Thursday, May 29, 2003

Tax cuts, stimulis, the national debt and bond markets: Here's a running total of the National debt. President Bush recently signed tax cuts into law, which will probably do some good right now. This economy needs whatever help it can get. In the long run, however, I don't believe "supply-side" economics works. It's good for the short term, and for exceptional circumstances. When Bush is gone and Uncle Sam's bills pile up, the government will probably increase taxes. That's what we were forced to do in 1993. As a basic principle, when the government borrows, the bond market is affected. U.S. bonds get dumped onto the market and are competing with other bonds in the marketplace. If the government borrows a lot, issuing bonds, it may pressure interest rates upwards. All bonds in the marketplace compete for buyers. There are many factors that go into the dynamics of credit markets, so it's not guaranteed that interest rates go up when the government issues a lot of bonds. It is my opinion, however, that a massive presence of government bonds flooding the market to finance the US debt is undesirable. Some government debt is OK. When it grows really large, I believe it becomes a problem. In this respect, you can call me a conservative. Ironically, the Bush administration is supposed to be for less government in all of our lives. If they keep the national debt growing like it is, government participation in the financial markets will only increase. 1:43:23 PM

Increased development of solar technology in conjunction with Stirling engines: Energy Innovations: Developing the Sunflower 250 thermal solar collector, aiming at 4x more cost effective than PV.  Andrew Beebe is president of the company.  "During daylight, the Sunflower 250 uses its proprietary tracking system to automatically position each of the petals in its concentrator to reflect the sun onto a hot cap in the middle of the petals. The Sunflower 250 generator, a Stirling engine, sits beneath that hot cap. As an "external combustion" engine, it uses that heat to create pressure on and mechanical movement by the piston beneath the hot cap, which in turn generates electrical power.  The electricity can be used directly or can be fed into the electrical grid or can recharge batteries.. The Sunflower 250 also produces hot water that can be used to supplement a home water or pool heating system." [Ken Novak: Future energy] 2:20:59 AM

Arizona woos Cleveland Indians. PHOENIX - The Cleveland Indians, the hard-luck baseball team that spent 46 springs training in the Old Pueblo, are being wooed by Arizona to return to Tucson. [Arizona Daily Star: Front Page] 1:14:22 AM

Audio file. Discussion of the integrity of the military intelligence in the case for invading Iraq: Not So Threatening Storm. Go listen to Kenneth Pollack, author of "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq" retract (with plenty of qualifications) his Case for Invading Iraq. Don't feel too bad Kenneth. A lot of folks fell for it, myself included. [via Metafilter] [Stuff from Wozz] 12:23:19 AM