Gardens vs. Gold

A nursery near me closed recently. I suspect a subdivision or apartment complex will replace it. According to the Better Business Bureau, the nursery was started in 1969. I was therefore curious about employment in that industry. As seen in the following chart, the closure appears to be the exception and not the rule.


Click to enlarge.

I have added observations on the gold market to the chart. Keep in mind that correlation does not prove causation. That said, this is real prosperity. I'd like to see more of it. Time will tell.

I would not complain in the slightest if I am wrong to be a permabear. I've been asked what it would take to change my opinion on that. Fusion power would be a great start. Let's see how we're doing on that front.

October 15, 2014
Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details

Hidden away in the secret depths of the Skunk Works, a Lockheed Martin research team has been working quietly on a nuclear energy concept they believe has the potential to meet, if not eventually decrease, the world’s insatiable demand for power.

Of course, we've heard this many times in the past. The ongoing joke is that fusion power is 20 years away. Always has been, always will.

You know, kind of like the ending of ZIRP. It's always a year or two away. Always has been, always will. Just need to be patient! Hahaha! Sigh.

The team acknowledges that the project is in its earliest stages, and many key challenges remain before a viable prototype can be built. However, McGuire expects swift progress.

I believe fusion power will happen at some point in the future, perhaps even as early as McGuire believes. It won't be all biscuits and gravy though. There would still be one more hurdle to face over the long-term.

November-December 2009
“Waste Heat” a Potential Threat to the Climate

“The second law problem says that if you create and use energy you have to eject waste heat,” says Dennis Bushnell, chief scientist at the NASA Langley research facility. He says that, as more humans create and use more energy, eventually the waste heat “will reach a level, that in order for the planet to reject it into space, the whole planet will have to warm up.”

It's not an opinion. It's not a theory. It's a law.

We love to consume. Give us unlimited power and we'll no doubt try our darndest to consume as much of it as humanly possible. That's just what humans do, like individual locusts in a swarm. Unfortunately, waste heat is not something we can place in garbage bags and set out on the street for pickup. The laws of physics would eventually see us burn. Won't change a thing about what we do of course, if history is any indicator. Progress at any price, borrowing it if need be! Burning if need be!

In summary...

Up with gardens. Up with Fusion power. That's real prosperity. It's not necessarily utopia for those who come after us though, but what's new? We're already giving the next generations our excessive debts. What's a little added waste heat among friends?

Source Data:
BLS: CES Databases