Earlier quoted context omitted.
Crypto is a lot more volatile than the USD (or a basket of currencies). That's why Coinbase created Stablecoin.
Stable coin would solve that.
Not if you run out of electricity
Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
51–60 of 90 posts
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are you an extreme critic of Tesla? Is it because you think anthropogenic climate change is a hoax, and we should stay on fossil fuels? Or do you believe climate change is real and we need to get off of fossil fuels as fast as possible, but Tesla is doing a terrible job of helping this happen? Or perhaps for some other reason?
There are reasons to criticize Tesla that are unchanged by whatever benefits the company can be credited with in the fight against climate change. For example, the US govt just told them to stop lying about the safety of one of their cars. There are lots of companies building electric cars without resorting to misleading marketing.
AFAIK they told Tesla to stop publishing their exact ranking of car safety, when they are only allowed to use a more vague "quantile" ranking of sort. Doesn't mean they lied about the ranking, just that they weren't supposed to share and use those detailed ratings for marketing purposes in the way they did.
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are you an extreme critic of Tesla? Is it because you think anthropogenic climate change is a hoax, and we should stay on fossil fuels? Or do you believe climate change is real and we need to get off of fossil fuels as fast as possible, but Tesla is doing a terrible job of helping this happen? Or perhaps for some other reason?
There are reasons to criticize Tesla that are unchanged by whatever benefits the company can be credited with in the fight against climate change. For example, the US govt just told them to stop lying about the safety of one of their cars. There are lots of companies building electric cars without resorting to misleading marketing.
It’s not misleading. Do some research.
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
It could have something to do with the subsidy fraud or perhaps the fact that Tesla's might actually produce more CO2 than a traditional gasoline car [1]. Or perhaps it's because Tesla's art the 4th least reliable cars according to a Consumer Reports survey meaning they break down more often [1] https://interestingengineering.com/a-tesla-model-3-produces-... [2] https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-s…
The first link points to a press release that is dead (redirects to a home page), but based on the article, it doesn't look like they're giving it a fair fight. > The research is revealing that these cars may produce significant CO2 emissions both in their battery production and their charging. Important to note: "in their production and their charging" > The study, for instance, estimates that driving a Tesla Model…
It’s a thoroughly debunked bit of misinformation.
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#55Interesting fact about Zimbabwe's economy: they had one of the worst hyperinflation stories in human history. Then in 2009 they switched to a mix of foreign currencies (mostly USD). It stopped the crazy inflation, their markets calmed down and started working. This year they switched to their own currency again. 40% inflation already.
I think you mean that using USD and ZAR enabled people to start buying products again. They still have and had major inflation; but instead just had a means to buy things again.
Exactly quantifying inflation there is a problem due to government intervention, but the fuel price is at about R 50 per litre (ZAR 15 = USD 1); biscuits that cost R 12 in South Africa is something like R 60 there and the way I understand it it doesn't matter whether you pay in USD or ZAR you'll still see the effect of inflation it the actual relative cost of products. Again, a lot of this is artificial due to taxes, shortages, government, etc.
The comment about telecommunications is on point though, all of the Zimbabweans I know are critically dependent on phones and especially cheap smartphones. Somehow, by getting the cheapest data options (in South Africa data is relatively expensive for no particular technological reason other than the companies ripping you off), they use whatsapp to get jobs, talk to their family, arrange money transfers, etc.
Zimbabwe's story is a very sad one, especially when taking into account the potential that the country once had and the ingenuity and willingness to work hard of its peoples.
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are reasons to criticize Tesla that are unchanged by whatever benefits the company can be credited with in the fight against climate change. For example, the US govt just told them to stop lying about the safety of one of their cars. There are lots of companies building electric cars without resorting to misleading marketing.
It’s not misleading. Do some research.
