Showing posts with label japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japan. Show all posts

Monday, March 21, 2011

Would you like a nuclear reactor in the neighborhood?


Nuclear reactors are everywhere as the world tries to look at ways to make energy without oil. Japan is one of such countries. A country with no oil whatsoever so what could it resort to, nuclear plants. Sure people complain but what choice did they have? These plants make 24% of Japan's energy. That's about a quarter and a lot. Right now countries express fear as they fear the same fate as Japan and will they? This I don't know, but would you like to live right beside one?

Say your in a country with no means of oil. I mean no oil at all and no coal. Imagine your a carbon free country. What would you do? Would you import all your oil? Nonsense that would be crazy and expensive. Renewable energy? Bah! Like that could ever generate enough electricity to power a country. What do we have left? Hydroelectric dams and nuclear energy. I would choose nuclear energy first, don't you think. It's makes a lot of energy and requires uranium which is a whole lot cheaper than oil. Also, it seems safer. The accident risk is less. The ability to make energy is so desperate that you build tons around the country. You then realize your on an island where earthquakes come like as if they're a habit. Why do we build then? Demand always bests safety in a fight to the death.

Demand may have brought nuclear haven to our countries. The catastrophic consequences of nuclear power plants over the decade are low, but when one happens. it is unthinkable what will happen and how many lives are lost and how embarrassing you feel addressing the worried public like you have never done before showing the world your country has a poor reputation for something it always had pride in: dependability. The effects are more powerful than any oil spill can ever cause in it's lifetime. Sometimes great power comes with great risks.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Japan - Is the Government Keeping a Secret


Japan has been struck by disaster many times before, but none like this. This disaster has destroyed the nation and has ruined lives. It has shocked the nation into what seems to be likely called Haiti's Big Brother since it has the same effect, but worse it comes with a tsunami. There's an old Japanese saying that lies come in 3's and 8's. The Japanese said a 30km radius from the reactors, but now say you should be 80km away from the reactor. Three's and eight's isn't it. Don't you think.

The nuclear situation is something the government shouldn't be counted on. When the guy in trouble says no and many other smarter people say yes, they are probably not trying to show fear and that they are stupid. They also might feel embarrassed if the ask for help. Japan is a well developed country, it's not Haiti.
Japan has felt the disaster of it's reputation.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Japan's Nuclear Reactors - A Taste of What's To Come


Japan is a country previously ravaged by a 8.9 magnitude earthquake and a devastating tsunami with devastating aftershocks. Japan hasn't recovered yet, because it's nuclear reactors are going out of control. Fukushima Dai-ichi and Fukushima II have both suffered fires, but Fukushima III is the one that changes everything.

It uses a combination of plutonium and uranium making it even more deadly than its siblings. It has suffered an explosion and cooling using sea water has been cancelled. The reserve pool has been used up and the plant is in worse shape compared to its siblings. They are trying to inject water, but so far with not much success.
Lets let the story play out and lets see where it goes. Will it Chernobyl again, this is something that I don't know, but it won't come back fast and may leave the area devastated for more than a century.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Canada's Economy: It's not great.


Canada, a country that welcomes immigrants and refugees from around the world and a country with freedom and a great atmosphere. Yet when I take Canada into economics, it doesn't do well on my list. Canada may be the best economy in the G7, but don't see that for too long.

Previously the Bank of Canada minister issued a warning. He said we have more debt than our equity. This should have brought a warning to all to be more careful with their money, but are we? We may have tighter lending laws, but is it useful? The US had bad lending laws and banks lent money to anyone without researching them. Look at Canada, our unemployment rate is 8%, which is high. Also, many Canadians aren't going to be able to pay their mortgage if one goes out of work or if interest rates go up. What does that tell you? Well, it says that people get qualified before, but can't make the payments later. Isn't that like the US only with a delay. Lets take Lehman Brothers as an example. They sold companies at a discount and bought them back at a higher price. At first it was a profit, but it swallowed and destroyed the company didn't it?

Canada also doesn't have much to offer to the world. Look at our logging industry, we have it but nobody is buying. Banking, forget about it how would they survive if Canada increased interest rates from the lowest rate in years. Mining, at least there's some hope there until gold collapses soon. Medical, what do we have there? We have a low number of drug or research companies. The list could go on forever and with Canada having a low money supply and a high deficit. I think it's safe to say its only a matter of time.

Lets look at housing for a moment. People borrowing money that they know they can't pay back if interest rates were to rise. A bubble in markets like Vancouver and Toronto. The average home price at $344,000. Interest rates at all time lows, I think we get the picture. The housing market is at a bubble right now. The federal government has created it and is trying to stop it from popping, but it will devastatingly. The bubble will pop like how people said the Dot-com bubble would't pop or how banks were too big to fail in the US and the US housing market. They said it wasn't possible, but it happened. They tried to stop it, but it happened. How about Japan? They had a bubble and they barely borrow money to buy anything. They save money rather than Canadians and Americans. Look at their housing market, it collapsed too. Yet Canadian analysts say it's not possible, but what happens if the TSX would crash 200 points in one day. What if the Bank of Canada rose interest rates? What would happen analysts? What would happen!

They say it's impossible to try and trick you into spending more to sustain the economy. Canada could've crashed earlier and not be in such a big mess than if it were to crash now. Look it interest rates rose, the housing market would be full of foreclosures. People aren't saving a lot anymore and more people are out of work to pay their bills and mortgages and are taking a lot of debt. People try to lie to themselves saying it's a good investment without thinking of the side effects.

If the crash were to happen, it would've happened earlier as Canada wouldn't have hit hard. The harder you fall, the more you lose than to have done it earlier in life or history. It's the same with economics.