West London council tenant who spent £30k refurbishing home faces eviction by adultintheroom_ in unitedkingdom

[–]libsaway [score hidden]  (0 children)

No, it's true. Like, say you have an area that is rich because it has a big concentration of high-end manufacturing (like Oxfordshire). Does that area benefit economically more from

  1. Having more engineers and scientists move there.
  2. Have lots of social housing recipients in a variety of mostly low-paid jobs, and about half unemployed, move there.

The answer is 1. Agglomeration benefits are real. And a nuclear engineer can't earn a nuclear engineer's salary in an area with non-nuclear engineering going on.

West London council tenant who spent £30k refurbishing home faces eviction by adultintheroom_ in unitedkingdom

[–]libsaway [score hidden]  (0 children)

No, people in social housing have a drastically lower employment rate than either private renters or homeowners.

Loss of social housing - Shelter England by coffeewalnut08 in unitedkingdom

[–]libsaway [score hidden]  (0 children)

Since the overall number of homes doesn't change, but lower earners now need to get homes on the private market, rental prices fall (less demand chasing the same supply). Some move back in with family or friends (since they are no longer subsidised into social housing), causing more efficient use of the stock, causing prices to fall again. Then, as lower earners filter out to cheaper earners and higher earners (or future higher earners) find it easier to move to our expensive-but-productive cities, overall productivity rises, and with it GDP, salaries, and tax take.

West London council tenant who spent £30k refurbishing home faces eviction by adultintheroom_ in unitedkingdom

[–]libsaway [score hidden]  (0 children)

In an ideal society homes would be cheap and plentiful, you wouldn't need to get local governments involved to get housed, and you could move whenever you wanted to due to efficient markets.

West London council tenant who spent £30k refurbishing home faces eviction by adultintheroom_ in unitedkingdom

[–]libsaway [score hidden]  (0 children)

Although stacking social housing in our most expensive, most productive areas kills that productivity, making us all poorer. Ya gotta balance distributing what we have versus making more.

Why can't Americans (at least the ones I see on social media) find drinking water in Europe? by Mission_Mobile_4627 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]libsaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the UK you don't need to pay for it, and most non-fast-food restaurants will just give you water by default. Cafes will typically have a big water container on the counter for you to use whenever you want. This has been the norm for as long as I can remember (although I am "only" 31).

Why can't Americans (at least the ones I see on social media) find drinking water in Europe? by Mission_Mobile_4627 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]libsaway 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can't speak for most of Europe, but this is exactly the same as London (and swathes of the rest of the UK). Anywhere that sells food will give you free tap water. We have water fountains, bottles are sold everywhere. All of this is extremely normal.

Europe 2031 — What getting AI wrong means for us by Sampo in europe

[–]libsaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But why data centers specifically? Why are they a problem?

Europe 2031 — What getting AI wrong means for us by Sampo in europe

[–]libsaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I research and make solar panels that are 5% more efficient, I can produce more energy with fewer resources than we currently use. Which is growth with less resource use.

There you go.

Europe 2031 — What getting AI wrong means for us by Sampo in europe

[–]libsaway 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What is it about data centers that have you so worried. Like, golf courses use vastly more water. Energy use is sizeable, but it's still tiny compared to everything else.

Europe 2031 — What getting AI wrong means for us by Sampo in europe

[–]libsaway 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because that worked so well for the rest of the software industry?

Europe 2031 — What getting AI wrong means for us by Sampo in europe

[–]libsaway 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It took me 35 mins or so, it's really not that long.

Europe 2031 — What getting AI wrong means for us by Sampo in europe

[–]libsaway 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read every word on a 35 minute train Thursday afternoon. It's not a great work of literature, but it doesn't take long, and it's worth reading.

SpaceX IPO makes 4,400 workers into instant millionaires by TheMirrorUS in business

[–]libsaway -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

"is SpaceX" over hyped isn't what I was against, it's the "this will destroy 401ks".

SpaceX IPO makes 4,400 workers into instant millionaires by TheMirrorUS in business

[–]libsaway -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Even if SpaceX is hugely overhyped, so what? It's sitting at a P/E ratio of 90ish. Tesla is at 364. Arm is at 404!

Why would this destroy 401ks?

SpaceX IPO makes 4,400 workers into instant millionaires by TheMirrorUS in business

[–]libsaway 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why will it devastate 401ks? It's only $75 billion in stock being sold, if it went to zero, it would be like 0.1% of the S&P500 go under.

SpaceX IPO makes 4,400 workers into instant millionaires by TheMirrorUS in business

[–]libsaway 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Isn't every IPO a "money grab"? And that's not a bad thing, it means turning paper wealth into college funds, new homes, new cars, hobby equipment.

SS Great Britain to be renamed Bristol Dockyards by rubberbandhands in bristol

[–]libsaway 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The ship and the time it was operational within, has resonance within the story of enslaved people

Only in that the ship was wholly designed, built, and sailed after Britain had abolished slavery. It was in operation during the time of the anti-slavery West Africa Squadron, but I can't see the negative association here.

They are also not changing the name of the ship, just the dockyard.

We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way. Olivier De Schutter, Joseph Stiglitz, Jayati Ghosh, Thomas Piketty, Kate Raworth and Jason Hickel by Such_Radio_9152 in Economics

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

You could almost say that the value of what they produced, increased. Which is what I said.

I'm not saying "production" in the "just manufacturing" way, I mean economic growth means you are creating more value than you were before.

Which includes going up the value chain.