Bezos Pulls Out
Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man except for Vladimir Putin, is having a rough year. First he announced his divorce, but that turned out to be his way of getting ahead of the National Enquirer’s story about his relationship with Lauren Sanchez. That turned even uglier when Bezos revealed AMI threatened to publicize his dick pics if he didn’t back away from investigating AMI. Now it’s been revealed that his mistress was the one who leaked those photos in the first place, making Bezos looking foolish for conspiracy-mongering.
So maybe Bezos is just trying to change the subject by pulling out of Amazon’s deal with Long Island City, Queens, over local objections to the city and state reaching a massive deal without consulting the people who, y’know, actually live in the area that would have been destroyed. That area just happens to lie in the district represented in Congress by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Somebody on Amazon’s board told the Times some version of this paraphrased sentence:
The meetings between Amazon and Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio before the company decided to come to New York led executives to believe that there would be greater political support than turned out to be the case.
“Political support” isn’t what was lacking, Mr. Bezos. Popular support — local support — is what nobody bothered to get beforehand.
Bullshit.
https://poll.qu.edu/new-york-city/release-detail?ReleaseID=2589
People like good jobs and building things. Well, except for today’s Democrats.
Morons like AOC and the usual NYC protestor freakshow killed the deal. Democrats continuing to demonstrate they are no longer the party of the working class.
More ads for the next cycle.
Shows how little you know. DiBlasio was in on the deal. So if they’re morons, what’s that make you, an imbecile?
Yes, an overwhelming majority of people who don’t live near the affected area were for it. New York is a big city, Long Island City is a tiny part of it. Doesn’t mean the locals shouldn’t get a say.
But apparently your limbic system is at it again. What are you afraid of this time?
Alby, are you on the sauce again?
Long Island City is in Queens, which according to the poll supported it 55-39. Of course the limousine liberals (heart of today’s Democrats) in Manhattan were against it. They already have their money.
Long Island City is on the waterfront in Queens. Most of Queens wouldn’t be affected as much as Manhattan and certainly not as much as Long Island City itself, whose local politicians were ignored. It would be like New Castle County making a deal for Wilmington without involving city council. You can bigfoot the locals, but you shouldn’t expect them to roll over.
“New York City should be more involved in bringing Amazon to Long Island City, 79 percent of city voters say.” Since that’s way more than dislike the deal, I read that as them resenting being bigfooted by the state. The reaction is clearly not based on economic reasoning alone.
The point is this. Pay close attention:
Any major capital project increases costs for public services. Those increased costs are typically funded by those expending the capital, through property taxes. Abating those taxes shifts the increased costs to everyone else. It’s not as if the employees alone will make up the difference; everyone’s taxes will help cover the bill.
That’s why such deals do not pay off in the long run. Higher taxes on everybody else incentivizes out-migration, increases gentrification and destroys the neighborhood. The project would have built a mini-Manhattan across from the real one.
So tell me, are people wrong for rejecting the likely destruction of their neighborhood, and their government’s complicity in it?
As for the sauce, it all depends. What are you serving?
“Gentrifying” = “Destruction” is another rich liberal construct. It’s short for “I’ve got mine, you can’t have yours because I would like to virtue-signal at your expense”.
To a certain extent I agree that the tax credit arms race is out of control. Not going to change anytime soon though, both political parties do it and there is too much money to be made. On the flip side the sheer amount of bullshit you have to go through to build anything in a big city is also out of control.
For you to say “these deals do not pay off in the long run” is a generalization. Some do, some don’t. Just like any investment. Have to be smart about it.
Beer with cheesesteaks tonight for a romantic dinner. Short for “forgot to make reservations”
OK, then it depends on the beer.
Actually, gentrification = destruction is a poor liberal construct. They’re the ones who have to move. Rich liberals wouldn’t realize it any more than rich conservatives would.
Class matters in America even though we all agree to pretend it doesn’t.
Bullshit.
Local objections rightly killed this. Why are the richest man in the world and one of the most cash-rich companies in the world getting tax subsidies? It was a question worth asking and I guess we now have our answer.
Congrats on beating the NY Daily News/NY Post to the headline.
Thank you. Always wanted that gig.
Bezos doesn’t need it. Long Island City doesn’t want it. It’s a win/win. I think he was just spreading the wealth to gain influence wherever he could in big markets to set the stage for drone delivery and self driving cars.
