James Fallows, "Dirty Coal, Clean Future," The Atlantic (December 2010):
Overall, coal-burning power plants provide nearly half (about 46 percent this year) of the electricity consumed in the United States. For the record: natural gas supplies another 23 percent, nuclear power about 20 percent, hydroelectric power about 7 percent, and everything else the remaining 4 or 5 percent. The small size of the “everything else” total is worth noting; even if it doubles or triples, the solutions we often hear the most about won’t come close to meeting total demand. In China, coal-fired plants supply an even larger share of much faster-growing total electric demand: at least 70 percent, with the Three Gorges Dam and similar hydroelectric projects providing about 20 percent, and (in order) natural gas, nuclear power, wind, and solar energy making up the small remainder. For the world as a whole, coal-fired plants provide about half the total electric supply. On average, every American uses the electricity produced by 7,500 pounds of coal each year. Precisely because coal already plays such a major role in world power supplies, basic math means that it will inescapably do so for a very long time.
More here. The "green revolution" might peter out unless it creates products that impact coal use.
"And if an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own: I had a lover's quarrel with the world." -- Robert Frost
Showing posts with label The Atlantic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Atlantic. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
American Education is Failing our Kids
I criticize teachers and their unions. Both are directly or indirectly responsible for the difficulty in changing our current public education system, which seems designed to harm kids at the top and make sheep of the rest. Yet, some people insist that the problem with public schools is a lack of funding when the facts indicate otherwise:
"Per student, we now spend more than all but three other countries—Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Norway—on elementary and secondary education. And the list of countries that spend the most, notably, has little in common with the outcomes... (The same holds true on the state level, where New York, one of the highest-spending states—it topped the list at $17,000 per pupil in 2008—still comes in behind 15 other states and 30 countries...)"
More here.
"Per student, we now spend more than all but three other countries—Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Norway—on elementary and secondary education. And the list of countries that spend the most, notably, has little in common with the outcomes... (The same holds true on the state level, where New York, one of the highest-spending states—it topped the list at $17,000 per pupil in 2008—still comes in behind 15 other states and 30 countries...)"
More here.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Random Thoughts
1. If the South had a way to make money without needing to enslave Africans, would we have had a Civil War?
2. The surest path to tyranny is hyperinflation.
3. Public sector compensation and private sector compensation are completely different. Unlike the private sector, public sector compensation usually includes unpredictable long-term structural debt, such as pensions and medical costs. The costs of pensions and medical treatment depend on a person's age and health. If it was so easy to analyze costs relating to a person's age and health, we could all run insurance companies. Moreover, when governments make long term compensation promises, they are using taxpayer money (OPM) and have little incentive to get the numbers right. More here, from a letter to The Atlantic (Nov 2010):
In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter whether you work for GM or N.Y. or U.S.A.; it doesn’t matter if you are in a defined-benefit or defined-contribution plan--your retirement is dependent upon the earnings and productivity of your grandchildren and their friends. All of the pieces of paper in these plans are just proxies: claims on a portion of the labor of future generations. All of these retirement schemes seemed affordable when they were new. We didn’t see why they were inexpensive: because they were built on leverage. They depended upon borrowing against the future growth of the three unsustainable pyramids: economic, population, and credit. None of those can continue forever, and as one fades, the others must take up the slack. But once all three pyramids are played out, the plans face a few stark choices: substantially raise contributions, substantially lower payouts, or go bankrupt.
Steven Flint Manasquan, N.J.
4. People's voting preferences are probably based in large part on whether they have children. Most parents probably favor the status quo. Why? The more society changes, the less knowledge they can pass along to their kids. The parents' economic skills may also decline in value if society changes too much. In contrast, people without kids have more time to adapt to changes and also have a higher incentive to change society to suit their own needs and wants. In conclusion, I bet parents tend to be more "conservative" while childless adults tend to be more "liberal."
5. The S&P 500 is about 1180. The Dow is about 11,142. Perhaps the market is a bit frothy. Markets may be anticipating an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, which means an assumption of a more politically balanced federal government. But elections can be unpredictable...
