Things of which Lileks is mightily tired.
Me, too.
Category Archives: Economics
Space Resources Update
An article on the legal state of asteroid mining. This isn’t true, though: “Much like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the United States has not signed the Moon Agreement but by custom it adheres to the treaty — at least until Donald Trump’s recent executive order, which explicitly rejects the idea that such agreements are binding to the USA.”
Meanwhile, Michael Listner writes that we must return to the moon to preserve the rule of law in space. Well, that’s certainly a reason, but not the only (or even best) one.
The Pelosi Recession
I hope that the Republicans are getting their campaign ads ready. Fortunately, at least some Democrats realize how disastrous, both economically and politically, this could be. I have to say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Sinema. She doesn’t seem compelled to toe the party line.
After The Plague
Gut-Check Time
Car Shopping
…will probably be going on line, for good. Test drives do seem like the hardest part.
The Ethanol Standard
Yes, get rid of it. Take it behind the barn and kill it with an ax. It was always stupid, but in a time of possible food shortages, and oil at historic lows, it’s an insane policy. We had stopped using food for transportation at the turn of the 20th century, but these morons decided to bring the notion back.
The Tyrannical States
Bob Zimmerman is not happy (to put it mildly).
Legally, it’s not really martial law, which is when the military literally takes over, but it’s certainly multiple violations of the Bill of Rights.
[Update a few minutes later]
One way to improve the lockdown; stop being hypocritical tyrants.
[Update a few more minutes later]
South Dakota has a governor who is behaving responsibly, so the WaPo decided to smear her, because she’s (you know) a Republican.
[Update a few minutes later]
No, Raleigh police, protesting is in fact not a “non-essential activity.”
[Update a while later]
Note the comment at Bob Zimmerman’s post about the New Jersey dance instructor teaching on line alone in her studio, who was ordered to stop by the police, because she was “working.” Apparently, the state wants to make it illegal to earn a living, regardless of risk level.
Trust The “Experts”
Public health authorities have failed us at every level, and the powerful people who were catastrophically wrong about China.
[Update a while later]
The long hard road to decoupling from China. We cannot have globalization with countries that do not share our values of liberty and individualism. But we should more strongly embrace the China that works: Taiwan.
[Update a couple minutes later]
A bipartisan call for WHO to make Taiwan a member. That of course begs the question that WHO is an organization even worthy of our funding.
[Update a while later]
The massive failure of the federal government in the pandemic argues against Medicare for all.
Social Impact
The virus is going to redefine home, work, education, and life.