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Bap,
I wonder what the profit margins will end up being. High demand, less raw material, fewer parts in the hybrids. This could be a real ripper for the auto companies. This change will be a good one to study.
GM has had a fully developed electric car for years. Have you guys seen,' Who Killed the Electric Car'. Neet story. Slanted, but still good.
all that is going on is the sheeple are now being steered towards Pirus’. Nothing more, nothing less.
Are you speaking against the Pious? How dare you? ;)
I saw a whole truck-load of Smug Fortwo's while driving to work today. Sigh.
That is because the Prius looks like a hybrid.
And it sounds like "pious."
I want a diesel car instead. The environmental impact of batteries in hybrid cars can be a problem.
A friend of mine had an Audi 4000 diesel back in the 80's. I think it had the VW 1.6L. It was a fully loaded four door that got 55 MPG on the highway. You wouldn't win any races, but it cost nothing to run at the time. Great car. Another friend had a Chevy Sprint with the Suzuki 1L triple and got 50 MPG or better.
The car companies can give us milage with a normal four stroke engine. I wish that they would.
I heard the BMW 535d gives close to 40 mpg.
I am very adverse to large battery arrays.
My friend is going to put used vegetable oil in his diesel. We will see how that goes.
I afraid high gas price may *not* produce higher living densities. Thank God.
Yeah, I'm not at all thrilled about batteries either. The environmental impact far outweighs any gains.
40 MPG is pretty good. The 535's not a tiny car.
Too bad a 535d is going to cost a lot.
Perhaps Toyota will produce a large (2-ton) family sedan with a powerful diesel engine. Hopefully one with 300 lb-ft torque and 40 mpg.
EBGuy,
No hybrids in our taxi fleets. We are nearly 100% Impala, with a few Venture vans. However, I did see a gas problem years ago and conviced the owners to use Impalas instead of Ford Crown Vics.
I do know the owner of Discount Cabs in Phoenix, he recently put 200 Prius Hybrids in his fleet. He already had natural gas powered Crown Vics.
Perhaps Toyota will produce a large (2-ton) family sedan with a powerful diesel engine. Hopefully one with 300 lb-ft torque and 40 mpg.
Don't forget the tail fins!
Tail Fins, like on the late 50's early 60's cars. If you are going to be extravagant.......
I see from the article they had a hybrid version of the Century in 1975.
The diesel car to get is the 2008 VW Jetta TDI Bluetec with a 2.0L 4-cyl clean diesel engine. Too bad the launch is delayed from May to September. This baby will get 50MPG, maybe more if driven carefully.
The word "smug" came up yet again. I haven't seen nor talked to any "smug" Prius drivers at all. I have however talked to several that are pleased that they are driving an efficient vehicle, and wish that more would follow their good example in their next (or even better, previous) vehicle purchase.
This practice of denouncing people who are doing the right thing as "smug" has got to stop. I suspect it is rooted in guilt and envy.
Anyone who does something because he feels good about being right is "guilty" of being smug. This includes me "exposing" the aforesaid motivation. :)
Besides, there is nothing wrong about being smug. One is certainly free to choose this path. In fact, if a lawmaker tries to outlaw smugness, I will be the first to get upset.
IF high gas prices are to stay, demand for oil will have to fall. There is no need to pay a premium for the sake of "conservation." Have faith in the market. All will be fine.
>Anyone who does something because he feels good about being right is “guilty†of being smug.
Peter, how are you able to tell whether someone feels good about their choices "for the wrong reason", namely "being right", as opposed "the right reason", which is wanting to do something right simply because it IS the right thing to do?
Methinks you are errantly assigning the wrong motives to people who are doing the right thing.
In any case, why does this bug you and so many other people to such a large extent? It makes no sense at all to me. Just be happy that they did the right thing, feel free to do the same yourself, and otherwise leave them alone. Don't have such a big bug up your ass about the imagined motivation of people who do the right thing. Sheesh.
Peter, how are you able to tell whether someone feels good about their choices “for the wrong reasonâ€, namely “being rightâ€, as opposed “the right reasonâ€, which is wanting to do something right simply because it IS the right thing to do?
Does it matter? :)
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.
-- T. S. Eliot
In any case, why does this bug you and so many other people to such a large extent?
It really doesn't. Honestly, I should be thrilled that smaller cars are making the road safer for me, right? ;)
If humanity insists on doing the "right" thing, the world will be in chaos as everybody exerts his own view of piety on the world.
