The War in Ukraine shocked people who have not been observing Russia for quite some time and showed how misguided the foreign policy of the United States has been for at least a decade. It pains me to say so, but Mitt Romney was right in 2012 when he said Russia is our main adversary. …
Author Archives: stidmatt
Abundance of caution
There is a disturbing trend in many circles over the last ten years to not trust the police due to lynching of Black people, primarily but not exclusively men. It is right to be disturbed by this. Police who shoot unarmed civilians should be tried for murder. They then take things to an extreme and …
It’s a Palm World After All
It’s a fluke of history that Apple turned into the world’s most profitable company. It didn’t have to be this way. PDAs have been around since the 1980s, but they were clunky and had small screens until the Apple Newton in 1993. The Apple Newton lasted until 1998 and was replaced with the far inferior …
The reality of Chinese invasions post-Ukraine war
The U.S. will very likely fight a 3-front war against Russia, China and Iran, Palantir’s Alex Karp says https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-us-will-very-likely-fight-a-3-front-war-against-russia-china-and-iran-palantir-s-alex-karp-says/ar-AA1oYglr Perhaps… but China is watching what is happening to Russia’s economy under sanctions, and China is far more trade-dependent than Russia. An invasion of Taiwan would be the end of the Communist Party. The invasion of …
Continue reading “The reality of Chinese invasions post-Ukraine war”
Climate priorities
You can choose to increase specific carbon free technologies, or choose to reduce emissions, but you cannot do both. With a carbon tax or a good cap and trade you directly choose how much carbon emissions will be reduced by. But you do not have control on how much of the reduction will be from …
How to bring down inflation
There is a lot of talk about how to cover inflation from both Democrats and Republicans. We are seeing various ideas like price caps, scrapping social security taxes, child tax credit, and more options. How do each of these stack up? To find solutions, we have to divide the economy into sectors. The sectors with …
Maximum benefit trilemma
When it comes to maximum benefit pensions, like exist in most developed democracies, you can pick two of the three when your population is not growing fast enough to cover future benefits: Stable currency High benefits Low taxes (yes, really) If you choose to keep benefits high and not increase taxes, you will need to …
A peace treaty for Russia and Ukraine
Russia gives up all territorial claims on Ukraine. Ukraine becomes a member state of NATO. Konigsberg is given to Lithuania. Russia’s nuclear weapons will be confiscated. Putin will go to the Hague for trial if he is still alive. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are Georgian territories.
Why Harris will win
Kamala Harris is going to be the next president of the United States. She consistently leads in the polls, between 3 and 9 points. In the betting odds, her odds are -106 versus Trump’s +118. She is going to win, and it is not a surprise. The Keys to the White House is essential to …
Paid leave is family values
I was taking my walk today when I thought about how my company should offer four weeks of paid vacation. To an average American, this might seem excessive, but in reality, most highly developed countries provide this by law. Twenty days is the minimum paid leave for all workers in the European Union. Regardless of …