$10 Trillion for Climate and Infrastructure
The National Review reports Liberal Senators Push Biden for a $10 Trillion Climate and Infrastructure Bill
On Monday, Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) unveiled a climate and infrastructure plan that called for $10 trillion in spending over the next decade. Biden’s initial campaign pledge to invest $2 trillion over four years was already inadequate to confronting climate change, and his coming proposal may be even less so, said Robert Pollin, an economist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who helped craft the Markey-Dingell plan. Pollin said a $3 trillion investment only amounted to about 1.3 percent of America’s gross domestic product.
To put the $10 trillion Markey and Dingell are proposing in perspective, over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office expects that we’ll spend $1.4 trillion on veterans’ programs, $6 trillion on Medicaid, $8.5 trillion on defense, and $8 trillion on all other non-defense discretionary spending. The Markey-Dingell bill would be higher than any of these parts of the budget, only it would come on top of all of these existing expenditures.
Biden’s Big Plans
The Wall Street Journal comments Behind Biden’s Big Plans: Belief That Government Can Drive Growth
The Biden economic team’s ambitions go beyond size to scope. The centerpiece of their program—a multitrillion-dollar proposal to be rolled out starting Wednesday, less than a month after a $1.9 trillion stimulus—seeks to give Washington a new commercial role in matters ranging from charging stations for electric vehicles to child care, and more responsibility for underwriting education, incomes and higher-paying jobs.
The administration has also laid the groundwork for regulations aimed at empowering labor unions, restricting big businesses from dominating their markets and prodding banks to lend more to minorities and less for fossil-fuel projects. All while federal debt is currently at a level not seen since World War II.
It all marks a major turning point for economic policy. The gamble underlying the agenda is a belief that government can be a primary driver for growth. It’s an attempt to recalibrate assumptions that have shaped economic policy of both parties since the 1980s: that the public sector is inherently less efficient than the private, and bureaucrats should generally defer to markets.
The administration’s sweeping plans reflect a calculation that “the risk of doing too little outweighs the risk of doing too much,” said White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. “We’re going to be unapologetic about that,” he said. “Government must be a powerful force for good in the lives of Americans.”
Crazy Thinking
If you think this is crazy, you are thinking correctly.
If you don’t think this is crazy, you are crazy.
The notion that government can spend money wisely and allocate resources wisely has been disproved countless times.
Take a look at Soviet 5-year plans, Venezuela, Japan for the last three decades, or dozens of other examples.
A Word About Capitalism
The saving grace of capitalism is failure. Good ideas are rewarded, bad ideas fail.
We don’t have failure, we have bank bailouts, student loan bailouts, housing bailouts, and so many moral hazard market interventions by the Fed and Congress I cannot even name all the facilities or tools.
And without failure, you don’t have capitalism. So don’t tell me that we need big government because capitalism doesn’t work.
The problem is lack of capitalism not a failure of capitalism. Governments fail and ideas fail, capitalism doesn’t fail.
Regardless, more big government ideas are about to be tested.
Mish
Everyone thought that Biden was a Senile “Moderate”, it turns out he’s a Senile Socialist more like Bernie than anything else.
Everyone thought that Biden was a Senile “Moderate”, it turns out he’s a Senile Socialist more like Bernie than anything else.
This is not a gamble. If you gamble you have a chance to win, the liberals are not smart enough to put a plan in place to win they never have been smart enough.
Biden’s infrastructure package is the biggest boondoggle ever put upon America. While many people see government spending on infrastructure as a job creator and a silver bullet for our ailing economy I would like to raise a word of caution, things are not that simple.Anyone naive enough to think America is about to receive a big gift of newfangled “fixed installations” needed in order to function should look long and hard at what is really being proposed.
To be perfectly clear, the problem we face is that poorly spending even trillions of dollars does not necessarily create a strong economy. More on this subject in the article below.
