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Up until 2016, cost estimates were reported as nominal prices, only subject to overall inflation. Since 2018, these estimates have been reported in terms of yea
by kelseyfrog 18d ago
Up until 2016, cost estimates were reported as nominal prices, only subject to overall inflation. Since 2018, these estimates have been reported in terms of years-of-expenditure.
Anyone (video producer included) who doesn't account for this when talking about cost changes has an agenda.
- skullone 18d agoIt's nick shirley, there is quite the agenda.
- kelseyfrog 18d agoI don't know who that is. I was just talking about the content of the video.
- lern_too_spel 18d agoNeither did I, but the first minute of the video was so sloppy that I stopped to look him up. He's apparently a darling of the right-wing tin-foil-hat-wearing crowd. https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662600/nick-shirley-minnesota-daycare-fraud https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662600/nick-shirley-mi...
- anamax 18d agoIt's unclear how to map "nominal prices" and "years of expenditure" onto "here's the money spent each year to get us to the point that trains run regularly", the latter being somewhat related (modulo interest) to the amount that must be paid by fares and subsidies going forward.
- kelseyfrog 17d agoExactly, so when someone compares the numbers without explaining this incongruity or how they accounted for it, the argument becomes moot. It's like saying the number of oranges is now higher than the number of apples 10 years ago.