It surprises me that someone so confident with their knowledge of economics could think that they can explain the dynamics of the US-China relationship in a few paragraphs on slashdot. I will attempt to do somewhat of the same, but this isn't a conversation that can truly be had with comments on this forum...
Unfortunately you oversimplify, and underestimate grossly in your response.
1.) China's main concern is not the value of their currency, but the industrialization of itself. Higher wages, workers rights, etc. This trumps any concern about currency, production, etc. In many parts of China factories are having to increase worker salaries by double digit percetages on a yearly basis. What happens when workers unionize? What happens when they demand more rights? All western countries have undergone this process but China is very, very different and the possibilities are endless. This single topic alone has greater ability to topple china than any discussion on currency valuation.
2.) The idea that China owns the the "production" part of your equation is silly. The reasons for this are too lengthy to explain in this post, but you undermine just how well western countries are at producing goods when it is worth for them to do so. Germany is a fantastic example, and the US has a number of good examples as well. The other trump card in a lot of this is the IP (which I think we give way too much away to China).
3.) The debt burden can achieve a number of leverage points that could benefit the USA, if it is done right. Demonizing it like we are doing helps motivate voters to demand politicians deal with it and make the changes that need to be made to big government to stop the excessive growth of debt. It is irrelevant that China owns or any other country owns our debt, what is relevant is that the debt debate be made to force legislators to deal with it and make the fundamental changes in how tax dollars are spent to reduce it. The debt will likely never get paid off, but this transition to reign in government spending has only started and from what I see - both democrats and republicans are being forced to deal with it head on. As long as voters continue to apply pressure, I think we have yet to see what this country can do.
Above all, my hope is that in spite of a lot of the wrongs we have done and continue to do, that the voices of the people will actively continue to press for changes so that we can make it through this crisis and evolve to deal with the challenges facing the worlds sole superpower in the decades to come.
We cannot maintain any defeatist attitude with these issues. As powerless as voters may sometimes feel, I don't think we need to look very far back (election of our current president) to see what the moving of the masses can yield.
If we started writing off things we consume just because in excessive amounts they can be bad for you, there really would be few things that we could say were good for us. Most people do not drink 4 cups a day.
Aside from the health aspect, we cannot deny how big a role coffee has played in our lives and in society since it's creation. It helped fuel the industrial revolution, is one of the world's largest traded commodoties, and is still increasing in popularity. No matter what this study says, coffee will continue to play a singificant role in many of the world's cultures.
I think that statement is a bit presumptuous seeing as how "searching" and "indexing" are far from the only functions a browser performs.
Just, IMHO. Google Desktop still has a while to go before being able replace traditional browsers. Maybe for a select few surfers it does what they need, but for me it does not.
As a fairly staunch conservative (although I will also say that I am at odds with the administration on a number of issues as well), I have to tell you that what you wrote is very, very respectable, and I applaud you for it. It seems too often people from one side use "bashing" the other side as the reason they are what they are. "I'm a conservative because liberals are xxxxx" and vice versa.
Kudos to you, I am glad liberals like you exist, because you are completely right - if the entire country followed in any leaders footsteps, it would be a scary place. Many times in political discussions I've given things new thoughts because of liberal interpretations or opinions, and vice versa. It's very healthy, in my opinion, even if it's impossible for both sides to agree on things.
I really sometimes wish there was less extremism on both sides, but I suppose it is all human nature especially in such a divese society as what we have here.
Yes, many times, and have many ways of proving it.
Could it be driven for more than a few minutes?
I can drive it all day long...
Could you even handle driving it on the road?
Yes... it can be quite an experience, but I've learned to handle it fairly well. It isn't for the faint of heart.
It is not as much of a race car as you may think. It has a full interior. Carpet, radio and stereo, 2 seats, a/c, power steering, full dash, no roll cage, etc. It's not a daily commuter car to go through traffic, that's for sure - but I have gotten caught in traffic with it on a couple of occasions and it's really not a problem to drive it through traffic... the clutch is pretty stiff to handle the torque and power of the motor, but it's livable.
The bottom end, transmission, and rear end are all stock and have withstood these power levels for 3 years without a single incident.
I do use top of the line technology. Cutting edge turbocharger, state of the art engine management, great tuning, help from the best in the industry, a lot of time, money, and effort, as well as an ever vigilant driver who always does things the proper way and knows how to maintain a 1000hp vehicle.
