Used to the conditions of a capitalistic environment, the average American takes it for granted that every year business makes something new and better accessible to him. Looking backward upon the years of his own life, he realizes that many implements that were totally unknown in the days of his youth and many others which at that time could be enjoyed only by a small minority are now standard equipment of almost every household. He is fully confident that this trend will prevail also in the future. He simply calls it the American way of life and does not give serious thought to the question of what made this continuous improvement in the supply of material goods possible.
The most serious dangers for American freedom and the American way of life do not come from without.
Full government control of all activities of the individual is virtually the goal of both national parties.
There is unrest in the forest, There is trouble with the trees, For the maples want more sunlight And the oaks ignore their pleas.
The trouble with the maples, (And they're quite convinced they're right) They say the oaks are just too lofty And they grab up all the light. But the oaks can't help their feelings If they like the way they're made. And they wonder why the maples Can't be happy in their shade.
There was trouble in the forest, And the creatures all have fled, As the maples scream "Oppression!" And the oaks just shake their heads
So the maples formed a union And demanded equal rights. "The oaks are just too greedy; We will make them give us light." Now there's no more oak oppression, For they passed a noble law, And the trees are all kept equal By hatchet, axe, and saw.
He’s a bouncing baby boy who could break a knee — a mother in Jakarta, Indonesia, delivered a 19.2-pound, 2-foot-long child on Monday via Caesarean section.
The big baby, a weight record for a newborn in Indonesia, although a bit short of the world record of 23 pounds set in 1879, was likely caused by his mother having gestational diabetes. And even though mom Ani was saved the grueling task of pushing the child out herself, the surgery to bring him into the world was still touch and go.
The Congressional Budget Office released its projections over the next decade for the federal budget deficit and the overall outlook of the economy in general. The data and summary can all be found at cbo.gov. Remember that sustained budget deficits lead to larger and larger national debt.
Budget outlook for 2009-19:
The dramatic expansion of the deficit in 2009 (up from 3.2 percent of GDP in 2008) results from a projected rise in outlays of 24 percent (the largest percentage increase since 1952) and a drop in revenues of 17 percent from last year’s levels (the largest percentage drop since 1932). Those changes have largely been the result of the severe economic downturn and the fiscal impact of federal policies enacted in response.
On the long term outlook:
Over the long term (beyond the 10-year baseline projection period), the budget remains on an unsustainable path. Unless changes are made to current policies, the nation will face a growing demand for budgetary resources caused by rising health care costs and the aging of the population. Continued large deficits and the resulting increases in federal debt over time would reduce long-term economic growth by lowering national saving and investment relative to what would otherwise occur, causing productivity and wage growth to gradually slow.
Here are some common sense ideas for the health care reform debate, from the CEO of Whole Foods. Let's hope some of them make it in any bill that's finally cobbled together and attempted to be rammed through Congress.
Some highlights: - Medicare/Medicaid reform - Make individual health insurance tax deductible just like employer-provided insurance - Tort reform - Cost transparency so consumers can make informed decision about their own health
Health care reform is important - the costs really are skyrocketing. However, the government should take a real long hard look in the mirror and actually address the sources of the increases. Shifting the costs around only makes the problem worse.
"The Wall Street crash doesn't mean that there will be any general or serious business depression... For six years American business has been diverting a substantial part of its attention, its energies and its resources on the speculative game... Now that irrelevant, alien and hazardous adventure is over. Business has come home again, back to its job, providentially unscathed, sound in wind and limb, financially stronger than ever before."
- Business Week, November 2, 1929
#7 of 20 preemptive prognostications highlighted here.
This article, from Radish Magazine, takes a critical look at a natural sweetener that has recently gained popularity - agave nectar.
For those who are not familiar with agave nectar, it is a syrupy sweetener produced from the juices of a succulent plant resembling a cactus. Numerous species of agave plants are native to Mexico and the Southwestern U.S.--one of which is used to make tequila. A mature agave plant may be up to 8 feet tall with leaves spreading out to a diameter of 12 feet!
The agave nectar is sold in many health food stores (in light, amber, dark and raw varieties) for general sweetening purposes and also incorporated as a sweetening agent in many so-called organic, raw and/or diabetic-friendly health foods. It is portrayed as an unrefined and healthful sweetener, but the truth is a much more complex story. ...