Mish are you really saying that highways and bridges are a bad idea. Because based on your view of the world, all roads and bridges should be built privately. Of course governments are not perfect. BTW Japan’s government may have been screwed up but its companies were not doing much better.
As for the US government’s boondoggle, since the mid 1980s America has being using the credit card to get what it wants. Wars lower taxes, someone elese’s problem. I see no difference with Biden than I did with Trump or any other president
I’d counter with a question: Do we really think that building roads and bridges requires guns? Government has the biggest guns. So when we say that something is the proper function of government, we actually mean, whether we know it or not, that that function requires guns to be done well and right.
April 1 WAPO:
Biden’s infrastructure plan aims to turbocharge U.S. shift from fossil fuels
That kind of sums up the US; a turbocharger, which uses fossil fuels, is the plan to shift from fossil fules.
half of the people in this country pay no federal income taxes, when are they going to pay there fair share.
After the VAT, the next step might be a national sales tax. It will be small, maybe sold as temporary in some crisis. In time the two of those will be regressive enough to make those earning laggards pay their fair share, I expect.
After paying big taxes for years, you guys paid me and my S Corps in 2020. Thanks!
I kinda like it!
They don’t pay taxes because they are allocated or earn enough credits to offset any taxes that they may owe. That is 180° different from your phrasing.
I do not understand why sensationalize with head lines like huge tax increase coming.President has repeatedly said no tax increase for people with income less than 400k/year . So any new taxes will only effect the top 1% earners. It is time they
pay their due share
Taxing the rich has never worked in the past as they have enough money for creative tax avoidance. Soon they will go after the 200000 when not enough money comes from the 400000. Many of the rich are close to retirement age and the extra tax burden will make many retire, close or sell their business and the jobs that go with it. I see an expanding market in tax free Muni bonds if Biden’s tax increases passes.
Eddie T has a point that you drive away a lot of readers with your constant Trump bashing. I have stayed with you because I learn and appreciate your economic comments especially on Govt reports and do not care about your political views. Politics today is like war and Trump has to be Trump to keep his base which is a comment on the intelligence of the electorate as Biden has to do with his Socialist base. I voted for Trump because of his policies and his so called “character flaws” is only an act to motivate his base.
There are a lot more Democrats actively commenting on this blog, drawn here by Mish’s constant Trump bashing. That will slowly change now that Mish has moved to Biden bashing. He deservedly goes after those who run government, because they almost always do it incompetently and/or corruptly.
Change it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold that’s all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain’t changed
Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war
— Pete Townsend
But we will get fooled again.
He didn’t mention Trump in this article. Only you and others in the comments did.
He bashes all major Party leaders. And they all deserve it.
“The era of Big Government is over.”
— President Bill Clinton, 1996
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Infrastructure needs to be repaired and improved. I am tired of kickback as too expensive on this front decade after decade after decade. Yet there is always more than enough money for the military-industrial complex to build weapons and wage wars around the world.
It’s time to spend where spending is needed and if that requires taxes to be raised, then so be it. Perhaps increased taxes will stop frivolous spending that is rampant in the USA.
Why Biden is no longer a deficit hawk ad why he’s no longer afraid of debt. Hint: You can thank Trump and Republicans
That’s so true. Austerity is over because it has failed every time to bring prosperity except to an extremely narrow class. It failed and good riddance. Now if the Democrats can shed the PC mentality we will be good.
Why did Biden change his views? The answer is easy, because he is now President and holds all the power, which was his only real goal. That is also the reason he is no longer afraid of government corruption and abuse of power. Maybe he learned it from Obama, who on the campaign trail in 2008 promised to shut down Guantanamo Bay, end the Patriot Act, stop military intervention overseas, increase government transparency, allow no lobbyists to serve in his administration, stop spying on the American people, etc and did exactly none of those things.
Wait! We’re subsidizing fossil fuel?
The administration is also proposing to eliminate all fossil-fuel tax breaks
So we pay companies to produce fossil fuel ?
And we have been, for a very long time.
