Short takes

I'm still hoping Ry and Chris will soon take over blogging so I can have a couple months to sit on the couch and go "blaaaarghhh," but in the meantime, here' a few links and short takes:

1. Robert Lawrence, whoever that is, says that the federally directed restructuring of the Big Three will fail, because Americans want to buy big SUVs and trucks (and if they switch to wanting little hybrids, Toyota and co. will be there). So my question is: Why don't we give the Big Three money to research and design incredibly super-lightweight giant SUVs and trucks? A giant plastic monster can still hold all your kids and tow your boat, and it still looks big and tough, and will probably be safer in a crash.

2. Chinese people apparently are getting angry because they thought their country would grow at 10% forever. Meanwhile, Chinese wages have stagnated even as growth has powered ahead, because the government has directed funds away from labor-intensive small manufacturing toward heavy industry (which creates fewer jobs). Why? Because the Chinese government is more interested in international great-power dick-measuring than in boosting its people's quality of life, and being a great power requires heavy industry.

3. I actually know Steve Chu, the new head of the Department of Energy, from my Stanford physics days. A very friendly and laid-back guy, although he's also the most expressionless human being I've ever met. I also once hugged Condi Rice when I was a freshman and she was the Stanford provost. Weird.

4. The Economist points out that infrastructure investment is the right kind of stimulus for America's economy, since it creates long-run growth benefits as well as short-term employment and demand...but it's essential that the infrastructure be useful stuff like light rail and congestion relief instead of pork-barrel bridges to nowhere.

5. Even though I'm on emotion-numbing antidepressants, this story made me cry. It starts off with a guy getting tortured and watching his mother and brother killed, and ends with him getting a surprise birthday party at TGI Friday's.