Daily Archives: May 12, 2008

Krugman on public transport

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Taking from where the Nytimes suggested the increase in public transport usage in America, Krugman says that:

But … as of 2005, only 4.7 percent of American workers took mass transit to work. So even a 10% surge in mass transit ridership would take only around half a percent of drivers off the road.

The point isn’t that nothing can be done — it’s just that serious reductions in driving would require a lot of long-term rearrangement of the way we live. It will come — but not quickly.

More on comparisons between, US, Canada and Europe,

A tale of three cities

What’s more, as far as I can make out from the data, a lot more Canadians than Americans (as a percentage of the population) have switched to public transit over the past year; because the system is there, they have more flexibility.

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All in all, this comparison is a reason not to believe apocalyptic warnings about the long-run effects of energy scarcity: there’s a lot of substitution possible. America’s main problem is that we have a capital stock — cars, public infrastructure, and housing — designed for dirt-cheap oil. And the transition may be nasty.

Leaders and self motivation

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From Tom Peters

Simple & crystal clear (to me): To give a high-impact, well-regarded, occasionally life-changing speech “to customers” I first & second & third have to focus all my restless energy on “satisfying” … myself. I must be … physically & emotionally & intellectually agitated & excited & desperate beyond measure … to communicate & connect & compel & grab by the collar & say my piece about a small number of things, often contentious and not “crowd-pleasers,” that, at the moment, are literally a matter of personal … life and death.

I crave great “customer feedback”—but in no way, shape, or form am I trying to “satisfy my customer.” I am, I repeat, trying instead to satisfy me, my own deep neediness to reach out and grab my customer & connect with my customer over ideas that consume & devour me.

Hence … my “Job One” is purely selfish & internally focused, to be completely captivated by the subject matter at hand. That is, to repeat in slightly different words, Job One is … self-motivation.

Warren Bennis, my primo mentor, in On Becoming a Leader, said, “No leader sets out to be a leader per se, but rather to express him- or herself freely and fully. That is, leaders have no interest in proving themselves, but an abiding interest in expressing themselves.”

Decentralized profits

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Business Pundit asks the question, Will Products That Enable Energy Independence Be Big Business?

While the Micro Fueler product certainly isn’t cheap, and may or may not succeed, it does raise an interesting question: do products like this one, which would help to decentralize the source of energy in the US, have the potential to generate big profits? micro fuel ethnaol

A real interesting one. Past experience shows that centralization provides economies of scale, efficient production and better utilization of resources for providing energy. However, the downsides are flexibility, costs and the possibility of a large breakdown in case of any downtime.

Decentralization can be helpful to check out new products, can work in remote areas where the grid is not available. The other possibility is “non-consumers” like villages in India. Now, the question is of profitability.

I think that decentralization is a phase that will be strong between now and the clean energy future. How long is that? we do not know. Depending on the market needs, the cost of implementation and the break-even number for the products, these decentralized energy products may be profitable. But, there are lots of variables to work with.