Yea, I knew that. that was fake outrage on my part
What else would expect from a socialist government?
i would have gone wiht corpratocracy or plutocracy on that one
“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
― Ronald Reagan
I don’t make or have millions. Their eyes aren’t on my wallet. Taxing rich people is in my best interest, and I support it fully. If I get rich, or they decide I’m rich, maybe I’ll feel differently about that, but I won’t end up starving or homeless because of it.
This country is full of neglected shitholes, and it’s getting to be embarrassing. I want that megayacht money going to fix the stuff that makes this country function. I don’t want rich people to have the power to buy and sell everyone else, and their children, like Epstein and all his as-yet untouched customers. Not even Prince Andrew went down for that.
If you want people like Bezos to get more powerful than the government, you are sick in the head.
“I don’t make or have millions. Their eyes aren’t on my wallet.”
Their eyes are on your wallet. You just don’t realize it.
The World Economic Forum wants you to “own nothing and be happy” as part of the Build Back Better, Great Reset.
Pfizer took no research money
What holds up vaccine development is regulation, some of it good, most bad
That’s a lawyer’s response. They didn’t take it because they didn’t need it because they had a guaranteed market. By technically refusing the money they were able to firewall the patents all the while benefiting from the emergency money window if it became necessary for them. It was a smart legal move on their part but that’s all.
Specifically what regulations need to go?
I see the problem differently. I’d strengthen patent protection. Clock should start ticking the moment patent us granted
…the USSA ….United Socialist States of America….sounds good….can t put my finger on it but it does ring some kind of a bell , don t it ….
You keep writing “massive tax hikes”.
Please define “massive”.
I just don’t see huge hikes coming for us and our gross income is $250K (thank to Roth conversions).
Totally agree Mish but this is what the majority voted for. So suck it up.
We’ve been a de facto socialist country since the creation of the Social Security Administration under Roosevelt, before most of us were born. Over time it has gotten more socialist incrementally, as politicians have (mostly) wasted money to try to solve one problem or another (healthcare for old people and poor children, meals for poor kids at school, etc., SNAP).
As you can see from the comments above mine, the majority of your current readership (maybe because the hard-core Trump crowd got disgusted and left) lean toward the Social Democrat label. It is what it is.
I think free and fair exchange and free markets do solve a lot of problems. But they surely don’t solve problems that have no profit incentive.
And we are so far down this road now of Corporatism and corporate control of government, none of our founding fathers would recognize our system today.
The real story (imho) is one of how to keep robbing more and more, from the fewer and fewer that have anything to take, in order to keep the ones who have nothing from getting rowdy and hanging politicians from lamp posts.
We’ve run smack up against the wall of limits to growth. The pie is not getting much bigger from here, although for a few more years the furniture can be rearranged a bit to make it look that way.
I agree that there will be massive, massive waste and misappropriation in these new programs, and much of the money will accrue to those who already own everything.
BAU.
I suspect that some of the commenters who were prolific a year or more ago got turned off, if not by the Trump criticism, perhaps generally by the focus on presidential politics. I mean, the election was exhausting for everyone. … There were a few on here who used to get very excited discussing the evils of the Fed. I kind of wonder, sadly, if COVID got some of them.
Now there’s a trend toward rich older men who like discussing bidets, lol. None of which applies to me.
Agree with your post btw.
at least when FDR had some sort of electoral mandate resorted to these kind of plans.
Biden doesnt.
or at least he doesnt until he fixes the next (2024) election;
Unfortunately this sort of thinking has resulted in a crumbling bridges and tunnels, roads and a crumbling infrastructure.
Those entrepreneurs will turn a tidy profit solving those problems any day now…
that’s funny!
Private roads and bridges sound good in theory but it never works, a project like the gateway tunnel would never happen privately, same with the chunnel which seemed a boondoggle at the time but now everyone loves
toll roads…it works in Europe !
