Article

2008-10-28 China-Japan-Koreas

China's Enviro-Problems (to cheer you up)

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Bobby 2008-10-28 14:09|| || Front Page|| [5 views ] Top

#1 35 years ago I wrote my senior thesis in Political Science on the environmental problems in the USSR.

My professor, a Soviet refugee, provided me with numerous translated articles from local Soviet publications to go along with my other research.

The short version is that the enviromental disasters were caused, primarily, by Marxist accounting. The concept of "a free good" (one in which there is no human labor component) caused the most apalling waste. Only the best timber and ore was worth processing so the "more expensive" marginal stuff was just dumped willy nilly. (It was more expensive because it took a labor component to process and that was the only place you had "costs")

I wonder how much of China's problems have a Marxist component.

It was my first lesson that Accounting Matters!

Anyone like to discuss the role a simple accounting rule change (aka mark to market) had to do with the current financial collapse?

Posted by AlanC 2008-10-28 15:40|| 2008-10-28 15:40|| Front Page Top

#2 AlanC,

It was reserves to Zero*, and the subsequent malinvestment that caused the economic problems we have today.

* 100/Reserve Ratio = loan multiplier i.e. temporary monetary expansion.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2008-10-28 20:48|| 2008-10-28 20:48|| Front Page Top

23:53 JosephMendiola
23:40 OldSpook
23:37 OldSpook
23:25 OldSpook
23:19 USN, Ret.
23:17 badanov
23:17 49 Pan
23:16 USN, Ret.
23:03 USN, Ret.
22:55 badanov
22:42 GK
22:40 Mike N.
22:38 Zhang Fei
22:31 tipper
22:30 mom
22:29 Mike N.
22:26 Mullah Richard
22:22 Sninenter B. Hayes9863
22:17 3dc
22:14 Mullah Richard
22:08 trailing wife
22:06 trailing wife
21:58 Eric Jablow
21:58 SteveS