Finally, I'd like to also state once again, my car does not use Nitrous.
My website has graphs from dynomometers that measure rear-wheel horsepower. Unfortunately the one I have on there now is out of date and from my older setup but it shows 730hp at the rear wheels. If you figure the drivetrain loss being some 15%, you are left with around 850horsepower from the motor. I am currently making aroud 850 horsepower at the wheels (which I also have graphs for, but that haven't been uploaded yet. 850rwhp equates to about 1000hp at the crankshaft.
To answer your other questions and comments: I do not use nitrous, and the car is perfectly streetable. It does run on 110 octane fuel (which is optional, but it will not make the same power with 93 octane) and while it doesn't drive like an S500 I have no problems driving it around. It has power steering, air conditioning, radio, etc. All the creature comforts.
In response to your last comment, yes it has taken a lot of time and yes it was definitely not cheap. It also is not something any Joe Schmoe can do either.
My father's '95 Mercedes S420 had a real time MPG meter as well.
If you want impressive mpg, my '98 Supra can make some 1000hp at full boost, but can get an impressive 18-20mpg while cruising on the highway... how about that for being bi-polar.
What we (Americans) don't pay in the cost of gasoline we do pay in property taxes and interest rates on home loans.
My parents are building a house in Spain at the moment, and the highest interest rate for a home loan was around 2.5%. Also the tax percentages on property are much, much higher - I forget the difference exactly but my parents also own quite a bit of property overseas as well and pay about 1/5th to 1/10th of the taxes they would on a similarly valued property here in Chicago (and these properties aren't in the middle of the desert either, they are near large cities and/or right on the coast of Spain - prime real estate).
NEW YORK - After getting pulled over for doing 100mph in a 35mph zone, a former RIAA lawsuit defendent was quoted as saying:
"I swear officer, I didn't know the difference between pressing the accelerator in my $125,000 Porsche 911 Turbo and pressing the accelerator in my $12,000 Toyota Corolla. How was I suppose to know the difference? Am I actually supposed to read something before I use it?!"
The offender expressed anger towards Porsche for making such a fast car and failing to inform them of it's capabilities. They plan on filing legal action against them for their "gross negligence"
Slashdot Mirror
It surprises me that someone so confident with their knowledge of economics could think that they can explain the dynamics of the US-China relationship in a few paragraphs on slashdot. I will attempt to do somewhat of the same, but this isn't a conversation that can truly be had with comments on this forum...
Unfortunately you oversimplify, and underestimate grossly in your response.
1.) China's main concern is not the value of their currency, but the industrialization of itself. Higher wages, workers rights, etc. This trumps any concern about currency, production, etc. In many parts of China factories are having to increase worker salaries by double digit percetages on a yearly basis. What happens when workers unionize? What happens when they demand more rights? All western countries have undergone this process but China is very, very different and the possibilities are endless. This single topic alone has greater ability to topple china than any discussion on currency valuation.
2.) The idea that China owns the the "production" part of your equation is silly. The reasons for this are too lengthy to explain in this post, but you undermine just how well western countries are at producing goods when it is worth for them to do so. Germany is a fantastic example, and the US has a number of good examples as well. The other trump card in a lot of this is the IP (which I think we give way too much away to China).
3.) The debt burden can achieve a number of leverage points that could benefit the USA, if it is done right. Demonizing it like we are doing helps motivate voters to demand politicians deal with it and make the changes that need to be made to big government to stop the excessive growth of debt. It is irrelevant that China owns or any other country owns our debt, what is relevant is that the debt debate be made to force legislators to deal with it and make the fundamental changes in how tax dollars are spent to reduce it. The debt will likely never get paid off, but this transition to reign in government spending has only started and from what I see - both democrats and republicans are being forced to deal with it head on. As long as voters continue to apply pressure, I think we have yet to see what this country can do.
Above all, my hope is that in spite of a lot of the wrongs we have done and continue to do, that the voices of the people will actively continue to press for changes so that we can make it through this crisis and evolve to deal with the challenges facing the worlds sole superpower in the decades to come. We cannot maintain any defeatist attitude with these issues. As powerless as voters may sometimes feel, I don't think we need to look very far back (election of our current president) to see what the moving of the masses can yield.