Instead of labeling it a boondogle about identiying the wasteful spending? Otherwise repeating conservative dogma. Gateway tunnel in my view is absolutely critical. It’s a shanda it became political under Trump. The wall in my view , now that was a boondoggle and plenty of Trump’s buddies tried to cash in , Steve Bannon for one.
Looking at ZeroHedge list of what’s going where here:
Wasteful Spending
A LOT of waste in this proposal.
Both Airbus and Boeing are Gov’t welfare corporations that would not exist without constant gov’t funds being injected. They are not model success stories at all and spending another 400 billion to have more corporate welfare companies is not what we should be aiming for.
Manufacturing went to China because American labor costs are too high. Period. It’s cheaper to ship raw materials there, assemble, and ship back here and sell. That gives you an idea of how much costs are too high here. I for one don’t want to pay double or triple for everything and I know I’m not the only one.
China invests in infrastructure. The U s. does not. Where should c companies that build infrastructure be based?
Prepare for this by selling the $ and buying real Gold and Silver coins, NOT paper Gold and Silver.
Retirement is how I plan to handle it.
Karma. Trickle Down tomfoolery, shaking your finger at the destitute while hiding behind an out of touch ideology, TDS rants, etc. Yup, now they are going after your net worth and I say it’s Karma.
Prepare for this by doing what?
Bigger government over the big government and more taxes we got the previous four. It’s the American way and Americans applaud as long as it is their party delivering it.
Unfortunately, as you can see from the comments, government intervention makes a mess and capitalism always gets blamed.
“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” Soviets, Cuba, Venezuela failed due to one man ruled dictatorships. If Biden’s wish list passes a 50-50 Senate due steamrolling the rules we will be on the same road as the above mentioned failed countries.
The only one who was trying to form a one man dictatorship in this country was the former guy #45.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely” Soviets, Cuba, Venezuela failed due to one man ruled dictatorships. If Biden’s Policies pass a 50-50 senate due to steamrolling the rules you are correct that US is on the road to failure like the above mentioned Countries.
Not quite. The rules can be changed…that’s also a rule. So if that is playing by the rules. The filibuster was meant to drive consensus not obstruct – yet it was morphed into that, without even any effort. It’s a joke and it will go.
So I just took a look at Biden’s proposal for infrastructure.
While there is the normal pork there are some things in there that really DO need to be done.
Update the nations electrical grid? Check. That’s absolutely necessary and must be done if we wish to remain competitive. People don’t have a clue about how vulnerable the grid is to a solar flare. Look up 1859 Carrington Event: it’s not a rare thing and if it happened today we’d be in huge trouble.
100 billion to update that is indeed an investment.
Of course, I’d rather cut the DOD budget than raise taxes.
This would solve a very short part of the problem. With a big solar flare, most of electronic products will be destroyed, in particular no smartphones and almost no cars or trucks (except the very old ones), no communications, hence no food in cities, etc…
It sounds a bit like a cheap end of the world movie theme, except if a Carrington type event were to hit the world today, that’s exactly what will happen. Small electronics wouldn’t be destroyed by a flare….it takes a long wire to gradually pick up charge from the flare. Small individual electronics would be fine. You are thinking of an EMP, not a solar flare.
The USA has a limited number of giant transformers, and with the failure of nearly every large transformer in the USA due to the predicted flare, it would take 20-30 years to recover.
Or….we could just require that for every major transformer made a back up must be on standby. That would eliminate the threat at the cost of a few billion dollars.
I’d like to cut the military budget too but Biden seems determined to get us into Ukraine so sadly it’s going to expand instead of contract.
I looked at the breakdown too and yeah 100 billion is definitely needed. But other things on that list are crazy because he wants 300 for advanced manufacturing which is more than roads + electric combined. That’s nuts. Then there’s the 85 billion for public transportation (when Covid fears have public transportation at all time lows that may last a long time) plus cities should be spending their own money on their public transportation taxing their own citizens rather than the feds doing it (boondoggle grift).
