Links: Truthfulness, minimum wage effects and the Olympics

Links: Truthfulness, minimum wage effects and the Olympics 

How do you know Tucker is both lying and grandstanding? I will let others provide the obvious answer.

Minimum wages lead to everyone else's wages going up. Eventually, franchise fees will be adjusted as well. Executives, especially executives who hold shares, will bear the brunt. Customers may pay more, but only if competitors do not follow suit. The reason minimum wage laws are necessary, rather than individual firms doing the right thing, is to prevent any one firm from gaining competitive advantage by not increasing wages and doing the right thing. In general, low wage workers will spend more on products and rent, so profits - even those going to Executives, will not suffer nor will prices increase.

Ford will follow suit in the U.S. because GM has already committed to full electrification. Driverless cars also enter the mix. The battery issues are easily dealt with using overhead decks, which makes central computer control a reasonable option for self-driving, even without a license. Public self-driving cars will replace cabs and probably delivery and the system that powers and controls cars could also provide electric power and communication to homes. A roof deck could be planted with grass and have retracting walls extending from tall permanent structures, making snow days and pedestrian deaths a thing of the past. Time for some public-private partnerships, preferably with an employee and customer owner function so that retirees can ride for free.

Kudos to religious for raising this issue, giving it a place in the cue of Trump lawsuits to be withdrawn. This should not take long (nor will the cases against Trump and his enablers). 

2022 could be preceded by revolution in China. Athletes may boycott anyway unless something is done about air pollution. Between Hong Kong and SARS-CoV-19, the Party may not be able to hold on much longer. I've always thought Austria was one of the better sites for the games, should they be made stable. Also, there should be fewer team. Little countries and big countries should not compete together. I could see China, the Kazakhs from Turkey to Mongolia and the Uyghurs, ethnic Russians, the EU, the Commonwealth, Brazil, the Caribbean, Latin America and the U.S. could be the teams for winter and/or summer. It would be easier to watch.

It is time to dial back on the security front. We are always trying to protect against the last threat, from Anthrax to shoe bombers. That will move things along.

There is a great piece on the Smithsonian Channel about how the 747 was developed. What they learned led to the current crop of airplanes - although the 737 max shows what happens if we try to get too clever in replacing pilots.