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Every morning, the line of cars waiting to get onto the Hutchinson River Parkway exceeds 40. Of course, you don't have to patiently wait, you can drive down the center lane, passing all the civilized suckers and then, at the last moment, cut over.
Drivers hate this, and for good reason. The road is narrow, and your aggressive act didn't help anyone but you. You slowed down the cars in the lane behind you, and your selfish behavior merely made 40 other people wait.
This is a different act than the contribution someone makes when she sees that everyone is patiently waiting to enter a building through a single door. She walks past everyone and opens a second door. Now, with two doors open, things start moving again and she's certainly earned her place at the front of that second entrance.
Too often, we're persuaded that initiative and innovation and bypassing the status quo is some sort of line jumping, a selfish gaming of the zero sum game. Most of the time it's not. In fact, what you do when you solve an interesting problem is that you open a new door. Not only is that okay, I think it's actually a moral act.
Don't wait your turn if waiting your turn is leaving doors unopened.
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Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis |
Oil Prices are Double-Edged Sword; Peak Everything? Posted: 01 Mar 2011 12:28 PM PST Jeff Rubin, former Chief Economist at CIBC World Markets for twenty years, explains Soaring Oil Prices A Double-Edged Sword in the Middle East. Why is the Arab world convulsing with social and political unrest when triple digit oil prices should be bringing enormous wealth to the region? The answer may be that the link between energy inputs and food prices suddenly makes soaring oil prices a double-edged sword in the world's largest food importing region.Oil and the End of Globalization Jeff Rubin left his position at CIBC World Markets to write a book and promote his ideas. I have not yet read Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller , so I cannot specifically endorse it. However, I can say that understanding the implications of peak oil and booming population growth in the Mid-East, India, and Asia, in conjunction with aging demographics in the Western economies and Japan are crucial to understanding major investment themes and world economic growth assumptions. I have long held the position that perpetual 7 -10% growth assumptions for China are impossible because of peak oil constraints. Yet China bulls persist. They see the growth, but not the fraud or the malinvestment it takes for China to achieve those growth estimates. I talked about fraud in China as well as unsustainable growth on a number of occasions. Here are a few links.
Peak Everything? My friend BC writes ... If one wants to identify a single underlying causal factor for "Peak Everything" and the global intractable structural effects flowing from it, population overshoot is it. However, population growth is the last taboo subject no one dares discuss because, frankly, there is only one highly unpalatable solution.Those are sobering thoughts indeed. History suggests massive conflicts if the above analysis is anywhere close to being correct. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
Collective Bargaining Bill Heads for Passage in Ohio Posted: 01 Mar 2011 09:13 AM PST A collective bargaining bill is headed for vote today in Ohio. Unlike the bill in Wisconsin, the Ohio proposal will cover police and fire workers. Unfortunately it has been watered down a bit to gain needed support from several Republicans. The New York Times reports Ohio Set to Vote on Ending Public Union Rights The Ohio Senate is expected to consider a revised version of a bill to end collective bargaining on Tuesday, and union members gathering outside the Statehouse here Tuesday morning said they were bracing for the worst.The NYT article failed to point out the details or recent compromises that have watered down the bill. As originally proposed the bill effectively ended all collective bargaining rights for all public unions. Unfortunately that will not pass. A recent revision to gain key votes will allow bargaining for wages only, not benefits. It also places a no-strike clause. This is not perfect. Perfect is getting rid of public unions entirely. However, it is a good start. In Wisconsin, Governor Walker will begin laying off workers unless legislators playing hooky in Illinois return to Wisconsin to vote. It is good to see governor Walker hold firm. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
China Holdings of US Treasuries Revised Up 30%; An Unsustainable Model Posted: 28 Feb 2011 11:06 PM PST Annual revisions released Monday show that China's holding of US treasuries is 30% greater than reported just weeks ago. I am not surprised given that persistent rumors of China dumping treasuries made little mathematical sense from a balance of trade standpoint. Instead, I suggested China was accumulating treasuries via trading desks in the UK. We now see that is precisely the case. Please consider China's holdings of US debt jump 30 percent China, the biggest buyer of U.S. Treasury securities, owns a lot more than previously estimated.Thoughts on Dumping Treasuries Please note the comment in the article: "The big increase in Chinese holdings could ease fears that Chinese investors might begin dumping their U.S. holdings. Such a development could send U.S. interest rates rising. That would slow America's economic recovery and increase Washington's costs for financing the $14.3 trillion national debt." The odds of China dumping US treasuries are tiny. The last thing China wants to do is put massive upward pressure on the Yuan, and dumping treasuries would likely do just that. Moreover, please consider the basic math. The US runs a trade deficit, so other countries accumulate dollars. For more on the essential math, please see US Dollar About to Lose Reserve Currency Status - Fact or Fantasy? Given that dollars held by foreign central banks earn no interest, governments buy other US assets instead, notably US treasuries. Last year China's bought massive amounts of US treasuries via UK banks or brokers. Unsustainable Model Although it is relatively easy to explain what is happening and why, it's also important to know the existing global currency hegemony will eventually collapse because the current model is unsustainable. Countries cannot run massive deficits forever. However, a global currency crisis does not necessarily start with the US dollar, nor does a crisis necessarily happen any time soon. A major crisis starting with the Euro, the Yen, the British Pound, or the Yuan is at least as likely, and the timeframe can be months or years away. Whenever it happens, don't be caught without gold. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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Damn Cool Pics |
Drug Submarine Seized by Colombian Navy Posted: 16 Feb 2011 10:49 AM PST This submarine capable of transporting eight tons of cocaine from Columbia to Mexico was seized by the Colombian Army. The submersible is 100 ft. (30 m) long and can travel completely submerged, which makes it practically undetectable. It was located on the southwestern coast of the Colombian Pacific Ocean. |
Posted: 15 Feb 2011 04:17 PM PST |
Posted: 15 Feb 2011 01:28 PM PST The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England was constructed in 1972 and consists of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle. It is located near the County Ground, home of Swindon Town F.C. Its name comes from the popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout. In 2009 it was voted the fourth scariest junction in Britain. It may be saying something negative about the town if its most notable feature is a traffic junction, but the Magic Roundabout is truly a wonder of the world. And by "wonder" I don't mean "wow" I mean "I wonder why they built such a stupidly complex junction". You see, the Magic Roundabout is in fact 5 small roundabouts surrounding one large centre roundabout. For the benefit of our non-British visitors I shall do my very best to explain. In the U.K. we drive on the left hand side of the road, so on approach to a roundabout you give way to traffic coming from the right hand side. You then go clockwise around the roundabout, exiting where you see fit. The Magic Roundabout complicates matters in that the moment you leave one roundabout you are at the junction of another. So, by aiming right on each roundabout you would actually traverse the central roundabout in an anti-clockwise manner. At least that's the idea. |
The Cost of Valentines (Infographic) Posted: 15 Feb 2011 01:02 PM PST How do we love Valentine's day? Let us count the ways. In total, Americans spend approx. $13 billion per year on Valentine's day. 63% of consumers celebrate Valentine's day. On average, each one will spend $120 on Valentine's day gifts. Men spend twice as much as woman. More Infographics. Click to Enlarge. Source: onlineaccountingdegree |
75 Incredible "Looking Into The Past" Pictures Posted: 14 Feb 2011 06:22 PM PST |
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