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[SteveWinwood]

1. Germany is not a single eternal entity.
2. Stuff that happened to Germany 80-90 years ago has little/no bearing on the prediction of German individuals in 2013.
3. German politicians who push this or that policy are not the same people as the ones making these predictions.

Please keep this in mind people.

But it's easy to just make Germany one single entity!

Fracking caused earthquakes in the U.K. Why is the US going ahead with it when it will destroy the environment?

This is not really true. From the data we have (correct me if I'm wrong here) improperly disposing of fracking waste can cause earthquakes and major pollution. It should be highly regulated and cleaned and it would be amazingly safer.

Sadly the camps are split in the dumbest way possible so that it either happens, and it's done stupidly, or it doesn't at all and nobody gets anything.

 

[DrSlek]

So is fracking a good or bad thing? Hard to tell with all this FUD going around.

AGL in Australia bought up a bunch of land for fracking and placed a winery on top of it in order to "prove" that frackin was environmentally safe. They ended up proving it poisons the surrounding land. The no longer have a fracking operation there, but they're still running the winery for some reason. Good wine...not fantastic, but good.

 

[slit]

There are a lot of people here who won't like this news.

 

[sniperpon]

Boy I hope this report's predictions are true. As things stand right now, I'm counting down the days until a bond market collapse and a currency crisis-- an economic implosion.

 

[SteveWinwood]

Boy I hope this report's predictions are true. As things stand right now, I'm counting down the days until a bond market collapse and a currency crisis-- an economic implosion.

Because that's what all the sane economists were definitely saying would happen.

 

[yn-neko hates a cat]

Was this a freebie from the Germans to Great Leader?

 

[Angry Fork]

The energy revolution will come after the proletarian one.

 

[KHarvey16]

Boy I hope this report's predictions are true. As things stand right now, I'm counting down the days until a bond market collapse and a currency crisis-- an economic implosion.

How long have you been counting?

 

[Jakeh111]

'MERICA

 

[pigeon]

Boy I hope this report's predictions are true. As things stand right now, I'm counting down the days until a bond market collapse and a currency crisis-- an economic implosion.

Zero Hedge claims another victim.

 

[Randdalf]

It's so bad that it transformed into a curse word in Battlestar Gallactica.

Seriously though, it depends who you listen to. Like most fossil fuels, it's not especially good for the environment, but in a traditional carbon sense it's better than oil. The real environmental questions surround earthquakes and ground water pollution. The technology is still - compared to oil and traditional gas extraction - in its infancy and practical uses of it have been limited thus far, so it's hard to tell. That's my understanding, anyway. Economically, though, it's very positive for heavy industry.

I read a pretty harrowing article that basically showed that fracking causes a lot of human damage. Apparently in the US you don't own often own mineral rights below your land, only the above ground rights, so people from the fracking business can legally turn up at people's homes and ranches and stick a fracking drill in their back garden.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/04/north-dakota-fracking-boom-family

 

[kingkitty]

The Bush recovery is finally kickin' in.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I read a pretty harrowing article that basically showed that fracking causes a lot of human damage. Apparently in the US you don't own often own mineral rights below your land, only the above ground rights, so people from the fracking business can legally turn up at people's homes and ranches and stick a fracking drill in their back garden.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/04/north-dakota-fracking-boom-family?commentpage=1

My family owns land in North Dakota. We have below ground mineral rights as that land has been past down all the way down our family as we were the original homesteaders. When they bought the land they might not have bought those when they got the land. I would like to see some numbers from that article about how "most" people in north dakota don't own their below ground mineral rights as all I've ever heard is stories about farmers calling up the companies and saying that they put too many zeroes on their checks.

 

[KHarvey16]

My family owns land in North Dakota. We have below ground mineral rights as that land has been past down all the way down our family as we were the original homesteaders. When they bought the land they might not have bought those when they got the land. I would like to see some numbers from that article about how "most" people in north dakota don't own their below ground mineral rights as all I've ever heard is stories about farmers calling up the companies and saying that they put too many zeroes on their checks.

I don't understand how a company could build something on your land even if you don't own the mineral rights. That can't be right, can it?

 

[Mr Swine]

Are this the same people that are going to help NK?

 

[ezrarh]

Have they seen how our government functions?

 

[Buddha Beam]

Yessssss. YES. With US fossil fuel energy companies guaranteed to make ever more money hand over fist, we should see those wretched, troublesome Polar Bears extinct in short matter of time. Hoo ha ha ha ha haaa~!

 

[speculawyer]

Not happening . . . at least not to that degree.

The energy situation is much improved and helping the economy. But way too many people are blowing it all up out of proportion. The increased drilling is only supported by high prices and those high prices are tough for the economy to handle.

