41–50 of 239 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> it doesn’t matter if my opinion is economically factually incorrect: the National morale does matter. I don't even know how to reply to that. Not only you're completely wrong, but you're a nationalist who would sink your country for "national pride". Kinda like North Korea.
What about China? Do you see China buying German trains?
SNCF is fiddling with the wrong things. It doesn't need to separate train operations from rail track network maintenance. It doesn't need to open up the network to competition. What it needs to do is cut the number of excessive public sector workers, reduce costs, and stop running the business like a political arm of the government. I can bet that the reason they think they need to do all these things is that cost pr…
> It doesn't need to open up the network to competition. I think this is mandated by the EU. And it could be a good thing. I'm personally fed up to be treated like a thief when I forgot composting my ticket (which happen because there is not gate to access the rails) or when I could not buy it in the first place (some station doesn't have have vending machines). Also the price lottery for TGV tickets is infuriating (…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah -- I'm French and I had never realized that "inoui" was somewhat close to "ennui". In French pronunciation the two first vowels are really different ("ennui" in French starts with a nasal 'a' sound which doesn't resemble an 'i' at all, to French ears at least). Another point missed by the article is that in French "ennui" usually doesn't have the philosophical undertones that it has in English. Outside of a phil…
> In French pronunciation the two first vowels are really different ("ennui" in French starts with a nasal 'a' sound which doesn't resemble an 'i' at all, to French ears at least). Yeah, I was confused when I tried to understand the connection they were trying to make. > Another point missed by the article is that in French "ennui" usually doesn't have the philosophical undertones that it has in English. Fatty liver…
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For non-francophones, the correct pronunciation is roughly "Koo day grass" and we were saying "Koo day grah"
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If we take this to it’s logical extreme we can see how absurd it is. Why stop at the EU? If Tau Cetians can produce trains cheap we ought to buy trains from Tau Ceti. Never mind that it puts the locals out of a job, diminishes local pride in locally manufactured goods, and what do the Tau Cetians care if the trains are unreliable and in comfortable. Economics doesn’t occur in a vacuum, and it doesn’t matter if my opi…
Protectionism is usually an inferior policy option that makes everyone poorer. It amounts to a state subsidy of uncompetitive industries, redirecting resources away from other, more productive parts of the domestic economy. Investing in local industry is perfectly wise. A country that has a skilled workforce, good infrastructure and efficient capital flows is likely to be highly competitive on an international level.…
And, if we take a global / universal perspective it makes sense to optimise production where it’s most economical.
I guess my wider point is: we ignore nationalistic sentiment to our own detriment, as evidenced by Brexit. We probably ought to consider there is a spectrum rather than an either/or.
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Nope, it is anti-competitive and bad for the economy, as it creates trade barriers and stifles innovation, as well as using your taxes badly. It essentially accounts to government subsidies for a certain company. And that's why it is illegal in the EU.
If we take this to it’s logical extreme we can see how absurd it is. Why stop at the EU? If Tau Cetians can produce trains cheap we ought to buy trains from Tau Ceti. Never mind that it puts the locals out of a job, diminishes local pride in locally manufactured goods, and what do the Tau Cetians care if the trains are unreliable and in comfortable. Economics doesn’t occur in a vacuum, and it doesn’t matter if my opi…
SNCF is fiddling with the wrong things. It doesn't need to separate train operations from rail track network maintenance. It doesn't need to open up the network to competition. What it needs to do is cut the number of excessive public sector workers, reduce costs, and stop running the business like a political arm of the government. I can bet that the reason they think they need to do all these things is that cost pr…
So I don't think this is fair or accurate: "rather than addressing the fundamental issues (inability to fire people, change cost structure"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It doesn't need to open up the network to competition. I think this is mandated by the EU. And it could be a good thing. I'm personally fed up to be treated like a thief when I forgot composting my ticket (which happen because there is not gate to access the rails) or when I could not buy it in the first place (some station doesn't have have vending machines). Also the price lottery for TGV tickets is infuriating (…
For english speakers, "composting" here means punching a ticket. I never understood where the word came from, and I'm a native French speaker.
Even crazier I can't figure out how we arrive at the modern meaning of decaying vegetables to make soil...but I can arrive at how we got to "composite" which seems to have different but similar roots.
SNCF is fiddling with the wrong things. It doesn't need to separate train operations from rail track network maintenance. It doesn't need to open up the network to competition. What it needs to do is cut the number of excessive public sector workers, reduce costs, and stop running the business like a political arm of the government. I can bet that the reason they think they need to do all these things is that cost pr…
- track maintenance is lacking (at least by journalism investigation reports)
- regional lines have shrunk, causing systemic back pressure on cars (partly fueling the yellow vest protests)
I love the new TGV (regen braking) but it seems that holistically it's not a sure bet for the whole nation:
SNCF’s new trains should help it meet the challenge posed by new competitors. Simply called the TGV 2020, these trains offer some clear improvements, as illustrated in the video above. For a start, the train’s shorter engine (59 feet instead of the current 72) opens up as much as 20 percent more space for passengers (740, as opposed to the current 556), while also delivering a high maximum speed of 220 miles per hour.
It's great how this publication wants to inspire the US to learn from the rest of the world. What if they started by using the metric system, maybe putting furlongs and leagues in a tool tip?
I think China has that.