Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

In the area of ESG, the central planning/state-driven switch from gas cars to EVs will be quite the thing to watch. First, the impacts on climate change -- the stated reason for various States jumping in -- will be negligble to somewhat discernible at best. Second, the policies will cut lots and lots and lots of jobs. Pretty easy to make metal box and stick a battery in it. Third, it will empower China as batteries are the only technology that matters for EV and, well, China currently controls those resources.

So, to sum up -- a policy that won't really work for its intended purpose, but will put lots of people out of work and empower China, is pretty much a spot on ESG/Prog policy.

There's a reason why we usually let markets reorganize from the bottom up rather than with Stalinist central planning. But, hey, maybe THIS time it will finally work

[Mike]

There are plenty of theories that indicate it's a fail-proof plan!

[iam416]

Well, THIS time we have top people working on this shit. Top. People.

[Mike]

LOL

[Hannibal]

ESG is completely under the radar for anyone that doesn't closely follow politics and policy like posters here. I think most Americans would be highly alarmed to learn that their retirement savings are likely invested in companies on the basis of their wokeness score as opposed to financial factors.

Wall Street found an ingenious work-around for this. It’s called “Sustainability” – the concept that you need to adopt DEI and ESG initiatives to future-proof your company. In short -- they have tricked people into thinking that "woke" = "more profits". There are all kinds of issues with this. Most ESG initiatives are house-of-cards type business models that rely solely on government subsidies or regulations to survive. That makes ESG, ironically, less sustainable than old fashioned business models (hello, George Orwell.).

“Diversity” hiring does not make for a more sustainable business. The opposite is true. The Left has also tried to get around this by creating the slogan “diversity is our strength” -=- the concept being that diversity actually adds value to the company just by virtue of existing. This is also a blatant lie, and there is some empirical data to show this.

Talent – you are way too optimistic when it comes to the impacts of EVs. For instance, you have not accounted for the billions – maybe trillions – of dollars that will have to be spent on infrastructure to make mass electrification possible. Blackouts will mean no energy for cars. The grid will get murdered when everyone gets home and plugs in their Tesla – their car that costs about twice as much for the same functionality despite these EVs getting subsidized. The first wave of $20,000 battery replacements has yet to hit the mass of relatively recent Tesla owners. “Collect subsidy checks as you charge customers the same price for the same level of utility” is not what I would call a sustainable business model.

[iam416]

Just because I didn't include the full parade of bullshit associated with EVs, doesn't mean I'm too optimistic. I was trying to keep it higher level considerations. It gets even worse the digger you deep.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Starting to get worried that DeSantis can topple Trump. Tell me why I'm wrong. The polls lately are not encouraging.

[iam416]

You're not wrong. It'll be an uphill battle. The political cycle is so fleeting. The further away you get from November the more it reverts and the reversion is DJT.

That said, I need to see how things look if/when DeSantis officially declares and really starts running.

[Hannibal]

One thing that is important to remember about “get woke, go broke” – neither Vanguard or BlackRock are losing their own money when a stock price craters. It is their clients’ money – they don’t give a shit if the clients lose money, as long as they don’t pull their money out. That is a market signal, but a weak one.

In addition, these huge institutions still only represent maybe 10-20% of the ownership of the companies that they wield influence over. But because there is no institutional opposition to them, they might as well own 75% of the shares. They don’t care if other shareholders lose money. This is a big loophole in Capitalism.

Perfect example -- Coca Cola. They are getting to be like "Disney -- Soft Drink Edition". Their kook Law Department recently announced that they are going to financially penalize any outside law firms that don't meet diversity quotas. The penalty is probably large enough to ensure that nobody who doesn't meet those quotas can do business with them. Blackrock and Vanguard own about 15% of their stock, combined. Their largest institutional shareholder is Berkshire Hathaway -- who doesn't exactly hate ESG stuff either.

[Dr. Strangelove]

It's probably good for DeSantis that NH is one of the first two states cuz I think he can win there. High % of college-educated voters. Maybe win Iowa just because they have a tendency to go against front-runners. His odds could improve if he gains momentum.

[Hannibal]

Starting to get worried that DeSantis can topple Trump. Tell me why I'm wrong. The polls lately are not encouraging.

You're not wrong. Trump has very vulnerable to an attack on his actual policy record. Desantis has demonstrated that he's smart enough to attack him in this way without getting baited into stupid games.

A big "X" factor will be how the base will react to Desantis getting endorsed by Never Trumpers. "Trumpism without Trump" is a popular sentiment with Republicans, but if Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell sign onto it, it complicates things.

[Tom W]

Talent – you are way too optimistic when it comes to the impacts of EVs. For instance, you have not accounted for the billions – maybe trillions – of dollars that will have to be spent on infrastructure to make mass electrification possible. Blackouts will mean no energy for cars. The grid will get murdered when everyone gets home and plugs in their Tesla – their car that costs about twice as much for the same functionality despite these EVs getting subsidized. The first wave of $20,000 battery replacements has yet to hit the mass of relatively recent Tesla owners. “Collect subsidy checks as you charge customers the same price for the same level of utility” is not what I would call a sustainable business model.

If there's one positive to come out of the not-quite-Ice Storm of the Century that ran through SE Michigan last week it's that a lot of Auto executives had their electric knocked out. Even these clowns have to finally realize that the infrastructure is too screwed up to support full scale EV use. Remember how we were told, about 5 years ago, that our cars would be driving US by now? That was until they started seeing test cars crashing left and right. Auto Execs can be a dense lot and they make a lot of really stupid decisions, but there comes a time when even they recognize the train behind the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Dr. Strangelove]

We’re number 1!!!!

[Mike]

If there's one positive to come out of the not-quite-Ice Storm of the Century that ran through SE Michigan last week it's that a lot of Auto executives had their electric knocked out. Even these clowns have to finally realize that the infrastructure is too screwed up to support full scale EV use. Remember how we were told, about 5 years ago, that our cars would be driving US by now? That was until they started seeing test cars crashing left and right. Auto Execs can be a dense lot and they make a lot of really stupid decisions, but there comes a time when even they recognize the train behind the light at the end of the tunnel.

I believe that even the ever-intelligent auto executive has the ability to react to the market. That market overwhelmingly demands SUVs, not EVs. Prog politicians realize this which is why they know they have to change the market through new laws, not by winning in the market place. It's like if the rest of college football could legislate the dissolution of the SEC, they'd actually win national championships!! TOO EASY.

[Tom W]

And the market only "demands" SUVs because the industry decision makers don't offer a whole lot of other options.

Not like that matters for the topic at hand, but it just shows how stupid things have become.