Ken Barrows
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Not a tax attorney, but there is an IRS Form 982 that gives a taxpayer an opportunity to avoid paying income tax on debt forgiveness–the insolvency exception.
Nassim,
No, it’s not. Have you ever heard the phrase “rate of change?” Humans have emitted as much CO2 since about 1990 as they did from the beginning of time. Now you can hope that the continued emissions of CO2 will have no effect on temperature.By the way, are you Malcolm Roberts?
Denier Destroyed on Aussie TV. Crowd Goes Wild
To be a little less unfair, Mr. Roberts has a point if the data is bad. Otherwise, nope.
“Culture of debt that is dragging down economic growth”
Has Mr. Boockvar ever actually looked at data? Growth isn’t happening without debt. If it can, he ought to expound a bit.Nassim,
Now I get it! It’s not that the data doesn’t show a warming earth, it’s that the data is fraudulent!
So you’re right, if the data’s fraudulent, all bets are off. Don’t know, though. If CO2 is increasing in the atmosphere, then stuff will happen if the trend doesn’t evenutally reverse.
Finally, you do know that Mr. Armstrong’s world view does not allow for anything other than infinite growth, right? Are you in the same boat?I hear you on the needs to shift the focus from “growth.” No president or prime minister has, though. My spirit will brighten the day a leader says we should have fewer cars and fewer plane trips.
In much of the West, basic income would have to be the equivalent of $20,000 per year for a single person to meet basic expenses and rent a studio/efficiency apartment of 200-300 square feet. Let’s have some (more) deflation first and maybe a basic income scheme will work better.
And what are you climate deniers saying anyway? Are you saying carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can increase at 3 ppm per year forever or not quite as long? Will you be satisfied with an ice free Arctic as long as Antarctic ice is sufficient? Is 15 of the 16 hottest years on record in the 21st century not enough because the other year was cooler than 1998?
Question the mainstream data if you like but your cherry picking data without a theory behind it. And it’s not that you question the climate consensus, it’s that you call it absurd. Are you believers in infinite growth?
Nassim,
If you want, you just can go to the National Climatic Data Center. But, if you reject their data, then you don’t.Although I certainly cannot prove it, I’d say the net energy from global oil extraction peaked around 1998-99. Why? The answer is in the double digit per annum capital expenditures (h/t Steve Kopits) since 2000 and that debt.
As oil production rises, the question to ask may be “how much debt does it take to do it?” The Hills Group has some thoughts: https://thehillsgroup.org/
Isn’t it about 10 years late on the GMO issue in the USA? GMO crops are a high percentage of certain foods:
Check out the authors’ credentials at the end of the article.
It’s a great trick: interest rates keep sliding and the US federal deficit is up about 26% year over year.
Yet growing food in the future to feed who knows how many will be a challenge because the “modern agriculture is turning oil into food” paradigm won’t persist. Agriculture exacts a cost as well as providing a benefit. Was it Jared Diamond who said that agriculture may have been the worst mistake in the history of the human race?
The disappointing part is not the politicians. They have sold out and have to cobble together a diverse coalition. Rather, it’s the media that is woefully inadequate. These folks went to journalism school but don’t know how to ask difficult questions.
One quirk in forgiving debt in the USA: the IRS considers it taxable income for the recipients of the write off.
On danielm’s point:
I understand the “human life is worth more than a gorilla’s” point of view. Yet, there are a lot more humans than gorillas (making a lot more impact) and the trend is exacerbating the difference. The gorillas, I think people who criticize the shooting know, are on their way out–extinction.
Bill Gross “believes a day of reckoning will come when central banks will no longer be able to prop up asset prices and investors will withdraw from markets.”
What, pray tell, will be the catalyst for that day of reckoning? If the price of a tulip bulb skyrocketed in the 17th century, who’s to say the central banks cannot keep the game going for years? And where would “investors” go?
In the modern world, total debt always rises faster than GDP. Although our betters never address this issue, they implicitly assume it will remain so forever. Have you ever heard anyone (even Steve Keen) grapple with the problem?
Fair enough. Conventional wisdom does get turned on its head. But… here’s an updated graph:
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/lo-hem/201603.gif
If the data is right, you’re probably wrong. Last word is yours if you want it.Re: March global temperature
I am sure Nassim and Dr. D are preparing detailed refutations. However, I think this is all you need to know:
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/glob/201408.gif
Chart doesn’t include record years of 2014 and 2015. If this data is close to right, I think you guys are way off base.
It may be the worst earnings seasons since 2009, but two thirds of companies will beat lowered expectations. The game shall continue.
Dr. D, I think you know you’re cherry picking on that one.
Something to counter: https://www.skepticalscience.com/sea-level-rise-predictions-basic.htmlBut I know that I cannot convince you that putting more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is a splendid idea.
VH,
Don’t know about that. Although, of course (cough?), the earth is not warming, the oceans are acidifying. It’s a side effect of emitting all that carbon dioxide.Future generations “will never be able to buy a home?” Easy solution. Stop producing so much f***ing debt!
So 800,000 barrels per day out of 90+ million. It’s under 1%. I dare say production or consumption figures may have similar margins of error.
Raleigh re: what undocumented immigrants receive, FWIW:
Why is it that Illegal Aliens Get Free Food Stamps, Health Insurance and Pay No Taxes?
Raleigh,
Point taken on some of what you wrote, but undocumented immigrants, including children and pregnant women, are NOT eligible for SNAP. Worth an Internet search to find out.Except for emergency Medicaid, I’d like to see a link to a benefit that undocumented individuals get in the USA. I don’t think there is one.
Rapier,
That’s right. One day’s market reaction means nothing. In the weeks following the Bank of Japan’s recent announcement, stocks slumped. so let’s see.A society that focuses so much attention on the stock market has lost its ability to create wealth. Money making money is a substitute, benefiting few.
WSJ is wrong; Bakken is down almost 6% year over year despite 1,400 additional wells. Can’t the WSJ research and read a table?
I’ll agree that debt is slavery. However, most of the human race cannot live any other way now. What will we do?
The problem for Big Oil (and oil extraction generally) will never go away: how to sell a barrel for more than it costs to extract it. As time marches on, it will eventually become impossible. Is that day 15 years in the future or 100? Capital investment v production since 2000 suggest it’s a lot closer to 15.