But that said, it greatly helps that at least the money is not flowing out of the country.


The big open question right now is . . . how will the fracking revolution play-out internationally? Are there other big shale regions with "tight" oil that can be extracted? If China has such a region then that whole "China going down" part of their report will be way wrong.

 

[TedNindo]

Not happening . . . at least not to that degree.

The energy situation is much improved and helping the economy. But way too many people are blowing it all up out of proportion. The increased drilling is only supported by high prices and those high prices are tough for the economy to handle.

But that said, it greatly helps that at least the money is not flowing out of the country.


The big open question right now is . . . how will the fracking revolution play-out internationally? Are there other big shale regions with "tight" oil that can be extracted? If China has such a region then that whole "China going down" part of their report will be way wrong.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/02/13/china-closer-to-joining-shale-gas-fracking-craze/

I don't know how accurate this is. But I found this after a google.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I don't understand how a company could build something on your land even if you don't own the mineral rights. That can't be right, can it?

Doesn't seem right no. I've never heard anything really about that specifically.

Don't get me wrong there are tons of horror stories. Towns are practically torn apart, some people terribly ripped off, but I've never heard anything about what sounds like straight up stealing.

 

[leroidys]

What's with all the optimism? I've read from numerous places that the economy is expected to be even shitter next year. Of course one of those is the economist, who's been serially wrong on big predictions in recent years, but still...

 

[Piecake]

Kinda odd they took out all of their gold from the Fed then. though i guess that might be due to political fuckitude screwing us over in the short term and this is more longish term economic trends

 

[Jenov]

The Bush recovery is finally kickin' in.

Lol

 

[KingFire]

So is fracking a good or bad thing? Hard to tell with all this FUD going around.

Fracking is great.

There has been some environmental issues with the process because some dumpass engineers or company men don't follow the procedure strictly.

Fracking does not pollute your water. Fracking is done at really deep points underground that it is almost impossible for fracking fluid to enter the nearest water aquifer. The fracked gas reserves and water aquifers are separated by thousands of feet.

Fracking fluids that are stored in disposal wells after operations can theoretically cause earthquakes, but they are extremely rare and the earthquakes themselves are relatively weak.

Finally, Fracking is not a new method of extracting hydrocarbons. It has been invented and used 50 years ago.

 

[youngwerther]

So should I change my major to petroleum engineering?

 

[Row]

*pop* well there goes our inefficient oil sands projects up north

 

[Poindexter]

Www.truthlandmovie.com

 

[Redford]

Yeah but will the CPI be affected at all?

 

[iamblades]

Yeah I don't understand all the pessimism about this report.

It's been pretty readily apparent for some time from economic fundamentals and demographics that the US is in a far stronger position for economic growth going forward than the rest of the industrialized nations. No guarantees of course, but the big issues the US economy is facing are more easily solved than, say, the issues facing the Japanese economy.

 

[KingFire]

Not happening . . . at least not to that degree.

The energy situation is much improved and helping the economy. But way too many people are blowing it all up out of proportion. The increased drilling is only supported by high prices and those high prices are tough for the economy to handle.

But that said, it greatly helps that at least the money is not flowing out of the country.


The big open question right now is . . . how will the fracking revolution play-out internationally? Are there other big shale regions with "tight" oil that can be extracted? If China has such a region then that whole "China going down" part of their report will be way wrong.

True. If the prices decreases significantly before we find a cheap way to frack, then we are simply fucked. However, the demand for oil and gas is insanely high nowadays, and since oil and gas are inelastic products, I don't think prices are going to decrease significantly any time soon.

Of courses, this is just some educated guessing on my part and nothing more.

 

[iamblades]

True. If the prices decreases significantly before we find a cheap way to frack, then we are simply fucked. However, the demand for oil and gas is insanely high nowadays, and since oil and gas are inelastic products, I don't think prices are going to decrease significantly any time soon.

Of courses, this is just some educated guessing on my part and nothing more.

I wouldn't say that. It's win win for the economy at large, either it benefits from increased domestic oil revenues, or it benefits from lower fuel prices. It's really just a matter of who gets the bump.

 

[bangai-o]

the baby boomers are finally being forced to retire, opening millions of jobs. the 80s kids are going to finally catch a break.

 

[diamount]

So does that mean China will start invading middle eastern countries?

 

[CharlieDigital]

So does that mean China will start invading middle eastern countries?

What's going to be their cover?

You know, like how ours was to liberate the people

Spoiler

from their earthly existence

.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

did they take into account the political climate? (I know it's hard to predict but just based on the current landscape)

 

[diamount]

What's going to be their cover?

You know, like how ours was to liberate the people

Spoiler

from their earthly existence

.

