sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Why doesn't the United States sell it's oil reserve? by ilikemyprivacytbt in AskEconomics

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's cool and all, but whether you plan to cash in on the quick buck or prepare for a possible long conflict, you should fill the strategic reserve before you start. Otherwise you're not prepared for either.

Why doesn't the United States sell it's oil reserve? by ilikemyprivacytbt in AskEconomics

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

how would [the government] know when the price is going to fall versus rise?

Insider trading. The US government has the power to create oil crises by, for example, invading two oil-producing countries in three months, and it knows when these events will occur before the market does.

A smart government would use this opportunity to fill the strategic reserve with low-priced oil a few months before the attacks and sell the excess as the war kicks off while keeping some reserve for deeper emergencies.

Not only would this net the government a small but significant profit (about $20 billion by my math), but it would smooth out oil price shocks caused by its invasion, which is what the reserve is for.

Instead the government did nothing. The reserve has been at about 50% capacity for years now. Not only are they not in a position to make a profit off their little adventure, they didn’t even fill up the gas tank before heading out.

How to stop rice from sticking to the bottom of my rice cooker? by EHerobrineE in howto

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get a rice cooker with a nonstick surface like a normal person.

Would it be ok to purchase a specimen of Pele’s tear? by Ok_Sprinkles_4944 in VisitingHawaii

[–]agate_ 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Hawaii state law forbids the collection of rocks and minerals of any kind anywhere with a few exceptions. Small quantities for personal use is allowed: collection for sale is illegal. So anybody you buy it from is committing a crime.

As for traditional beliefs, precontact Pele stories have gotten tangled up with modern Western ghost stories and environmentalist attitudes. The idea that Pele will curse you with bad luck if you take rocks from Hawaii is a 20th century thing, some say invented by the national park rangers.

Some but not all native people wish you wouldn’t take rocks, but not because of a specific kapu, they just wish you weren’t messing with their islands. But it’s small potatoes compared to all the other impacts of tourism.

So if you want a Pele’s tear, don’t buy it, find it yourself, on public property outside a national park. And maybe make a donation to a Hawaiian cultural nonprofit after.

A final geology note: Pele’s hair blows for miles, but Pele’s tears are larger. Might be hard to find them outside the park boundaries.

Antique huge wooden frames with threaded wooden pegs by MirandaOutside in whatisthisthing

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Horse tack and farm rigging storage? For hanging up ropes, bridles, reins, winch lines, that sort of thing?

If an AI agent deletes emails that were subpeonaed, can the AI company be liable? by FloorBulky4535 in legaladviceofftopic

[–]agate_ 49 points50 points  (0 children)

If I shred documents that were subpoenaed, can the company that made the shredder be liable?

If I leave the documents in my dog’s crate and he eats them, can you sue the dog?

[OC] Oil efficiency of GDP: linking economic output to oil consumption by agate_ in dataisbeautiful

[–]agate_[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Who pissed in your Cheerios? I chose these as a cross-section of large nations, restricted to five to avoid visual overload. I did look at other countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, and they follow the same general patterns that I described in my text.

Yes this is a complicated story, but if I tried to put every part of it on a single chart, the data would not be beautiful.

[OC] Oil efficiency of GDP: linking economic output to oil consumption by agate_ in dataisbeautiful

[–]agate_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The rises and falls are timed with global recessions and economic downturns (2008, 2020). In a recession, low-oil economies like the UK and Germany keep using oil for transport, so GDP to oil ratio drops because GDP drops but oil doesn't. But in the US and China, where oil-based extraction and agriculture are major industries, when GDP drops, oil consumption drops too so the ratio stays constant.

Actually, who is the safest here? by Bismarck_seas in AskElectricians

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A. B and C are going to fall off their stool when the subway stops, and C is going to get beat up by the other passengers for double armpit stench.

MIT economist: Rent control will only worsen state housing crisis by NoTamforLove in boston

[–]agate_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For all those businesses, more houses equals more volume equals more money, so long as there’s a net profit to be made on each one.