That is where your philosophy fails. Capitalism has failed many times especially now. That isn’t to say that governments haven’t failed either. The best approach is for governments to provide a good environment for business, the proper incentives and regulations to limit capitalisms worst impulses (which basically is that anything that makes a dollar can’t be bad), and let capitalism do its best to reach the goals.
There is no capitalism now, nor any time recently.
Even the NYT is calling Biden’s plan the largest Federal tax increase since 1942
https://reason.com/2021/03/29/heres-how-bidens-proposed-tax-increases-will-affect-you/
The US is done. Put a fork in us. We’ve spent 2-3 decades boosting speculation with artificially cheap money. Our kids don’t want to study and work hard. Our education sector cares more about racial proportions and creating activists than educating students. Our citizens don’t respect our founding principles any more. We deride wealth as evil and revere poverty and single motherhood as noble. We forgot the values that created our prosperity and assume our prosperity would have come regardless. Our priorities are misplaced. We’re not hungry any more. China is hungry.
As much as I dislike reading what you say, I can’t really argue with any of it. I’m still an optimist though. Hopefully we can improve things before it all collapses, or (if not) rise like a Phoenix from the ashes.
It’s about balance and correcting an out of whack system. Racial minorities don’t want fairness just for the sake of it, but to get a chance to work hard and improve their lives too. And not get pulled over for driving black, or shot to death unarmed while the police get excused for that. Think of it from their perspective, as a thought exercise. We need to listen to what they’re saying instead of dismissing it as “woke cancel culture”, as a kneejerk reaction. We do not deride wealth and revere poverty, we deride a system that apportions it with an extreme bias.
It’s a bunch of BS. Blacks can easily succeed if they work hard. There are probably more black millionaires in the US as there are in the rest of the world combined.
The problem with the black community is 70% of the kids grow up without a father. It has nothing to do with discrimination.
This is mindless, “hooray for America” nonsense. You can’t possibly believe that discrimination has no impact on minorities’ lives and economic prospects…
Lack of critical thinking and education will sink all of us. Wealthy and poor alike. What the elite forget is that when China eats our lunch they’ll be unprepared to work in that political system and lose to the locals. I’m surprised by the short slightness of them all. We dump billions in ISP infrastructure and have low speeds and awful value, we invade other countries and are surprised when those occupying forces come back and abuse their police powers at home, we don’t coalesce behind national priorities, etc. This is all very sad.
The only definitive taxes are a partial rollback of the corporate income tax of 35 to 21% back to 28% to pay for the infrastructure package. Imagine that, actually paying for something rather than saying it will pay for itself. Since this will use up the reconciliation for this year it will be 2022 before anything else is done. All the rest is hot air that won’t get enacted.
US can’t do any major infrastructure overhauls, we don’t have it in us,
Why should I care if they tax the shit out of some rich dude?
Infrastructure? You’re talking about Obama’s “shovel ready jobs,” right?
They weren’t shovel ready 12 years ago and they’re not shovel ready now. Plus, expect environmental groups to go to court to stop most of them.
Oh, and a 7% increase in corporate tax rate won’t add one dollar to the treasury. It will add to CongressCritters’ reelection funds to make sure they legislate specific breaks to more than offset the 7%.
Most of the money will go to democratic crony contractors who will be judged on how much they contribute to campaigns. Not on how efficiently they get the job done. Not any different when pubs are running things.
Every contract will have cost over runs and delays.
That’s right, expect those who supported Biden and Harris to be rewarded with fat contracts. For all the rhetorical difference between Biden and Trump, they are remarkably similar in what they actually do. Look at actions not words and you see, for example, that Biden’s foreign policy is almost identical to Trump’s.
Just like Trump cronies have their best 4 years, before
“Congress looks to rein in Biden’s war powers” https://thehill.com/policy/defense/545485-congress-looks-to-rein-in-bidens-war-powers
I would have said China is pretty big government, seems to have done OK against the US over the last 30 years.
