Comments by "Daniel Larson" (@daniellarson3068) on "Econ Lessons" channel.

  1.  @chibunduandy2441 Not really - The lack of common things like plumbing shows a production problem. It shows a land that lacks opportunity. The idea of production is to make things good for the people. For two long Russia has been spending money on "guns" and not "buttet." Russians shouldn't be ashamed of their lack of things common in the West. Russians should just fix the problem.
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  2.  @chibunduandy2441 I tried putting a link in previously, but the entry vanished. Do a quick search' I just found this: "Per Russian State Statistics Service Rosstat, 22.6% of Russians do not have indoor plumbing. In rural Russia, almost 2/3rd's have no access to indoor toilets, 48.1% use outhouses and 18.4% do not have a sewage system.Jan 16, 2024 " Look into Moscow Times. My link perhaps made the previous entry disappear. The head line is "Indoor Plumbing Still a Pipe Dream for 20 percent of Russian Households, Reports say." It's certainly not unbelievable. My grandmother in Northern US had no indoor toilet until the 1980s. When my parents bought their home in 1953, it had no bathroom. It is very plausible that Russians lag other countries. Russian money has gone to oligarchs and the military so others do without.
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  3.  @SMGJohn  You say, "All nuclear reactors Russia build are just simple iterations of Soviet designs. Russia to this day has not built nor designed anything new." It does look that way.
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  4. Good Message for the end of the year. Many smart people are saying stay the course and the Russian empire will dissolve into something better. I found it interesting that he quoted Einstein. He often quotes these Austrian economists. Einstein advocated socialism. I'm not sure if there is a real schism there.
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  5. This one is worth listening to twice. There are lots of good ideas packed within this message. With Russia's poor infrastructure will the folks in the hinterlands be hurt the worst from the fall or will they be insulated from the effects?. I suspect those outside the big cities have gardens and an ample wood supply. Those in the big cities do not.
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  6. Yes - I'm a nobody and even I see it. Trump never says anything negative about Putin or Russia. The Ukraine war has made a lot of us aware of how Russia operates. Konstantin of Inside Russia gives factual reports on almost a daily basis as do others. They do a lot of bad stuff. One may think that the top US politicians are simply ignorant of what Russia does, but unlike you or I they have access to experts who can tell them what is what with the country of Russia. Circumstantial evidence seems to point that Russia has something on Trump making him do what they want. Mr. Biernat is right.
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  7. It sure seems like an opportunity for the rest of the world to step up.
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  8. Wow! I am amazed that this US election has so much impact in the world. I live in US. I put Australian news on the other day. All they did was talk about the US election. The results of this election surprised and disappointed me. The US is on a downward trajectory. You guys need to work with your neighbors for a common defense.
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  9. Interesting parallels but they could fall apart when you look at population. The population of the Union was 22.5 million in the Civil War versus 9 million in the Confederacy. The population of Russia is about 140 million. The population of Ukraine is 37 million. The enormous land of Russia gives it vast resources. So, one could say the comparison puts the Russian Federation in the Union's position. However, if the EU and North America are committed to the fight, the resources of the Russian Federation are dwarfed in everything bu available manpower. Hopefully, support will be given so Russian resources diminish to the point where they cannot continue this senseless war.
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  10. Lots of comments after the main comment. Times are indeed changing. I saw no comments denying climate change. Some say it is good. Some say it is bad. None deny reality. There are a lot of people with numbers proving it is reality. Unlike Russia, the numbers are not made up.
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  11.  @Heater-v1.0.0 The weather is constantly changing. It's not consistent. It never has been. Why should climate change proceed in a consistent manner? What does the long term trend tell you?
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  12.  @Heater-v1.0.0  Not so. There are ice cores, tree rings and other indications of what weather has been like in the last thousands of years. The last thousand years is easier as men have had civilizations for the last thousand years and have made records. The writings are examined to get a good idea of the weather. Climate can be extrapolated from that. Scientists are largely in accord that global warming is a real event. Discord in this belief may have been created by special interests. They have financed groups like the Heartland Institute to help sow this discord. It's worked quite well for them.
