Category Archives: Economics

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Obama’s Corporate Tax Plan

February 22, 2012 Rand Simberg 5 Comments

Eight reasons it’s a disaster, and why Geithner should resign over it.

Business, Economics, Political Commentary, Space

Space-Policy Stupidity On Stilts

February 21, 2012 Rand Simberg 3 Comments

Doug Mohney wonders why the Texas congressional delegation seems to have its collective head up its fundament:

Two problems exist for the Congressional delegation from Texas if they continue to push SLS funding at the expense of fully funding NASA Commercial Crew program. First, it would appear that they advocate a policy that has the United States continue to purchase transport to ISS from Russia until SLS is built — rather than “insourcing” the dollars and work to American companies.

Second, if Russia’s spotty track record with the pieces to its manned launch system continues, a Soyuz failure leaving the $100 billion space station unmanned and untended — or worse, deorbited — could have a significant impact on the 15,000 employees employed at Houston’s Johnson Space Flight Center (JSC). If ISS goes down, there’s no need to have a Mission Control Center for its operations or the many other NASA employees and contractors supporting space station operations.

SLS mostly benefits Alabama, Florida and Utah — there is very little in it for Texas, which just makes this all the more stupid.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Space

Don’t Know Much About Launch Technology

February 21, 2012 Rand Simberg 8 Comments

Jonathan Coopersmith says that both Romney and Gingrich get it wrong on space policy. But he’s a little confused himself:

Rockets cost so much because most of their weight is fuel. Usually 1 percent or less of launch weight is the actual payload. Nor are rockets fully reliable. To launch a communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit demands an insurance premium of 10 percent or more for a single one-way trip! Contrast that to the premium for your car insurance.

Yet rockets have launched every satellite and space probe since Sputnik in 1957. The entire space infrastructure, governmental and private, has grown around building and launching rockets. What rockets have not and cannot do is make the cost of reaching orbit low enough that Gingrich’s lunar base could pass Romney’s financial test.

To truly encourage private enterprise in space a radical reduction of the cost to reach orbit must become a national priority. Several promising technologies, such as beamed energy propulsion and space elevators, could reduce the cost of entering space from $10,000 to as low as $100 a pound, radically changing the economics of spaceflight.

Ummmm…no. Rockets don’t cost so much because most of their weight is fuel. As Elon notes, the propellant costs for a Falcon 9 are less than half a percent of the total flight costs, and he expects to be able to get to a hundred dollars a pound of payload with the Falcon Heavy if he can get the flight rate up.

Coopersmith is right that we need to get launch costs down, and it’s probably worth spending some R&D on advanced technologies, but we don’t need them to get to a hundred dollars a pound. All we need are reusable vehicles operating at high flight rates.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Rising Gas Prices

February 18, 2012 Rand Simberg 17 Comments

…will they sink Obama’s reelection chances?

The irony is that this is exactly what he told us he wanted to do in 2008, and they voted for him anyway. I guess they just weren’t listening.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society

Fracking

February 18, 2012 Rand Simberg 34 Comments

…doesn’t affect drinking water.

I wonder what the self-denominated “Party of Science” that insists on blocking it anyway has to say?

Business, Economics, Education, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

The Dumbest Generation

February 17, 2012 Rand Simberg 8 Comments

This chart is cruel, but true. It’s what happens when you think that The Daily Show is a news show.

Business, Economics, Education, History, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Lessons From The “Occupy” Movement

February 17, 2012 Rand Simberg 1 Comment

Glenn Reynolds offers a useful course syllabus, which is unlikely to be used, given the nature of academia.

Business, Economics, Political Commentary

Who Killed The Jobs?

February 17, 2012 Rand Simberg 18 Comments

Here’s a telling comment:

The drop in employment is unsurprising to those of us in the small business sector where 90% of jobs are created. In 2004 I helped start a company with two partners. We invested $500K of risk capital, put a traditional company infrastructure in place and eventually hired over a dozen people. Why? Because sentiment was positive, HSA plans were inexpensive, and growth a reality. After four years of solid growth, we sold our company to a public company, where we continued to work. In all that time, my proudest moments came from giving young people a career start in life. Many have gone on to work for places such as Symantec, Facebook and Wells Fargo. Today, my partners and I are independent, making good livings — solo. It makes ZERO economic sense for us to start a company again and employ people. The health plan we had is no longer available and coverage is twice as costly. The regulatory burdens are overwhelming and getting worse. We can see only risk on the horizon and little reward to justify that risk. So a dozen bright, talented 20somethings will likely never get the same chance to enter the private workforce.

Here are the two charts that say it all.

[Update a while later]

Some people aren’t seeing the comments at the Powerline post. I see them, but perhaps one has to be logged into Facebook to do so. A good reason not to use FB for comments. Anyway, at least that first comment is available for viewing here.