Also, I think it's not inconceivable that economic growth is about to go parabolic world wide, due to advances and automation. The account balance of the US Treasury may be the least of our problems in the coming decade.
I don't assume that, at all. I maybe assume that people understand where I live. To the extent you do not care about US domestic issues, I suggest you proceed to ignore me on this point. Or entirely on all points.
Yes, I have a particular interest in land use policy in the United States and how it's contributed to an affordability crisis. I have spoken extensively on this topic.
There are parts of the world that have a much better and sane approach to land use and housing policy. So I don't see why I must be forced to speak in general terms to fend off your accusations of Americentrism.
This has nothing to do with thinking I'm at the center of the world. That's particularly uncharitable interpretation of my disposition, here.
Yeah. I think it's mistaken to believe the political constraints on spending cuts and tax hikes will remain in perpetuity, if a full on government solvency crisis takes hold.
The pairing of tax hikes and spending cuts will almost certainly be how a bipartisan consensus forms in response to the coming fiscal crisis. I feel good about my prediction.
There will be spending cuts and tax hikes. Everyone thinks I'm out to lunch on this. But I don't care. I double down on this prediction.
JFC
I definitely think being able to appreciate the present and find gratitude in every moment is definitely on the right track towards what constitutes the good life, to me.
Not trying to be mean or invalidating, but I would maybe suggest that this sounds like an impoverished conception of the "good life" to me.
For what it's worth, I don't think a ban would survive a court challenge on First Amendment grounds. Like I rate the chances that such a law doesn't get struck down at near zero. It's hard to imagine the courts going through the intellectual contortions that would be necessary.
Do you see the third option -- which actually seems like the most likely policy response from the government -- a forced sale of TikTok to a non-Chinese company, is equally authoritarian?
I'd observe this kind of attitude is how a lot of countercultural elements in society never break into mainstream discourse. Because staying out of the mainstream arena becomes a matter of virtue, and it ultimately comes to blunt whatever impact they're trying to achieve.
Saying an argument is not worth your time, when someone else is going to go push the other point regardless, may seem like not giving ground. In reality it's a surrender of a kind.
(Yes, I understand that commercial structures don't typically have the correct plumbing and HVAC configurations for residential use. And, that this would require significant regulatory changes from local governments. But these would all be tractable problems, if we just got out of the way of the market, here)
If the commercial real estate market is in distress, due to the rise of hybrid work, then might I suggest that one of their off-ramps from crisis could be taking note of the fact there is an under-supply of housing in this country. I get that we never have time for rational solutions in modern society, but I point this out nonetheless.