It is literally right across the East River from Manhattan,you could almost drive a golf ball into mid-town from a rooftop in LIC. 35 years ago it was all warehouses and I used to drive a moving van there to pick up cardboard boxes. Neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx are gentrifying, LIC must have already gentrified long before now.
The site just never made any sense. Traffic was already a horror show 35 years ago, I would routinely sit for an hour waiting to get over the 59th street bridge or through the mid-town tunnel.
Tell Carney he can have an Amazon HQ in his state and he’ll give away OUR farm to ensure he has employment for life!
(Please, everyone, Don’t tell him…) ssshhh!
I still think we could put it in Claymont if we promised Bezos Chris Coons Senate seat. Eliminate the middle man so to speak.
Step Down, Chris. Think of the JOBS you will be creating!!
Huhh… I don’t know that this was as unpopular locally as you’re putting on. I don’t disagree that there could be a negative impacts, but this isnt an Amazon warehouse or distribution Center, paying $15ph for a couple thousand jobs. This is a HQ. Its thousands of coders and software engineers making 100k+. This isnt as bad of an investment as a sports stadium. They really should have fought the Barclays Center, not Amazon.
The City of New York’s budget is $89 Billion. The State of New York’s budget is $168 Billion. But you pass up on 25k jobs at $100kpy because of a 1.5 billion package?… pennies to NY. Stupidity. Let’s be real, AOC is a waitress. Let’s stop acting like she’s Lee Iacocca because she won a damn election. The fact that you’re spinning this as a win for New York is silly.
There’s no egg on Bezos for this. He picked up his toys and went home. They’ll just expand in DC by his house and his newspaper. Doesn’t sound like he loses.
Your whole attitude is just wrong if you accept the idea that the “greater good” — as defined by what, economic activity? — overrides the people who live there.
This isn’t a situation like New Orleans, where relocating people instead of rebuilding homes in flood-prone areas is a necessity. Some big mahoffs put their finger on a map without considering the effect on the locals.
End of story. I’m not spinning it as a win for anyone except the people whose lives would have been upended. As opposed to the imaginary, future people you’re advocating for.
Have you even asked those people if they like the places they’re renting? You’re acting like theyre displacing some indigenous tribe. Its fucking Long Island Queens; Not necessary 100yr old family farms. Your paternalistic tone is the problem with liberals now. Public sentiment was not in favor of this. However you spin this, this was about politicians not residents.
Imaginary future people? That’s beneath you.
I don’t need to ask them, I’ve read about them. You might try doing the same.
It’s not paternalistic. I’m in favor of local control. You’re not. You don’t have to make it more significant than it is. And let’s remember, all that happened was that the locals tried to influence how this would work. Mr. Long Dong didn’t like that so he took his “jobs” and went elsewhere.
Yes, your people of the future don’t exist yet, at least not as residents of Long Island City. Were you under some other impression?
I still don’t get why you’re in favor of a billionaire throwing his weight around, and why you think corporations should be rewarded with public money for hiring people they were going to hire anyway.
Had anyone even asked those people if they like the places they’re RENTING? You’re acting like theyre displacing some indigenous tribe. Its fucking Long Island Queens; Not necessary 100yr old family farms. Your paternalistic tone is the problem with liberals now. Public sentiment was not in favor of this. However you spin this, this was about politicians not residents.
Also “Imaginary future people?” That’s beneath your intellect.
Sorry for the duplicate comments
Here’s Henry Grabar’s take:
https://slate.com/business/2019/02/amazon-new-york-and-the-end-of-the-growth-machine.html
“True: the deal was popular in New York. But it wasn’t that popular, not for a once-in-a-generation influx of high-paying jobs. It wasn’t so popular politicians felt cowed into supporting it. Instead, the burden now lies on businesses and politicians to show why new jobs are good for people who won’t be hired for them. A rising tide is seen as a threat. An open listing is an invitation to an out-of-towner who might take your apartment. Forget the jobs mantra. New Yorkers want to know something more: What’s in it for me?”
Wow… is that the new progressive mantra. Forget jobs for other people, what’s in it for me? Sounds like the same thing we hear from the Republicans. Done gone so far to the left that we sound like the tea party. This article is a poor argument. Yuck.
It’s not an argument, it’s what he sees happening. “What’s in it for me?” is also basic human nature. What’s changed is that people are no longer buying the “but it will be good for everyone!” line anymore. There are winners and losers, and they see no reason to take being losers quietly. I wouldn’t either, and neither would you.
