SMH that someone who's become the world's richest man *on the basis of a logistics business* thinks our planet needs to import resources and goods from space:
politico.com/amp/news/2021/…
IDK is there a reason Amazon doesn't offer same-day fresh food shipping to any spot on the face of the planet?

Maybe think about that before deciding we need to start importing moon nickel.
Will there be any pollution from moving all the polluting industries to space using rockets that burn a ton of methane every second? Image
In truth, I sort of doubt that Bezos believes this crap. He's a squillionaire so is just spending money living out a boyhood dream.

But he obviously feels the need to dress it up in utopian/visionary garb to make it seem less self-indulgent than it is.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with David Fickling

David Fickling Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @davidfickling

15 Jul
Does anyone know of a good history of the German fertilizer industry in World War 1?

The Haber-Bosch process for making synthetic ammonia was invented in Germany on the eve of war, but the plants were all switched to making explosives instead of fertilizer.
Britain then blockaded German ports to prevent imports of fertilizer, causing agricultural productivity to collapse. This resulted in food riots and starvation which may have helped turned the tide of war against Germany.
Did Germany make the right choice in prioritizing ammonium nitrate explosives over ammonium nitrate fertilizers?

Could it have achieved a better outcome by trying to do both instead of focusing so heavily on explosives?
Read 4 tweets
7 Jul
This is ... not a smart way of inducing compliance with lockdown measures from people who are chafing at lockdown measures:
"Flout the public health orders we're making and you'll get the let-it-rip policy you always wanted."
It only makes sense if you think anti-mask types have the same perception of risk from Covid as the rest of us, so will remain compliant for self-preservation reasons.

Pretty obviously, that's not what's been happening.
Read 4 tweets
1 Jul
This is very good on Australia's vaccine communication mess:

theguardian.com/australia-news…
I'm quite struck by this passage, which seems overconfident to me.

Nearly 1,000 people have died of Covid in Australia. We had multiple days of 20+ deaths *in Victoria alone* last winter. Image
Public health experts are trying to communicate age-specific risks in the best way possible so I have huge sympathy.

However, anecdotally so many people I speak to are *terrified* of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Communication isn't working effectively if that's the outcome.
Read 4 tweets
30 Jun
Does the head of Harvard's endowment understand how short-selling works?

Because this idea of using short positions as carbon offsets makes no sense to me.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
He's arguing that shorting an emitter's stock puts pressure on the company to change similar to activist investing, and raises its cost of capital.

I bet short-sellers wish it was that easy!
To the extent short-sellers have any effect on a company's cost of capital, it's by *bringing fresh information to the market* about its risk profile.

But you don't need the Harvard endowment to tell you that heavily emitting companies have a Net Zero problem! We all know this.
Read 7 tweets
24 Jun
If you think about the core business of a physical commodity trader — arbitrage of time, place and quality — this makes a lot more sense.
Storage (owning a lot of oil tanks, or taking advantage of price rises while your tankers are steaming across the seas) has long been key to the business.
The storage opportunity in a renewable economy is enormous, whether it's buying cheap midday solar and holding it for the evening grid load peak or doing the same on a seasonal basis for summer or winter cooling and heating loads.
Read 5 tweets
20 Jun
High costs and disruptions in the shipping industry aren't likely to vanish quickly as the pandemic fades:

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
The immediate problem is that shipping containers are in the wrong place, piling up in North America and Europe because hard-pressed vessels have been returning to port empty so as to save time.

This shows up in the differential container rates for outbound and return voyages:
That price dislocation is a good thing, giving container lines a strong economic incentive to move boxes to where they're most needed.

Compare the price gap that's opened up on ex-China routes to the stability of the transatlantic passage on that chart:
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(