4 ms·

I get a large distaste in my mouth when reading pieces like this. Supposed "crazy" people can be found everywhere if you expand your definition enough. Passio

by taeric 4y ago

I get a large distaste in my mouth when reading pieces like this. Supposed "crazy" people can be found everywhere if you expand your definition enough. Passionate, would work as well. Somehow contriving that the "crazy" ones are the ones that successfully expand and create industries feels way too selection biased. Especially since there is nothing learnable from the examples that are picked. Worse, it ends with: America was not always the only country that permitted breakthrough industrialists to build unproven new industries and upend the economic order, but it is today. Which is at sharp odds with every story of how expensive construction is in the US compared to what we call developing nations. Or nations that typically give wider authority to the government builders than the US does.

sneak 4y ago
* some kinds of unproven new industries (excluding construction/housing) As someone who has a US passport, loves cities, and lives half the year in the US, this is particularly frustrating to me. It seems that no matter how wealthy or powerful you become, it's still basically illegal to build innovative things on land you own in the US (anywhere near other people).
- tw98521358 4y ago
  That’s true in most countries, you need to pay off government officials/protection. That can either be done legally or illegally but it has to be done.
- mmsimanga 4y ago
  Interesting. In my home country in Africa building in the cities and towns is also quite difficult. There are all sorts of regulations along with corruption you have to deal with. From as far back as I can remember most people still wanted to own a house in the town or city. It was seen as more prestigious. We would bear with it and eventually build your home. However in the last 10 years or so with availability of solar panels and drilling boreholes being cheaper I have noticed a shift. People now migrating back to the villages. Two main reasons, the land is free and there are no building regulations. The village headman allocates you your land and you good to go. There are some rules to follow with how deep your pit latrine needs to be but that's about it. There has been an explosion of all sorts of building designs in the villages, some good and some not so. But lack of regulation has been good. Oh final note another "disadvantage" with building in village is that there are no title deeds. Homes are passed down to kids or other relatives
echelon 4y ago
> how expensive construction is in the US We're in a pit of success. Our workers cost a lot, and that's generally a good thing. We could lighten regulations and import immigrant workers, but the real turnaround will be when automation finally teaches construction. AGI or robotics or whatever. Give it 50 years and costs will come right back down.
- taeric 4y ago
  Sorta? My understanding is most of the cost is in regulatory compliance, combined with less exercise of imminent domain. That is, construction was cheaper back when we had no regard for the people that owned or had interest in the land we were constructing on. The so called "spite mounds" of the Seattle regrade are a good example. Some were literally for an owner that was out of town. Not sure that kind of crap should fly.
twblalock 4y ago
Construction costs are only one aspect of the US economy. Silicon Valley would not have happened elsewhere. Neither would the dot-com era, or a viable electric car industry (proved out by Tesla). Every FAANG is American and their only viable competition is in China. I don’t know what the next transformative industry is going to be, but I’d be shocked if it came from a risk-averse place like Western Europe.
- taeric 4y ago
  Faang is definitionally American. :) Silicone valley would probably also not be possible with modern regulations. But... That has a name. Regulatory capture is far from new. And doesn't require crazy people. Looking at tech and ignoring how much brain and money power was thrown at nuclear technology is doing a disservice to why the US was so far ahead in many fields for a long while.
- WalterBright 4y ago
  The success of FAANG in America is, in large part, due to a lack of regulation of the software industry. For example, I don't need a license to write software, or sell it. I don't need any signoff from regulators. Nor is there a cottage industry of suing software developers. There are no laws specifying how the software is written.
  - twblalock 4y ago
    Also, no non-competes in California.
  - taeric 4y ago
    I'm sure some of the oddity of how the US regulates interstate commerce is related, too. Consider how the regulation of insurance and car sales have basically stalled all similar attempts to enter that market.
  - andsoitis 4y ago
    > For example, I don't need a license to write software, or sell it. I don't need any signoff from regulators. Nor is there a cottage industry of suing software developers. There are no laws specifying how the software is written. Isn’t that generally true worldwide?

by taeric 4y ago

sneak 4y ago

* some kinds of unproven new industries (excluding construction/housing) As someone who has a US passport, loves cities, and lives half the year in the US, this is particularly frustrating to me. It seems that no matter how wealthy or powerful you become, it's still basically illegal to build innovative things on land you own in the US (anywhere near other people).

tw98521358 4y ago
That’s true in most countries, you need to pay off government officials/protection. That can either be done legally or illegally but it has to be done.
mmsimanga 4y ago
Interesting. In my home country in Africa building in the cities and towns is also quite difficult. There are all sorts of regulations along with corruption you have to deal with. From as far back as I can remember most people still wanted to own a house in the town or city. It was seen as more prestigious. We would bear with it and eventually build your home. However in the last 10 years or so with availability of solar panels and drilling boreholes being cheaper I have noticed a shift. People now migrating back to the villages. Two main reasons, the land is free and there are no building regulations. The village headman allocates you your land and you good to go. There are some rules to follow with how deep your pit latrine needs to be but that's about it. There has been an explosion of all sorts of building designs in the villages, some good and some not so. But lack of regulation has been good. Oh final note another "disadvantage" with building in village is that there are no title deeds. Homes are passed down to kids or other relatives

echelon 4y ago

> how expensive construction is in the US We're in a pit of success. Our workers cost a lot, and that's generally a good thing. We could lighten regulations and import immigrant workers, but the real turnaround will be when automation finally teaches construction. AGI or robotics or whatever. Give it 50 years and costs will come right back down.

taeric 4y ago
Sorta? My understanding is most of the cost is in regulatory compliance, combined with less exercise of imminent domain. That is, construction was cheaper back when we had no regard for the people that owned or had interest in the land we were constructing on. The so called "spite mounds" of the Seattle regrade are a good example. Some were literally for an owner that was out of town. Not sure that kind of crap should fly.

twblalock 4y ago

Construction costs are only one aspect of the US economy. Silicon Valley would not have happened elsewhere. Neither would the dot-com era, or a viable electric car industry (proved out by Tesla). Every FAANG is American and their only viable competition is in China. I don’t know what the next transformative industry is going to be, but I’d be shocked if it came from a risk-averse place like Western Europe.

taeric 4y ago
Faang is definitionally American. :) Silicone valley would probably also not be possible with modern regulations. But... That has a name. Regulatory capture is far from new. And doesn't require crazy people. Looking at tech and ignoring how much brain and money power was thrown at nuclear technology is doing a disservice to why the US was so far ahead in many fields for a long while.
WalterBright 4y ago
The success of FAANG in America is, in large part, due to a lack of regulation of the software industry. For example, I don't need a license to write software, or sell it. I don't need any signoff from regulators. Nor is there a cottage industry of suing software developers. There are no laws specifying how the software is written.
- twblalock 4y ago
  Also, no non-competes in California.
- taeric 4y ago
  I'm sure some of the oddity of how the US regulates interstate commerce is related, too. Consider how the regulation of insurance and car sales have basically stalled all similar attempts to enter that market.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  > For example, I don't need a license to write software, or sell it. I don't need any signoff from regulators. Nor is there a cottage industry of suing software developers. There are no laws specifying how the software is written. Isn’t that generally true worldwide?