Resource allocation distribution and consumption
OkGo!

Needed a place to post this
1 United States Dollar equals 1,092,500.00 Iranian Rial
https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=ms-android-rogers-ca-rvc3&source=android-browser&q=usd+to+iranian+rial

Anyone lend me 2M Rials for a can of coke?

Get rial.

Coal power generation falls in China and India for first time since 1970s
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/13/coal-power-generation-falls-china-india-since-1970s

The Real AI Talent War Is for Plumbers and Electricians
https://www.wired.com/story/why-there-arent-enough-electricians-and-plumbers-to-build-ai-data-centers/

Meta and OpenAI have been offering multimillion-dollar pay packages to top talent, hoping to lure the best researchers and engineers away from their competitors. But there’s another dimension of the AI talent wars that has garnered far less attention: the massive shortage of electricians, plumbers, and heating and cooling technicians in the US who can build the physical data centers that power AI.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that between 2024 and 2034, there will be a shortage of roughly 81,000 electricians on average each year in the US, measured in terms of unfilled jobs. The BLS projects the number of employed electricians to grow 9 percent over the next decade, “much faster than the average for all occupations.” One McKinsey study came to a more dire conclusion: Between 2023 and 2030, it estimates that an additional 130,000 trained electricians—as well as 240,000 construction laborers and 150,000 construction supervisors—would be needed in the US.

China Clamps Down on High-Speed Traders, Removing Servers
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-clamps-down-high-speed-013817033.html

The move is the latest sign that officials are focused on leveling the playing field for investors and ensuring market stability after stocks rallied to multi-year highs this month. Regulators tightened rules on margin trading earlier this week in a bid to cool leveraged bets. They have also scrutinized some ETF trades by foreign market makers.

Futures exchanges have made preliminary plans to add two milliseconds of latency to any servers that connect from third-party computer rooms, two of the people said. It’s not clear if other exchanges are considering the same approach.

wow
good for China

European Union and Mercosur bloc of South American nations sign landmark free trade agreement
https://apnews.com/article/mercosur-european-union-trade-agreement-south-america-b779460da4b7ecb6aa15d322976fa70d

After decades of delay, the politically explosive deal still must clear one final hurdle: ratification by the European Parliament.

China Purchased No U.S. Soybeans For An Unprecedented Fifth Straight Month
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2026/01/17/china-purchased-no-us-soybeans-an-unprecented-sixth-straight-month/?

Didn't China promise to buy soybeans?

https://www.wired.com/story/china-renewable-energy-revolution/

At the root of the solar supply chain are makers of polysilicon, the purified silicon substrate base of panels. Oversupply of this product has caused prices and profits to collapse. The Chinese government has tried to get supply under control by pushing the strongest polysilicon firms to form a cartel and squeeze out lesser players who refuse to exit the market. But so far, this seems to be a long shot.

As the oversupply of Chinese panels has spilled into the international market, the bizarre dynamics have spread with them. Just as in Shandong Province, negative prices for electricity have also become common in Germany, thanks to Chinese panels. Or take Pakistan. Around 2022, a global spike in natural gas prices made the Pakistani electrical grid even more expensive and less reliable than usual. But instead of just suffering or firing up diesel generators, millions of Pakistanis installed solar panels to free themselves from the grid. The country imported so many Chinese solar panels that the grid as a whole began to fall into what is called a death spiral. Customers started opting out, leaving the grid to charge ever higher prices, which led even more people to flee, and so on.

Wild economic stuff

Pakistan doesn't have new Ai data centers using up all the electrics?
But yeah the last mile to residentials and businesses would be hard to maintain by rhe Utility. We've seen this with legacy copper pair landlines. Lucky, Internet came along..

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/business/economy-hot-americans-ai-trump

But today, as Peck notes, the top 20% of earners account for a staggering 59% of consumer spending. Yes, this is the K-shaped economy, where the rich are doing better and better while the poor are doing worse and worse. The rich have become so rich, in fact, that their spending alone can make it appear as if the entire economy is great, even as the majority of people are finding that suddenly the costs of basic staples like housing and food are getting harder and harder to bear and dollar stores warn that more and more people are going without.

Hard Times in the Delta as Farmers Consider Letting Crops Rot
Prices for nearly every major U.S. crop are below what it costs to grow them. But a drop in rice prices means another blow to farmers in Mississippi’s agricultural belt.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/business/mississippi-delta-farmers-rice-prices.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HFA.c8ES.hyZEgAv3PGAX

Things feel so hopeless that at a recent Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation meeting, a group representing farmers, participants floated the idea of a government program that would pay producers to destroy the harvested rice sitting in their bins. A similar program was put in place during the 1980s farm crisis, when the Agriculture Department paid farmers to idle land and reduce huge surpluses of crops.

it's almost like there's enough food and housing to feed and house everyone and yet there's some kind of system keeping people from sharing it

huh

-citrus greening has slashed production by over 90%
-revenues are down by more than half
-half of florida's orange growers have left the industry

Orange juice is going the way of 8-tracks

I don't know much about economics because most of what I read is people who know how to write and organize data is just "Okay here is why what I want should happen" which is apparently lucrative and a lot of Marx which mostly taught me about what a yard of linen means.

