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Re:We Wish by AlphaWolf_HK · 2013-05-01 07:36 · Score: 1 · on Ask Slashdot: What If We Don't Run Out of Oil?

You're so near to answering your own question, why didn't you continue that line of thought?

Likewise, carry that globally and you see barely a 17% increase since 1980.

http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx

Notice that coincides with the global collapse of communism, which meant a sudden increase in global GDP. However notice at the end where we reach China's peak, it begins to decline, and that trend is continuing.

As ever in these speculative bubbles

It's kind of hard to argue that it remains a bubble when the panic button already hit and is past, and now it's relatively stable. Paul Krugman is wrong on this one. If his predictions were true, it would have collapsed already. Nobody is in any sort of a rush to buy bitcoins, which is what is accompanied by a speculative bubble. Instead people are simply trading them like they would any other form of currency.

Ebay is currently contemplating accepting bitcoins, by the way. As somebody whose business IS small trades on a large scale, I think just the fact that they are considering it goes a long ways towards showing its potential, even if they decide not to.

flat production since 2008 due to world recession by peter303 · 2013-05-01 02:53 · Score: 1 · on Ask Slashdot: What If We Don't Run Out of Oil?

No serious industry person thinks it is due to limits on production capacity. Upcoming years will tell.

Re:Bad headline again. by catprog · 2013-03-19 11:47 · Score: 1 · on Walgreens To Build First Self-Powered Retail Store

http://www.windustry.org/resources/how-much-do-wind-turbines-cost
Most of the commercial-scale turbines installed today are 2 MW in size and cost roughly $3-$4 million installed.

so 9-12 million per 2MW (when you figure out a 33% usage) or 4.5 million - 6 million per MW

----

http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2012/07/chile-suspends-endesas-planned-14-bn-thermal-power-project.html
1.8 million per MW

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/LunChen.shtml
Each ton of coal consumed at an electric power plant produces about 2000 kilowatt hours of electricity (or 2 megawatt hours)

10*24*365/2=43800tons of coal in 10 years

http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=coal-australian&months=60
Seems to be $100 per ton of coal

43800*$100 = 4.38 million

Cost for a new coal power station(including the coal over 10 years) = 6.18 million per MW
----

For solar

http://www.lowenergydevelopments.com.au/index.php?route=product/product&path=69_75&product_id=138
$10,000 for a 5KW system (assuming $1,000 to install)

http://aussiervproducts.com.au/webcontent4.htm
Using 4.5 hours

5kw,10years,4.5 average,365 days
5*10*4.5*365=82,125KWh generated
12.17c/kwh($122/MWh)

Yes it is more then the $50/MWh the generators are getting here but a lot less then >$250/MWh we pay retail.

Using just 2KW locally with no money for the excess would cost you $307/MWh for the system.
The other 3KW that you export (at the $50/MWh) would get you to $229/MWh which is less then the price we pay for grid power.

Re:all of Estonia, huh? by Forty+Two+Tenfold · 2013-03-19 07:48 · Score: 2 · on Where Can You Find an Electric Vehicle Charging Network? Estonia

and I don't know where he got that usa has higher poverty rate - they don't

Maybe, maybe not. According to some, what I said isn't without merit.

Re:Energy exports by roman_mir · 2013-03-18 08:47 · Score: 0 · on As US Cleans Its Energy Mix, It Ships Coal Problems Overseas

I did not say that USA was NOT net energy importer, however USA is now selling refined products and this is what helped to reduce its monthly trade deficit a few months back.

Bloomberg: Oil Exports Trim U.S. Deficit as Fuel Gap Shrinks: Economy

Energy exports boosting US trade position

However my point remains, USA energy consumption is lowest in at least a decade, you can find various data on this subject, like this here, and here

Also oil imports are very low, here is a 2013 story talking about lowest oil imports into USA in 25 year span.

My point is that USA is too poor to keep using more or even equal amount of fuel that it used to in the recent decade(s) and it's going to progress even faster from now and the fact that oil prices are going up has nothing to do with USA lack demand, it has everything to do with inflation, which eventually will allow foreign consumers to buy much more energy products than today as the inflation will hit USA home and USA MAY become a net energy exporter at least for a while.

