A Ponzi scheme that works

#1

Post by dpapathanasiou » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 4:59 PM UTC

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#2

Post by tokenadult » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 6:55 PM UTC

"If you like low taxes and the death penalty, try Texas. For good public schools and subsidised cycle paths, try Portland, Oregon. Even within states, the rules vary widely. Bath County, Kentucky is dry. Next-door Bourbon County, as the name implies, is not."

That's one of the secrets of the United States. Federalism allows citizens lots of lifestyle choices, while still building a great deal of national cohesion. And that variety state by state is what produces a uniform attractiveness to immigrants (the main point of the submitted article) that keeps the United States growing and innovating.

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#3

Post by dangrossman » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 7:13 PM UTC

I would prefer if people would link to the normal article, not the printable page. If I want that version I can click the print link myself. If I don't want that version, I have to go search for the original location of the article.

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#4

Post by tokenadult » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 7:19 PM UTC

dangrossman wrote: post #3

I would prefer if people would link to the normal article, not the printable page. If I want that version I can click the print link myself. If I don't want that version, I have to go search for the original location of the article.

In general, linking to the canonical version of an article rather than any other version helps the HN duplicate detector do its job. That is especially hard for articles from the Economist, which live under multiple URLs in different subdirectories on the Economist website. But most of those articles, as this one, are well worth submitting and good food for thought.

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#5

Post by whughes » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 8:00 PM UTC

dangrossman wrote: post #3

I would prefer if people would link to the normal article, not the printable page. If I want that version I can click the print link myself. If I don't want that version, I have to go search for the original location of the article.

This was posted a few days ago. Using the normal link would flag it as a duplicate.

However, I think in most cases I'd prefer the printable version. Some articles are split up into multiple pages, and the printable version combines them and is often cleaner and faster to load.

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#6

Post by praptak » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 9:34 PM UTC

"If you like low taxes and the death penalty, try Texas. For good public schools and subsidised cycle paths, try Portland, Oregon. Even within states, the rules vary widely. Bath County, Kentucky is dry. Next-door Bourbon County, as the name implies, is not."

I like dope and I don't like going to jail, so thanks but no thanks.

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#7

Post by dunstad » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 10:01 PM UTC

Duplicate clicky: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1006556

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#8

Post by mcantelon » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 10:34 PM UTC

tokenadult wrote: post #2

"If you like low taxes and the death penalty, try Texas. For good public schools and subsidised cycle paths, try Portland, Oregon. Even within states, the rules vary widely. Bath County, Kentucky is dry. Next-door Bourbon County, as the name implies, is not." That's one of the secrets of the United States. Federalism allows citizens lots of lifestyle choices, while still building a great deal of national cohesion. An…

Which state can I move to to opt out of the national debt?

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#9

Post by patio11 » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 10:58 PM UTC

Almost nobody in Japan thinks that anyone can become Japanese, yet Japan is rated more “tolerant” than America. This is absurd.

I always joke (mostly good naturedly) that when my best Japanese friend visited me at home he had people assuming he was American literally 20 feet past immigration, and when I visit him at home I get people who have known me for seven years saying "Wow, its so amazing you can use chopsticks, for an American I mean."

Re: A Ponzi scheme that works

#10

Post by joe_the_user » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 11:17 PM UTC

Hmm,

"A Ponzi scheme that works" set off bell in my mind.

It seems like this article rolls two different questions together. One is whether immigration is good. The other is whether the US can continue to grow economically based only on "Three hundred million" niche markets.

Putting aside the former question, I'd say the answer to the latter question is no. Housing bubbles, health care and state spending have not always America's number one industries. Too many of the "hundred million niche markets" that can be touted have really been just support services for the aforementioned sustainable schemes. The US may be able to keep it's "service economy" afloat for another few years but the crisis of 2008 should have been wake-up call announcing unsustainability of this course. Naturally it wasn't, but there you are.