimed, no one suggested that the American taxpayer buy up the bad stuff and “save” Enron.
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We’re being told that if we, the taxpayers, don’t ride to the rescue with our saddlebags full of money, our economy is going to crash, and we’re all going to suffer terribly. It’s probably true that hard times are coming, but I’m betting that the real suffering our political class is afraid of is the suffering that will be done by the ripoff artists at some of these big banks and those politicians who were ‘WAY too cozy with them, and took their money for years and years. Don’t listen to these guys, and swallow their socialistic scheme for “making things right”. Remember, Enron was no slouch in terms of its effect on our economy:

Posted by Earl on 09/24 at 03:36 PM
Politics • Domestic • Economics • Comments •

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

CHARITY…..HELPING THE UNFORTUNATE? APPARENTLY, BIDEN LETS THE GOVERNMENT TAKE CARE OF IT!

What else can you say, when a man earning hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, and almost $2.5 million in the 10 years from 1998 to 2007, gives 0.15% of his income to charity?

Unless, of course, he gives large amounts, but doesn’t take the charitable tax deduction—that *is* a possibility, of course.

Here’s the record from his tax returns:

Posted by Earl on 09/16 at 11:37 AM
Politics • Domestic • Economics • Comments •

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