patrick.net

Peter P,

But how would you measure that productivity? In dollars(market)? In greatest good for the greatest number of people (govt reg)? In terms of long term environmental health?

Yes, by all means hunt as many of those rats on hooves and rats with buckteeth and cottontails down, if the landowner grants you permission. And please take about 1,000 Canadian geese out too - they're beastly. I'd be weary of shooting down peacocks, check to make sure they're pests.

But how would you measure that productivity? In dollars(market)? In greatest good for the greatest number of people (govt reg)? In terms of long term environmental health?

Total utility is usually what I look for. The environment is an asset. We should seek to protect its long-term viability. However, it is only a means, not an end.

And please take about 1,000 Canadian geese out too - they’re beastly.

Why don't Chinese restaurants here make roasted geese with them?

Unfortunately very true. It saddens me also. Possibly the environment may have something to say about it in the future…..probably something rather unpleasant.

It is a conflict.

As a human being I would like to conquer the nature. It is just "natural" to further our own best interests.

But we are part of our environment and we will never win. I am not fearful of any future environmental disaster because I know we deserve to perish when it comes to hit us.

"Why don’t Chinese restaurants here make roasted geese with them?"

I'm not sure that would solve the Canadian geese problem, but yes, I would definitely support more geese and squab (aka pigeon) availability.

And please take about 1,000 Canadian geese out too - they’re beastly.

My wife was attached by one of these beasts many years ago. My revenge - goose foie gras!

As a student of the I Ching surely you should look to smoothly ride the change in harmony with the environment, rather than misguidedly try to conquer anything.

True. Do you study I Ching too?

I Ching is about waves, the cycle of nature. I see waves and think surfing, exploiting the waves. Not the intent of I Ching.

I Ching is about the universe. Waves and surfing are included.

Sometimes, though not as thoroughly as I should. I spend more time trying to manifest the trigrams practicing bagua.

Do you use yarrow sticks or coins?

Conor Says:

Personally, I wouldn’t want any job that “requires” a Harvard/Stanford/whatever degree. Says a lot about management and the people you’d be working with. For people with above average business and investing savvy, I contend that going to any 4-year school ends up costing you more money than it makes you in the long run.
_____

Conor, the way things are shaping up these days, you just may be right.
Here in Phoenix, a bachelors in most disciplines gets no respect. A masters degree, slightly better. I've got stories to tell about this sh-t.

Damn, it sucks when you play by the rules and get nothing but college debt in return.

Have a great day!

RE: golf

BTW, it seems that Tiger is on fire again.

I don’t use it as an oracle, but as a mindset through which to see events unfold. Back on topic - I would buy into a district with a good taoist school!

Which oracle, if any, do you use?

Ah, I Ching. I read Chinese but damn I get a headache every time I try to delve into that particular "easy" book.

I don’t use any. If I thought I could make sense of it I would try the I Ching, but it is still beyond my skill.

But if you do not try how can you improve your skills?

BTW, I got Hexagram 52 (Keeping Still) several times when I asked if I should buy a home.

Ah, I Ching. I read Chinese but damn I get a headache every time I try to delve into that particular “easy” book.

Perhaps you should read a translation. :)

Perhaps "easy" has changed to "difficult". Yin changed to yang. It is a book of changes after all.

Airlines are often cited as an example of attempted monopolists are doomed to failure. They're always trying to drive their competitors out of business, but that just means the competitors land in chapter 11 and resurface in a stronger competitive position.

Airlines are a particular case though, since several of the major ones are largely employee owned. Thus, their stake in keeping their job going supercedes company earnings.

I suspect Robert Cote would want private roads, private trains, private firemen, private policing, etc. Somehow this Libertarian paradise will run more efficiently than the present system and never hinder on the property rights of the individuals. Goodbye open space. Hello exburban sprawl!

I was sick last week and fell waaaay behind on the threads.... *sigh* copy paste copy paste to read later...

In the meanwhile, I don't know how many of you are subscribing to Patrick's news links but have you noticed a Huuuuuge sea change in sentiment? (at least with respect to the media?) In the last month...heck, last two weeks? there are all these "shit! it might be a hard landing after all" type headlines as opposed to the usual denials of "Nah... it's not a bubble..." then... "well, it ran ahead of itself and maybe we'll get a soft landing...."

In the meanwhile, our national newspaper fed us some pablum to make us feel better as things go to hell south of the border (since we might just decide to have a sea change in psychology in Canada too...)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060826.STMAIN26/TPStory/TPBusiness/?query=

Back to catching up on the threads....

*relurks*

SFWoman,

I find that modern day Libertarian views a touch too close to that of Presbyterians. That is, they believe being wealthy (or in any case, independent) is a sign of grace while being poor or dependent is a sign of weakness. I can see the appeal of such a moral system (especially if one is already wealthy and/or independent), but I'm against such a world view because it is unneccessarily oppressive (a righteous application means the poor would be deprived of public transportation and public education, the two things they really need to get started on their economic climb upwards) and unnecessarily wasteful.

Your example is an excellent illustration. The firemen didn't need to exert much extra effort to put out that fire, but they wanted to make a point about making people pay for public services, and that resulted in destruction of valuable property that they could have easily saved. It would be cheaper and more efficient for everybody to have a communal service paid by tax dollars. (obviously cheaper for the guy whose house burnt down, but also cheaper for his fee paying neighbors since that guy would have been forced to pay his share of a community wide service).

"Speaking of property rights, there is a politician in England who does not like that people can own large tracts of land around their houses"

Sounds like the ultimate anti-sprawl initiative.

