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Windmills for electricity
"It doesn't matter who builds them, runs them, or gets the financing for them, the bottom line is the nation needs more electricity at a lower cost, in both dollars and environmental damage, wind does that."
That's a great point but it doesn't touch Joel's message of how badly the markets get screwed up with Govco interference.
Mankind forever has tended toward more information and thus more efficiency; no doubt wind power will prove to be an example of that, as you say. It's still the case that any coercive interference--which is what any governmental interference is--will hinder the efficient manifestation of the technology. This is a simple fact, owing to the nature of human activity.
There is a reason the free markets of the United States worked, back when we had them.
The intents don't really matter. Never mind that considerable skepticism is due regarding the modern-day intents of governmental action anyway! jk
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Windmills for electricity
"However, with inflation at about 4% per year..."
Heh. That was back in the old days, I'm afraid.
I like how the Fed intends to "bolster the economy." Neat trick. I trust everyone here understands that only production can bolster an economy. The Fed can only change how it's denominated.
And change it will...maybe we won't need to mint nickels and dimes anymore!
I can already hear the Chinese (and everyone else across the seas) throwing our bonds back at us. "Here, you want 'em? You got 'em!"
Buying the Brooklyn Bridge wouldn't be half as stupid as falling for this old charade of making money cheaper. But somehow so many "experts" manage to fall for it. Maybe they have something to gain, hmm?
It's hard to believe anything as idiotic as devaluing our currency, could possibly be unintentional. That's the scary part IMO, and why Joe Doe better wake up.
As far as windmills in volume, economies of scale are physical systems which add value to the process, making the end product more affordable. Yes, that's reflected in the price of something (when dealing with at least a semi-rigid currency anyway), but price is not value. The fact that you can throw dollars at something to make it (appear!) cheaper, doesn't change its value to consumers, nor does it change whatever benefits economies of scale bring to the job. Those are strictly mind-driven physical acts which operate most efficiently when they're allowed to operate most efficiently, without the restraints or artificial subsidies of nutcase politicos trying to fatten their wallets and retirements.
It's amazing how consistently a regular farmer can get screwed. Last year at this time, there were dreams of 4.50-5.00/bu corn, with many farmers finally anticipating getting some value for their work...and look where it is instead. Now it'll go toward five bucks easy enough, but you won't be able to buy a gallon of milk with that bushel. And see just how more "affordable" windmills become. Sure they'll become cheaper...how could they not, with both ongoing experience and economies of scale? But like everything else, they'll become further and further away from regular people who truly stand to benefit from their usage and work out the details of scalability that Murf was talking about. Between the regs and the paperwork, it'll be out of reach for Joe Doe...so he'll just pay a little more to his local monopolized utility and /they'll/ get the benefits of those economies of scale, not to mention all the ongoing tax benefits.
But hey, at least Govco's working on taxing internet connections, so that should get better soon too!
Okay, that's /my/ rant for today. I better jump on that tractor and get some real work done. jk
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Windmills for electricity
"Well there is my rant. God Bless the large companies who do what the small ones are not able to afford to do. God Bless the honest and ethical businesses of all sizes. kt"
Good words. I hope I didn't give the impression that I'm against large companies or something. Larger the better, I say, as long as they got there ethically and honestly like you say. I'm from the Motor City; I can understand the benefits of economies of scale and mammoth businesses.
Besides, what would I want for my small business, except that it become as large as possible? I'm with Reverend Ike on this point---the best thing I can do for the poor is not become one of 'em!
I'm against /coercive/ business, commonly called "the rackets" or something like that. And unfortunately, nobody's yet devised a government that can operate with any tool except coercion. That's all...it's the rackets which have stopped a million Joe Does from having windmills and developing them some time ago. It's the rackets which stop Joe Doe from everything he's regulated out of doing, or taxed to subsidize somebody else doing it. The rackets are wrong, and no amount of do-gooder drivel can change that. That's all I'm saying, nothing more and nothing less.
Hope that clarifies my POV somewhat, and makes it less offensive for you. jk
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Windmills for electricity
"Some small business are very evil as are some very big ones but the really bigs one are not as often all evil as some want them to be,"
Great point. It's all about individuals. Good individuals make good organizations; lousy ones make lousy ones. The big secret is that almost everyone is good, while we're taught to believe that almost everyone is lousy.
The problem arises when decade after decade, the good get punished while the lousy get rewarded. Then there becomes a strong dis-value in being good. Subsidize crackheads and you'll have more of them. Punish success and you'll have less of it. Glorify poverty and you'll have more of it. And on and on...this ain't rocket science.
"even the worst ones seldom are ALL EVIL. kt"
Another good point. After all, they had to bring some value to some rational people, right?. To me, that's the opposite of evil in a social context.
But villify rationality and demonize personal values, and soon you get odd combinations of sensible producers and worthless scumbags. Eventually, the scumbags win out. This is the nature of a mixed economy like ours, and why we're currently in a heap of trouble. jk
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Windmills for electricity
Hey neighbor, though your handle threw me off. You're a flatlander, not a yooper!
You're both close. I've been interested in wood pellets and furnace corn since moving near West Branch a couple years ago. The only crop on my land so far, are the trees out back, hence the name. I just gotta figure out how to harvest 'em!
OTOH we've got more than a bit of manure and bedding that we're composting, so kt isn't far off either. I just didn't think "manurefarmer" would play real well, though probably some here think it'd be about right. jk (Jim Klein)
Edited by Murf to make 'PG' rated. 
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Windmills for electricity
All true points, Murf. That's why I'm on the computer instead of selling pellets!
Still, there's a market for pellets, and corn as pellet fuel ain't quite dead yet. And then, it turns out that softwood pellets for bedding is pretty convenient, far more than shavings at similar cost. There are a lot of horse owners who don't care too much about cost anyway; convenience is a high value to them.
Meanwhile I've got trees that are going down by the day because nobody's building anything, while I gotta buy heat pellets that are going up by the day because nobody's building anything. Story of my life. jk
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