p1ng74

2 hours ago, Bubba136 said:

You smart guys can figure out how to reconstruct the economy and how it works and how to pay for it.  Meanwhile, my crops are in the ground and woe be unto anyone of these people that believes they are entitled to share them without my permission.  They’re in for a huge surprise.  As the old southern saying goes.  Trespassers will be shot.  Survivors will be prosecuted!

As anyone might be able to guess, I am not interested in restoring the word economy.  I am interested only in feeding myself and mine until such time as normal commerce is restored.

I think the "economy" has different definitions depending on who you ask.  The stock market, as many like to reference, has a speculation factor, and therefore reflects some future, potential value, rather than current value.  Emotions are at play.  When it goes down, much of the numerical value lost may have nothing to do with actual loss in tangible production, but rather a broad switch from being optimistic to being more pessimistic.  There are healthy rises and falls in optimism, and we shouldn't be quite so obsessed with "restoring" a "economy" that reflects excess optimism.  As Warren Buffet said, "you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."  Regardless of what the speculators do, life moves along.  The seasons still progress, crops are planted, animals grow and produce.  For those of us that are living off of the land, it often feels like a much needed dose of sanity.  If you happen to know me, I'd be happy to sell you the excess, because we can't eat it all ourselves.  

1 hour ago, Heelster said:

Do some research on GM's EV1 project. One of the reasons they eliminated the car was because their was no service business, and dealerships rely on the service department.

GM had pretty good control over the business model of the EV1 since it was offered as lease only.  To eliminate the risk and factors of service over a longer vehicle life cycle they just took the cars back after the lease.  It was essentially a test car offered in limited markets and volumes.  Pure unit life cycle profitability was not high on their list.  

Right, technology is not inherently productive, it is only productive when applied towards increase productivity.  There are some good studies out there showing that when the internet was first made available to office workers, productivity went down because people wasted so much time with it.  This is especially true with e-mail, which is now pretty much obsolete when it comes to being a differentiating technology in productivity.  
 

When it comes to automotive engineering, I find that they often are focused more on streamlining manufacturing, rather than service and repair.  This is why there are so many plastic clips everywhere instead of screws and nuts.  A clip just snaps into place and it is assembled.  When servicing, it’s just a bunch of frustration and broken clips.  Even when Henry Ford selected the new Phillips screws it was to increase productivity primarily in manufacturing.  
 

@kneehighs  I think markets can drive the need to shift the supply chain and innovate.  East Asia has been taking the approach that I think you are suggesting for the last 60 years, with a very hands on government approach to distribution of capital, but I think that is necessitated by capital shortage.  On the other hand, it would be interesting to see what kind of return we have yielded on US attempts to support startups, such as in the renewable energy sector, as that might show how effective or ineffective such programs are.  

Fjord

Festiva

I think the point of the stimulus is to soften the abruptness of the disruption, rather than fuel it.  I don’t think the availability of start up capital is a significant constraint in the US?

So we all like WEARING high heels here, but what is it like to BE a high heel shoe?
 

The “internet of value” isn’t just in crypto.  It’s in this productivity gain from technology that you mentioned.  There are companies that are marching right along this crisis right now with no layoffs and minimal impact to their overall earnings, despite significant contraction to revenue. How?  A huge cost also disappeared from the bottom line, travel and related expenses, and increased productivity from remote internet work has suddenly been unleashed.  

Taiwan was under martial law for 38 years.  "Privacy" and "freedom" have different definitions in that context.  

Taiwan already has law enforcement systems in place that rely on extensive surveillance.  It’s a pretty different society.  

Panama

Lungs

Went out and drove about 650 miles yesterday:  

I didn't anticipate getting to go in anywhere particularly nice so I just wore some dirty boots.  It was a beautiful day and interesting to see how people working on reopening certain businesses.  Entire permanent patios and structures have been built at shopping malls to facilitate curbside shopping.  I stopped in at a restaurant that is a nation-wide chain, and corporate seems to have been very busy putting together new menus, signs, and policies, and things are pretty well thought out.  

22 hours ago, Cali said:

I looking forward to the sales that must be coming soon.

I wonder how that is all going to work for retailers,  having lost an entire season like this.  Some retailers are in bankruptcy now, like Nieman Marcus.  If they go through an inventory liquidation, there are going to be a lot of nice clothes hitting the market all at once, plus all the backlog of what wasn't sold when everything was closed.  

Loop

Increased 

Crazy

Hyatt

Springs

7 hours ago, Shyheels said:

There are probably some power happy badge flashers doing that kind of thing, but they’d be rare. That is not the law or the guidance for social distancing. At least not here in the UK

Obviously I haven't stepped foot into a city now in weeks, but I can't even imagine how such a thing is enforced.  Keyboard and "citizen policing" is already totally out of control with people just virtue signalling and criticizing other people's behaviors without any desire to understand or empathize with their situation.  

4 hours ago, Puffer said:

Any two or more individuals congregating closely in public were (and are) being firmly 'moved on' if detected.

Even if they are from the same family and sleep in the same bed every night?

Doesn't surprise me as it seems journalists/reporters/photographers putting themselves in harm's way to get the shot is pretty common.  

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Whirlwind