The chemical and genetically-modified enzymatic processes used to manufacture the juices into agave nectar end up giving it a profile of 70 percent or more as fructose, compared to only 55 percent fructose found in HFCS. (Raw honey contains only about 38 percent fructose.) Concentrated levels of fructose in the diet may lead to mineral depletion, inflammation of the liver, hardening of the arteries, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
While it is true that high levels of dietary fructose will not necessarily cause spikes in blood glucose, agave nectar certainly still falls short of being a healthful alternative. It is for this reason that noted low-carb advocate, Dr. Michael Eades, M.D., has said of agave nectar: "Avoid it like death."
A less-than-ideal sugar profile may be offset somewhat by the presence of abundant minerals, which agave nectar reportedly has, including iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. However, it is more correct to say that the juices of the agave plant contain an abundance of such minerals (as well as valuable amino acids) rather than the resultant agave nectar. While "miel de agave" retains these factors, modern processing removes many of them in order to make the taste of the agave nectar lighter and more palatable.
Here's an interesting article from the WSJ on health care reform. Examination of the graphic below highlights one of the key problems with the current system.
The center graph plots the share of costs paid by three parties; the taxpayer, private insurance, and individuals. From 1970 to now, the individual's out of pocket costs have declined from over 30% to around 10%. Now if costs of a good or service are paid by "somebody else", how does that effect your use of said product? The price signal is severely altered, and thus the system does not have efficient feedback for optimal allocation of resources.
Never mind that the "somebody else" may ultimately end up being you again with higher taxes and/or deficits and/or inflation and/or insurance premiums. Bottom line, someone is picking up the tab. I certainly am no expert on health care, but it seems to me if much of this disconnect was removed the system would function better. Shifting around who pays for care will not fix anything. The underlying reasons for escalating costs must be addressed.
Joule Biotechnologies has announced what could be quite a revolution in 3rd generation biofuels. They claim to have created a process using engineered microorganisms that can convert CO2 and sunlight directly into fuel.
This eco-friendly, direct-to-fuel conversion requires no agricultural land or fresh water, and leverages a highly scalable system capable of producing more than 20,000 gallons of renewable ethanol or hydrocarbons per acre annually—far eclipsing productivity levels of current alternatives while rivaling the costs of fossil fuels.
They claim to be able to one day compete with $50 per barrel oil and are forecasting commercial scale ethanol production in 2010.
Liquid fuel technology will continue to play a pivotal role in transportation until battery technology is radically improved. If able to scale, this seems to be a great way to keep downward pressure on fuel costs, recycle CO2, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and perhaps export technology and clean fuel around the globe.
Here's an addicting little time-waster of a game. In "Cutthroat Capitalism", you play the role of a up-and-coming Somali pirate. Hunt down unsuspecting ships and negotiate the release of hostages. Apply just the right tactics and keep your crew happy as you bring home the booty.
Disclaimer: I dispute any definition of capitalism that would equate it with piracy, larceny, or robbery. This would be a contradiction in terms. The game is still fun, though.
Anne-Marie Sakowitz: Do you know that you just charted us on a course through unprotected waters? Steve Zissou: Yeah, we're taking the shortcut. Anne-Marie Sakowitz: But it's outside I.M.U. jurisdiction. There isn't any protection. Steve Zissou: I know, honey. Look at the map. We go your way, that's about four inches. We go my way, it's an inch and a half. You wanna pay for the extra gas?
By 2015, two-thirds of the U.S. will have achieved grid parity, the point at which electricity generated from photovoltaics is equal in cost or less expensive than grid power, an analyst said Monday (July 13). At that point, solar power will be no more than 5 cents per kilowatt hour more expensive than grid power for 99 percent of the country, according to Travis Bradford, founder and president of the non-profit research group The Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development.
One small caveat, however:
Speaking to a packed ballroom at the Intersolar North America event here, Bradford said the combination of falling photovoltaic system costs and larger government subsidies juxtaposed against the rising cost of grid electricity means that the U.S. is "rapidly approaching grid parity." ... Bradford said solar in the U.S. will get a big boost from economic subsidies as part of the financial rescue package enacted by the U.S. last November and from the huge fiscal stimulus pushed through earlier this year.
I certainly hope one would not include subsidies in a calculation to show how economically competitive a technology is. Not to mention that 5 cents above grid power is around 50% more in most locations. Hardly what I would call "parity".
I did some rough calculations last year for PV solar on my home and it was approximately three times as expensive as grid power. I certainly hope new technologies and manufacturing processes can bring grid parity as soon as 2015; just color me skeptical until then.
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