patrick.net

Illegal alien started the fire:
http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/10/17/ice-detainer-issued-for-suspected-wine-country-arsonist-in-sonoma-jail/

The U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) issued a detainer request on the Sonoma County Jail for Jesus Fabian Gonzalez, who was arrested Sunday on suspicion of arson in Wine Country fires that have killed at least 40 residents.

ICE Director: Suspected Wine Country Arsonist Is Illegal Alien Mexican National

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/10/19/wine-country-ice-director-illegal-alien-charged-with-felony-sonoma-fire-twice-returned-to-mexico-sanctuary-state/
In other words, this fire is all Obama's fault!!!

Dan8267 says

Replacing destroyed goods does not increase the wealth of a society. It does not even maintain the wealth of the society because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. No, breaking a window and replacing it, burning a house and building a new one, getting cancer and curing it results in a net loss of wealth to society.

If such things actually increased wealth as Keynesians believe, then ANTIFA would be heroes. Just let those thugs burn down entire cities and the good times will roll. Why does common sense never get applied to economics. It's not magic. It's arithmetic.

It's no that simple in real life. Clearly breaking something in isolation doesn't increase wealth. But, in certain situations, where people are hoarding money causing an unvirtuous cycle of factories closing leading to less demand leading to more factories closing, etc--an event which forces people to spend their hoarded wealth can be an overall gain to the economy and country. The increased activity associated with higher velocity of money can be a huge gain where people are working again. An economy and a country with lower unemployment is stronger.

And that's what most people don't understand about Keynes. He didn't propose a one solution fits all panacea. He advocated a REDUCTION in spending during the good times. Politicians never do this, of course, but it's certainly not Keynes' fault.

Take the bankruptcy path and give California exactly what it's asking for, poorer service and higher prices.

Don't worry, Governor Newsom will 'nationalize' PG&E so the State can ration energy to its residents to fight climate change.

Here's what the bleeding heart liberals in California deserve. The state should come in and take over PG&E and use taxpayer dollars to run it. Then they should go in and take over all the gas stations, (they might as well since taxes make up the bulk of the price/gal) Then the grocery/liquor stores etc etc. Once they control all that, they'll have to offer free healthcare and college to stem the masses from fleeing the state. California will be an experiment of what it's like to live in a place where everything is owned and operated by the state (aka socialism) Isn't that exactly what the liberals living there want?

Obligatory reference to the other similar thread:
/post/1320215/2018-11-13-did-poor-forest-management-or-pg-e-cause-paradise-fire

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pg-e-bailout-hopes-crushed-163848465.html

PG&E Bailout Hopes Are Crushed With California Showing Little Interest

Now that PG&E Corp. has said it plans to file for bankruptcy, analysts are seeing little chance that California lawmakers will step in anytime soon with a bailout for the beleaguered power provider.

California’s largest utility, which faces potential liabilities of $30 billion or more from deadly wildfires, said it will file under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code by Jan. 29, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement signaling he’s willing to let PG&E proceed, saying that at the same time “the company should continue to honor promises made to energy suppliers and to our community.”

A bankruptcy reorganization would, in fact, allow PG&E to operate and keep the lights on. What’s more, it “diversifies the responsibility for what plays out,” said Kit Konolige, a senior analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. He said he didn’t believe there was much enthusiasm in Sacramento for an immediate rescue plan. “What politician is going to step up and say ‘I want to save PG&E?’ ’’

There are some, including Democratic Assemblyman Chris Holden, who in a statement called a bankruptcy “deeply concerning for the state.”

The pressure is unlikely to be off politicians to eventually act. Newsom covered that ground in his statement: “I will be working with the legislature and all stakeholders on a solution that ensures consumers have access to safe, affordable and reliable service, fire victims are treated fairly, and California can continue to make progress toward our climate goals.”

PG&E employs 20,000 and provides power to more than 15 million people. Its liabilities could grow from wildfires in 2017 and 2018; the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has blamed 17 of the 2017 blazes in part on company power lines and other equipment.

Its stock has tanked, and it has little left in the bank -- $1.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of Friday. PG&E has said it doesn’t intend to make an interest payment of about $21.6 million due Tuesday on 5.4 percent senior notes due in 2040.

“There isn’t a lot of time left. You’re talking six months until you actually get into a liquidity crunch,” said Guggenheim analyst Shahriar Pourreza.

Even if they wanted to, Newsom and legislators might simply be unable to do anything in time.

“The high degree of controversy and public outcry stemming from wildfire damages and perceived blame assigned to PG&E likely creates headwinds in the legislative process,” the research firm ClearView Energy Partners LLC said in a report Monday. “The 15-day notice offers a very short runway for lawmakers to act.”

PG&E on Sunday started searching for a new chief executive officer after Geisha Williams, 57, quit; General counsel John Simon will take the helm in the meantime.

Williams’s departure came after a catastrophic period for PG&E. Bonds that traded above face value about months ago now fetch around 85 cents on the dollar. The stock fell as much as 50 percent to $8.77 a share as of 11:10 a.m. in New York, its biggest intraday drop ever. Shares are down 82 percent since the Camp fire broke out Nov. 8.

PG&E Corporation (PCG) $9.11/sh -8.48 (-48.20%)

PG&E Corporation (PCG) $6.59/sh -1.79 (-21.36%)

PG&E Stock Is Going to Zero, Hedge Fund Says

Shares of bankrupt California utility PG&E (PCG) have been going up, but this investor says it’s based on false hope.

George Schultze, founder of distressed investor Schultze Asset Management, which has about $200 million under management, says he has already profited from shorting the shares of the utility that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday.

That would make sense: PG&E’s shares are down 40% this year, and have dropped nearly 70% since the wildfires began. And shareholders get paid back last in bankruptcy, behind bondholders, lawyers, and in this case, wildfire victims. But PG&E’s stock surged after the filing, based on what Schultze says is a misguided bet on a bailout. (The shares down 4% on Thursday.)

“99.75% of the time, shareholders get nothing when a company goes bankrupt,” Schultze tells Barron’s at the Context Summits Miami conference. “But there’s false hope that won’t be the case this time. A key part of that speculation is you have to assume the California legislature and California Public Utility Commission will bail you out. And here there is such aversion to that kind of deal.”

The destruction wrought by the recent Camp Fire is too great, and too political -- 86 people died, thousands of acres scorched, thousands of structures destroyed. “So, politically it’s much more challenging than most cases to grant any recovery at all to shareholders,” he says.

Of the stock, “our thesis is that it’ll go to zero,” he says.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/why-a-short-selling-hedge-fund-says-pg-e-stock-is-going-to-zero-51548962268?mod=hp_DAY_4