anamax

"We didn't act in our own self-interest because the US might have taken its toys and gone home."

There were three alternatives: [1] Don't spend on defense. [2] Spend on defense and buy American. [3] Spend on defense and buy European.

Europe (modulo Poland) picked the worst one. Even [2] is better than [1].

However, Europe did get a couple of decades of "Russia isn't a threat" and "we have soft power" posturing.

But, it turns out that the cowboys were right. There was a bear in the woods.

> Rent is a function of supply and demand, not a landlord's costs,

Do you really believe that landlords will subsidize tenants for a long time?

More to the point, if landlords are losing money, why would anyone build rental housing? Instead, why wouldn't they take housing off the market?

Georgists think that my taxes should go up if someone builds Disneyland near my land.

2027 is the last year for the Chevy Bolt. It's been canceled again.

Nope.

If there are 5x as many truck runs, the trash per truck is 1/5th.

The more likely result is that each of the providers runs far fewer trucks than a single provider would because trucks and drivers cost money. Unless the 5 companies figure out how to get the total revenue to 5x, they can't pay for that.

Let's do an example.

Suppose we have a street with 100 houses and it takes 5 houses to fill a truck. Therefore, it will take 20 truck runs to collect that street's trash.

If there is only one trash company, it will need 20 truck runs to service that street.

If there are five trash companies, each with an equal share of those 100 houses, each of those companies needs only 4 runs to service its 20 houses. Why would any of them do more runs?

Yes, the average distance per run may be higher for the 5 companies, but it won't be 5x.

While maximum US tax rates have varied significantly, the amount of money collected as a fraction of GDP has been remarkably stable.

I mention both rates and "fraction of GDP" because rates can't be spent.

The maximum take is around 20%, regardless of rates, and we're there now, and have been for decades.

Every president after Clinton, and maybe him as well, (yes, including Obama) said that Europe had to become responsible for its defense. During that same time, Europe has insisted that it knows better than the US cowboys. And, Europe certainly doesn't like US global power projection.

So, why does Europe need/want the US in NATO?

It can't be resources - Europe is rich. More to the point, Europe has almost 10x Russia's GDP and about 2.5x the population.

So, unless Europe is worried about Germany, it can handle its defense.

Show the US how it's done.

It'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.

> California is also talking about shifting to a mileage baded road tax because EVs (which they heavily incentivized) saving money on gas can't go untaxed.

EVs in CA have a special $121 tax to make up for "don't pay gas tax."

The mileage-based road tax is for other reasons.

Every time you enter regen, you're engaging the brakes as far as the tires are concerned.

Presumably they pay the local govt.

Note that said "prime real estate" is not exclusive; it doesn't reduce your ability to enjoy said scenic overlook for free.

Govt should not have information unless there is a very specific and "in the law" reason for govt to have that information.

If there's no reporting rule, there's no reason for govt to have that information.

> I don't see a fundamental reason why AI actors couldn't build the same kind of notoriety and following.

Can AI's trash a room at Hotel Marmont? Dump their girlfriends when said girlfriends turn 25? Become Scientologists?

> There are 1000x as many tax payers and the government still makes sure every single mom who gets a venmo payment for $60 pays taxes.

That's a join in an existing database.

Where's the database and what's the code for this case?