Not So Fast

McCain introduces a bill that would force ala carte programing for cable companies. Which will probably reduce the number of cable channels available. It’s nothing but wins.

Apparently, gas cans don’t work right anymore, for safety reasons.

Soap doesn’t work. Toilets don’t flush. Clothes washers don’t clean. Light bulbs don’t illuminate. Refrigerators break too soon. Paint discolors. Lawnmowers have to be hacked. It’s all caused by idiotic government regulations that are wrecking our lives one consumer product at a time, all in ways we hardly notice.

A quick google has taught me that the key to home gasoline storage safety is don’t cheap out and don’t be stupid.

Hospitals charge whatever they feel they can get away with. Also notice the amount actually paid.

The chargemaster can be confusing because it’s highly variable and generally not what a consumer would pay,” said Carol Steinberg, vice president at the American Hospital Association. “Even an uninsured person isn’t always paying the chargemaster rate.”

I don’t mind the variable rates which, despite the protests in the article, sure seem to be based on the income of the people using the facilities. What I mind is the black box approach. This is the price we say it will cost, this is the price we bill insurance, this is the price we say you have to pay and while there may be some relationship between all the numbers, it sure isn’t obvious.

China, not doing as awesome as everyone thought.

Yes, the US faces a debt hangover, but so does China after the state banks let rip with private loans keep the boom going through the downturn. Fitch Ratings has just downgraded China’s debt, warning that credit has jumped from 125pc to 200pc of GDP over the last four years, with mounting reliance on shadow banking that lets banks circumvent loan-to-deposit curbs. This is why George Soros has been warning that there could be a “run” on China’s state banking system akin to the Lehman bust.

Total credit has jumped from $9 trillion to $23 trillion in four years, an increase equal to the entire US banking system.

America has moved in the opposite direction. Its banks now have loan-to-deposit ratio of around 0.7, and the biggest safety buffers in three decades. The Congressional Budget Office says US Treasury debt held by the public has jumped from 40pc to 73pc.

While I wonder if America has the wherewithal to actually pay down our debt, at least we are (fairly) transparent about it.  Recognizing the problem is the first step, right? China has to liberalize or die. It will be interesting to see which they choose. And if America does collapse, China will provide us with a nice cushiony buffer, like we did for Europe after WWII

The US is leasing time on Chinese satellites to carry data in Africa. This doesn’t surprise me. China is in the process of buying up the continent, well, its resources anyway. I suspect that’s where client-state wars will take place in the coming decades. It will be interesting to watch Islamic and communist states go at it. *I’m dictatorial and you’re dictatorial, can’t we all get along?*

CIPSA is bad.