Those partnerships were converted to publicly held equity because this was less risky for those partners and allowed the companies to achieve larger scale, mome

Those partnerships were converted to publicly held equity because this was less risky for those partners and allowed the companies to achieve larger scale, momentarily conveying cost advantages. Yes, the partnerships went public to transfer risk away from the partners, to externalize it. It was the only way. How else do you maintain profits when the economy has flattened out? Yes, it is economic cannibalism, but what's the alternative? They can't change to a steady state model, and they are too strong to just give up and fail. So, they burn the furniture. You know, I really hope it doesn't get any worse than this. I am afraid they won't stop with just the furniture, that they will continue to burn and burn until there is nothing left, and we have a violent revolution or something. And I wonder whether there is some disruptive technology on the horizon that will change the game--a distributed source of energy perhaps? My crystal ball is very cloudy.