But, anecdotally, I spent a lot of time in the building occupied by the School of Business and Economics Departments because English and History and Philosophy were just kind of wedged in wherever someone had three hours to spare so I saw a lot of dudes taking notes while the instructor drew lines on a whiteboard with axes like "Overhead" and "People Dying".

Also I was late to a speaker banquet because there were three business dudes blocking a staircase in an exercise in conflict resolution where one was apparently incensed that one had done the bulk of the work and was going to get the credit and the other one was like hey calm down suggesting that he did none of either the cocaine or the work and I was like you are not at the top of the stairs or at the bottom you're just in the way and that's why they need to teach metaphors in business school.

I find that to be the discipline that pretends other disciplines don’t exist the most

For sure.
every time someone talks about STEM "superiority", I'm like, buddy, I've read your papers, I would hold back a tenth-grader for this.

Physics is like imagine a perfect sphere in a frictionless vacuum

Economics is like so about gdp

Happy Tesla Earnings Day!

Today is going to be wild!

Tesla cuts car models in shift to robots and AI
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c620177qdg5o

Elon Musk has predicted that Optimus could cost less than $20,000–$30,000 in the long term, eventually becoming a common household, as well as industrial, assistant. 

Silver drops 30%, gold tumbles 10% as Trump Warsh pick eases Fed independence fear, triggers dollar rally
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/30/silver-gold-fall-price-usd-dollar-fed-warsh-chair-trump-metals.html

Bamboozled said:

Tesla cuts car models in shift to robots and AI
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c620177qdg5o

Elon Musk has predicted that Optimus could cost less than $20,000–$30,000 in the long term, eventually becoming a common household, as well as industrial, assistant. 

Musk of all people should know that household robots will only catch on when they are going to be fuckable.

Yes this option is available as a premium package
Bundling features as such no teeth, with teeth, specific physical parameters such a height, weight, hair colour, personality traits such as yelling, no yelling, shyness, giggity giggity or giggly. Exclusive amenities will include massage or heated seats.

But does it vibrate?

seizures are not included

Trump thinks a weaker dollar is great for America. Is he right?
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/30/nx-s1-5693025/trump-dollar-economy-markets

The dollar continues to sink — but is that a good thing for the U.S. economy?

President Trump seems to think so. On Tuesday, he said he welcomed the decline. Compared against a basket of major foreign currencies, the dollar is now the weakest it has been in four years.

"I think it's great," Trump said on Tuesday when addressing reporters. "Look at the business we're doing. The dollar's doing great."

Just a day after Trump's remarks about the dollar, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went on CNBC to say that the U.S. hasn't wavered in its commitment to a strong dollar, while also defending the president's economic policies and saying they wouldn't undermine confidence in America.

The "U.S. always has a strong dollar policy," Bessent said.

"But a strong dollar policy means setting the right fundamentals," he added. "If we have sound policies, the money will flow in."

Sooo.... who are we supposed to believe?

myusername said:

Hard Times in the Delta as Farmers Consider Letting Crops Rot
Prices for nearly every major U.S. crop are below what it costs to grow them. But a drop in rice prices means another blow to farmers in Mississippi’s agricultural belt.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/business/mississippi-delta-farmers-rice-prices.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HFA.c8ES.hyZEgAv3PGAX

Things feel so hopeless that at a recent Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation meeting, a group representing farmers, participants floated the idea of a government program that would pay producers to destroy the harvested rice sitting in their bins. A similar program was put in place during the 1980s farm crisis, when the Agriculture Department paid farmers to idle land and reduce huge surpluses of crops.

Record harvest sparks mass giveaway of free potatoes across Berlin
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/31/record-harvest-berlin-giveaway-potatoes

A last hoorah for the intervention is expected in the coming days, and those keen to participate in the potato party are urged to keep a close eye on the organisers’ website for the next drops.

There are, in theory, about 3,200 tonnes (3,200,000kg or 7,056,000lbs) still up for grabs.

Im not a fan of potatoes
This would be my nightmare

do what now

those will go nicely with a good chip butty

After Mexico bans vapes, cartels tighten their grip on a booming market
https://apnews.com/article/mexico-vaping-cartels-china-sheinbaum-organized-crime-1f8c5cdc2c180a2e909bf49ba499c295

Cato Study: Immigrants Reduced Deficits by $14.5 Trillion Since 1994
https://www.cato.org/blog/cato-study-immigrants-reduced-deficits-145-trillion-1994?

Every year since 1994, when data collection began, immigrants have paid more in taxes than they received in benefits from the federal, state, and local governments. The fiscal benefits have continued to rise, reaching their highest level ever in 2023.