That Kuwaiti advertisement would be a good start lol

 

[Barkley's Justice]

What will we fight over after the great 21st century energy breakthrough (fusion?) comes to pass?

I'm thinking water.

 

[JzeroT1437]

the baby boomers are finally being forced to retire, opening millions of jobs. the 80s kids are going to finally catch a break.

Baby Boomers may be dying out, but not before crapping up EVERY SINGLE MAJOR INDUSTRY with overseas outsourcing. 80's kids (like me) have very little hope of landing entry level work in the next 10-20 years.

I got real lucky and landed a good gig, but most people from my generation won't.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Still blows my mind that you yanks are just burning off all that shale gas as "excess".

 

[pigeon]

Kinda odd they took out all of their gold from the Fed then. though i guess that might be due to political fuckitude screwing us over in the short term and this is more longish term economic trends

Why would you think that Germany withdrawing its gold from the Fed would indicate concern for American politics? Maybe if they moved it to another country, but they're taking it HOME, where it will earn no interest. This should be a telltale sign that the issue isn't crazy Americans so much as crazy Germans.

 

[Tesseract]

i'm installing solar panels on my roof this year. the sun is MINE!

 

[televator]

They must have us confused with another country that isn't going down the tubes.

 

[ZZMitch]

Suck it, rest of the world.

Germany has got our back, yo.

 

[zero shift]

Not happening . . . at least not to that degree.

The energy situation is much improved and helping the economy. But way too many people are blowing it all up out of proportion. The increased drilling is only supported by high prices and those high prices are tough for the economy to handle.

But that said, it greatly helps that at least the money is not flowing out of the country.


The big open question right now is . . . how will the fracking revolution play-out internationally? Are there other big shale regions with "tight" oil that can be extracted? If China has such a region then that whole "China going down" part of their report will be way wrong.

This is what I'm thinking. I agree that the future of the US could be bright indeed, at least more than the EU. But this just seems way out of proportion

 

[Deleted member 1235]

not happening.

well, you've convinced me. Bundesnachrichtendienst can shove all their research and study.

 

[remnant]

So is fracking a good or bad thing? Hard to tell with all this FUD going around.

And you think you would get an honest answer on GAF?

 

[Ikael]

Fracking is a really mixed bad of great and horrible things.

Pros:

- Energy independance. No more need for ME's entaglement or Saudi Arabia cocksucking
- Great catalyst for job creation. Cheaper energy = more industries wanting to move there
- It is a realistic middle-term solution to the energy crysis. Hydrogene economy is far away, and batteries for electric cars are simply not ready yet to take the slack. This put the doomed "oil peak" fears to rest

Cons:

- Massive, and I say, massive damage to enviroment, mostly centered in aquifer pollution
- Some studies point out that it increases seismic unstability
- It has only become profitable recently, thus making it an industry quite vulnerable to spikes in costs or a cheapening of traditional oil
- Big disincentive to invest in green / alternative energies

 

[The Technomancer]

Fracking is a really mixed bad of great and horrible things.

Pros:

- Energy independance. No more need for ME's entaglement or Saudi Arabia cocksucking
- Great catalyst for job creation. Cheaper energy = more industries wanting to move there
- It is a realistic middle-term solution to the energy crysis. Hydrogene economy is far away, and batteries for electric cars are simply not ready yet to take the slack. This put the doomed "oil peak" fears to rest

Cons:

- Massive, and I say, massive damage to enviroment, mostly centered in aquifer pollution
- Some studies point out that it increases seismic unstability
- It has only become profitable recently, thus making it an industry quite vulnerable to spikes in costs or a cheapening of traditional oil
- Big disincentive to invest in green / alternative energies

Put like that I'd say my stance is that fracking is worth looking into for the extreme short term, as a stop-gap on the way to other fully sustainable energy sources. And so I have to oppose it, because it will never be handled that way. Once the industry is built it will fight tooth and nail to stay relevant.

 

[TheLaughingStock]

Kinda odd they took out all of their gold from the Fed then. though i guess that might be due to political fuckitude screwing us over in the short term and this is more longish term economic trends

Germany seems to be pretty high on treasury list. They've been going back and forth on buying a bit and selling off a bit.

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/mfh.txt

 

[Valnen]

Why would I listen to Germans? It's not that I disagree, but forreals.

They're sort of experts on the topic of rising from the ashes of ruin.

Fracking caused earthquakes in the U.K. Why is the US going ahead with it when it will destroy the environment?

Because preventing economic disaster is more important than preventing ecological disaster. Nobody would like hearing "Hey, you're losing your home and you can no longer feed your kids but hey, the squirrels are safe and that's what counts!".