Re:Good old American bait and switch by khallow · 2013-03-01 06:33 · Score: 1 · on How the U.S. Sequester Will Hurt Science and Tech

As opposed to the Friedmanian nightmare being tried here in the UK?

The UK has a public debt of 86% of its GDP (which is considerably higher than the US's current 68% of its GDP). That didn't come from Friedman.

And I doubt the Friedmanian nightmare would have been so nightmarish, if they had tried it when they weren't in such desperate straits.

Submarine cable politics..? by mattr · 2013-01-25 01:42 · Score: 1 · on Responding to US Gambling Law, Antigua Set To Launch "Pirate" Site

Granted there are a lot of cables going every which way over there. But a lot of the connectivity seems to go via British holdings up to Miami eventually. Or is Venezuela a connectivity powerhouse I didn't know about? I don't see them using their troposphere scattering to Europe but then again, maybe they will just run a shell game on mega? The links are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECFS_(cable_system)
http://www.submarinecablemap.com/
http://www.indexmundi.com/antigua_and_barbuda/telephone_system.html
http://www.globalcaribbean.net/pages/en/network-system/route-description.php?lang=EN

Re:Can't America get its acts together ? by Zembar · 2013-01-07 22:15 · Score: 1 · on Congressman Introduces Bill To Ban Minting of Trillion-Dollar Coin

That infographic claims that there has only been 16 tons of platinum mined in all of history.

Now look at this table: http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/minerals/platinum-group_metals/platinum-group_metals_t5.html

Those figures are rounded to three significant digits, but even if we peel off 1000kg from each year's total, we can safely assume that whoever made that infographic is either misinformed or lying through his teeth.

Re:And yet... by theArtificial · 2012-12-14 09:38 · Score: 1 · on 27 Reported Killed In Connecticut Elementary School Shooting

Guns amplify the problem like no other tool in existence does.

So yeah easy access and possession of guns IS THE FUCKING PROBLEM.

Gun homicides in the US ~ 9000/year (2010).
AIDS deaths a year, 17,000/year
2009 vehicle accident deaths 33,808/year.
Smoking releated deaths 440,000/year.
Cardiovascular diseases kill 2,140 a day or ~800,000/year.

Sure looks like guns make the lions share of the killing.

was it ever not in love with coal? by Trepidity · 2012-11-23 04:51 · Score: 4, Interesting · on The World Falls Back In Love With Coal

Sources suggest that apart from a brief blip during the economic downturn in 2009, worldwide coal consumption has been steadily increasing for the past 10 years or so, after plateauing in 1988-2000.

Fuel prices? by Tony+Isaac · 2012-11-13 17:40 · Score: 2 · on Airlines Face Acute Pilot Shortage

with the airlines sandwiched between rising costs for fuel and unsteady demand from price-sensitive consumers

Really? Actually, jet fuel prices have leveled off in the last six months.

Not all the airlines are doing badly. Southwest--a low-fare carrier--is doing just fine. Maybe there are other problems at the "traditional" airlines.

Re:You need to look up what Peak Oil means by Anonymous Coward · 2012-11-13 04:42 · Score: 0 · on Tapping Shale Reserves, US Would Become World's Top Oil Producer By 2017

A quick google reveals that you are wrong: http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx?product=oil&graph=production

Oil production was higher in both 2010 and 2011 than in 2008.

Re:Don't worry, Romney... by khallow · 2012-09-06 12:05 · Score: 1 · on Secret Service Investigating Romney Tax Hack Claim

Other countries tried "do nothing" Ireland and Britain for example.

Perhaps you need some assistance on what "do nothing" means. Do nothing would mean that they let banks fail hard. That didn't happen. Instead, they compromised the economic positions of their countries. And that's why they're currently not doing well. For example, Ireland's publicly held debt went from under 30% in 2007 to around 100% in 2012. The UK's was less dramatic, but it still went from 45% to around 80%.

You might recall saying that debt only mattered as a percentage of GDP, right? Well, there's the numbers.

Japan "did nothing" for a decade and almost saw total economic collapse.

Japan is the poster child for kickstart failure. They borrowed and spent heavily. If kickstarting works, then it should have worked in the Japanese case. Your claim is bizarrely wrong.