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  13.  @EconLessons Got it. Central planning, 5 year plans - Back in the USSR Except this time only gangster ideology no Marxist Socialism. Normally, I would think they could do the deficit spending for a while, but those high interest rates make government borrowing very painful. I bet their people won't buy war bonds. I guess they can just pretend and print money for a while, but that won't last as the money soon would be worthless. It's headed for the fan.
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  14.  @samyguindy3457  They are all based essentially on trust. We all agree that they have worth and it works (mostly).
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  15. Good Video - I do take some issue with this. People who own small businesses are working in their own interests and have to be working in the interests of their customers just to survive. Just the same, there are some things that big business can do better. The economy of scale is a real thing and some of those benefits do usually get passed to the end consumer. Some things are better handled by government like maybe water sewer, electricity and health care. Hopefully, this horrible war will be resolved soon and Ukraine can be free of its evil neighbor. Konstantin of Inside Russia explained the system that Russia has. All tax monies flow into Moscow and are then redistributed to the various government entities. When I heard that I thought - this is not conducive to a real democracy. If the money is centrally controlled from Moscow, it has a remarkable similarity to the planned economies of the old Soviet Union. This video stressed that small businesses will be needed in Ukraine. I think local government with autonomy will also be necessary.
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  16.  @adamk.7177  I wonder if he'll get those tariffs through. A lot of rich people have a lot of money invested in Chinese manufacturing.
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  17. There may be more truth to that than many know.
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  18.  @joeordinary2trumpheroofrussia  It's kind of hard for them to keep things secret when Russian media talks about empire expansion each night. Russians are strange people, I guess.
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  19. I guess we are OK in the US. There's more than just one of those billionaires running the system now working for their benefit.
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  20. "The Dark Side" certainly seems to be real vile quality deeply embedded into the Russian World. I guess the folks in Poland certainly understand it better than those of us half a world away.
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  21. Whose lives would really be improved? If Canada joined the US, it would certainly pull US politics away from the direction of recent times. That universal health care sounds great. It's their (Canada's) choice.
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  22. That I can understand. If I can't have it, well you can't either.
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  23. Mostly right on this one. The empire thing usually goes for conquering people and subjugating populations. I don't think the US is into that stuff.
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  24.  @thestigisme2349  Nope - I live close to the Northern border. The Southern border thing is not the big issue to me that it has been made out to be for the right wing. In addition there are a lot of Mexican folks around where I live. I see them just trying to work and make a living. Kind of like my immigrant grandparents.
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  25.  @thestigisme2349  I'm not running for office. I am voting. It's not one of my top concerns. I guess I think about the economy, infrastructure, education, health care, Social Security and global warming before I think about refugees at the border. Thanks for your information.
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  26.  @thestigisme2349  You are a wise man. Immigrants will help pay for Medicare, education, contribute to our economy and help build necessary infrastructure. Right wing people seem to often not understand demographics all that well. Good to see an exception. Have a nice day.
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  27.  @TeaParty1776 Yes - The quota thing did not work so well under the Soviet system. Shortages of items were common.
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  28.  @TeaParty1776 Like battle tanks. The surplus of these tanks is being taken care of now.
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  29. Do the oil companies and OPEC+ want the oil price down to $40 / barrel? This may not be a money maker for them. The tar sands people are close to the edge too. Our Northern ally may not be altogether happy with that low price.
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  30. I like the Peter Zeihan thing. Russia is such a huge country that they can have an extractive economy that exports oil, coal, minerals, timber, etc. They can sell enough for their people to do well. Isn't it kind of curious that it actually appears to have got worse once they adopted their form of capitalism? Maybe what has been missing in that country for a long time is good leadership that respects the value of human beings. The goal of leadership should be to improve the lives of the people. I read 20 percent of Russians do not have indoor plumbing. I guess corruption is built into the culture.
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  31.  @DIA1020-o8k  Perhaps there are plenty of goods and no money to pay. There must be some reason why Russian soldiers steal toilets.
