Americans Are Using Less Steel, Paper, Fertilizer, and Energy

Post by mobilefriendly » Thu, Oct 10, 2019, 12:59 AM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #225

pjmorris wrote: post #96

Someone I know posted a picture of an empty rolodex today, saying that they'd moved their friends to 'the cloud.' I'm sure you can look at your phone apps and see other things that would've been physical objects ten or twenty years ago. So, that's one way material use has, at least, shifted. There are two other trends that worry me more. One is visible in the freezer section at the grocery store; a "half-gallon" of i…

I'm only slightly surprised that a comment full of anecdote without a shred of actual scientific evidence is the top comment in this story. MBA's have optimized everything... which is great! We don't need to spend incredible amounts on labor. We don't need to buy incredibly large homes. Make work more efficient... its the only way to compete with low cost emerging economic markets. Specialization and efficiencies are…

Post by lumost » Thu, Oct 10, 2019, 1:07 AM UTC

xyzzyz wrote: post #205

pjmorris wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think consumers would be more willing to see the number on the label go up if they saw the number on their paychecks go up. Wages in the US peaked about 1968, a number of forces have been working to reengineer that deal ever since. Similar to your point, executives don't like seeing the number on their costs go up. Isn't it possible that quality could take a hit in how the executive chooses to reduce costs?

Nominal wages in the US have most certainly gone up since 1968 a great deal, this much is really obvious. You might be talking about real wages, but those are irrelevant when we talk about sticky prices, because people don't accurately understand the changes in their real wages over time (and those have also gone up, though not as much as some people would expect). Similar to your point, executives don't like seeing…

Post by neves » Thu, Oct 10, 2019, 1:09 AM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #53

From the article: It suggests that economic growth in a mature economy does not necessarily increase the pressure on the world's reserves of natural resources and on its physical environment. Jesse Asubel has been looking at "dematerialization" for a long time[1] but it has only been relatively recently, now with a couple of decades of additional data to look at, that it is getting the attention I think it deserves.…

Post by Retric » Thu, Oct 10, 2019, 1:23 AM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #225

pjmorris wrote: post #96

Someone I know posted a picture of an empty rolodex today, saying that they'd moved their friends to 'the cloud.' I'm sure you can look at your phone apps and see other things that would've been physical objects ten or twenty years ago. So, that's one way material use has, at least, shifted. There are two other trends that worry me more. One is visible in the freezer section at the grocery store; a "half-gallon" of i…

I'm only slightly surprised that a comment full of anecdote without a shred of actual scientific evidence is the top comment in this story. MBA's have optimized everything... which is great! We don't need to spend incredible amounts on labor. We don't need to buy incredibly large homes. Make work more efficient... its the only way to compete with low cost emerging economic markets. Specialization and efficiencies are…

Post by pm90 » Thu, Oct 10, 2019, 1:33 AM UTC

Retric wrote: post #248

pm90 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm only slightly surprised that a comment full of anecdote without a shred of actual scientific evidence is the top comment in this story. MBA's have optimized everything... which is great! We don't need to spend incredible amounts on labor. We don't need to buy incredibly large homes. Make work more efficient... its the only way to compete with low cost emerging economic markets. Specialization and efficiencies are…

“Optimizing” so you’re labeling is lying about how much you food your selling is not optimization, it’s fraud. Making products as low quality as possible is simply destroying your brand. It’s not actually optimizing for efficiency or anything but how effectively you can trade brand loyalty for some quick cash. Sure, it’s easier to try and cheat your customers than actually improve efficiency and our compete your comp…