If Jeff Bezos wants the land, let him buy the land with his own money, without eminent domain, and if he still chooses to build there let him pay his fair share of taxes. He chose not to do that. So where’s the problem? He’s the one who said no. Are you saying people shouldn’t voice their objections? Sounds like Republicans to me.
Giving money to corporations that don’t need it also sounds like the Republicans to me. Yuck.
I think people have finally realized that the “rising tide lifts all boats” argument only works if you own a boat. If you don’t you’re screwed.
Well put.
I’ve lived in NYC long enough to know that when they talked about good-paying jobs, they meant for transplants and/or people who went to elite schools. (I am a transplant, but I’m barely middle-class by NYC standards, and my most prestigious degree is from CUNY.)
The main objection I (and many other people) had to this was the massive corporate welfare package given away to Amazon, a company that doesn’t need the help. Amazon had the opportunity to negotiate or compromise once objections started to be raised, but instead they just took their ball and went home; this just served to confirm once again that they didn’t care about the location, they were just after a big giveaway. If they were actually invested in LIC, they would have fought for it.
Thanks for your comment. You stress an excellent point — Amazon bailed when the locals pushed back.
To translate what happened to Delaware, when Stoltz wanted to turn Barley Mill Plaza into a shopping center, the locals pushed back, despite the “jobs” promise.
Question for those who support Amazon on this: Should Stoltz have gotten his way?
Not even a remotely comparable situation. Luxury apartments and a few retail positions vs 25000 jobs with an estimated average salary of $150K and an estimated $ 27.2 billion dollars in tax revenue over the next 25 years – net of the tax rebates offered by the city/state.
Barley Mill was rich NIMBYs at their finest, which is now basically what the bulk of the Democratic party has become.
AOC, who is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, is acting like the city was going to have to write a check for $3 billion to Amazon, as if the rebates were not given then suddenly there is an extra $3 billion to hand out. Like the idiots that think more debt is better because they can claim it as a deduction.
This will not end well for her. She may well keep winning her district for the next 25 years and fight a lot of twitter wars but she will never be a serious policy maker. Thankfully.
“an estimated $27.2 billion tax revenue over 25 years “ – xyz
Dream on chump.
Today’s NewsJournal dead tree edition. Page 28A
AMZ doubled its profits from $5.6 to $11.2 billion in 2018, but paid no federal income tax for the second consecutive year. Motley Fool “declared that is a Amazon ‘master of tax avoidance'”
There is also this thing called “income tax” – you may have heard of it. The combined NYC and New York state income tax is probably about 10-12% for those at these income levels. I know math is tough for you liberal types but 25,000 (jobs) *150,000 (dollars)*25(years)*0.12 = about 11 billion. Just in income taxes directly from Amazon employees. So even if you assume no new additional jobs in construction, services, etc. 11 billion is not a bad return on 3 billion.
But you keep sticking it to the Man, dude.
Why do you prefer the man stick it to us?
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/17/1835392/-Amazon-s-27-Billion-Mirage?utm_campaign=recent
Daily Kos? Really? C’mon Alby, you’re smarter than that.
Arguing against the messenger is false logic. And my question wasn’t based on the article, it’s about your position. Why are you in favor of giving corporations tax breaks?
This is about who you’re rooting for, and why.
Because if you don’t, someone else will. And the best way to help a community is to secure good paying jobs for members of said community. None of the rest really matters all that much.
You think you know the answer and 40 years of history says you don’t.
“And the best way to help a community is to secure good paying jobs for members of said community.”
No, it’s not. That’s the best way to disperse a community in favor of a wealthier set of residents. The jobs are specialized.
Your contention that “none of the rest matters that much” is an opinion. No one else is bound by it.
Also, you clearly didn’t read the article, because it addresses the math better than you did.
Read it close enough to say he claimed the average salary was $100K when the actual figure was $150K. Stopped reading right then.
Why, the math got too hard for you? Adjust the number accordingly. Or use a calculator.
You seem to prefer dismissing things to arguing them rationally.
Notice how these always devolve into pedantic statistical exercises, thought experiments, nit-picking, source criticism and “the only things that works is…”
Do you ever wonder why?
Johnny Longtorso! Blast from the past.
These glib dismissals of AOC’s intelligence are funny. It’s obvious after only a few months she far brighter & savvier that most elected officials at any level. We’re just used to bland old white people regurgitating what you heard on the radio and assuming that’s “smart.”