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  32. Good Talk - Light wins over darkness. I guess my single point of light will not shine on that who the US courts have said have done evil.
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  33. Wow! All this stuff he mentioned. It just makes sense. If you have people running the store (government) that don't really know what they are doing than business will not go well. One thing he didn't mention is this debt cycle thing. Most of us are not good with money like Mr. Biernat. One statistic says that the average American is $66,000 in debt. Then there's the well known fact that so many live paycheck to paycheck. As government policies create fewer paychecks, there is a cascading effect as the debt goes unpaid. People get laid off and can't afford products. That doesn't help that Price to Earnings ratio he talked about. Economic crashes have happened before. Maybe people will get smarter this time around. At least for a little while.
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  34. No - People have choices.
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  35. I think you are right. Russia must be bad. They sell a lot of Italian style food. I never see Russian style food sold. Pizza or spaghetti always beat Borscht.
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  36. It really is sort of a biblical type thing. "It takes but one candle to dispel the darkness."
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  37.  @planetmikusha5898  One can have bad innings. One can sometimes lose almost half their games. Yet, at the end of the Season, they can still win the pennant.
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  38.  @planetmikusha5898  True - However at the end of the 9th inning, we are in the long run. John Maynard Keynes said, "In the Long Run, we are all dead."
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  39. Market forces are fixing a problem. Unfortunately, the problem was the factories wanted more cash flow.
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  40.  @smb-zf9bd Not an old wives tale. Companies have "Planned Obsolescence." Here is the definition: "a policy of producing consumer goods that rapidly become obsolete and so require replacing, achieved by frequent changes in design, termination of the supply of spare parts, and the use of nondurable materials." Look up the Phoebus Cartel. They ensured incandescent light bulbs had limited life. If you read about cars in the 1960s prior to market share being swallowed by the Japanese (and others), you will see that the big 3 automakers at that time designed vehicles for a 3 year life. Be careful buying appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines these days. Just go to an appliance parts store and ask them. I make it sound bad, however, I guess Capitalism certainly did a better job of producing consumer products than the boys of the USSR.
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  41. The guy certainly has a lot of confidence in what he says. I have to believe him. He's read a lot of economic stuff that would put a lot of us to sleep. The implication of what he says is that the lives of the average Russian will not improve. It is hoped that they connect the dots and point the finger at the Czar (Putin). On the other hand Russians could double down, blame the West and hang in there and be like sailors going down with the Titanic. They could bear economic pain and feel they are doing it for Mother Russia. I hope they have the sense to put pressure on the Czar to stop this war. It would be better for them in the long run. Let's also hope the orange man has the sense to maintain the sanctions.
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  42.  @ENGRAINING  What's a monopoly? Is it who sells the vast majority of stuff? It seems like all the electronic stuff is made in China. Some may be Japanese, European or US brands, but it seems the stuff is made in China. Is this a monopoly? All of it may not be the highest tech, but it is surely functional.
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  43. Thanks - Despite your fine video, many polls show that Trump leads in a battle with Harris. I don't know why. I really wonder. The arguments put up by Trump supporters to toss my vote his way seem to be often weak and even invalid positions on national issues. If he wins, it's bad news for Ukraine.
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  44. It seems like the Russians are very afraid of that. They do not want a free Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova or Georgia.
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  45.  @MarkShal-nv6bj  The news I heard is that the Russian folks are having big problems with YouTube. The word is that the Russian government doesn't like YouTube and is causing it to fail.
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  46. I like the way this guy quotes Star Trek. Nobody quotes Gilligan's Island any more.
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  47.  @Банкивасограбят  На Украине расстреливают раненых россиян
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  48.  @2paulcoyle  Then you talk to people and see a different reality.
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  49. It just seems that gas prices have been OK under Biden. We'll see with Trump. I worry about what tariffs will do to oil sand oil exported into the Midwest. It may help the sale of those electric cars he seems to hate so much.
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  50. Nuclear weapons,...no problem?
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