Disqus - Latest Comments for Larry

Re: Tim Lee on Patriotism

Larry — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:03:37 -0000

I feel incredibly lucky to live in the place that best (albeit imperfectly) embodies my ideals and that does so better than any country in history.

Note that Bush has said over and over that "that liberty is not an American invention but the common heritage of mankind" and he is right.

Re: After Heller

Larry — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:20:15 -0000

The question is whether Heller neutralizes the political potency of the issue. I don't see a dramatic change, but if the regulators don't overstep, I see it fading.

Re: The “Annually Appropriated/Authorized Until Revised” Spending Distinction

Larry — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:15:37 -0000

If seniors will consume approximately the same amount of goods and services whether they are spending money we forced them to save or spending money that is taken from the next generation of earners, how much does the financing really matter? We aren't stuffing medicine under our mattresses for when we're old and can't afford it.

Isn't the primary concern about incentives? I.e. that workers today will somehow mess up the economy by spending too much/investing too little? Or that workers tomorrow will not work hard because their taxes are too high? Or that seniors tomorrow will waste resources that they don't have to pay for directly?

Re: Debating Global Warming Policy

Larry — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:44:38 -0000

I hate it when arguers don't respond to each other's points; that is, when they bring up other points. That is a signal failing of the Cato discussion (and so many others).

Give me closure!

Re: Coal, Electric Industries Big Winners in Climate Bill Deal

Larry — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:19:05 -0000

The US isn't ready to significantly cut its carbon usage. As this article describes, effective legislation, even under a filibuster-proof Democrat majority, is unpassable.

The only way to substantially cut carbon is to go with renewables that are cheaper than carbon. The closest in time and scalability appears to be next-gen nuclear. The others are a few breakthroughs away. Washington should be dumping a lot more money into research. My favorite project that could use a lot more money is the Polywell fusion research that's living on crumbs, even though it might (or might not, TBD) allow us effectively unlimited energy with 0 pollution of any kind.

Re: Coal, Electric Industries Big Winners in Climate Bill Deal

Larry — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:03:01 -0000

While it's true that temps since the late 90's have not reverted to their long-term average, it's also true that they haven't continued to increase. That seems bizarre, given that the level of GHG emissions has exploded since then, significantly exceeding the IPCC's pessimistic hypothesis. It's also true that the error bars on GCM's are so broad that even a ten-year long kink in the curve doesn't disprove the AGW hypothesis. However, it does raise the question - what data WOULD it take to disprove AGW?

Re: Coal, Electric Industries Big Winners in Climate Bill Deal

Larry — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:16:21 -0000

Trends are trends, and the 10 year trend matches what I wrote. And whatever the economy has been doing (until the last 6 months) it wasn't limping! Note that I'm not denying AGW, just not happy with the recent data. You didn't answer my question, however: what data would constitute a falsification?