Juggling Dynamite

The emissions fraud scandal is spreading (as we suspected it would), with revelations of overstated fuel efficiency results across a host of manufacturers.  See:  Mercedes tops list of car companies overstating fuel economy.

Others are complaining that this is making a mountain out of a molehill, arguing that emissions are low and fuel economy is relatively high and present scrutiny is just regulators justifying their own existence.  See:  VW “scandal”.

I think all of this misses the point entirely. The point is that we don’t need to have any emissions. We don’t need to argue over which car is giving the best gas mileage, or who is misleading whom. We don’t need to fund even more emission regulators or drill environmentally critical areas for more oil or keep bailing out antiquated car companies that are too short-sighted and pigheaded to evolve their products out of the ICE (Internal combustion engines) ages to smarter products.  We just need to move to electric cars and continental smart grids fueled by the vast array of renewable energies all around us.  Then all of these wasteful distractions and expenditures go away and importantly, cash-strapped consumers and businesses will be able to spend less and save more, rebuilding financial strength for the future.

On a related note, lower oil prices are finally managing to drive drillers out of exploration projects in the Arctic. See: Why Shell has gone cold on the arctic.  Maybe oil companies are starting to understand that they cannot keep borrowing endlessly to go after the least cost-efficient energy on the planet (and to pay shareholder dividends) at great expense to everything else including their balance sheet, water, clean air, the biosphere and human health.  This is progress.

Gary Shilling, president at A. Gary Shilling, discusses the impact of low inflation on the U.S. Treasury market, the Federal Reserve’s focus on China and the global economy and the ability of commodities to clear their markets. Here is a direct video link.

A. Gary Shilling & Co. President Gary Shilling discusses the price of commodities and deflation. Here is a direct video link.

How does the world spend the next several years paying down and working our way out of debt while still affording some growth and investment? We get really, really efficient. Fortunately the cutting ‘edge’ future is here. Awesome.

The Edge, in Amsterdam, is officially the greenest office building in the world. It’s also the testing ground for a radical, highly connected new way of working, where employees have no set workspaces and can dial in their individual climate and lighting preferences via an app. Businessweek’s Tom Randall got a first-hand look at the inner workings of this office of the future. Here is a direct video link.