I have some very bad news for you, pal. The politicians you think are “smart” are very different in person. (And when I say different, I mean fucking dumb as a bag of sand.)
Also, it’s funny because xyz’s criticism has a neat wrinkle. Did you see it?
AOC thought NY was going to write Amazon a check for $3B! Of course she thought nothing of the sort. There would be costs, but the point is what do you get for the cost. Who benefits and why?
Relatedly, I’m recording an episode on MMT with an economics professor this week. The way the real world works may blow your mind.
See, if she were really smart (which she isn’t) she would have used her leverage a bit more subtly. Maybe some more concessions to ensure local hires and use of local contractors. Maybe pushing back a little more on some of the tax rebates. Maybe asking for some Amazon backing of loans/bonds for local construction and transit projects. Create a win/win, which is what good politicians do. You know, constructive criticism that she could point to when trying to broaden her appeal a bit, so that she could actually begin to claim some actual accomplishments, rather than just clever Twitter posts.
Well, following her instincts got her to Congress. Where have yours gotten you? In other words, who are you to tell her what she ought to be doing?
Beyond that, why would any liberal take the advice of a conservative on such matters even if it were offered in good faith? Are you just practicing your sensible-Republican punditry so you can get a think tank job?
The reason she’s smart and you aren’t is expressly because she didn’t do any of those things you said.
Any argument that includes these words or phrases..
pushing back “a little”
tax rebates
bonds
win/win
…sounds like Carney and can fucking jump of a bridge.
Everything you said is fucking stupid. Your idea of what politics is and what politician do is absolutely stupid and this is why what AOC, et al are doing is confusing to you.
What you describe is why, exactly why, we find ourselves in the predicament we’re in.
We’re not fucking doing it your way anymore and if you’re going to try to convince somebody use your real name. I still will piss all over you, but at least I won’t think you’re a coward.
Viva La Revolucion!
Beats living under fascism and loving it.
If we were all just as smart as John Carney and did public private charter commerce foundation partnerships we could solve homelessness!
(Is xyz Albright?)
To wit:
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2019/02/12/wilmington-delaware-gentrification-poor-social-services-mayor-mike-purzycki/1422192002/
Best part… the Rob Buccini quote about being on East Side. That was funny. And that they’ve “invested” over $1B in Wilmington over 20 years. How altruistic! How heroic!
This dumbfuck has the Davos mindset. You see how the shine is off that ghoulfest.
You have the Mao/Lenin/Che mindset. The shine is really off that (50 million dead) ghoulfest.
Cuba has better healthcare outcomes than we do and the Soviets liberated Auschwitz.
We can do this all day.
One would hope you’d both have something better to do than play “No, you suck” all day.
I just returned from traveling abroad. I forget what day it is.
Plus, sometimes this is fun for me.
Tell me a little about the deal that Stalin signed off on in August ’39.
Also, do I blame the Native American genocide AND slavery on capitalism or is there some 3/5ths sort of math on that?
Come on, bright guy. Red bait me you capitalist fascist pig. I will walk you like a fucking dog around here then rub your face in your own piss.
And I’ll do it under my own name brah. So… what’s that mean?
It means you are a child.
Does it, though? Nah…
I’m also glad NYC rejected Amazon. But I worry that AOC’s “enthusiasm” will detract from the battle to get Trump (and Trump-ness) out of power. It doesn’t play that well to most people, other than those on the left. She’s a refreshing change in politics, but that might not be enough if she comes off like an uninformed crackpot.
“It doesn’t play that well to most people, other than those on the left. She’s a refreshing change in politics, but that might not be enough if she comes off like an uninformed crackpot.”
The media is feeding that perception, just as it’s feeding the perception that Elizabeth Warren disqualified herself by taking a DNA test. Almost nobody in the native community is upset by it, but the media made sure to interview the few who were and has harped on it ever since. Everyone who hasn’t moved on is anti-Warren, just as those feeding the “AOC is uninformed” bullshit are anti-AOC. The media responds to what the public wants, even if the public wants propaganda.
Also, I find it amusing that Congress is chockablock with uninformed Republicans, but nobody ever wonders if that’s a problem. They just cover Louis Gohmert regardless.
Alby, even if you’re right about the media it could play out as I said. It might be bad if most people know only what they see in the media, but most people know only what they see in the media.