Japanese spending over the last couple of decades increased debt by vast amounts so that currently the country has over 200% debt per GDP.

What I see here is a very aggressive case of confirmation bias. If a country didn't do well, then you decide after the fact that they must not have tried to kickstart their economy, actual evidence to the contrary be damned.

And that leads to my point. Kickstarting has a history of failure. And here's why. It takes money from people and businesses that needed it and spends it on less useful and productive applications. The result is a net loss for the economy. The taking can be direct, say by taxes, or indirect, such as by interest payments and inflation.

Re:Can they? by afidel · 2012-08-30 08:49 · Score: 1 · on Can the UK Create Something To Rival Silicon Valley?

Ireland's doing a damn site better than it was before the tech boom.

Re:What would you do if you had a million dollars? by KhabaLox · 2012-08-23 09:03 · Score: 1 · on 10 Internet Connections At Same Time

You have a common sense view of "regulation equals safety equals good"

I would say my view is more nuanced: Some regulations equals a particular level of safety which may be good depending on the costs. I fully realize that a lot of regulations are bad and too costly - for example, the TSA.

You seem to have the view that any regulation equals cost equals bad. The problem with relying on the market in all cases is that 1) there is asymmetrical information (e.g. I don't know what chemicals they are using to frack, so I can't, as a market agent, correctly price natural gas) and 2) the market doesn't always price externalities correctly.

That wouldn't happen in the first place.

Sure it would. Companies and people will always take shortcuts to save costs. Look at Deepwater. The contractor used sub-standard practices in creating the cement casing. Now, BP has paid out billions in claims, but after the lawyers take their cut, I'm doubtful that the true cost of the oil spill will be recouped by those affected. It's virtually impossible to calculate the true cost to tourism, fishing, the environment, etc., so any settlement between BP and individuals or BP and the government will likely be incorrect. It makes more sense to insure (through regulations) that these types of events have a very small chance of happening.

One of the issues here is the is the different discount rates agents in the market have. A (public) corporation will tend to have a lower discount rate (i.e. preferring their money upfront), whereas an individual will tend to have a relatively higher discount rate (because they don't need to make their quarterly numbers). Because of this, a corporation may choose to save $100 today if the cost in a year is $120.

If there was a guy that lost his job and everyone on the block started donating food to him but you didn't want to, would you think it's acceptable for them to break into your house and take it by force?

What's the difference between that and from forcibly expelling me from their society, which is what would happen.

Do you have some numbers to back that up or is it your gut talking? I'm more inclined to believe our government military spending is due to us having bases and troops all over the world and starting wars every couple of years and pissing off half the world.

Of course our military spending is due to having bases and troops all over the world, and this is precisely why countries like the UK, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan can get away without spending as much on their militaries. Look at most NATO actions - who takes the largest role? Usually it's the US, while the rest of NATO (nearly) free-rides.

It would be hard to find a foreign politician who will say that they don't spend as much on defense because of the US's commitment to defend them, but it's an obvious conclusion when you compare military spending per GDP:
US: 4.8%
Taiwan: 2.7%
S. Korea: 2.7%
UK: 2.6%
Germany: 1.4%
Spain: 1.1%
Japan: 1.0%
Phillipines: 0.8%

The UK and Spain were targets of bombings on 7-7-07, so it's not like the US is the only target. Also, I would argue that you have cause and effect backwards. We are probably pissing everybody off because (in part) we are spending so much on defense.

Re:Taxes much higher than you think by Maxo-Texas · 2012-08-18 04:34 · Score: 1 · on Paul Ryan's Record On Science and Government

Because we are mature economy, china is not.

Review the CIA data here:
http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=us&v=66

I'll copy the relevant section.

Country 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
United States 4.1 5 0.3 2.45 3.1 4.4 3.2 3.2 2 1.1 -2.6 2.8

Look at the average growth rate since 1999. Under clinton, bush, obama.

In order to get 7% GDP growth, you have to take actions which result in massive inflation- devaluation of the dollar. China can do it because they are coming up from nothing-- and even THEY are now having a problem maintaining 7% GDP growth. Even THEY are being replaced with robots (estimate is 1 million robots will replace equivalent number of human workers in china over the next decade).

