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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« on: August 18, 2009, 11:23:47 PM »

Economic and Financial News

Atlasian National Stock Exchange Opens
GM Purple state today announced the opening of the Atlasian National Stock Exchange (ANSE), Atlasia’s first such exchange for trading financial products. Asserting the nation’s independence from the United States, Atlasians flocked to the ANSE to buy up local stock.

ANSE     1,000  (Unch)

Financial Indicators
  • $1 Atlasian = $1 U.S.
  • Unemployment = 10%
  • Crude Oil = $70/barrel
  • Revenues = $11 trillion; Expenses = $12.8 trillion
  • Trade Deficit = $700 billion

Could the GM comment on why those revenues are so high? The Gov't would be accounting for like 70% of GDP if GDP is anything close to RL numbers. I don't see how five years of difference in laws could cause GDP to grow so far so fast that would be taken in 11 Trillion dollars in revenue.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2009, 11:48:36 PM »
« Edited: August 18, 2009, 11:56:41 PM by Senator North Carolina Yankee »

Economic and Financial News

Atlasian National Stock Exchange Opens
GM Purple state today announced the opening of the Atlasian National Stock Exchange (ANSE), Atlasia’s first such exchange for trading financial products. Asserting the nation’s independence from the United States, Atlasians flocked to the ANSE to buy up local stock.

ANSE     1,000  (Unch)

Financial Indicators
  • $1 Atlasian = $1 U.S.
  • Unemployment = 10%
  • Crude Oil = $70/barrel
  • Revenues = $11 trillion; Expenses = $12.8 trillion
  • Trade Deficit = $700 billion

Could the GM comment on why those revenues are so high? The Gov't would be accounting for like 70% of GDP if GDP is anything close to RL numbers. I don't see how five years of difference in laws could cause GDP to grow so far so fast that would be taken in 11 Trillion dollars in revenue.

Ok, fixed. I'm no whiz on the economic numbers, so if you catch anything like that let me know.

Its better but they are still considerably high. 30%-40% of RL GDP. I would suggest that in the future you look at RL numbers first and modify as needed. That will give it a better basis in reality.

For instance rought RL numbers
GDP: 14 Trillion
Expenses: 3.6 Trillion
Revenues: 1.8 Trillion
These are the estimates for next year when we have a projected 1.8 Trillion dollar deficit.

The recession has murdered Revenue and generally you should keep expenses either at 25% of GDP or slighlty over(RL is about 26% maybe 30% at most). The Recession also distorts the numbers somewhat. For instance Revenue is down to 12% of GDP now when just a few years ago it was at about 16 or 17%. Judging by our Tax code I would say revenue should be in the 20-25% range, I would say low ball the number some cause the Recession would depress it. Your deficit is fairly accurate though at 1 trillion.

My suggestion is first start out with your GDP number. Then break down revenues, expenses, etc. 
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2009, 11:58:29 PM »
« Edited: August 19, 2009, 12:00:33 AM by Senator North Carolina Yankee »

My biggest trouble has been finding RL numbers. I'll shift it to what you laid out. They probably won't change any more often than monthly at the most.

The CIA World Factbook is a great resource and of course there is always good old wikipedia.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

Scroll down to the Economy section. All the info you need to know about the US economy.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2009, 12:05:48 AM »

Okay you are getting there. You need to account for Tax code differences between Atlasia and RL  meaning our revenue will be slightly higher then RL. I would say maybe 2.2 Trillion to 2.5 Trillion instead of 1.8 Trillion.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2009, 12:22:07 AM »

Obviously if any deputy GM would be needed, it's in the economic sector. Wink

How do the healthcare numbers look?

Well I being a cynical conservative doubt that it would run a surplus, at least initially. Other then that they seem at least somewhat reasonable. It would have a positive effect on wages and employement, and even GDP cause small Businesses will expand as you say so thats correct. It would also lead to the dropping of private Health Care plans and the bankruptcy of many small insurers as you say it does. I would say Good job.

And you wanted to do it for Foriegn policy? Told you Tongue. Needs a separate position. Unfortunately most of the "experts" either aren't registered in Atlasia like Beet, Ford, Carl Hayden or have other positions already, Sam Spade. And if you are thinking about me the answer is No way in hell. Tongue
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2009, 12:28:44 AM »

One more thing. Discretionary spending is as a percentage declining in relation to the overall budget even in good years. In recessions this gets worse. The vast runupp in Deficit from about 2.9 Trillion to 3.6 Trillion is not just cause of Stimulus and such but because of automatic increases in Entitlements like Medicaid, Food Stamps, Unemployemnt etc.
So of the 3.6 Trillion about 1.3 Trillion would be Discretionary spending. The rest almost 64% of the expenditures is entitlements of various kinds and in the future its only going to get worse. Just something to consider when cruncing Fiscal Budget issues.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2009, 05:05:36 PM »

^^

This and can we get some information on what the Dirty South citizens think of the assembly? (obviously not a pressing issue)

That's more reliant on NC Yank's approval polls. I  can write something based on those numbers, but the idea is pretty clear: a majority of the DS support it.

Come on DWTL. I know you want to give me another $10,000. Tongue

I'll keep that in mind.

Just as a note, the health care cost vs. revenue is projected over ten years, which is why it is running a surplus.

One more thing: I hope you guys can keep up. Wink You would be surprised how much I have ready for this. The confirmation process gave me a lot of time to write things up.

PS, here is one more thing you might want to study in relation to Economic Info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recession

I admit its long, but it gives you the broad picture.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2009, 03:52:45 PM »

National News

High Speed Rail Construction Underway!
This past April the Senate passed and then-President bgwah signed the High Speed Rail Act, sponsoring the construction of “railroad tracks designed for high speed electrically operated trains running up to 250 km/h (156 mph).”

