Beam me up Scotty

And Bernanke Didn't Think Unemployment Would Reach 10%

Our problem(USA) is really our weak position as a producer of goods. We still lead the world in producing financial derivatives, pro football stars, making good movies and TV sitcoms, great weapons for Defense and other equally important things. But, other than those few leadership items, we fall woefully short. We need to get back into some form of manufacturing role in the world, and, instead of saying we're in the post industrial state, we need to start thinking of how to get out of it. When the dollar tanks, those $ 15 shoes from Walmart are going to $ 20-25, because China will have to play the game and revalue regardless of their dollar reserve position. We've become second rate and the world is beginning to smell it. What's the plan to get back into manufacturing aside from military goods? It'll take more than PV panels - China's already moved into a better position than the USA and Germany on that note and they started late. We need more politicians with a technical and management talent than the rhetoric repeaters we have now. Any way to resurrect Henry F.?

Why Is First Solar So Far Ahead of the Competition?

Thin film solar still has the relative problem of requiring about twice the physical space per watt as mono/poly silicon based panels. Yet still, for roofspaces at least, the amount of labor and mounting fixtures remains the same. This means, that installed, the dollar per panel watt being $ 1.00, doesn't carry over to 'total' cost of systems. What'll help is using acres and square miles of land filled with these panels by utilities who now have access to the ITC. This will require more transmission investment which should feed into higher regulated prices for electricity. And, instead of having tons of high tension lines and utility poles covering the countryside, we'll now also have huge, fenced off pieces of land with their newly constructed transformers and new transmission lines.
Rigid silicon panel prices will drop significantly with increased supply over the next decade and can more efficiently produce watts than thin film, by using and monetizing rooftops. It won't be the quick fix for utilities and state regulatory departments with their RPS targets but it is the right way to go. Thin film has many other better applications than competing heads-up with more powerful rigid silicon based panels.

Big Oil: Dark Skies Ahead?

Simply goes to show you can replace all the top management, near-top management and boards of directors with robots or store clerks from 7-11. Why pay out huge management salaries and bonuses since they have little of no impact on where the market forces take their companies on either the downside or upside. Cut those individual wave-rider income expenses to 35K per year and use the billions saved for stockholder dividends.

Bill Mandating 25% of U.S. Energy from Renewables by 2025 Introduced in House

a national RPS is mostly rhetoric and doesn't make a lot of sense. There are already RPS' in place in most of the states so another federal bureaucracy to measure what's already being done elsewhere simply makes no sense. And the job creation numbers are too bogus to even address. Solar PV capacity will be greater than demand beginning this year so prices will drop, possibly precipitously over the next 5 years so those that pass the 'fogged mirror' test should think about buying soon. Wind turbines already make a lot of sense at the large scale and now the small scale is rapidly gaining acceptance economically .. etc etc. Market force momentum is already in force so we should back off more worthless politicing. Let's give Calif and Maryland their awards for renewables incentive innovation in the past 10 years - they got things going and now the payoff is on the way.

Bank Nationalization - The Max Holmes Proposal

Failed banks due to failed administrators should be allowed to fail with no net. Elsewise we're going to have a bad auto company where all the low mpg SUVs are deposited for later non-sale and a bad airline where all the low and no profit routes go to one bad carrier and a bad casino in Atlantic City where all the unbooked rooms go to a bad casino to continue being unbooked etc etc.

Buy American = Goodbye Global Friends

We can't let our trade relationships deteriorate with the EU and China. Then we'd have to buy mostly American made goods which are of lesser quality and higher priced. We need to hope our second rate banking system can pull itself out of the current jam with government tax handouts perhaps with the help of Fraudstreet. But let's NOT jeopardize the one thing worldwide which is helping the American consumer - good worldwide trading relationships.

Don't Be Scammed by Madoff Investor Sob Stories

Unfortunately, our federal government is a ponzi scheme but no one has got around to letting our administrators know it. Trying to get one ponzi scheme to regulate another is wishful thinking. Let's just hope none of our involved governmental administrators or their close friends lost money or, for sure, the SIPC paybacks will indeed be increased and there's not much we can do about it.

Ethanol: In the Tank

Good book detailing the 'why not' of ethanol is "Gusher of Lies", Robert Bryce. Other than weak politicians being lobbyied, as usual, by corporate sponsors to support this fuel solution de jure, the fundamentals of ethanol dont really exist.

The Difference Between TARP and TALF

We've come a long way from junk bonds to junk industries - banking, insurance and financial services. We need to give up control of these poorly managed companies to foreigners with the reserves to buy them up (if we can persuade them to buy). Perhaps they can improve management at all levels by removing the existing regimes and starting with a fresh set of agendas.

Infrastructure Investment Will Be a Slow Economic Stimulus Path

Yes, the trick is somehow getting these large potential projects requiring large taxpayer funds out of federal hands. We know our congress is not capable of making the right choices so we need to discover/appoint a non-profit third party - something like a Ford, Carnegie or Pew Foundation or other such 'grant making' organization - to wisely rank and appropriate federal tax set-aside infrastructure funds, based on project merit. Otherwise pork-barreling and earmarking will continue and we'll have more unneeded shipyards and bridges leading to nowhere.

Detroit's Big Three and the Democrats' Economic Illiteracy

Chapter 11 is best. The US auto makers can reorganize and possibly come back as viable market players, at least domestically. The bailouts are frauds. Banking, soon after Glass-Steagle was repealed, became and remains a 'junk' industry. While I have personally paid my share into social security (SS), I don't want to pay any of my tax bucks for auto makers who will use the money for general funds and thus will have me paying into SS AND another retirement fund which does not benefit me whatsoever. Let's use the Govt pension insurance agency until it runs dry and refund that as appropriate.

The Fed: Now the World's Largest Private Bank

LaRouche is right. The FED should be reorganized under the bankruptcy laws. The jam will only get worse than it is today. It failed in its job to manage the economy except for tweeking rates which, due to economic momentum, didn't make much of a difference anyhow - we could have used a computer program instead. We need to also figure out how Sarbanes-Oxley failed to work. Corporate executives are now jumping out with the gold when SOX has 'criminal' penalties which should have these people spending that cash while in prison. These frauds didn't occur overnight. Surely not all the perpetrators were innocent due to feeble mindedness - we need to penalize the crooks or they'll develop another loophole like the current scam being played out on the american people.