Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
Best Of MacroBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of MacroBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd


The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Personal Finance / Macroeconomic Trends & Risks
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (57) |
Author: Dope1   😊 😞
Number: of 84360 
Subject: Re: USDollar
Date: 01/26/26 2:46 PM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 0
It's no more a "good thing" than it is a good thing to have a factory that emits pollutants. Every factory emits pollutants. You can't assess in isolation whether it's a "good thing" or not whether pollution is being emitted, because pollution is forever and always undesired as side effect of factories - so if you're figuring whether it's a good thing or not, it has to be balanced against the economic positives of the factory. We might prefer it if no factory, mill, mine or processing facility ever closed, because such closures have negative consequences for the places they are located. That's as true of domestic competition as international, BTW.

And service industries don't create other forms of pollution or other kinds of externalities that have adverse effects?
One criticism of the recent AI boom is that it's circular: the value creation cycle goes from OpenAI --> Microsoft/Google --> NVIDIA and back again and doesn't involve much else in the economy leading to questions about its long term efficacy and overall robustness.

National economies need balance to weather storms. Too much of a service industry leads to too many dependencies on people's willingness to buy inferior goods (which are the first things cut in a downturn). The same can be said of too much dependence on an export economy as well hence the need for a healthy distribution across the board.

Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to Dope1 here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 84,309 posts about US Policy. The article-length ones it recommended most:
It's going to get worse · 33 recs · 2025
G’day Donny · 30 recs · 2026
Old Related Story · 28 recs · 2026
HCR is a national treasure · 27 recs · 2025
Fascism in America · 27 recs · 2025
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (57) |


Announcements
Macroeconomic Trends & Risks FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Best Of Macro | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community