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Diesel and the ski industry this Winter...

1dog

Active member
Joined
Oct 2, 2017
Messages
644
Points
43
Capitalism, like most other economic systems, tends to work well at a small scale and fall apart once any one actor gets too much control. That's why a hybrid economy, shamelessly stealing bits from multiple systems, seems to work out best (look at most of the Western world for the conventional example, and look at mainland China getting huge outputs and quality of life increases (at a hell of an ethical cost, but ethics aren't economics) by grafting capitalism into their command economy.

Disincentivize stock buybacks, massive direct payouts to owners, etc. while making reinvestment in private infrastructure and staff more attractive. A windfall profit tax tracks well with that. One example would be railroads earning record margins by cutting rail freight capacity and service quality. Those cuts are directly against the national interest, but they make short term cash. Change the regulationaround railroads such that maintaining their infrastructure is aore attractive option for shareholders. (The class 1s are seeing enormous profits and spending a lot of that on stock buybacks, while service and track conditions continue to degrade.)
Ethics are in fact connected to economics - household management, roughly translated. I'm continually stunned at how we ( humans, and more specifically Americans) think that more government is the answer. Don't disagree with the second paragraph except for the windfall tax of course.

Regulations have their place, but they've been used and abused to the extent that nothing can be done in a timely or less costly manner.


Approx 50% of the population own those behemoths in portfolios - so one can say that if they are super profitable, so are its investors. The difference is we don't have to buy shares of or products of Apple or Berkshire ( owner of one of the largest RR's). Didn't the new bill recently passed tax corporations for buy-backs? Believe it starts Jan 1.

China is in a heap o trouble. Half a billion vacant housing units - its 'BlackRock' propped up by government ( gee, doesn't that sound familiar?), Its stock market in the tank, its projected to have 1/3 of its current population by 2100 - that's what happens with central control over how many babies a family can have. . . I follow Gordon Chang a bit - his take- self-collapse at some point not too far away.

But will have to agree monopolies are sometimes in need of separating, much like AT&T/Bell system in the late 70's early 80's. Start with Google - There European Union seems to have a better take.

Overall, how many Dow 30 companies from 75 years ago are still around? Creative destruction. How large is the government ( Fed/State/Local) compared to 1947?
 

drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,321
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
Looks like the NH conservative crew did not do so well at the polls last night. Oh well that is the way the cookie crumbles. I am just glad that I do not have to listen to any more NH political comercials for at lease another year. ;-)

I feel for the folks in Georgia who may very well have another month of non stop adds if neither senate candidate gets 50.1% of the vote :eek::eek:
 

Newpylong

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
5,190
Points
113
Location
Upper Valley, NH
Looks like the NH conservative crew did not do so well at the polls last night. Oh well that is the way the cookie crumbles. I am just glad that I do not have to listen to any more NH political comercials for at lease another year. ;-)
Our mail has been ~3 days delayed for going on a month because the post office is being flooded by the political fliers like they've never seen before, and they are being told they take priority to be sorted. So our mail is sitting there after coming off the truck unsorted.
 

Dickc

Active member
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
575
Points
43
Location
Northeast Mass
Looks like the NH conservative crew did not do so well at the polls last night. Oh well that is the way the cookie crumbles. I am just glad that I do not have to listen to any more NH political comercials for at lease another year. ;-)
I agree, but now the news cycle will deconstruct the election for the next week or more ad nauseum.....

PRAY FOR COLD AND SNOW.
 

tumbler

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Messages
1,456
Points
83
Looks like the NH conservative crew did not do so well at the polls last night. Oh well that is the way the cookie crumbles. I am just glad that I do not have to listen to any more NH political comercials for at lease another year. ;-)
"This guy's a disaster"
 

2Planker

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2007
Messages
1,600
Points
113
Location
MWV, NH
"This guy's a disaster"
The crowd in N. Conway (10/17) made him look really stupid.
It was good for a bunch of us to go, because we soon realized that he was not going to get many votes in the MWV
 

abc

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
5,912
Points
113
Location
Lower Hudson Valley
If Biden announced an Operation warp speed type refinery build he might actually save his party in the midterms. Couldn't he try to use an Executive order using emergency wartime powers? Of course it will never happen. It's fun to just imagine the horror of the carbon nazi esg crowd.
Operation Warp Speed was a huge success in bringing vaccine to the country, indeed the world.

But can you remind me who was it that got it going? I can’t seem to be able to find out. Whoever he was, I haven’t heard. Not when the operation was launched, not when the vaccine was available either… ;)
 
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