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Summer Fun II
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Oh NO.!!. Are we all going to become blow boat owners in the near future. :wow: . :lol:
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with all of your hot air Wayne.... you should get about 60 knots :lol:Oh NO.!!. Are we all going to become blow boat owners in the near future. :wow: . :lol:
...And don't forget the sand Intel uses to make the chips really belongs to all of us anyway.
Com, The reason we have no new refineries is the much mentioned EPA regs, it and the existing expansion is part of the evidence of my personal favorite "crony capitalism". For those of you out of the loop that means the existing refiners in cahoots with goverment conspire to make it impossible for competitors to get in the market.
MM
Ummm. . .so are the environmental regs part of the cronyism? Remember that industry representatives write most of the rules as part of the regulatory process.
It's simply amazing that people on this board actually think the government should dictate to a private business (i.e. a refiner) where they can sell their products. The government doesn't own oil or refined products so to say the "U.S. is exporting (insert item here)" is really misleading. COMPANIES are exporting stuff... COMPANIES that have other people willing to pay a hirer price. COMPANIES that create jobs here in the US because they are doing stuff for overseas markets.
...Once upon a time is a sleepy country the companies were shocked to learn they must clean up the messes they made like burning rivers and contaminated aquifers that the town drew it's water from. They screamed and wailed but did what they must to stay in business, but they worked through the regulations and happily came out the other end. Then it came to them, let's embrace this regulation thing, but don't tell anybody, they will make secret agreements with politicians and bureaucrats, all while still screaming and wailing, that will make it IMPOSSIBLE for any new competitors to join the market. Then all they do is fight amongst themselves for the total market as NO ONE can possibly join them in market. It is an unholy alliance between the entrenched and the enviro movement. Business uses the enviro's to keep others out of their pie while the enviro's hope no ever gets into the business.
There is something to the point above.
That Roger Penke couldn't start a car manufacturer from the remains of Saturn is one such example. Would it be close to possible to start a car company to build a car for the masses? I say NEVER. The current players will never let it happen, no matter the amount of money one has, and regulation is the club they will kill you with.
It would have depended upon GM providing Penske with product for a number of years, and possibly the loss of some intellectual capital in the process. GM and Penske could not come to agreement. Hummer died for the same reason with the Chinese. I think that part of your point is that regulations for safety, enviroment, etc., make it difficult to start from the ground up with the very sophisticated product that the modern auto is. And, you are right. But, start-up auto companies have been popping up in foreign lands for decades - Honda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Kia, Hyundai and more. All started as more modest companies that expanded into early crude autos that met the minimum standards for their day. Some have had success, others not so much. Sometimes, their gov'ts helped create the business climate that made this work, and the Chinese seem about to do it. We need to hold our politicians accountable for the right kind of action, not the kind of crony capitalism that you are referring to.
What industry can you open up a MAJOR business?
MM
So let's put this in a context that even Cornpop can understand.
Let's say it snows 24"... and that... oh.. I don't know... some small skinny dude named "Scooter" who owns a snow plow shows up on a street with 6 houses. Scooter only has time to plow 3 of the driveways. At the end of the driveways, 3 of the homeowners are offering $1000 to clear their driveways. The other 3 will only pay $50. What does Scooter do?
Now if it was Pack, he would plow one of the driveways for $50 because that's "union rules." He would then go home and write his congressman to take away the $1000 the other homeowners have so he can go back and plow the two cheap ones.
3 of the homeowners are offering $1000 to clear their driveways. The other 3 will only pay $50. What does Scooter do?
It’s not exactly new, revolutionary, or subversive that the government (elected by the people), dictates some kind of public policy that is designed to keep a few individuals from controlling significant aspects of public life, or makes decisions to provide for the common defense.
The Sherman antitrust act was passed in 1890 to prohibit business activities that reduce or eliminate competition in in the marketplace. One of its most significant uses was to break up Standard Oil in 1911 into 34 companies.
During World War II there were many kinds of limitations on trade with the Germans, Japanese, etc., for obvious reasons. Few considered this to be anything but common sense. Thinking about today, energy is frequently mentioned as a national security issue – that common defense thing.
ATT was broken up, in part to kick some life into a moribund telecommunications industry. Among arguments, ATT had little incentive to improve technology when it held the whole game. Think about that the next time you check your i phone for something. Sure beats having a pink “princess phone” on your nightstand.
So, maybe to promote a viable middle class, advance technology, keep a broad based and successful economy for as many as possible, and provide for the common defense, the gov’t (elected by the people) may have to step in with an energy policy that is updated and makes sense. It’s been a long time since action was taken in 1911.
Wow, this has drifted......so fuel is high and will no doubt get higher....that is determined by the global market.....manufacturing is gone, seemingly, because we cannot, practically, work people in factories, six days a week, 12 hours a day, and pay them $2.00 per hour for their efforts, yet,....we can't permit refineries, etc., because of enviro regs....not everyone is going to be a software engineer....our natural resources are not infinite.....there are roughly about 300 million people living here....so what is happening??.....are most people going to be reduced to a "third world" standard of living.....while very few have more than enough??.....is that where we are headed, like it or not??.....