And it’s pretty clear to me that the media doesn’t ignore the many flaws of republicans. I believe it constantly (and rightly) shows that Trump and his staff are uniformed and guilty, of course, of many other idiocies.
Aoc constituents “we want amazon
Aoc helps kill amazon. May be cool on twitter but not so much in NY 14.
Be careful aoc or you turn into joe Crowley and meet his fate one day
AOC needs your advice like a leopard needs a clock radio.
I’m really curious about why people like xyz and delawaredude are rooting for the corporation. And we wonder why people are treated like shit in this country. There’s your reason — the dumb fuckers volunteer for it.
Corporations have provided plenty of families including mine with a decent living. Some are good, some are bad, just like people in general. Why do you hate them so much?
I”rooting for the corporation” in this context is rooting for Amazon. A corporation that paid no federal taxes on $11.2 billion in profits last year. Don’t be intentionally think.
No company provides anyone with a job, decent or not, unless it can profit by your labor. They made money off of you or they wouldn’t have hired and retained you. If they hadn’t, they wouldn’t. So that’s no reason to like corporations. Self-employment provides people a living, employment by an individual provides people a living, etc. Corporations are not special in this regard, in fact less so since they have rights individuals do not.
“Hate” is the wrong word. I fight them because a corporation is, at its root, a responsibility-avoidance mechanism. They exist to limit liability — to enable people to take risks.
When they fail, the public picks up the tab. When they succeed, the stockholders benefit. Corporations exist to exploit people and nature. I don’t “hate” them. I do, however, remain puzzled why reasonably intelligent people like you feel an emotional attachment where none exists — that because the system is working for you, it’s a wonderful system.
Consumerist capitalism might be working for you. It worked fine for me — I’m not poor, I’m not complaining because I didn’t do well. The problem is that it’s obviously not working for lots of other people, and I think we should do something about it.
Well, corporations exist to fill perceived and actual needs for goods and services. They do that by utilizing natural resources and people. It becomes exploitation when there is no benefit to nature or the people. That is, when resources and people are essentially consumed in the process and realize no return on their (nature and people) investment of labor and resources.
If you cut a tree down and plant two trees in its stead and when you compensate people in a manner where they are able to thrive, the result is not just consumption, but a sustainable, symbiotic relationship between the elements.
Too few corporations act as benevolent stewards in their operations. While corporate citizenship was never the highest priority, in times past it mattered more than today’s lip service.
While you don’t know it, you are talking about the rise of the theory of “shareholder primacy” that is was born a mere 49 years ago, but has had a devastating impact on the world and is basically killing capitalism.
“At the time (1970), private sector firms were starting to feel the first pressures of global competition and executives were looking around for ways to increase their returns. The idea of focusing totally on making money, and forgetting about any concerns for employees, customers or society seemed like a promising avenue worth exploring, regardless of the argumentation.”
“Well, corporations exist to fill perceived and actual needs for goods and services. ”
There is no need for incorporation to do this. The process of incorporation is undertaken to limit personal liability. Look it up.
“They do that by utilizing natural resources and people. It becomes exploitation when there is no benefit to nature or the people.”
I don’t want to quibble about terms here, but “utilize,” “use” and “exploit” all mean basically the same thing.
“That is, when resources and people are essentially consumed in the process and realize no return on their (nature and people) investment of labor and resources.”
Your life is consumed by the process of labor, assuming you have a full-time, long-term job. As for nature, there are precious few examples of corporate restoration of despoiled land when not forced by law.
“If you cut a tree down and plant two trees in its stead …”
Outside of forestry, what we take from nature is not renewable. The world economy that has been fueled by petroleum these last 150 years is drawing on a non-renewable resource — in investment terms, spending the nest egg as opposed to living off the interest. Perhaps you’ve read about the alarming worldwide insect die-off, for example. Did you know the world is slated to run out of helium by about 2040?
“and when you compensate people in a manner where they are able to thrive”
This simply boils down to paying them well enough so they don’t complain. Again, they won’t pay you more than you benefit them, so that compensation is a reward to a minority of people under our current system — roughly speaking, the top quintile of knowledge workers and managers. That is, apparently, about the lowest they can get away with, and you see how much unrest there is even at that level of treating people decency.
“Too few corporations act as benevolent stewards in their operations. While corporate citizenship was never the highest priority, in times past it mattered more than today’s lip service.”
I get what you’re saying. What I’m saying is that even back when corporations could afford benevolence, it was masking a system built on exploitation, which you could instead call profit.
