Thursday 12 December 2013

Forming a big picture

Although this site is divided up into very specific posts, there is also a single big picture, the one I saw which allowed me to put each new and past event into it, and almost instantly know who went where and how each new event fitted into it. I will take some earlier points and put some of them together to see how it is built up.

Low interest rates
Politicians are not our friends
Use your own discretion

These are two connected issues and a general one which applies to both them and all similar situations. Low interest rates are proven to benefit less than 25% of British people, proving beyond any doubt the politicians (all parties, and in America) are helping the bankers, brokers and themselves at our expense. This cannot be in doubt, as some people paying less on their mortgages are the lucky fallout of such policies but so few in comparison with savers and pensioners who have absolutely no safe form of investment open to them make absolutely no difference, especially when the time comes to sell their house and they lose the entire amount saved buying the new one as they are buying and selling on the same market inflated by said rates. And using your own discretion applies every time two politicians tell you the exact opposite thing is right. Only you can decide which is right, and as a result you never needed them to tell you in the first place as anyone can learn the issues and work it out already.

Ponzi and pyramid schemes
Electric cars
Hutchison Rabbit
Wind and solar power
Costs and benefits

These again are all aspects of the same thing, the useless product marketed to collect other people's investments and run. And of course using your own discretion when you see a product which doesn't look quite up to scratch for its purpose usually reveals its true nature as well. Rather than think of a good business idea, take a risk and put money into it, a pyramid scheme and the like simply collects money at one end and hands it out at the other until it runs out and they piss off with it. Very few even dress up as anything else, pyramid schemes are unable to, even with products, as if you need to pay membership of anything up to £5000, and are paid more for bringing in new members then it can't be anything else, and despite now being illegal they still run and are as crowded as they ever were, despite many TV programmes secretly (and openly) filming them. Some people understand what they are, meaning they also know if they get in early they still could win, and it's easier than working for it. Wind turbines are the same. Think about it. When does the wind blow? Whenever it wants. How fast? Ditto. What do you do to store the power? Nothing.

Just like with low interest rates, you can look up monthly contribution from wind turbines, and then the costs involved. Once you take the meagre wattage produced, often in single figures per unit, you must then factor in the fixed and variable costs as with all accounting. Generally speaking they use power from the grid they are connected to for starting up, slowing down, heating and turning to the wind. That comes off the power output. Then they need a permanent power station as backup, which produces constant power as they all must. That could do the job on its own anyhow so you don't even need the turbines as they waste all the power the turbines produce unless it's needed at that specific time.

Basically wind turbines fulfil absolutely no useful benefit at all. Take away the backup and they barely add any power, much is wasted when they do, so the net power actually used is so little compared to the costs they are, like the Hutchison Rabbit or shares in a Ponzi company, totally worthless. And I haven't even factored in the subsidies paid to land owners, including 'idle time' which can be 40 times more than for the power itself. Offshore maintenance is also rather costly. As is building an entirely new grid to do precisely nothing for the total power supplied.

If there is basically any product or investment offered that looks a bit funny, do your research (the internet allows a thorough search of any of them nowadays), and once you learn to rely on your discretion you will be as repelled from these as much as a turd in the street.

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