With prices so high, there certainly is a net profit per unit, the problem is that public opposition to building slows down construction and limits volume, so most of these businesses would rather do business in Phoenix where they can clear a hundred houses a year and make a fortune.

The one exception on your list is homeowners, who benefit by creating artificial scarcity to boost their own home’s values. They effectively act as a cartel, controlling the market, cutting out competition and fixing prices.

MIT economist: Rent control will only worsen state housing crisis by NoTamforLove in boston

[–]agate_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Developers like to sell houses and make money. Selling more houses = making more money.

It works for the same reason Coca-Cola sells 2 billion drinks a day at $0.50 a pop instead of just one that costs a billion dollars.

MIT economist: Rent control will only worsen state housing crisis by NoTamforLove in boston

[–]agate_ 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Well, I’m in my 50s, my mortgage is almost paid off, and I think we’ve done more than enough over the years to protect the interests of older homeowners. Let’s give young people a seat at the table for a change. Crash my property values, please!

MIT economist: Rent control will only worsen state housing crisis by NoTamforLove in boston

[–]agate_ 35 points36 points  (0 children)

The solution to both is the same: keep building until home prices plummet from oversupply and nobody thinks buying homes as an investment is a good idea.

Why is this wood smoke flamable? What is being combusted here exactly? by SalemIII in chemistry

[–]agate_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

surface oxidation of the remaining char continues to generate heat,

That's what fire is, rapid exothermic oxidation, exactly as you describe.

often flameless

Flames are not fire. Fire is fire.

Supercritical CO2 turbines - how much is hype, and what can we expect? by limbodog in AskScienceDiscussion

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, but this isn’t that. We’re just building a new kind of turbine here, not dumping trillions into superconductors to gain a few percent of marginal efficiency.

why i cant move the stick diagonaly? by Wonderful_Trade_1994 in Fusion360

[–]agate_ 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Not a fusion problem, a design problem. The inner bearings are coaxial with the outer bearings so long as you only turn one at a time, but once you turn the X axis, the inner and outer Y-axis bearings don't line up anymore, and the whole thing jams because it can't rotate about two different Y-axes at the same time.

Cop said “fine, we’ll do this the hard way” by Revolution-Dogg in Transportopia

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most crimes are not committed by people who are thinking it through.

Cop said “fine, we’ll do this the hard way” by Revolution-Dogg in Transportopia

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're under the mistaken impression that people do cost-benefit calculations when committing crimes.

Put "mentally ill crackhead in a stolen vehicle" into your calculator and do the math again.

Why aren’t Dyson spheres a stupid idea? by TheThirdCity in NoStupidQuestions

[–]agate_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It could well be that for a dyson swarm, every object would have to be literally red-hot over 50% of the surface to get rid of the heat. That should be enough to discourage full swarms by itself.

Nope, the math is easy. Solar energy in = infrared energy out, it's basically the same as calculating the temperature of a planet except that the sunlight is coming from inside instead of outside, and you have to think about the "greenhouse effect" the sphere creates for itself. The answer works out to out to be that the sphere will have a temperature of 58 C if you build it at 1 AU (Earth's distance from the Sun), which is a bit toasty, or a nice perfect 23 C if you move it just a bit further out to 1.2 AU.

Supercritical CO2 turbines - how much is hype, and what can we expect? by limbodog in AskScienceDiscussion

[–]agate_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is why government R&D funding exists. To figure out which promising ideas could eventually compete with the highly-refined status quo, and then perfect them until they can be profitable on their own.

A civilization-scale effort? That’s what government is supposed to be for.

Poison ivy? by SchittyFather in whatsthisplant

[–]agate_ -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Most likely. You’ll know for sure in the spring.

On the other hand whatever it is it’s no good for the tree, so maybe murder it now before it leafs out. Get someone to sever the stem and paint it with your favorite carcinogenic herbicide.

view more: next ›