No company creates jobs unless those jobs will create profit. Period.
The argument xyz makes, that if we don’t, someone else will, is celebration of a race to the bottom. I want to know if he actively supports that or just believes it can’t be changed.
It will not change if nobody calls for change. Why all the scorn for a young woman who dares call for it?
No doubt she is smart as a whip but somebody should tell her that there is not an extra $3 billion now available to spend.
So the incentives offered to Amazon now disappeared?
Hmm. That’s interesting. Where did it come from before?
So it existed but now it doesn’t? Where did it go?
The money is tax abatements. It not only doesn’t exist, it never would have existed in the form of a pile of money. I think that’s what he meant, though who knows. It might be the most substantive thing he’s ever written here.
Correct. I’m sure that’s what he meant.
And what I meant is…
…when it comes to creative bookkeeping and using complicated tax savings and gifting public assets to build a treasure chest for the world’s wealthiest people, that gets done. The “money” is there in give-aways, future incentives and free shit.
When it comes to addressing broad social issues… Those fancy accounting techniques are somehow not available.
Dissonance.
Political will is the only difference. The “money” was never there really.
Yeah, she’s smart as a whip alright.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZllCnkWaQk
Jesus wept.
Anyone who uses the phrase ‘jesus wept’ is a coward boomer dogshit piece of trash.
You’re scared, bro.
Quiet. The adults are talking now.
No doubt “Jesus wept” counts as an adult contribution in your world.
Yeah, we critique capitalism and he fucking cries about Mao/Che. That’s the “mature” reaction.
Dude, you can fucking choke on my scrote motherfucker. Never fucking tell me what to do you fucking coward.
You’re scared and confused. You’re not the “adult in the room” you’re a fucking corporate bootliking piece of fucking trash.
My eternal hope is that you die soon of slowly tearing rectal fissures.
Of course Al is correct. A society/economy could produce & distribute required goods & services any number of ways.
The corporation protects “owners” & allows these owners to compile and concentrate capital. That capital is your surplus labor.
Interestingly the rights of the laborer have been eroded into basically nothing.
That fact that you and other middling professional types (like me) make a comfortable living is besides the point and selfish is the worst way.
xyz is a pissant bootlicker. He’s fine with eating shit & sucking ass & allowing his labor to be stolen because his family & neighbors bring home enough to be comfortable.
It’s actually quite disgusting.
Companies may incorporate to limit liability, but companies are established for any number of reasons, quality and performance needs, automation, economic incentives, etc. Mass production requires an organization. Even collectives and communes form their own version of companies/corporations.
The issues in regards to workers is that most corporations tend to be soulless, faceless, systems – machines if you will, which make choices devoid of any human principles. The people that created them became too far removed from the workers, and of course the shareholders have no connection with company except for quarterly statements, so they are even further removed.
I get what you are saying about companies, but the root cause are the people who create such things. I’m adverse to shifting responsibility from humans to inanimate objects. It’ not the systems, it’s the people who created the systems.
And yes, I did know that about helium. Back in my accelerator physics days, I ran a study to determine the feasibility of producing helium using particle accelerators. The short story without all the scientific gobbledygook is, it’s not economically feasible. It would cost several billion to produce a just a few kilograms. Which is why I sneer at people who feel the need to use this irreplaceable and vital resource for stupid balloons.
Guns don’t kill people…
I hear you on helium. I wince every Thanksgiving morning.
I hear you on forming corporations, but we’re talking about different things. You are looking at corporations as individual entities, which is fair enough, but we don’t predict human proclivities by looking at individuals. I am talking about corporations in the conglomerate. After all, this is why we have so many regulations. Some percentage of business entities will behave badly, but all suffer for it.
I will grant you that we could police corporations differently than we do so that we’d get the benefits without the dire side effects. But I think that just forestalls the inevitable — the need to move on from a petroleum-based economy becomes more dire the longer we put it off, and it’s pretty clear a lot of powerful forces intend to put it off indefinitely.
You probably see the problem. There are estimated to be thousands of billions of barrels of oil in the ground, much of which has entered the capital markets as oil reserves. That “money” exists as the market value of oil stocks. If we stop using oil, that book value will disappear.
All this could be planned for and managed, but, as we’ve demonstrated for almost 20 years now, not by a market-based system.
Dreaming of posting a link to Milton Friedman sounding like a piss chugging dipshit to own the commies!
Good night, you fucking rubes.