This growth rate is not keeping up with inflation. Purchasing power of the bottom 95% has dropped consistently since 1988. That could be addressed and may be the reason for lower growth. I.e., once one side has most of the money and won't give it back- then the other side can't buy more products.

But any attempt to fix that is going to be artificial. Most human labor is not worth over $20,000 per year. Robots are replacing humans at $15k to $19k in manual labor type jobs. There is a limited demand for higher skill jobs and indians and chinese are replacing those at prices under $20,000 per year.

So really it's about pumping the remaining wealth out of the lower 95% in the US and at some point when we achieve income parity with india and china then a normal economy will resume.

The chinese are retiring too now. Things are going to tighten up- but it's another 4 years before there is a real labor shortage. Just have to hope that robots don't improve much more-- but they are. and fast. Be nice to have a real labor shortage from 2016 to 2020. We are set for it. In china and in the US. It's a race.

Re:See the glory of.... by sjames · 2012-08-06 14:26 · Score: 1 · on Fake Tweet Claiming Assad Is Dead Affects Oil Markets

Syria is NOT a major producer.

And prices spiked by a bit over dollar on an unfounded rumor from a tweet. That sure sounds like a bunch of panicky animals to me. A rational market might consider that any id10t can tweet.

The price was 1.17 since, in fact, nobody died and absolutely nothing changed except someone yelled BOO (in a silly voice). The $1 change would be about right IF the death was real and Syria simply exited the oil market entirely as a result. That $1 is generous considering the elasticity of SUPPLY and that Syria produces well less than 1% of the world's supply.

Re:My prediction by TheSync · 2012-08-06 07:14 · Score: 1 · on Sci-Fi Writers of the Past Predict Life In 2012

the world tomorrow will be...less educated that the world today.

World literacy has risen from 77% in 1995 to 82% in 2005. More recently in 2010, 87% of female youth had basic literacy skills, compared to 92% of males.

In China almost all youth are now literate. In Kenya, 93% of youth are literate. Only countries like Ethiopia, Niger, Chad, and Mali have youth literacy rates at or below 50%.

People with college degrees increased to 6.7% of the world population in 2010 from 5.9% in 2000. That is around 50 million new college graduates.

Re:Goodbye jobs by Tough+Love · 2012-07-23 06:51 · Score: 1 · on US Regaining Manufacturing Might With Robots and 3D Printing

If you want to get an idea of what this looks like in practice, just look at Brazil. The rich live in heavily-secured opulence, the poor live in abysmal poverty.

For what it's worth, poverty in Brazil may be declining after trending up for a couple of decades.

Re:High suicide rate in Japan by Cyberax · 2012-07-07 01:10 · Score: 3, Informative · on Social Networks, Suicide and Statistics

Oh, and by the way, the economic stagnation that the Japanese government is literally pushing upon the people by high level of government created inflatio

WTF are you smoking? http://www.indexmundi.com/japan/inflation_rate_(consumer_prices).html - Japanese inflation has been ZERO OR NEGATIVE for the 9 years of the last 12 years. Current inflation is ZERO.

Re:The price of business in China. by fnj · 2012-07-02 05:25 · Score: 1 · on Apple To Pay $60 Million Over iPad Trademark Dispute

If you took your head out of the sand and extrapolated the trends, you might try giving a fuck about where this process is going to end up.

I'll make it easy for you.

Per capita GDP, 2002 -> 2010, China +111%, US +30%
GDP real growth rate, 2002 to 2010 average, China +8.3%/annum, US +2.2%/annum
GDP purchasing power parity, 2002 -> 2010, China +77%, US +41%
Unemployment rate trend, 2004/2009, China 10.1/4.3%, US 5.5/9.3%
External debt, exchange rate basis, 2002 -> 2011, China +172%, US +1522%

Re:try to guide the future (in a way we want to)? by Nutria · 2012-06-07 20:01 · Score: 1 · on Earth Approaching Tipping Point Say Scientists

Don't forget Japan. All of these countries achieve such low fertility rates via female education.

Anyway, that's 1.1Bn people + China's 1.3Bn. What about the other 4.6Bn?