2. The surest path to tyranny is hyperinflation.
3. Public sector compensation and private sector compensation are completely different. Unlike the private sector, public sector compensation usually includes unpredictable long-term structural debt, such as pensions and medical costs. The costs of pensions and medical treatment depend on a person's age and health. If it was so easy to analyze costs relating to a person's age and health, we could all run insurance companies. Moreover, when governments make long term compensation promises, they are using taxpayer money (OPM) and have little incentive to get the numbers right. More here, from a letter to The Atlantic (Nov 2010):
In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter whether you work for GM or N.Y. or U.S.A.; it doesn’t matter if you are in a defined-benefit or defined-contribution plan--your retirement is dependent upon the earnings and productivity of your grandchildren and their friends. All of the pieces of paper in these plans are just proxies: claims on a portion of the labor of future generations. All of these retirement schemes seemed affordable when they were new. We didn’t see why they were inexpensive: because they were built on leverage. They depended upon borrowing against the future growth of the three unsustainable pyramids: economic, population, and credit. None of those can continue forever, and as one fades, the others must take up the slack. But once all three pyramids are played out, the plans face a few stark choices: substantially raise contributions, substantially lower payouts, or go bankrupt.
Steven Flint Manasquan, N.J.
4. People's voting preferences are probably based in large part on whether they have children. Most parents probably favor the status quo. Why? The more society changes, the less knowledge they can pass along to their kids. The parents' economic skills may also decline in value if society changes too much. In contrast, people without kids have more time to adapt to changes and also have a higher incentive to change society to suit their own needs and wants. In conclusion, I bet parents tend to be more "conservative" while childless adults tend to be more "liberal."
5. The S&P 500 is about 1180. The Dow is about 11,142. Perhaps the market is a bit frothy. Markets may be anticipating an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, which means an assumption of a more politically balanced federal government. But elections can be unpredictable...
Friday, February 26, 2010
John Yoo, D-Bag
For anyone out there who still supports or likes John Yoo, please, please, for the love of God and Constitution, read THIS short Atlantic article. One excerpt:
Based on the results of our investigation, we concluded that former Deputy AAG John Yoo committed intentional professional misconduct when he violated his duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough, objective, and candid legal advice. [Italics added]
And you're welcome, even if I can't expect a "thank you."
Based on the results of our investigation, we concluded that former Deputy AAG John Yoo committed intentional professional misconduct when he violated his duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough, objective, and candid legal advice. [Italics added]
And you're welcome, even if I can't expect a "thank you."
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Memories of 10 Years Ago
I am going through some old items and re-discovered two old songs I love.
This one's from Meatloaf, and this one's an incredible old-school rap song.
I also discovered an Atlantic article written by Miranda Seymour--Seymour's review so captivated me, I saved it. I must have been in a really foul mood at the time:
This is, even for Brookner, an unusually cheerless work, about the moral education of a young woman as assessed by herself in retrospect. The lesson she learns is that a wise woman expects nothing from life and will probably get it. Only a fool, Brookner suggests, would believe the lessons offered by the novels and fairy tales in which Zoë, like many of her predecessors, has rashly placed her trust. Poor girls who sit and wait to become princesses get nowhere. Ordeals may lead only to further suffering. There are no rewards for virtue beyond self-respect. Life is best viewed as a journey toward death, to be lived with attentive restraint.
Ah, memories.
This one's from Meatloaf, and this one's an incredible old-school rap song.
I also discovered an Atlantic article written by Miranda Seymour--Seymour's review so captivated me, I saved it. I must have been in a really foul mood at the time:
This is, even for Brookner, an unusually cheerless work, about the moral education of a young woman as assessed by herself in retrospect. The lesson she learns is that a wise woman expects nothing from life and will probably get it. Only a fool, Brookner suggests, would believe the lessons offered by the novels and fairy tales in which Zoë, like many of her predecessors, has rashly placed her trust. Poor girls who sit and wait to become princesses get nowhere. Ordeals may lead only to further suffering. There are no rewards for virtue beyond self-respect. Life is best viewed as a journey toward death, to be lived with attentive restraint.
Ah, memories.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Bruce Schneier on Terrorism
I don't usually like Jeffrey Goldberg's articles, but this one is hilarious and tragic at the same time:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security
I couldn’t believe that what Schneier was saying was true—in the national debate over the no-fly list, it is seldom, if ever, mentioned that the no-fly list doesn’t work.
Gotta love Bruce Schneier's honesty and intelligence. Here is his blog:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)