Why The Stimulus Plan Isn't
I have such conflicting thoughts on the stimulus plan I have no idea how to characterize them. The Republicans are so right, and completely wrong. The Democrats are feckless as usual. President Obama comes out by far the best, but is being disingenuous in his marketing and is thus open to very valid criticisms. I really hope he changes his pitch or otherwise a very good program may be derailed (or at least judged a failure) because it doesn’t meet its aims. Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
I don't know what is more frightening - that the economic stimulus packages won't work or that they will. If world leaders succeed in getting us back to, say a modest 2% economic growth rate, this implies a doubling of the economies of the world every 35 years (log2/log1.02). How many economies in the world do you know that can find twice the water, twice the wood and minerals, twice the energy and produce twice the garbage and pollution and still have any quality of life left. Certainly not America's. OK, so not all development is equal and there will be technological advances but how many economies can survive if they only increas these factors to 1.5 times the present values. We talk sustainable (read not growing) economies but no one has a clue how to set one up. This economic chrisis may just be giving us the necessary breathing space to sort ourselves out before we totally collapse the environment that gives us so much of our wealth for free. If we do collapse our environment, this present chrisis will look like a picnic in retrospect.