Bangladesh, India, China, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mexico, Indonesia and to a degree Turkey and Iran are way overpopulated and (with the exception of China) keep on growing.

http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=2
http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?t=0&v=21&r=xx&l=en

Re:WWWBD? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-05-23 01:21 · Score: 1 · on SEC Calls For Review of Facebook IPO

You don't have to pay any income tax at all - there are plenty of places that don't charge it. Go live on the Cayman islands and make your fortune there - I don't think they have any income tax or capital gains tax, so you can keep 100% of your money!
Of course it's a bit more difficult to make your money without an educated workforce, or lots of infrastructure, or developed labour and financial laws, or trade connections, or any of the other things that government provides for business. But who needs any of that? People who make money make it entirely through their own effort and talent and don't owe one iota of a debt to the government.

You know, I know what you're saying, but if you look at the numbers, it isn't so clear.

Literacty rates in the US vs. Caymen Islands: Slightly higher in the US, but basically the same

Infant mortality rate: basically the same

Life expectancy at birth: higher in the Caymen islands.

So, in once sense you're right: taxes need to be paid to get the services that people think are necessary today. On the other hand, the US citizens don't t get what they pay for, as so much of the bill goes to useless things that don't really benefit the lives of the citizens.

Spend some time comparing the numbers -- I think you'll find it enlightening.

Re:It's around everywhere else, too... by tixxit · 2012-04-30 10:42 · Score: 5, Informative · on Is Humanity Still Evolving?

I wouldn't count on a positive correlation between "resources" and "# of offspring." On a world-wide scale, it actually appears to be the opposite ( http://www.indexmundi.com/g/correlation.aspx?v1=67&v2=31&y=2004 ).

Re:the bigger problem by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-28 19:04 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Ask Slashdot: How To Feed Africa?

Exponential population growth, contrary to popular belief, is actually a myth. Birth control is actually popular with the people who use it (women). If people can afford it and are educated as to it's existence it works great without any sort of oppressive scheme. See for example, India's rapidly declining birthrate: graph as an example of how population is not as bad as you might think. In my personal opinion, the biggest issue for the environment is intellectual property and microregulations that impede alternative energy development.

Re:Distributed Grid by Troy+Roberts · 2012-02-17 11:38 · Score: 1 · on Small, Modular Nuclear Reactors — the Future of Energy?

Most of Germany's power is produced by fossil fuel.

http://www.indexmundi.com/germany/electricity_production_by_source.html

Did you look at the chart on your reference, they are producing 9 megawatts during the peek of the day. A small drop in the bucket.

You're buying the wrong things with your privacy.. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-09 11:08 · Score: 0 · on Online Privacy Worth Less Than Marshmallow Fluff Six Pack

If you're that hard up for $25usd, then perhaps you should look at how it'd get you nearly 1/20th of a metric ton of rice .. in bulk mind you.. so you probably have to buy in multiple dozens of metric tons.
By itself, it's enough to keep your belly full for about half a year... not to shabby..

House prices inflated. by Colin+Smith · 2012-01-29 11:50 · Score: 1 · on Facebook Expected To Go Public Next Week

There's been virtually no inflation since 2005 in the US

What?

House prices went up like a rocket. Boy that was a fucking bubble and a half.

Wheat, corn, soy, cotton, gold, oil, copper, coal are all up 200 - 300% over the 2005 levels. That's kind of strange...

What exactly are you measuring to say there is no inflation?

Let them eat iPads:

Y'see what haven't inflated are wages, and that's because you are competing with China and going personally deeper into debt to pay for more and more stuff. The wage component of finished goods is fairly significant so the inflation which has indeed already happened to raw materials is coming to the US just as soon as Chinese workers stop jumping off roofs and decide they need better living conditions and higher wages.

The rest of the world has already experienced dollar inflation. The "Arab Spring" was ignited by the food inflation caused by US monetary policies.