.. actually China is probably more free market that anyone in the ‘West’. Stuff all labour protection, exploitation, environmental destruction and deep corruption.
Just the conditions the industrial barons enjoyed in American before an active middle class arose.
The free market works well in the micro. In the macro it fails badly. Government is corrupted to subsidise business, suppress wages and provide free infrastructure for business which then reap the profits and leaves any mess for the community to pay to clean up. There is a mis-allocation of wealth into non-productive assets. The market is short-term and can’t address the long term e.g. the price of a good increases as it becomes in short supply, which encourages more sensible use of the goods. But it doesn’t react in 10-20-50 years time frames. It doesn’t do planning for a the world of our grandchildren.
Admittedly neither does most government, but that is often because it is owned by the folk that own the market.
If there was no political movement, when do you think the market would have moved us off coal and oil… I’d say not until there wasn’t enough production to meet supply and the price became too high. The market would sort of work, but too late.
When would it stop clearing forest for timber (answer to that is look at the current state of the former fertile crescent or plenty of other examples of collapsed societies that didn’t have long term planning)? The market would work, but too late.
Yep, Mish, Didn’t we bail out the Banks and by proxy “Wall Street” in 2008, what about the bailouts to oil producers all these years, what about the farmers bailout after Trump’s China policy, haven’t those big government programs, Social Security and Medicare worked out rather nicely for and gigantic group of American Seniors? You need to check historical references before you slam big government for the so called success of the private sector –
Then why don’t you move to China?
I agree with a lot of what you say, GeorgeWP. There is no pure panacea called the free market that works unfettered, and there is no economy directed primarily by the government that works most efficiently for all. There is also the effect on the environment and peoples’ health, and pushing the cost of externalities off onto the public that a free market economy largely ignores, but that has large negative impacts in the long run.
There seems to be a constant struggle roughly between the right and the left. It seems to me to go in cycles, where generations get to the point where they’ve forgotten what went on before, and where extremes are reached. As a pretty rough description with a lot of generalities, here’s how I see it:
We had the right wing roaring 1920s followed by the Depression. Then came about 45 years of FDR New Deal and more liberal policies that pulled us out of that. Devastation on foreign battlefields around the world from WWII left America in relatively good shape, and a middle class income and lifestyle reached new ideals. But stagnation set in, and inflation and a slowing down of improvement hit in the 70s culminating with Carter. There was no totally accommodative Fed to come to the rescue at that time (see Volker).
So after 40-45 years, Reagan came in with an anti-government message that was supercharged with the Powell memo from a decade earlier that laid out the plutocrat’s strategy for taking back the reigns. This included developing right wing propaganda media, grabbing state and local governments to influence education and spending policies, stacking the courts, and destroying unions among other things. They would never have the votes without bringing in the average voter, so they stoked the fears and grievances of the common people, focusing on racism, claiming endlessly that government was the problem, and pinning educated liberals as the “elite”, when in fact the plutocrats were the real elite. So they grabbed as much as they could through lobbyists, dark money and Citizen’s United nonsense, and consequent control of the government.
This reached a peak under the former guy, the 45th and worst, most corrupt and criminal president in our history, whose main talent was stoking white grievance and grifting (for which the courts will now likely make him pay a price). The 40 year cycle began a turn with the rejection of this in 2018 and 2020 elections (at the federal level). Although it won’t be easy because so many states are still republican run, and are taking voter suppression and gerrymandering to a new level, unashamedly touting this as their strategy, instead of modifying or developing their ideas and policies. They are dreadfully afraid of anyone but white christian males and a few token minorities running the country.
So Biden comes in, having learned from the Obama years that republicans try to obstruct everything Dems do, because it worked before when the Senate could obstruct whatever they tried, and still get voters to blame it on lack of Dem accomplishments. Thus, he’s going full out to try to get things done. As a moderate Dem, I agree with the direction, but not necessarily the speed or extent of what’s being proposed beyond the pandemic recovery bills. At the same time, all the voter suppression may lead to a republican takeover of congress in 2022, then nothing at all will get done to help the middle class.
