Life in These Times

We are talking about the Shades of India here, but how bad is it? We are losing about 1% of the Harvest due to lack of Storage and Transportation, but can We actually get that Figure lower, or find it economically acceptable (can We afford to provide the added Capital to save the Grain in Profits Return ratios?) Grain barges and Railway Cars are not easily adaptable to Transport of alternate Goods, and if increased, would suffer from a Downtime each year, which would vastly increase the Ton-mile haulage Costs for Grain. Elevator Grain Storage is very expensive, of long Capitalization for little Profit, and Grain still best-Stored on the farms where it is grown. Farmers, though, cannot be expected to maintain such facilities which are expensive and high-Cost to store the Grain safely (Labor Wage rates); a conundrum once Solved in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but destroyed by political opposition to the then-current Farm programs, and the massive growth of Storage needs. It is probably Best to retain Ground-storage as the Cost-effective expedient today, as the Capitalization Costs are increasing far faster than the Agricultural Prices.

Paul Krugman and David Ignatius point out that Social Security funds are more viable than Conservatives would imply, with the CBO stating that the Fund should last until 2049, while Alex Tabarrok spots the better Probability that the lost Benefits paid will be less than 20%. I feel that the chances of Success exceed the 58% expressed by the CBO, more like 88% probability of core Benefits, though the System will have to be switched to uniform Benefits and limited Medical payments from the Fund. None of the Research seriously enters into discussion of the real increase in Wages in the interim Period, which combines by a better ratio of Benefit Receipt to Worker in about 30 years, to bring relief to the Fund.

I always knew that I was a Dogmatist, but now Tyler Cowen has attempted to give me a justification for my attitude. I have always felt that I should be Argumentative, until Someone proved I was a damned fool. You should not surrender your Convictions until the Police have thrown you out of the Meeting–one of the reasons why I will never get an Invitation to Jackson Hole. Just remember that you only live once, just try to stay out of Jail. lgl