cjlars

21 ms·

151.
by cjlars 9y ago
There's probably a natural balancing mechanism -- prices go too high, renters are outraged and are moved to action, prices go too low, owners are outraged and are moved to action. Looks like we're in the first zone right now.
152.
by cjlars 9y ago
Hans Rosling has a take on this: The Magic Washing Machine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZoKfap4g4w&vl=en
153.
by cjlars 9y ago
You're calculating the cash flow of an all-cash financing scenario, but not the real cost. Since the buildings are durable you need to amortize their benefit over the life of the structures. Using the standard depreciation schedule on
154.
by cjlars 9y ago
One success story in homelessness has been Utah's Housing First program [1]. Is there any effort to do something similar here? At first glance it appears very affordable. Rents in the city center appear to be about $5 per square foot p
155.
by cjlars 9y ago
Why would it not be a big motivator? don't know about LA, but in SF tax is just shy of 1.2%, if you have a mortgage at 3.5%, and you've held your property for a long time, you can easily see your property tax triple and your cost
156.
by cjlars 9y ago
In it's current state, I'd argue bitcoin competes more with large bank wires than credit card or paypal transactions. Bank wires usually carry a $25 fee and take a few hours. Bitcoin, disregarding the relative technical difficulty
157.
by cjlars 9y ago
The key issue is that a lot of startups use various contractual terms -- things like options on exit, liquidation preferences and others -- to take money into into the business at high nominal valuations, while still offering downside prot
158.
by cjlars 9y ago
By all means, do your own research -- I've personally had a hard time finding a strong body of evidence supporting the idea that high taxes (over ~25% of GDP) are supportive of economic growth (please share if you have something!). If
159.
by cjlars 9y ago
The US would count as a small state by most OECD averages, so assuming by quality of life you mean, 'high GDP and standards of living', Texas would be a fairly good counter-example of a successful small state. I don't think t
160.
by cjlars 9y ago
I've eaten them. It's the worst lobster roll I ever had, but the best McDonalds sandwich I ever had.
161.
by cjlars 9y ago
There are a few consumer grade foiling catamarans, but yea, you won't see much foiling on your average day out on the water.
162.
by cjlars 9y ago
Using the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index instead of the CPI, as is more common, would strengthen this argument, as it shows inflation 0.3-0.5% points lower per year than the CPI [1]. In my view (and the Federal Reserve's
163.
by cjlars 9y ago
>market Socialism After all of this, we're back at market socialism? You could have just said that at the start if you meant it. >This is why I argue that it is not a possibility to have the Socialist revolution in only one count
164.
by cjlars 9y ago
Ok, labor power = labor capacity, & surplus = profit (note that I lumped this with 'compensation'). Why not just use standard economic terms? It seems that you're opposed to the profit motive in it's entirety. I don&
165.
by cjlars 9y ago
>Yet nobody would disagree that labour varies in quality, so should it not follow that labour is compensated according to its quality? Yes, labor should be compensated according to it's quality. You appear to be saying that, by and
166.
by cjlars 9y ago
>No, the capitalist actually receives all of it; the products of labour are re-appropriated at the end of production. The capitalist then pays wage, which is equal to the amount required to sustain the worker, i.e what is required to rep
167.
by cjlars 9y ago
> Do you not think that a capitalis' labour, when applied in conjuction with the labour of the workers, equals a product which is exactly equal in value to the product if the capitalist was also extracting surplus? The fact is that
168.
by cjlars 9y ago
Here's some relevant data [1], sorting by the 'affordability index' should give you a few ideas. Milwaukee, WI is in the top 10. I have to travel there frequently for work. It's on both a river and a great lake, and the
169.
by cjlars 9y ago
To answer your question: Yes, investment flows tend to be trend following, people put money in when the market has been doing well and pull it out when it's been doing poorly. There are macroeconomic reasons for this, since people tend
170.
by cjlars 9y ago
I was wondering when CG Sir David Attenborough would get here and start narrating my day to day.
171.
by cjlars 10y ago
For those interested, here is a more comprehensive view of the difference between taxation in Scandinavian countries and the USA: https://taxfoundation.org/how-scandinavian-countries-pay-the... Sweden itself would be marked
172.
by cjlars 10y ago
Is housing in tier 1 cities like SF a giffen good (where demand rises with price)? Possibly [1]. That said, it wouldn't be unique to SF if true and wouldn't detract from your other policy points. [1] http://www.business
173.
by cjlars 10y ago
A VAT addresses this issue pretty well since it taxes the value add nature of both automation and human labor. If we need to subsidize human labor in order to smooth out the disruption effects of mass automation, then expanding the earned i
174.
by cjlars 10y ago
The problem, if there ends up being one, is the speed of displacement. People worry that too much downward pressure on so called 'middle class' jobs will create another 30 year stretch of zero wage growth for a big part of the pop
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by cjlars 10y ago
And what would be a better measure? We can't assess the validity of the belief without one.
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by cjlars 10y ago
My prior comment may not have been 100% correct. I believe the specific research that lead to the so called 4% rule did include a mix of stocks and bonds. As you point out, you would tend to roll back your risk tolerance as you reach retire
177.
by cjlars 10y ago
Long term returns on the S&P 500 have averaged ~7% real returns including dividends. In personal finance there's a "4% Rule" which is supposed to be your target annual withdrawal if you're living off the money as a r
178.
by cjlars 10y ago
Pontiac launched the 'Fiero' with styling inspired by the Ferrari 308 in the mid 80s [1]. Around the same time, VW also launched the 'Corrado' as a possible 'successor to the Porsche 944'. Both models were pull
179.
by cjlars 10y ago
It does not take any hand waving -- you're trying to redefine a standard variable. U-3 is the 'headline' unemployment number which is near 5% right now. There are plenty of other ways to calculate it, including at least 5 pub
180.
by cjlars 10y ago
Then it would appear we mostly agree. There will be winners and losers. >"we don't need to worry at all, everything will work out" Strawman of course. A nuanced understanding of the historical context of other technologica

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