All together now: We are not going to end our dependence on foreign oil with wind and solar.
But math remains hard for some people.
Category Archives: Economics
How Did Japan’s Bullet Trains Fare?
Not all of them so well:
Clearly, some of the country’s slower commuter trains were caught in the tsunami. There are reports, again unconfirmed, that up to four of these trains were involved. Wading through photos on the Internet, I found at least three discrete shots of derailed trains, although it is possible the passengers survived.
If indeed a bullet train was lost, it will likely be the working of the law of unintended consequences. For the most part, bullet trains north of Tokyo run inland, so these were probably out of the tsunami’s range (see this map). However, there’s a small loop seaward to Sendai, among the hardest hit areas of the island. This is pure speculation here, but given the timing of the shock wave and the following tsunami, it is possible that safety systems stranded one or more trains in the path of the killer wave. Commuter trains follow a much longer stretch of coastline, and would have been particularly vulnerable.
…liberal planners just might want to reexamine their ideological yearnings for high-speed rail, namely their conviction that it is somehow “better” for people to live in concentrated urban clumps, connected by public transit, than in diffuse, sprawling suburbs. Densely populated Japan must rely on rails to get people to and from work. When centralized systems like these fail, they fail across the board and, as appears likely in Japan, will be out of commission for a long time; aside from the track damage, electrical shortages due to nuclear-plant shutdowns are forcing service reductions. Suburbs and cars, on the other hand, are distributed systems, with inherently redundant roads and vehicles that are more resistant to natural disaster. Rescue workers aren’t taking the train to succor tsunami victims, they’re driving.
This makes a lot more sense than rethinking nuclear power.
Passenger Rail Fantasies
Unfortunately, as already noted, math is hard. But they never let that get in the way of their romance. Particularly when it gets people out of those evil cars, with all their individual freedom and evil fossil fuels.
Solving The Deficit By “Taxing The Rich”
Sadly for the “progressives,” the numbers just don’t work out.
<VOICE=”‘Progressive’ whine”>But I was told there would be no math!</VOICE>
“Hide The Decline”
…the fraud explained.
The Japanese Economy
Will this disaster be the last straw?
Immediate thoughts:
1) Depending on how much of the nuclear industry was affected, this could result in the need for more imported oil, putting more pressure on global prices.
2) If the yen collapses, it can’t be good news for either Europe or us, as the article points out.
3) This is good news for Korea and Taiwan, and even China, who will pick up a lot of the manufacturing slack at least in the near term.
4) Expect to hear a lot of ignorance about how this is the best thing that could have happened to the Japanese economy, with all the jobs that will be created rebuilding, and comparisons to how they recovered from much worse devastation after the war. This will be a display of the broken window fallacy, and it will be ignoring the fact that the resources necessary for that renaissance (which took decades) came from the US. Any time wealth is destroyed (see “cash for clunkers”), the world is worse off, even if localities benefit.
[Sunday morning update]
The financial impact: five things to watch.
More Unconstitutionality
Today former Congressman Ernest Istook testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee about the $105 billion slush fund in advance appropriations liberals tucked inside Obamacare. The $105 billion bypasses the traditional yearly budgeting process and is spread throughout the 2,700 page legislation. It took the Congressional Research Service (CRS) seven months to identify all the disparate funds and it was not until February (11 months after the bill passed) that all of the funds could be totaled up.
Well, Queen Nancy told us we’d have to pass the bill to find out what was in it. This one only took a little less than a year.
It looks kind of unseverable to me, too.
I’d add that anyone who knew about this and voted for it is either ignorant of the Constitution, or indifferent to it, or both. I’d bet on both in most cases, but if the latter, it’s a violation of their oath of office.
The Climate Gravy Train
Traffic Jams
This had me scratching my head, though. It lists the top ten most congested highways (not sure how they measure that), and I found a couple of surprises.
First, that none of them were in southern California. I would have thought that the 405 through West LA and over Sepulveda Pass into the Valley would have been a prime candidate.
Second, that they list the merge between northbound US-23 and northbound I-75, in Detroit. Only one problem. Those two highways merge in Flint, sixty miles northwest of Detroit (and my home town). And while I haven’t spent much time there lately, I have been there some, and I’m quite surprised that it beats all of the Detroit freeways for congestion. The only time I can imagine it would be a big problem is on holiday weekends with people coming from the Detroit area heading up north. Even then, it can be avoided by taking I-475 through town. I’d like to know how it got so designated. It makes me question the validity of the rest of them as well.
High Gas Prices
Ten things not to do about them. But you can bet that many economic ignorami will be calling for all ten.