blazespinnaker

Less Government or Lower Wages? You Choose

Lower taxes are not the key, the key is more efficient government.

I wish the right and the left would get together and find admit that they're correct. Government is critical, without it, we could not function. We need rules to govern our common infrastructure.

The problem right now is there is a huge disconnect between the right and the left and the president is really the one to bridge that. I had high hopes that Obama would fix it -- he has not. If McCain hadn't been such a warmonger, I think we might have actually been better off with him.

The True 'Vampire Squid'

You're right of course. Bubble making is a very very profitable business for those who partake .. that's the fundamental reason they actually occur.

Pushing back on bubbles, though, that's no trivial thing.

Say Goodbye to a Bear Market Rally after Madoff's Ponzi Scheme

"same mistakes that Japan has made for the last two decades "

Gee. The same nation that didn't ever peak much over 6% unemployment. We'd be pretty lucky to make those same mistakes.

Own Gold? Time to Fold

Ahhh, troll bait.

The Manipulation of Gold Prices

Is there some particular reason why there aren't any leveraged (ie, naked) longs to match the nakes shorts?

Hello? Margin anyone?

Alternative Energy Storage: Lithium, Lead or Both?

err, sorry. I meant to say that lithium prices *will* be based on mining costs + some reasonable markup.

There will be no cartel premium (well, maybe a small one based on what little switching costs there are).

As long as lead based or nickel or whatever is waiting in the wings, lithium producers have no leverage.

Alternative Energy Storage: Lithium, Lead or Both?

> Do you expect South
> America, China and Russia to behave differently if we give them a
> shiny new cartel opportunity?

There can not be a cartel. It'd have to be a cartel of the entire universe of battery tech.

The switching costs (to a different battery tech from lithium) are small enough that as soon as the lithium producers try to do anything funny, then car companies will just switch to a different battery tech.

The producers of lithium will know this, and so will always price their product not based on mining costs plus some reasonable markup. They will not enter into the business of mining lithium expecting that they will somehow be able to get an unfair premium.

The shortage argument does not make sense. The other arguments, I can't comment on.

On Nov 15 10:53 AM John Petersen wrote:

Alternative Energy Storage: Lithium, Lead or Both?

I think it's a pretty big mistake to assume that battery technology will not change over time. It's not like oil, where the infrastructure is dependent on it. I could upgrade to an air compression battery and still plug into the grid.

Lithium Ion could be used for the first 100M cars, and by the time we've produced that many and lithium ion reserves are running low, a newer and better battery tech may be available that uses different materials.

The shortage argument on Lithium Ion doesn't make sense at all.