And because of my efforts and those of a really HUGE number of other keyboard-jockeys there were VERY few problems and those that DID occur were easily dealt with. But they Y2K was NOT a joke (like Global Warming) – We squeaked a lot of those fixes in just under the wire. I know because I had to document the likely consequence of failing to put each patch in place.

Orion

At a shareholder meeting in May, FPL Group Chief Executive Lew Hay III told investors that pending carbon legislation could within a few years boost the company’s annual earnings by $690 million a year, depending on how greenhouse gases are priced. FPL is the country’s biggest supplier of wind and solar power and a favorite of analysts.”

Where is that money coming from, my fellow chumps?

Pure rent seeking. I wish to hell McCain would walk back from his supporting platform, and quickly.

Well said. You and W are right, methinks. Public-private is finished. The only remaining question is what comes next: public or private.

It looks like public is leading at the turn. But don’t count out private just yet…

L3

The only knowledge required to prevent this problem is the old and more-true-now-than-ever adage: There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, also known as its acronym, TANSTAFFL.

The fact that people with financial knowledge contrived a complicated system wherein the sandwiches, apples, cookies and milk of the expected free lunches were first bundled, then separately packaged and commoditized, purchased on leverage and multiply resold does not affect the fact that there is not, in fact, a free lunch to be had.

When tells me they have a perpetual motion machine, I don’t have to listen anymore. It’s not going to work, period. When someone tells me a system will produce money at no risk and with low cost, I don’t have to listen to them anymore, either.

I agree with Wretchard that this is the end of the public-private partnership model, or it should be. When someone tells me that, as a member of the public I put my hand immediately over my wallet. When these things go Tango Uniform it’s always the public, the guarantor of last resort, that is on the hook for the bill. The private people are usually nowhere to be found at that point.

I’m with you, bro. No End of Empires for me. I carry around a copy of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution in my coat pocket to remind me how special, how rare, how wonderful is the Great American Experiment.

But experimentation involves risk; sometimes you add a chemical and the damn beaker explodes like Mentos in a Diet Coke. We gotta just clean up the mess, figure out what we did, and keep trying.

My read of the meta-situation is that we’re overdue for a consumption correction. Not that we’re going to move back into caves and go on daily hunts; but we’ll keep our cars a couple of extra years, fix up the house we’re in rather than buy a new one, forgo that new plasma for a few more years, and shop at Men’s Wearhouse instead of Neiman Marcus. And if we’re really good, instead of that trip to Las Vegas, we’ll drive to Gettysburg and remind ourselves the sacrifice that was made, the price that was paid to assure that the experiment can continue.

One other comment about consumption. The relationship between consumption and happiness is not what most folks think it is – increased consumption results in increased happiness. Rather, it is an inverted U – something I call (immodestly) The Linbeck Curve. More consumption makes us happier for a while, but eventually it peaks and happiness actually decreases with additional consumption.

There is intriguing empirical evidence for the Linbeck Curve as well. The point on the far right below the curve is the US. Note also that this is per-capita income; our consumption is probably higher since IIRC we’re in a negative savings mode. So, it may be that, for the first time in human history, we have reached the point where more consumption as a nation makes us less happy.

We may be entering a phase when our consumption will shrink. If it does, and our productivity and output continue to grow, it won’t take long to pay off all of our public and private debt. We can replenish our national “equity” by increasing our savings, and assure our economic strength for years to come.

The other road before us is to avoid risk by slouching toward socialism, the road chosen by Europe. We continue to consume, our debt continues to expand, and eventually our birthrates will plummet to below replacement, since the raising of children seriously cramps one’s lifestyle of consumption.

When my MBA students ask for advice (always given for free and worth just what’s paid), one of the recommendations I give is that they keep their lifestyle well below their means. There is huge optionality in living below one’s income; it means you can be secure enough to take risks. And risk-taking is a prerequisite of true progress.

In short, the future still looks bright, but only if we live more modestly and don’t lose our nerve. And, I gotta say, both of these are a whole heck of a lot easier if you believe in God and worship Him with others…

L3