If we started writing off things we consume just because in excessive amounts they can be bad for you, there really would be few things that we could say were good for us. Most people do not drink 4 cups a day. Aside from the health aspect, we cannot deny how big a role coffee has played in our lives and in society since it's creation. It helped fuel the industrial revolution, is one of the world's largest traded commodoties, and is still increasing in popularity. No matter what this study says, coffee will continue to play a singificant role in many of the world's cultures.
I think that statement is a bit presumptuous seeing as how "searching" and "indexing" are far from the only functions a browser performs. Just, IMHO. Google Desktop still has a while to go before being able replace traditional browsers. Maybe for a select few surfers it does what they need, but for me it does not.
As a fairly staunch conservative (although I will also say that I am at odds with the administration on a number of issues as well), I have to tell you that what you wrote is very, very respectable, and I applaud you for it. It seems too often people from one side use "bashing" the other side as the reason they are what they are. "I'm a conservative because liberals are xxxxx" and vice versa. Kudos to you, I am glad liberals like you exist, because you are completely right - if the entire country followed in any leaders footsteps, it would be a scary place. Many times in political discussions I've given things new thoughts because of liberal interpretations or opinions, and vice versa. It's very healthy, in my opinion, even if it's impossible for both sides to agree on things. I really sometimes wish there was less extremism on both sides, but I suppose it is all human nature especially in such a divese society as what we have here.
Did I ever make that horsepower?
Yes, many times, and have many ways of proving it.
Could it be driven for more than a few minutes?
I can drive it all day long...
Could you even handle driving it on the road?
Yes... it can be quite an experience, but I've learned to handle it fairly well. It isn't for the faint of heart.
It is not as much of a race car as you may think. It has a full interior. Carpet, radio and stereo, 2 seats, a/c, power steering, full dash, no roll cage, etc. It's not a daily commuter car to go through traffic, that's for sure - but I have gotten caught in traffic with it on a couple of occasions and it's really not a problem to drive it through traffic... the clutch is pretty stiff to handle the torque and power of the motor, but it's livable.
The bottom end, transmission, and rear end are all stock and have withstood these power levels for 3 years without a single incident.
I do use top of the line technology. Cutting edge turbocharger, state of the art engine management, great tuning, help from the best in the industry, a lot of time, money, and effort, as well as an ever vigilant driver who always does things the proper way and knows how to maintain a 1000hp vehicle.
Finally, I'd like to also state once again, my car does not use Nitrous.
-m
My website has graphs from dynomometers that measure rear-wheel horsepower. Unfortunately the one I have on there now is out of date and from my older setup but it shows 730hp at the rear wheels. If you figure the drivetrain loss being some 15%, you are left with around 850horsepower from the motor. I am currently making aroud 850 horsepower at the wheels (which I also have graphs for, but that haven't been uploaded yet. 850rwhp equates to about 1000hp at the crankshaft.
To answer your other questions and comments: I do not use nitrous, and the car is perfectly streetable. It does run on 110 octane fuel (which is optional, but it will not make the same power with 93 octane) and while it doesn't drive like an S500 I have no problems driving it around. It has power steering, air conditioning, radio, etc. All the creature comforts.
In response to your last comment, yes it has taken a lot of time and yes it was definitely not cheap. It also is not something any Joe Schmoe can do either.
-m
My father's '95 Mercedes S420 had a real time MPG meter as well.
If you want impressive mpg, my '98 Supra can make some 1000hp at full boost, but can get an impressive 18-20mpg while cruising on the highway... how about that for being bi-polar.
-m
What we (Americans) don't pay in the cost of gasoline we do pay in property taxes and interest rates on home loans.
My parents are building a house in Spain at the moment, and the highest interest rate for a home loan was around 2.5%. Also the tax percentages on property are much, much higher - I forget the difference exactly but my parents also own quite a bit of property overseas as well and pay about 1/5th to 1/10th of the taxes they would on a similarly valued property here in Chicago (and these properties aren't in the middle of the desert either, they are near large cities and/or right on the coast of Spain - prime real estate).
-m
I can see the headlines now...
NEW YORK - After getting pulled over for doing 100mph in a 35mph zone, a former RIAA lawsuit defendent was quoted as saying:
"I swear officer, I didn't know the difference between pressing the accelerator in my $125,000 Porsche 911 Turbo and pressing the accelerator in my $12,000 Toyota Corolla. How was I suppose to know the difference? Am I actually supposed to read something before I use it?!"
The offender expressed anger towards Porsche for making such a fast car and failing to inform them of it's capabilities. They plan on filing legal action against them for their "gross negligence"
-m