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Agreed, but we should remember that China is not entering the top ranks--it is returning to the top ranks, having dominated the globe economically for most of its existence. It's a great time to be alive, to see the massive changes that will occur in our world as a result. And thank you for...

You're too kind--I try to keep things simple, but they never really are that simple. But that's why economics isn't a real science, and why it helps to drink heavily on the weekends.

I feared someone would drag me into this! Et tu, @Chinese-Dragon ? Anyway, per @pehgaam e mohabbat , I suppose we low IQ people must be content with facts, while high IQ people bask in fantasy. This is actually a very simple matter to understand, which is why we low IQ people can explain it...

I'm not an economist, and as far as investment advice, I would be breaking several regulations by providing advice (I don't know your risk tolerance, income, time horizon, etc.). I can only say that the most important component of investment is time, so whether it's equity, real estate, or...

Happy to comment, but I will steal a bit from my previous posts on this issue. As you say, shale oil is not going to be easy to kill. From the article: Oil has dropped 38 percent this year and, in theory, production can continue to flow until prices fall below the day-to-day costs at existing...

Moderation is a noble aim, but for the sake of society, some things must not be tolerated. For example, I think we can agree that it's not reasonable to expect that a "moderate amount of corruption" should be expected. The expectation should be that corruption is kept to a minimum. So too...

I'll believe it when I see it.

I don't think it's necessary for China to welcome back the KMT specifically, as long as it eventually reaches a point where an opposition party (or equivalent entity) can serve as a check on the CCP. Singapore is technically a democracy, but in reality, it's a single-party authoritarian state...

I can tell it's time for me to take a break from PDF when the same subjects keep appearing, and the same responses are made (and discarded), only to start the cycle anew. Wake me up when there's something new to learn here...

I agree with this, because we were allies in the past, and I've long felt that among East Asian cultures, China's culture is the most similar to our own. It is multi-ethnic, it has an appetite for risk, it sees itself as a stabilizing force in the world, and generally speaking, it has a minimal...

Let’s not kid ourselves: Most Americans are fine with torture, even when you call it “torture” - The Washington Post Americans don't care about the rights of non-uniformed combatants or terrorists. Period. Even Democrats don't care, and that's saying something, given their anti-American...

It's not the idea of torture during war that bothers me as much as the lack of a limiting principle. If it's a ticking time-bomb situation, then the torture should be time-limited. If it's a low-level operative, the degree of pressure applied should be proportionate to the possible value of...

This individual is clearly mentally disturbed. He hates Islam, but lives in Palestinian-controlled cities? He wanted to assassinate Obama during his visit to Israel for... what, exactly? And he committed crimes in the US, then fled to Israel to commit terrorism? I don't understand the logic...

I have answered this several times previously, but since I am on a mobile device, I find it hard to copy and paste the same list of reasons again (search for "mosquito torch"). Short version/main reason: we support Israel through military aid because we are bound to by treaty (the Camp David...

There have already been several initiatives tried over the years, such as MIT OpenCourseWare, and @Akheilos already mentioned Khan Academy (and there are a plethora of free and for-profit competitors). The bottleneck is the credentialing system, where the brand is more important than the...

Is there any significant Russian population in Azerbaijan that Putin would use as an excuse, as he did in Ukraine?

I doubt this will help. There are two main reasons why capital is leaving Russia: 1) The depreciation of the ruble is causing a spike in fear, and the longer capital stays in Russia, the more economic losses will be incurred. To bring capital back into Russia now is a currency bet, that the...

Dummy post.

@TaiShang I haven't read Rifkin's book, but I agree with the author that we need to be cautious about accepting his predictions. First, his timeline of zero marginal cost in energy by 2028 is wildly optimistic, and probably wrong. @FairAndUnbiased can probably shed more light on this issue (I...

Thanks for those impressive videos. As a layperson, I wonder if you could enlighten me as to the reason why the trend has been towards single-seat planes, where one pilot does it all, as opposed to having a navigator/weapons officer help share the burden. Like you, I am amazed at everything...