The results of the 2018 election in Italy reflected two main economic realities: the economic struggles in Italy relative to northern Europe, and the economic struggles in southern Italy relative to northern Italy. The former helped anti-establishment parties to gain a large share of the country’s vote. The latter resulted in Lega Nord and centre-right parties performing well throughout much ofContinue reading “Valuing Italy”
Devil’s Advocate: An unconventional, long-shot case for Elon Musk
I would not invest in Tesla. I think Elon Musk’s style is a little bit annoying, and I think many of his supporters are very annoying. More importantly I am not sold on the claim that Tesla will be able to compete against other auto or tech firms, even assuming that electric vehicles really doContinue reading “Devil’s Advocate: An unconventional, long-shot case for Elon Musk”
Humans, Computers, and Telecommuters
Let’s discuss two sets of three: the land-labour-capital trinity of conventional economics, and the human-computer-telecommuter set that may soon become the three main categories of labour. To state the obvious, the key relationship during the past generation has been the “capital” of North Atlantic economies (whether that capital be military power, technological innovation, or consumer demand), chiefly thatContinue reading “Humans, Computers, and Telecommuters”
The Lay of the Land
Imagine a map of the world in which land and sea are both drawn in the same colour, so as to be indistinguishable from one another. Imagine also that on this map areas that are inhabited by humans are drawn in a different colour than areas that are relatively uninhabited by humans. Finally, imagine thatContinue reading “The Lay of the Land”
Unconventional NHL Strategies, continued
Playing 5.5-on-4 Pulling your goalie tends to be less beneficial on a power play, since icing calls can’t be called against penalty killers (so they can attempt a long shot at an empty net goal without a consequence if they miss) and since the marginal benefit of the extra attacker is smaller when you compareContinue reading “Unconventional NHL Strategies, continued”
Ontario: Low-Cost, High-Comfort Rail is much better than High-Speed, High-Cost Rail
Average is over. Long live average. “High-speed rail” is a bit of misleading name: airplanes travel at a much faster speed. It might be better to call it “high-speed for rail” instead. Or call it “average-speed by rail”. Of course, if you did refer to high-speed rail by any of those names, you probably wouldn’tContinue reading “Ontario: Low-Cost, High-Comfort Rail is much better than High-Speed, High-Cost Rail”
Boomeroomba, part 2
In a previous article, on the topic of playing tennis, I talked about the Boomer-Roomba test. An idea passes the Boomer-Roomba test if it is something that might be impacted by Baby Boomers reaching their 60s and 70s and by the introduction of everyday robots. Downhill skiing, sadly, does not pass the test: many Baby Boomers willContinue reading “Boomeroomba, part 2”
On Pulling Your Goalie: Unconventional Factors to Consider
NHL teams generally look at three factors to determine when to pull their goalie: the score of the game, the amount of time left remaining the game, and the location of the puck (i.e. if it is in the defensive zone, the goalie will not usually be pulled). It seems to me that two extraContinue reading “On Pulling Your Goalie: Unconventional Factors to Consider”
Gliders, Gondolas, and Gravity
Gravity keeps us land-bound, most of the time. But there are at least two transportation technologies that work with rather than against gravity: cable-cars, which use the weight of anything they are carrying downhill to help lift anything they are carrying uphill; and gliders/parachutes, which mainly travel downhill. The use of cable-cars is limited byContinue reading “Gliders, Gondolas, and Gravity”
Everyone for Tennis?
These days, one way to sniff out a potential idea is to see if it passes the Boomer-Roomba test: if it is something that will benefit from Baby Boomers becoming senior citizens, and from the growing use of robots, you might be on to something. One such idea, I suspect, is tennis — and also,Continue reading “Everyone for Tennis?”
Future Economics 