This is the chart which describes how finished product inflation in the US is being regulated (because everything Americans buy is made in China); how quickly wealth is being transferred from Americans to Chinese. It defines how wealthy (and expensive) the Chinese people are.

http://www.indexmundi.com/xrates/graph.aspx?c1=CNY&c2=USD&days=3650

Re:Europe is broke , Linux to the recue by rev0lt · 2012-01-24 04:21 · Score: 1 · on Spanish Extremadura Moving 40,000 Desktops To Linux

http://www.indexmundi.com/sweden/oil_exports.html

Re:California wants to split off by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-16 11:43 · Score: 0 · on Predicting Life 100 Years From Now

Does that take into account the indirect federal subsidy that comes in the form of tax deductions? California has some of the highest levels of income tax in the U.S., and much(*) of it is tax deductible in federal taxation. (Other types of state tax are deductible also, but don't vary so much between the states, I'm guessing.)

In 2005, California collected about $105 billion in tax revenues, out of which about 55%, or $60 billion are income taxes. Assuming the average marginal federal tax rate of 20%, that would amount to about $10 billion of indirect federal subsidy.

(*) All of it, offset by the standard deduction.

Re:Then what? by mjwx · 2012-01-15 14:03 · Score: 1 · on Apple To Release List of Companies That Build Its Products Around the World

Presumably you're saying that for some reason more than just "they contain tantalum capacitors", as tantalum isn't ipso facto a conflict mineral, unless you're counting Australian rules football: and capoeira matches as "conflicts".

For the benefit of anyone who's never seen an Australian Rules Footy match, it can be best described as two teams of Aussie men trying to kill each other whilst keeping an umpire distracted with a ball.

Re:Then what? by Guy+Harris · 2012-01-15 08:17 · Score: 4, Informative · on Apple To Release List of Companies That Build Its Products Around the World

(and all the profit they made on iProducts, which were all made using conflict minerals)

Presumably you're saying that for some reason more than just "they contain tantalum capacitors", as tantalum isn't ipso facto a conflict mineral, unless you're counting Australian rules football and capoeira matches as "conflicts". E.g., perhaps most or all of the tantalum used in capacitors comes from those countries, or perhaps most or all of the tantalum used in capacitors used in Chinese factories comes from those countries, etc..

Actually, in 2009, Australian production dropped significantly ("The Government of Western Australia reported that tantalite production was 105 t of contained tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) in 2009 compared with 680 t of contained Ta2O5 in 2008 (Government of Western Australia, Department of Mines and Petroleum, 2010, p. 23)."), due to a mine suspending operation due to market conditions ("Talison Minerals Pty. Ltd. suspended production at the Wodgina Mine, the world’s leading producing operation of tantalum ore, owing to the global financial downturn and greater market share going to central Africa, where tantalum minerals were mined under conditions of armed conflict and human rights abuses [northeastern regions of Congo (Kinshasa)]."). So the chances that the tantalum in a capacitor was conflict tantalum went up substantially in 2009. Dunno what's happened since then. (See the Wikipedia article on coltan for summary tables.)

Re:Then what? by Guy+Harris · 2012-01-15 07:46 · Score: 2 · on Apple To Release List of Companies That Build Its Products Around the World

(and all the profit they made on iProducts, which were all made using conflict minerals)

Presumably you're saying that for some reason more than just "they contain tantalum capacitors", as tantalum isn't ipso facto a conflict mineral, unless you're counting Australian rules football and capoeira matches as "conflicts". E.g., perhaps most or all of the tantalum used in capacitors comes from those countries, or perhaps most or all of the tantalum used in capacitors used in Chinese factories comes from those countries, etc..

Re:And half the Arctic countries don't care by operagost · 2011-12-01 04:40 · Score: 1 · on Permafrost Loss Greater Threat Than Deforestation

Congress and the President don't have a right given to them in the Constitution that allows them to choose what we drive and where. And the unholy SUV is the whipping boy for the Slashdotter. Have you been paying attention to meatspace lately? The age of the SUV is over. Many of them came off the roads in the last few years and have been replaced by more efficient vehicles. We've either been replacing our SUVs with >25 MPG crossovers or >30 MPG sedans. We've been driving less too. The evidence is the fact that our petroleum usage has gone DOWN. Pick a fight that will actually help us. The American Way that you deride should be the way of freedom, not "standard of living". We don't need "stuff".

