BookTalk.org

President Camacho wrote:I also meant to add that I thought this chapter was nice fluff but he didn't really tie it into the rest of the book that well. I have a suspicion that this book ended a couple of chapters ago.

I think this book could have been 100 pages. That's what I get so far.

HAha

Easy Nancy,

What I get from what I read is a product of my own ability to comprehend and retain the information lifted from the page.

I read and take notes on what I've read. I also pay attention to what people say here on the forum and if I don't have anything constructive to add - I usually don't.

I do what I want.

President Camacho wrote:...and if I don't have anything constructive to add - I usually don't.

I do what I want.

Your funny.

I'm going to exercise some restraint... and I hardly ever exercise.

All I'll reply is that this is the thread for chapter 5. My comments are in the appropriate thread for the chapter of this book.

What I found interesting was the part on how the shift from energy types created new world powers. Dutch with wind and water, Britain with Coal, then the US with oil. It's not a stretch to see positive impact in this vein from massive efforts to create alternative energy sources. The first step is to beef up the grid to handle the distant production, such as what Obama plans for (North Dakota I think?).

Feeding the grid with renewable energy then using that to feed electric or hybrid cars can be considered a new dominant energy source. The problem is that it's not quite happening fast enough if we're at the brief plateau of peak oil.

Yup, supposedly ND is the #1 nation for energy derived from wind but it's like #11 in output.... something like that.

I think we may have read the same article.

This would be a perfect idea to spend stimulus money - rather than paying people to buy cars that are currently being made - cars that burn the stuff we need to stop importing - we should be promoting CHANGE.

I still believe and I hope Obama does too!

We can't ever stop appeasing and propping up these rich, entrenched industries it seems. No one ever wants to give them the medicine they need to survive.

These companies bitch and complain whenever government gets involved with their affairs but they have no problem asking for money.

If there was a person who did crack and asked me for a donation - I'd ask them to STOP DOING CRACK. If they bitched me out for getting in their business I'd turn my back on them.

Government has every right to get involved with the affairs of business when those businesses seek financial assistance - just like any other investor.

Hi Everyone,

President Camacho, I agree with you and the other members that Philips' book is difficult to comprehend at times. But the reason this is so has to do with his intended audience. I think he had government burueacrats, business oweners, and more importantly, scholarly people in the economic community in mind when he wrote this. So it is hard for non-experts to get at what he is saying at times because he never bothers to define key terms, because he assumes the reader already knows the ins and outs of finance, politics, etc. So if us as readers want to understand more we have to read much more slowly AND take the time to learn the obscure economic nuances and terms which could be very difficult at times.

Hi Realiz,

I feel your pain on not comprehending much but honestly I though chapter 5 was the easiest to understand in the book. You mentioned that you don't know how a weak dollar/ weak oil negatively affects us. For one, it will make other nations start having, instead of dollar reserves, other reserves and currencies. Having other currencies as reserves in stead of the dollar will allow them to buy more items because the dollar is weak. Also, since these reserves now contain less dollars, all these nations will NOT invest these dollars into U.S. securities (as long as these foreign reserve banks have dollars, these dollars will almost ALWAYS be used to buy U.S. securities). Buying these securities is the same thing as loaning the government and the public money. Since we are a great debtist nation (unfortunately due to our finance system as mentioned in Ch.3 and ch.4), much of our debt has been provided by foreign nations. So the weak dollar weakens the ability of the U.S. government to procure foreign loans through the dollar reserves of others. Moreover, since nations have less dollars as reserves they will now buy less american products therefore American businesses will hurt. So these are some of the disadvantages of the weak dollar. I hope I helped you understand some of the dangers of the weak dollar. I am sure there are other dangers but, as most of us here, I am not an economic expert.