> The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent Elon Musk a cease-and-desist letter last October over “misleading statements” Tesla made about the Model 3’s safety. The agency also asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the statements “constitute[d] unfair or deceptive acts or practices.”[1]
You seem to be the one making the bolder claim -- that the NHTSA is either lying or wrong about their assessment of Tesla's marketing.
Since you're making the bolder claim, the onus is on you to provide some evidence, instead of making an unsubstantiated statement and childishly waving away your responsibility to back it up.
1. https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/7/20758349/tesla-model-3-saf...
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are reasons to criticize Tesla that are unchanged by whatever benefits the company can be credited with in the fight against climate change. For example, the US govt just told them to stop lying about the safety of one of their cars. There are lots of companies building electric cars without resorting to misleading marketing.
AFAIK they told Tesla to stop publishing their exact ranking of car safety, when they are only allowed to use a more vague "quantile" ranking of sort. Doesn't mean they lied about the ranking, just that they weren't supposed to share and use those detailed ratings for marketing purposes in the way they did.
You seem to be describing a single incident. Multiple parties, including the former head of NYSE and the NHTSA, see a pattern.
Ex: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/news-story/former-nyse-chie...
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#58Interesting fact about Zimbabwe's economy: they had one of the worst hyperinflation stories in human history. Then in 2009 they switched to a mix of foreign currencies (mostly USD). It stopped the crazy inflation, their markets calmed down and started working. This year they switched to their own currency again. 40% inflation already.
It would be a fascinating case study if they were to switch to a crypto currency. Is anyone aware of any countries with hyperinflation (or otherwise unstable economies) that have attempted to do so?
There are problems with that. For one, consider that if all of a country's debt were denominated in bitcoin. For instance, the government issues bonds that can be redeemed when they mature for some quantity of BTC.
Now consider what happens if the value of bitcoin goes up suddenly. The government now is much deeper in debt than they were planning to be.
Sometimes having your own currency has benefits, for the country and for the world economy as a whole. For instance, if a country goes into recession and the value of their currency drops, then their debt can shrink (if it's denominated in local currency) along with the economy so that it doesn't bankrupt the country. Also, when the price of local goods drops with respect to other currencies, it encourages exports which usually helps the economy recover.
If you use a currency controlled by some other country or institution (i.e. the Euro), you don't have these safeguards. That's true as well if the currency is controlled by no one in particular (e.g. Bitcoin).
I don't know what Zimbabwe's particular problem was with their own currency. Sometimes using an external currency makes sense (like the Bretton Woods system in Europe before the Nixon shock in 1971). But it can be dangerous as well.
(A real economist could probably explain this all better. I just recently happened to read a book on all the problems with monetary policy in Europe written by Yanis Varoufakis, who served as Greece's finance minister for three months.)
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be a fascinating case study if they were to switch to a crypto currency. Is anyone aware of any countries with hyperinflation (or otherwise unstable economies) that have attempted to do so?
There are problems with that. For one, consider that if all of a country's debt were denominated in bitcoin. For instance, the government issues bonds that can be redeemed when they mature for some quantity of BTC. Now consider what happens if the value of bitcoin goes up suddenly. The government now is much deeper in debt than they were planning to be. Sometimes having your own currency has benefits, for the country…
These mechanisms you mention are all mechanisms that have historically been used, but there is a widespread consensus that it's not the right thing to do. Best practice is that a central bank should be independent of government and their mandate should not be to meddle with the valuation of a country's debt but to keep the value of the currency stable. For example, for the ECB it would be completely impossible to make monetary policy to suit the fiscal needs of all Euro-area countries since they are in wildly differing situations as far as their debt-levels and fiscal policies are concerned. Fortunately that's not part of the ECB's job description, though. Their job is: Keep inflation at a target that's close to but not exceeding 2% over the medium term. In theory the Fed should be just as independent from the U.S. government as the ECB is from any European government.
Re: Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
#60Tangential but as an effort to go green- I'm considering not buying new Led acid batteries for my UPS and reusing the old ones from my old laptop. Does anybody know if this can be done?