If humanity remains selfish and delegate moral decisions to Free Market, at least we have hope.
Peter,
PWDTRT= People Who Do The Right Thing
You are changing the subject. The subject is why you label PWDTRT as smug. Now you are saying that it is ok to do so because PWDTRT are actually wrong (it will produce chaos) Then please concentrate on showing why and how they are wrong, rather than the lame "smug" label. And I will tell you my suspicion: PWDTRT are right, and you cannot prove them wrong to a general level of satisfaction, so you resort instead to the "smug" label. Am I WRONG about this?
Sometimes, I do things because I like to. This is something we should all cherish. You are free to disagree though.
BTW, why are you so concerned about the "smug" label? ;)
Peter,
Yeah, and I am free to point out how lame it is. And yeah, I am concerned about the smug label, because it is an attempt to marginalize PWDTRT as irrelevant. They are anything but irrelevant. I admire them for what they do,
That's enough for now, until the next time someone starts labeling people as smug for lack of a good argument against their thoughts or actions.
Here are some arguments:
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/Recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?NewsID=188
Labeling someone as being right is as rhetorical as labeling someone as being smug.
When I think of "smug". I think of it in terms of people are void of modesty or humility. That has nothing to do with right or wrong. I've known some very humble jerkwads and I've known some very smug philanthropists.
Peter,
Good article. Those are the things that car companies don't want you to see and are usually buried on page 30 of the sports section next to the Curling stats.
The article is biased though. However, the battery part deserves some research.
I would say the article is biased:
The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.
The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles.
In reality. we will see plenty of Prius cars with well over 100.000 miles on the odo. Doubtful you will see any Hummers reach 300,000 miles.
Hopefully the hydrid batteries are recyclable.
Hopefully the hydrid batteries are recyclable.
They are. At what cost (environmentally or otherwise) though?
Changing the topic a little bit here.
Let's take a stock (!) of what happened today -
1. Foreclosures making new highs
2. MBA purchase applications declines
3. Many Fed officials sounding warnings about coming bank failures
4. Dollar retreats and oil jumps 5%
What does the stock market do ? It celebrates the retail sales report. Which says that consumers have to pay more for the same food, gas etc and now shop mainly at the discount stores.
I do not expect stock market action to be logical, but every now and then, there comes a say, when all I say is "Wow".
On a related note - the Australian $ is quietly reaching parity with USD. Thank God for FXA - it is over 96 now.
Peter,
I said GOOD argument, not just argument. That link from CNW is pure bunk. Check out
http://www.slate.com/id/2186786/pagenum/all/
for the real story.
You'd be making more with AUD time deposit in Australia.
I have a batch to renew, right now Australian banks are offering as high as 8.7% for 2 years. The big 4 are offering ~8.2% for 12 months.
I am pretty sure AUD will reach parity by the end of the year, if Ben&Co doesn't do something drastic (aka, starting raising rates).
There is no such thing as a real story. A story is as real as it is convenient to you or me. It is pointless.
This is why the only "real" way to life is to embrace Free Market, which is the econo-behavioral manifestation of Nature.
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Hi Patrick,
thought it would make for an interesting write up if
someone highlighted the difference between the housing
downturn in the early 80's vs today.
Back then, inflation was rampant and the only way to
stamp it out was through very high interest
rates--which subsequently pummeled the housing market.
Once inflation began to improve, it would have been a
great time to buy property as interest rates
dropped--spurring cheaper credit and ultimately
raising the value of real estate. (As opposed to the
NAR propaganda of "now being a great time to buy"
because interest rates are low)
Fast forward to today. Real estate is in a downward
spiral while inflation rages. The only way to contain
inflation will be a return to Volker-esque interest
rates.
Problem is, housing is in free fall. I suspect what
the Fed is trying to do is create a floor under
housing through inflation, then raise interest rates
to tamp it down.
While many economists see a recovery after another
10-15% devaluation of real estate, no one has touched
the potential long-term implications of current(and
near term) monetary policy and its effect on long term
price appreciation (or lack thereof) in the US market.
The net effect of this policy will be a long,
sustained bottom of prices that will not appreciate
again for years due to necessary increases in interest
rates.
It will not be until AFTER interest rates have been
raised substantially and then begin to reduce again
will we see another substantial increase in the value
of real estate in the US.
Any thoughts on why this hasn't been covered yet?
Best,
Bill A.
#housing