Re:This why the big issues with Illegals in the we by WindBourne · 2011-09-14 21:30 · Score: 1 · on The Rise of Robotic Labor

http://www.indexmundi.com/mexico/unemployment_rate.html.
The big difference is that we have a lot of promised obligations. Mexico does not. They do not have SS, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. That is what makes them a 3rd world nation. OTH, what makes the west 1st world is that we DO have programs that costs us, but builds up infrastructure designed to help advance our nation. The problem is that if we pick up loads of new uneducated citizens, while at the same time, gutting the low end jobs, it will leave us with high unemployment and loads of financial issues.

Re:Obviously by roman_mir · 2011-09-10 06:00 · Score: 1 · on Power Demand From US Homes Expected To Fall For a Decade

I bet whatever the old furnaces were in the houses, are still mostly there, specifically because of the recession and depression. Where do you see people buying new houses, new roofs, new windows, new furnaces, installing better insulation and better equipment in this economy exactly?

However what DID happen in 5 years is that the prices for all fuels went up by a huge factor.

Here, my comments are moderated "troll" when I provide actual data, because people don't like the data that shows them what actually is happening.

Gasoline Dec 2003: 0.89 USD/Gallon, Apr 2011: 3.18 USD/Gallon, price up by over 257%

Click that link and tell me that a 257% increase in price does not reduce consumption significantly. Go ahead.

Re:Krugman is not an economist. by roman_mir · 2011-09-08 10:49 · Score: 2, Insightful · on Krugman On Bitcoin and the Gold Standard

I never said money is investment. You seem to misunderstand me completely.

Money is savings, it's not an investment. Real money is gold, it's not an investment. It is NOT an investment. Investment is a business. Business that makes money. Be it your own business or somebody else's business that you invest in.

Money is store of value, medium of exchange and unit of account. USD doesn't work as a store of value, here is the proof:

sugar Dec 2003: 20.40 cents/pound, Apr 2011: 36.97 cents/pound, price up by over 81%
Beef Dec 2003: 105.40 cents/pound, Apr 2011: 193.00 cents/pound, price up by over 83%
Barley Dec 2003: 100.77 USD/Metric Ton, Apr 2011: 208.70 USD/Metric Ton, price up by over 107%
Rice Dec 2003: 197.00 USD/Metric Ton, Apr 2011: 500.57 USD/Metric Ton, price up by over 154%
Cocoa Beans Dec 2003: 1,646.58 USD/Metric Ton, Apr 2011: 3,113.52 USD/Metric Ton, price up by over 89%
Tea Dec 2003: 205.22 cents/KG, Apr 2011: 325.33 cents/KG, price up by over 58%
Rubber Dec 2003: 57.31cents/pound, Apr 2011: 265.49cents/pound, price up by over 363%
Corn Dec 2003: 111.98 USD/Metric Ton, Apr 2011: 318.45 USD/Metric Ton, price up by over 184%
Bananas Dec 2003: 371.43 USD/Metric Ton, Apr 2011: 1,013.47 USD/Metric Ton, price up by over 172%
Propane Dec 2003: 0.63 USD/Gallon, Apr 2011: 1.45 USD/Gallon, price up by over 130%
Wheat Dec 2003: 165.57 USD/Metric Ton, Apr 2011: 336.30 USD/Metric Ton, price up by over 103%
Oranges Dec 2003: 583.00 USD/Metric Ton, Apr 2011: 881.00 USD/Metric Ton, price up by over 51%
Salmon Dec 2003: 3.12 USD/Kg, Apr 2011: 7.86 USD/Kg, price up by over 151%
Chicken Dec 2003: 68.98 cents/pound, Apr 2011: 86.42 cents/pound, price up by over 25%
Pork Dec 2003: 48.68 cents/pound, Apr 2011: 92.06 cents/pound, price up by over 89%
Silver Dec 2003: 565.33 cents/Troy ounce, Apr 2011: 4,279.79 cents/Troy ounce, price up by over 657%
Alluminum Dec 2003: 1,557.78 USD/Metric Ton, Apr 2011: 2,667.44 USD/Metric Ton, price up by over 71%
Uranium Dec 2003: 13.35 USD/pound, Apr 2011: 57.84 USD/pound, price up by over 333%
Iron Ore Dec 2003: 13.82 cents/dry Metric Ton, Apr 2011L: 179.26 cents/dry Metric Ton, price up by over 1197% (yeah, almost 1200%)
Gasoline Dec 2003