ArtS

Contrarianism: The New Consensus

Not to be picky, but high or low points on a graph are properly termed “critical points”, not “inflection points”. An inflection point on a graph is a point of changing concavity. That is a point where a trend changes from concave up (accelerating) to concave down (decelerating) for instance, but it does not indicate a point of changing direction. In fact, an inflection point most often is the midpoint of a trend. On a perfect sine function, the inflection points are the points at which the function crosses the x-axis, exactly midway between high and low (where the concavity changes). These are points of maximum velocity, not of maximum value.

Goldman's Human Face

Didn’t the Twin Towers collapse by the act of radicals who also believed, as evidently do those at Goldman, that they were doing “the work of God”? And what might that work be? Surely not to bring down the Western economies. But so it sometimes seems.

FuelCell Falls as Alternative Energy Fad Fades

A fuel cell is not an alternative energy source. In fact a fuel cell is not a source of energy at all. It is an energy converter. It burns hydrocarbons or hydrogen. If hydrogen, then that hydrogen must be manufactured. Potentially hydrogen could be manufactured from wind power or solar cell, but currently hydrogen is likely to be manufactured from power supplied by the existing electrical grid, which likely means burning more hydrocarbons—coal or natural gas. As a fuel cell only exchanges chemical energy for electrical, it is subject to the inflexible laws of thermodynamics. Roughly stated as I recall, “There is no free lunch.” That is, the energy cost of manufacturing hydrogen will always be greater than the energy recoverable by burning that hydrogen in a fuel cell. Unless a true alternative energy source—wind or solar—is used to manufacture the hydrogen initially, that is.

A Little Financial Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing

Sure, why get an education, when there are plenty of professionals at Citibank and Bear Stearns you can trust with your money?

Housing, Credit, Economy: At an Inflection Point

Just a technical comment. An "inflection point" is a point of maximum rate of change, not a bottom or top. On a perfect sine curve, the inflection point is exactly midway between the top and bottom. It is the point at which the graph turns from concave up to concave down.