Just dozed off. While in that state I heard a wee voice utter "Off with
their heads!" in French and a louder shout in english with a
Shakesperian accent "Kill all the lawyers!". What a nightmare! Popped
out to the frig and finished a residue of cole slaw I made yesterday.
Feeling better.
Warm Regards,
Reliable
MarkI-ZeroPoint wrote:
I wrote:
Govt, because of the corruption which is inevitable with humans, and
which is rampant in this country and the world, will never do the
right thing when it comes to the sort of large subsidies and loan
programs that we’ve seen of late…
Jed wrote:
“History proves you are wrong.”
And then goes on to provide some supporting comments…
Jed, I couldn’t disagree more with your position on this…
Many people make the same mistake as you in this kind of discussion.
You CANNOT compare the stewardship and trust that TAXPAYERS put in
their elected officials vs private investment/business. There is
absolutely NO INCENTIVE for politicians to be frugal with SOMEONE
ELSES MONEY! They have nothing to lose by taking chances with its
spending. On the other hand, private equity has EVERY REASON to be
frugal and cautious because the money is either theirs directly, or
their clients’ which if they make bad investment decisions, will
simply take their money elsewhere, and the investment banker/broker
will be out of business.
Yes, there is corruption everywhere, but for politicians, there is
little to no incentive to avoid the corruption… in fact, they use it
REGULARLY to get re-elected.
-Mark
*From:* Jed Rothwell [mailto:[email protected]]
*Sent:* Friday, June 01, 2012 4:53 PM
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: [Vo]:re the alternative history of LENR
MarkI-ZeroPoint <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
wrote:
One can justify Govt’s responsibility to use PUBLIC, TAXPAYER
funds for _pure_ R&D, and I’d go as far as some _applied_ R&D, but
that’s about it. And the results of all that research should be
FREELY available to any taxpayer . . .
I agree. Several members of Congress have recently proposed
legislation that will ensure this.
Govt, because of the corruption which is inevitable with humans,
and which is rampant in this country and the world, will never do
the right thing when it comes to the sort of large subsidies and
loan programs that we’ve seen of late…
History proves you are wrong. Consider:
There is no evidence that the government today is any more corrupt
than it ever was. On the contrary, during and just after the Civil War
it may have been even more corrupt. Yet this was one of the greatest
era of Federal investment in infrastructure, universities and public
improvements in our history. Most people agree that the railroads,
land grant colleges, National Institute of Sciences and so on were
splendid accomplishments. Despite the corruption, government did a
good job. The same is true of the post-WWII era.
Other institutions that do R&D, such as universities and corporations,
are also deeply corrupt. Other institutions that fund research, such
as Wall Street and the Chinese government, have reputations even worse
than the U.S. government's. It is not as if some pure, disinterested
set of institutions is waiting in the wings, prepared to take over the
functions that the government has performed for 300 years.
Naturally, there is competition among corporations, which puts a
damper on corruption, whereas there is only one Federal government.
But no one has suggested that the government should do _all_ R&D from
start to finish. It should only do that which is so long-term or so
large that only the government can do it, such as launching the GPS
system.
It is reasonable to argue that the government should not be picking
winners in a technology such as solar PV. On the other hand, China and
all other countries are subsidizing PV manufacturers. I do not think
it is a good idea for the U.S. to become an economic colony of China,
incapable of manufacturing any core technology for ourselves. It is
difficult to know how we can avoid that without the government playing
an active role to counteract the Chinese government. One thing we can
sure of is that they will not play our rules.
It is not an easy question. Arguments on both sides have merit. I go
not think there are clear answers.
- Jed
