OMG Teh Worldz Ending!
John Scalzi, tongue thoroughly in cheek, has decided to re-inventory his survival gear. He finds the latest news that Bush is 'on top of the situation' (with regards to the economy) to be the "most terrifying headline of the week."
I have to admit, this administration's permanent cranial-rectal inversion (wonder how they get oxygen?) does not suggest that they will be able to fix the problem. On the other hand, this is not quite the End Of The World, or even The End Of Civilization As We Know It. Rather, it's the end of a bubble, which happens once every 10 to 12 years.
Remember the dot-com bubble? Or before that, the bio-tech bubble? Granted, this bubble concerns housing, which is more likely to affect individuals, and comes on top of other bad news (more on that in a minute), but it too shall pass. Not without pain, individually and corporate, and undoubtedly innocent folks will get hurt.
Now, if we had a competent President and Congress, instead of this bullshit mail-everybody-a-check "stimulus package," we'd take that money and get serious about alternative energy. Turning coal into oil is old-school technology - ask the Nazis, they ran a war doing it. Yeah, we'd not be 'carbon neutral' but, news flash, carbon neutral ain't enough - we need to be carbon negative - pull more carbon out of the atmosphere.
At any rate, getting serious about alternative energy would:
1) Stimulate the economy by providing jobs, both directly and in supporting industries, such as mining and factories.
2) Reduce the demand for foreign oil, thus reducing trade deficits and helping the dollar.
Alas, this does not seem to be in the cards, so our response to this bubble will be to try and talk it to death.
I have to admit, this administration's permanent cranial-rectal inversion (wonder how they get oxygen?) does not suggest that they will be able to fix the problem. On the other hand, this is not quite the End Of The World, or even The End Of Civilization As We Know It. Rather, it's the end of a bubble, which happens once every 10 to 12 years.
Remember the dot-com bubble? Or before that, the bio-tech bubble? Granted, this bubble concerns housing, which is more likely to affect individuals, and comes on top of other bad news (more on that in a minute), but it too shall pass. Not without pain, individually and corporate, and undoubtedly innocent folks will get hurt.
Now, if we had a competent President and Congress, instead of this bullshit mail-everybody-a-check "stimulus package," we'd take that money and get serious about alternative energy. Turning coal into oil is old-school technology - ask the Nazis, they ran a war doing it. Yeah, we'd not be 'carbon neutral' but, news flash, carbon neutral ain't enough - we need to be carbon negative - pull more carbon out of the atmosphere.
At any rate, getting serious about alternative energy would:
1) Stimulate the economy by providing jobs, both directly and in supporting industries, such as mining and factories.
2) Reduce the demand for foreign oil, thus reducing trade deficits and helping the dollar.
Alas, this does not seem to be in the cards, so our response to this bubble will be to try and talk it to death.