Completely OT: Inflation

[Mike Schwartz (PC Support)]

> There is not much time left. We all better get a plan... a world-wide
> plan... based on developing a new source of energy... not just for
> ourselves, but for everyone. The tenet and overall view for this work must
> be dedicated toward the belief that our Spaceship Earth is the closed
> system
> that it is. Otherwise, can anyone out there see things getting better?
> 
> --
> John Esak

     Yes, John, I can see many things getting better.  You just happen to be
in a small segment of the marketplace that is getting hit the hardest by
these increases.  You, of all people, shouldn't be ignoring the major
improvements in the world in things like medicine and especially with the
new technologies.  For example, as cell phones become smaller, better and
cheaper, look at how they have improved peoples productivity, both for
business and personal activities.  (I bet you could make about 25 cell
phones today using the same amount of plastic it took to make my first bag
cell phone.) 

     Several of my customers are taking advantage of the new world
equilibrium.  For example, a paper company that specializes in fine writing
paper has made contact with people in India who need their products.   Due
to their improving economy, many companies in India are trying to improve
their image with custom paper products, so we are looking at a multi-million
dollar market.

     As another example my local economy, those rich oil sheiks are sucking
up the new Gulfstream 5 business jets faster than we can build them.
(Actually, they are built in Georgia, then they fly them up here to
Wisconsin empty and with an ugly yellow-green primer coat on them, and we do
the final outfitting and custom painting up here.) The main concern is that
some of the richest oil men are migrating up to Boeing 737's, and that might
dampen the market for Gulfstreams.  That's probably good news for Seattle,
Washington, but bad news for us.

     If your plastics products start getting too expensive, people will
start using substitutes again.  For example, when those plastic 6-pack rings
start getting too expensive, people will go back to cardboard 6-pack
carriers and boxes.  Green Bay Packaging would love to get its old 6-pack
carton producing equipment running full time again, and cardboard is a
renewable resource.  Just think how much extra plastic you would have if
Congress would just ban those 6-pack rings.

   All this is just a matter of the world constantly struggling to level
itself out at a new equilibrium, and it only reaches new equilibriums
because people find ways to do things "better".  (Everybody gets to define
their own "better" here...) 

     People don't seem very concerned about the high gas prices.  In this
area of Wisconsin, I was just discussing the high gas prices and 10% ethanol
gas with a group of other computer consultants and I was shocked that some
of them refuse to burn that in their cars, even though ethanol is a
renewable resource and Wisconsin somewhat subsidizes the slightly higher
cost.  One of them summed it up that he just doesn't feel like he gets
"maximum performance" with the 10% ethanol gas on the big SUV that he uses
to commute about 50 miles back and forth each day to work.  Actually, I
think he just won't pay the same amount of money for ethanol gas that he
gets 1 or 2 MPG less on, even if ethanol is a renewable resource.

     I was just in Chicago, and it seems like everybody drives a big gas
sucking SUV now; at least in the outer suburbs where I was, so people down
there waste MORE gas than they always did.  It's always ironic to watch
people try to zoom ahead and do a quick lane change and then slam on the
brakes just cut somebody else off and move up a couple of extra feet.  I bet
they waste an ounce of gas each time they do that.   People like that will
never buy into your "spaceship earth" concept.

Mike