There has been a shift way too far to the right, and the public senses it. Biden is popular. But he’s still battling the authoritarian trend of the right and the fears of a large white population. On top of that, not only voter suppression, but the structure of the Senate is stacked in favor of republicans, giving 2 senators from small and mostly R states as much power as 2 from huge blue states. So even though the country is leaning towards a more liberal cycle with more government support for the average person and middle class (even if just for basics like health care, education and housing), there are strong forces working to prevent that.
With this background, Biden and company have decided to go full in, knowing that they may not get another chance soon. The New Deal proved very popular, and it took republicans decades to slow it down and reverse it. Biden knows that a lot of his programs will help the middle classes, and will cost the rich and elite, and will be popular. It seems he’s leaning towards the risk of going all in as a result.
Nobody denies that the wealth gap between the rich and average person has gone wild in the past 40 years. The fix is not easy though against entrenched powerful interests, a long ingrained anti-government mantra, and the stacked courts (especially with what they did to SCOTUS) will probably try to stop a lot of what the Dems are doing. We’ll see.
I worry too about going too far and what Mish is positing here, but I think majority rules of politics, and the courts, may stop some of it. I’d rather try to see what we can do to balance things out better and bring back a better life for the middle classes and poor, than to let an authoritarian monster like the former guy come back and destroy the country for all but the well off and white people. What he would have tried if re-elected would have ripped this country apart. The next 2-4 years will be pivotal, IMO.
“If there was no political movement, when do you think the market would have moved us off coal and oil… I’d say not until there wasn’t enough production to meet supply and the price became too high. The market would sort of work, but too late.”
We moved off Coal to Oil the minute Oil was cheaper (early 1900’s) and we moved off Oil to Natural Gas the minute Natural Gas was cheaper than Oil. We’ll be moving off Natural Gas once the next thing (Wind, Solar, Fusion etc) becomes cheaper. Not 1 minute before, regardless of whatever movement you think might be happening.
The reason Capitalism and Governments can’t plan 20 or 50 years ahead is because NO ONE is Nostradamus. You think in 1970 someone in Government or Capitalism would have suggested that we needed to go all out for 5G internet and Cellphones? Hell, even in 2000, barely 20 years ago less than 1% of people had a cell phone and less than 20% of the population was online and most of those were on AOL dial up. Things change too fast to predict where things are going to be in 20-50 years.
i have a counter to that. the US lack of response to Covid 19. the US has had one of the worst deaths due to Covide. Japan that you hate so much has only 7400 deaths in a population that is 38 % of the US. the US has had 550000 deaths . I hope that the US had filed like Japan.
First of all, US death were over counted. Early on, anyone who died and had flu like symptoms died of covid.
Secondly, covid mainly kills those with pre-existing conditions. Diabetes and hypertension are common. Japanese are in much better physical shape than americans. By far.
A more apt comparison would be between the US and Europe. I think the numbers are generally similar.
Germany death rate is lower, France death rate is lower. Canada’s death rate is lower! New Zealand, lower; Austalia lower, Hong Kong-one of the most dense population centers in the planet is lower. what is the US excuse!
Why doesn’t that prove that the US government is inferior at effecting large complex projects?
Let’s not forget culture. Japan was wearing mask and NOT shaking hands long before the pandemic.
They also take personal responsibility for the safety of others and follow the advice of professionals and experts.
It’s the people’s lack of response, not the government’s that was the problem in the west.
if we had a responsible response from govt. People get their orders from influencers. Reuters indicated 400000 deaths would have been prevented if we had an effective response.
The dead were mainly very old with multiple comorbidities and/or obese. This was an example of Nature weeding the herd. The total dead equal less than 0.2% of the population, a miniscule amount of no real concern in the big picture.
Death count is bogus