The markets have been undergoing a correction

I started trading futures because of nihilism

i turned $150 into ~$1200 into $70 into $657 into $6.48.

Fucking wild ride.

ive been buying for a dollar and selling for a dollar

All my money is in buttcoin.

im gonna need a bigger buttc'

Space Cat said:

All my money is in buttcoin.

buy the dip bitc

Alphabet lines up 100-year sterling bond sale
Deal comes as Google parent steps up AI borrowing rush with $15bn sale of dollar bonds
https://archive.ph/gV3Ms

A State Gave Everyone Money Every Year. Here’s What the Data Found
https://scitechdaily.com/a-state-gave-everyone-money-every-year-heres-what-the-data-found/?

A new study that followed a major cash transfer program in Alaska for 11 years challenges those concerns. The research found no evidence that direct cash payments raise the risk of traumatic injury or death.

I didn't know that "the risk of traumatic injury or death" was a concern for UBI.
Seems like the kind of argument that's made in bad faith.

Europe’s $24 Trillion Breakup With Visa and Mastercard Has Begun
https://europeanbusinessmagazine.com/business/europes-24-trillion-breakup-with-visa-and-mastercard-has-begun/?

What’s happening? ECB President Christine Lagarde told Irish radio that Europe needs its own digital payment system “urgently,” warning that virtually all European card and mobile payments currently run through non-European infrastructure controlled by Visa, Mastercard, PayPal or Alipay. Days later, on 2 February, the European Payments Initiative (EPI) and the EuroPA Alliance signed a landmark agreement to build a pan-European interoperable payment network covering 130 million users across 13 countries. The system, built around the digital wallet Wero, aims to let Europeans pay and transfer money across borders without touching a single American network.

https://newrepublic.com/article/206447/transcript-krugman-catches-trump-adviser-admitting-big-maga-scam

Sargent: Right. And that’s the core of the scam. Can I just try to boil this down? Essentially what Navarro admitted here is that if you actually take an immigrant out of the country, it doesn’t necessarily leave a job for a native-born American.

Krugman: That’s right. He’s admitting that slowing down immigration means, actually, lower job creation, and more or less one-for-one, implicitly. He was saying that for every immigrant worker we don’t attract to the United States or don’t allow into the United States, we lose a job. That’s kind of obvious, but also completely shocking to hear it from a Trump administration official.

Detroit automakers take $50 billion hit as EV bubble bursts
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/detroit-automakers-take-50-billion-hit-as-ev-bubble-bursts/ar-AA1WfHi1

Following years of investments into EV technology, the Detroit Big Three—General Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep-maker Stellantis have announced more than $50 billion in combined write-downs.

EV sales fell more than 30% in the fourth quarter, after a $7,500 federal tax credit that had juiced U.S. sales expired in September. Demand cratered for the highest-profile EVs, from Tesla’s Cybertruck to Ford’s much-hyped electric pickup. Automakers expect demand to remain muted.

Trump wins this round

He killed the tax credits and infrastructure development. Good job getting that dipshit elected, Elon.

Still worth it imo
Ford is just turning the Lightning into a hybrid

i want one now
the full electric ones i mean

Ford is like hey do you want a 90 thousand dollar ev and the market was like absolutely not

A new mortgage crisis is quietly hitting those who can least afford it
https://archive.ph/ebk4p

According to New York Fed data, the 90-plus-day mortgage delinquency rate for families in the lowest-income bracket jumped from 0.5 percent in 2021 to nearly 3 percent by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, folks in the highest-income areas are doing just fine, maintaining “historically lower delinquency rates.”

myusername said:

Detroit automakers take $50 billion hit as EV bubble bursts

Related:

Trump's EPA to Kill Off Stop-Start Systems After Erasing Obama-Era Policy
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a70328142/epa-boss-lee-zeldin-us-plans-stop-start-systems/

UPDATE 2/12/26, 3:20 p.m.: The Trump administration has announced that it's repealing an Obama-era policy, effectively erasing the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which found that climate change caused by greenhouse gases is harmful to Americans and the environment. The move also eliminates off-cycle credits and vehicle stop-start systems.

It doesn't eliminate vehicle stop-start systems, it eliminates the manufacturers' carbon credits.

France slashes renewable energy targets, expands nuclear power with new law
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260212-france-slashes-renewable-energy-targets-favour-of-nuclear-power-new-energy-law

It lowers France’s 2035 target ​for installed offshore wind capacity to 15 GW from 18 GW the government had submitted for consultation in 2024.

The target for onshore wind capacity drops to 35-40 GW from the 45 GW previously communicated.

Solar capacity will be 55-80 GW by 2035, the report added, down from a previous forecast of 75-100 GW. The law calls for France to consume 60 percent of its own energy ⁠from decarbonised electricity by 2030, shifting from 60 percent of energy from fossil fuels currently, and up to 70 percent from decarbonised electricity by 2035.

Trump wins this round?