SFWoman,

The commercial airline system in most of the world is rife with legacy. That is the primary reason for the illogical business model. This industry was almost completely engineered by public spending, and then was deregulated and privatized. It's hard to pull off that maneuver successfully. Just look at our lovely telecoms. Is it telecom yet?

The airline industry would be more efficient as a natural monopoly because of capital costs and price inelasticity. A monopoly could price discriminate and extract the maximum willingness/ability to pay from every marginal customer. This industry does not survive as a competitive market. Eventually, all operators will be better off exiting the industry. Even Southwest, which is enjoying free-rider benefits in this system currently. Forced to pay their weighted share of the industries capital costs, even SW would sink.

Buffet is right about airlines.

Airports are manifestation of cargo cults by natives hoping for tourist dollars and French cheese from the outside world.

It's hard to complain about airlines as a consumer though. As long as you're willing to deal with the humiliation of TSA checkpoints and get scrunched in a coach seat, they're really amazing deals. They're often cheaper than taking Greyhound or the gas money for driving.

Robert,

Sorry then. But how can you justify appropriation of land to build these roads, the construction funding (often financed with long term bonds) and the noise and disruption of construction? Are you saying that there are exceptions to your property rights mantra?

"L"ibertarian ideals are not the same thing as "L"ibertarian ideology.

You'll be hard pressed to find any genuine "L"ibertarian ideologues, although I'm sure they exist. Most are either misguided or ignore historical capital costs in their mental equations. The rest are the types that run for every obscure local office imaginable, like commissioners of community hospitals, with the stated goal of closing it. For this reason, they're also seldom much of a threat.

But many rational people hold largely "L"ibertarian ideals, which in the end are merely the optimization of personal responsibility, individual freedom, and efficient markets. None of that precludes public projects or services. They just have to not transgress on the above.

“Speaking of property rights, there is a politician in England who does not like that people can own large tracts of land around their houses”

Sounds like the ultimate anti-sprawl initiative.

Or maybe someone who believes that every house should be a McMansion :)

You suspect incorrectly. Public roads work well. Not perfect, well. Those private citizens in their privste autos (taxed) burning their private gas (taxed) covered by their private insurance (taxed) on tires (taxed 4x) more than pay their direct, indirect and external costs which goes a long way to explaining why the system works well.

I would still prefer a toll system based on weight, distance, and speed.

Gas excise taxes are a rough analog with the beauty of simple bookkeeping and collection.

True. But that does not do much to incentivize/disincentivize the construction and/or usage of specific routes.

GPS can facilitate quick and simple toll calculations.

Once the system is in place, road construction and maintenance can lean towards privatization as well.

Oh, and water hazards in Kenya sometimes have hippos in them. I have heard of golfers getting attacked and killed.

I heard that hippo is the #1 cause of death in Africa (for tourists). Is this true?

Water HAZARD indeed!

Michael Holliday Says:

> Here in Phoenix, a bachelors in most disciplines
> gets no respect. A masters degree, slightly better.
> I’ve got stories to tell about this sh-t.
> Damn, it sucks when you play by the rules and
> get nothing but college debt in return.

As a kid who ended up in a “good school district” by accident (my parents who didn’t graduate from college needed more room for a grandparent who moved in with us and had some extra cash coming in from the grandparent’s rental home and pension) I can look back and see how different my life ended up due to the “good public schools” I attended K-8. In the good school district I learned that who you know is more important than what you know and that the kid who’s Dad plays golf with the boss has a better chance of getting a job than the hard working kid that went to State U. I also learned that if you didn’t have a Dad who plays golf (my Dad has never hit a golf ball and I don’t think he can name a single person in the town he has lived for almost 40 years other than his next door neighbors) you had to learn to network on your own (and the best place to do this was at a good college)…

Buyers are thumbing their noses at sellers right now. They could care less about how distressed sellers are; let them rot. They do not want to put their families in financial distress for the rest of their lives, by purchasing overpriced homes, at sky-high prices, which are not worth it. They are right to do so. Buyers shop for value.

It's a buyers are thumbing their noses market, and saying, Let Them Rot.

Sorry if this is a bit too soon, but new thread: Converting the Wayward Sheeple

I’m frankly puzzled why such literate, educated people feel the need to put words in other peoples’ mouths and marginalize their positions with extrapolations to extremes.

hmm, it's been known to happen...

Does Margaret Thatcher sound like a model politician for most people on this board?

no...

SFWoman Says:

My mother’s town in New Hampshire had private firemen. If you didn’t subscribe they would show up at the fire and just watch it to make sure it didn’t spread to a subscriber’s property.

Classic New Hampshire. Live Free or Die!

Both Brin and Page of Google fame and Jeff Bezos of amazon fame swore they would never have gotten to where they are without the Montessori schooling they got.

Or having rich parents.

I think an excellent HS education should suffice. Private HS was much more demanding than college or graduate school. I am invited to play at the top courses in the US. Not gonna do it. Instills bad habits. The game is passe and has become an anachronism.

John Haverty,

It really depends on the kid. Some kids need structure to do well. Some kids are problem solvers. Some kids are really persistant and just keep at the same thing. And some kids are just stupid and ambitious - those go on to great success as realtors, mortgage brokers, and RE flippers/daytraders/etc.

Had 2 interesting clients recently. One worth hundredes of millions made in auto electronics. The other makes 300k/year selling insurance. Both NEVER went to high school!! I agree that attending an Ivy league has tremendous benefits- financial and intellectual. But we live in an age when "education" is not requisite.

I don't think "Good School District" exists.

Only Great Kids and Responsible Parents make the kids success.