December 2, 2008

How Obama could get his infrastructure projects up and running in just 24 months

Outlaw Microsoft Powerpoint.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

By Steve Sailer on 12/02/2008

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I suppose that the classic example many people have in the backs of their minds is Adolf Hitler's famous autobanh project - that gave Germany a first class road system (at a time when England was stuck with glorified country lanes and a branch railway network)- and is widely credited with the revival of the German economy from a basket-case to an economic superpower within a few very short years.
This is the conventional wisdom, if it was true or not I do not know, but apart from driving a coach and horses through the 'theories' of most modern economists - it is the solution that dare not speak its name, because the policy is intimately associated with Adolf Hitler (by the way it also gave us the firm of Volkswagen - the world's most profitable automaker and the Beetle - designed by Dr. Porsche)- no-one dares speaks its name or give credit to the original example.

12/3/08, 2:46 AM
Snidely Whiplash said...

Outlaw Microsoft Project. It will take 24 months just to get IT up and running.

12/3/08, 4:17 AM
Anonymous said...

This would also be an EXCELLENT way to improve the Department of Defense acquisition process!

12/3/08, 5:34 AM
Matt Parrott said...

KeyNote, Steve. Whiter people and community organizer types use KeyNote.

12/3/08, 8:57 AM
Anonymous said...

I knew there was a reason I liked the UPS whiteboard ads so much.

Powerpoint and MS-Word are communications software designed by people who don't communicate very well.

--Senor Doug

12/3/08, 10:06 AM
dearieme said...

Or Tufte's 10-20-30 rule: no more than 10 slides, no more than 20 minutes, no less than 30 point font. But better, as you say,....

12/3/08, 11:00 AM
Argent Paladin said...

I thought you were going to say:
"Border fence."

After all, fence technology is pretty mature and right-of-way issues should be pretty minimal in desert. Plus with the Mumbai thing, people are perhaps more worried about cross-border hit-and-run. And it would employ thousands in several states. I'm sure Napolitano will get right on it.

12/3/08, 1:57 PM
Anonymous said...

at a time when England was stuck with glorified country lanes and a branch railway network

True about the country lanes. But British railways in the 1930s werent too shabby.

German railways laid out to the wishes of the German military are still pretty impressive though.

12/3/08, 6:16 PM
Anonymous said...

"Adolf Hitler's famous autobanh project - that gave Germany a first class road system (at a time when England was stuck with glorified country lanes and a branch railway network)- and is widely credited with the revival of the German economy from a basket-case to an economic superpower within a few very short years."

It wasn't just the autobahns; it was broader policies of rearmament and industrial autarky. Economic growth is also a lot faster, typically, when you are starting from a depressed base -- as Germany was, coming off its bout with hyperinflation. The same policies today, for example, wouldn't have nearly the stimulative effects in Germany (or here). For one thing, both countries already have first class highway systems.

Dave

12/3/08, 10:50 PM

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