Comments by "Tony Wilson" (@tonywilson4713) on "How Milton Friedman Broke The American Economy | The Class Room Ft. @FDSignifire" video.

  1. ACTUALLY - Milton Freidman broke a lot more then the American Economy. The neoliberal economic model was exported via the text books written by professors from Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge,... and published by Harvard Press, Yale Press, Oxford Press, Cambridge Press,... and extolled by the graduates of Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge,... I'm an Australian Engineer who's been trying to the real reason behind the energy crisis. Sorry if this explanation is longish. I found out a few years ago that Australia had a very serious energy issue that NOBODY wanted to publicly discuss in any sensible way because it was actually caused by economists. What I found is we have NOT built any new large scale bulk delivery power stations. These are the ones called "base load" power stations. These keep society running 24/7. They are typically big generating over 1,000 Megawatts. But being big they do not respond to the power grid's daily fluctuations and cycle. That's why there's the other type of power station called "load following" or "on demand." They're smaller and are purposefully designed to respond to the power grid's daily fluctuations and cycle. Modern societies need both types to run effectively. There is no problem anywhere with the load following systems. Being smaller, cheaper and quicker to build they are relatively sound investments for the private sector. Base load power stations tend to be massive investments taking years to plan, approve, build and then pay off. Try telling a board they will spend over $10 Billion and not see a return on investment for over 20 years. I recently calculated that the Hinkley Point C power station in Britain will take over 30 years before being paid off an start to return on the investment and that was based on the £26 Billion it was quoted at NOT the £35 Billion its estimated at right now. Governments can build large bulk baseload power because governments are NOT judged on profit. They are judged on GDP and employment numbers. Big power stations with regulated prices help grow an economy. New or expanding businesses can be assured they will get cheap reliable power. Its pretty good for a politician when GDP and employment grows. The only way private enterprises can build them is with massive government subsidies and tax benefits. HOWEVER - Private enterprises love buying EXISTING large base load power stations from governments because they don't have to spend years waiting. They buy them and start making money the next day. Then they start cutting any and every cost they can to make as much profit as possible. AFTER THAT comes the market manipulation. It takes several years but by NOT building any other new base load power stations INCREASED DEMAND via POPULATION GROWTH eventually flips the market from over supply to under supply and when that happens the market surges and profits surge with it. Private business DO NOT CARE about GDP or employment. As Milton Freidman said "There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits..." When I looked around the world there's been almost no large base load power stations been built anywhere in the developed world since the 1990s. This is why so many developed economies are failing. One exception is Texas but then Texas has few regulations allowing companies to cut corners which is why their grid failed when it got cold. Energy has been steadily climbing ever since the great Privatisation push in the 1990s. The War in Ukraine had nothing to do with the fundamental problem of the energy crisis, but it has made it worse. Everywhere people were promised that competition would provide better services at lower costs. WE WERE LIED TO Sorry for the long answer, but if you guys want I'll happily contribute to a video story.
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