The legislation plans routes between St. Louis, MO and Chicago, IL; Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA and New York, NY and Boston, MA; San Francisco, CA and Los Angeles, CA; and Dallas, TX and Houston, TX. After months of planning, construction has begun on the line between St. Louis and Chicago, placing the cornerstone of what will be an expansive network of paths connecting major Atlasian cities. Sooner than most expected, those charged with implementing the Act attributed much of the early start to the $30 billion in stimulus funding designated for the project, allowing more of the funds allocated thus far to be pushed up.

Many analysts believe that the HSR Act is an achievement of great foresight by the Senate, putting into effect a new nationwide source of construction employment just as the worst economic crisis in recent memory was setting in. In fact, some have gone so far as to dub the Thirtieth Senate one of the great sessions in Atlasian history in terms of quality of legislation, noting the HSR Act as well as the Help Atlasia Study Act of 2009, the Voting While Banned Act and the Middle East Peace Act of 2009.

Although it is not yet clear how big the impact of the HSR Act will be on the construction industry, it can be expected to create upwards of half a million jobs around the nation, dropping the unemployment rate in construction well below the current level of 25 percent.

Does the honerable GM realise that there is in fact a high speed Rail line already in place between those cities, the Northeast Corridor. So does this mean that improvements and repairs will be done to that existing line, which the famous Acela Express runs on(Can reach 120-130 mph easy, I have done so on Train Sim), or are we building a whole new line through there. The existing NEC is badly in need of repairs however, if improved the speeds could reach those specified in the act.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2009, 05:10:07 PM »
« Edited: August 21, 2009, 05:13:05 PM by Senator North Carolina Yankee »

National News

High Speed Rail Construction Underway!
This past April the Senate passed and then-President bgwah signed the High Speed Rail Act, sponsoring the construction of “railroad tracks designed for high speed electrically operated trains running up to 250 km/h (156 mph).”

The legislation plans routes between St. Louis, MO and Chicago, IL; Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA and New York, NY and Boston, MA; San Francisco, CA and Los Angeles, CA; and Dallas, TX and Houston, TX. After months of planning, construction has begun on the line between St. Louis and Chicago, placing the cornerstone of what will be an expansive network of paths connecting major Atlasian cities. Sooner than most expected, those charged with implementing the Act attributed much of the early start to the $30 billion in stimulus funding designated for the project, allowing more of the funds allocated thus far to be pushed up.

Many analysts believe that the HSR Act is an achievement of great foresight by the Senate, putting into effect a new nationwide source of construction employment just as the worst economic crisis in recent memory was setting in. In fact, some have gone so far as to dub the Thirtieth Senate one of the great sessions in Atlasian history in terms of quality of legislation, noting the HSR Act as well as the Help Atlasia Study Act of 2009, the Voting While Banned Act and the Middle East Peace Act of 2009.

Although it is not yet clear how big the impact of the HSR Act will be on the construction industry, it can be expected to create upwards of half a million jobs around the nation, dropping the unemployment rate in construction well below the current level of 25 percent.

Does the honerable GM realise that there is in fact a high speed Rail line already in place between those cities, the Northeast Corridor. So does this mean that improvements and repairs will be done to that existing line, which the famous Acela Express runs on(Can reach 120-130 mph easy, I have done so on Train Sim), or are we building a whole new line through there. The existing NEC is badly in need of repairs however, if improved the speeds could reach those specified in the act.

Because of the requirements in the HSR Act that the line must accommodate trains that reach speeds of up to 156mph, a new line is being built roughly along the path of the current NEC. Upon completion of this HSR line, the NEC will be decommissioned and taken apart.

Ah, no you won't. THe NEC handles Commuter and Freight lines, dummy. You going to shut them down. You can't haul freight at 150 miles of hour. Your knowledge of the Raillines are very lacking. Where are you going to build the new line. Most of the NEC is surronded by Development especially in Philly, Baltimore, and Boston. What about under NYC. The NEC corridor goes under ground in NJ, travels underneath the Hudson under Manhattan, goes through the discusting subway station they have the audacity to call Penn Station and then out through more tunnells underneath the East River to Long Island and New England. You going to build completely new tunnells, where are you going to put them? Clearly the GM doesn't know what he is talking about. Tongue It would cost Hundreds of Billions just for this one line to do what you are asking. Why not just replace, upgrade and modernise existing track over which the Acela currently runs?
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2009, 05:36:52 PM »

I'm not researching American railways for this. Wink

The engineers and planners will deal adequately with the placement of tracks, the modernization of current lines, etc. I'm no engineer, I simply report the news.

My railway workers un my as yet unamed Railroad are considering going on strike due to your lack of appreciation for there importance.

I have some more requests
I need Housing market Data
Retail Sales
Durable Goods orders
Factory orders(also say whether this number is due to export changes or changes in domestic consumption)
Consumer Spending
Consumer Confidence

Please try to do some research on these. Tongue
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2009, 06:53:55 PM »

I'm not researching American railways for this. Wink

The engineers and planners will deal adequately with the placement of tracks, the modernization of current lines, etc. I'm no engineer, I simply report the news.

My railway workers un my as yet unamed Railroad are considering going on strike due to your lack of appreciation for there importance.

I have some more requests
I need Housing market Data
Retail Sales
Durable Goods orders
Factory orders(also say whether this number is due to export changes or changes in domestic consumption)
Consumer Spending
Consumer Confidence

Please try to do some research on these. Tongue

Only if you guys start taking action on some of my releases. Nothing regarding Venezuela from anyone but HW? Not even a comment on health care, not to mention moves to amend or make it better. You guys need to keep up with these things. I can give you all the data in the world, but it wont mean anything if you don't respond.

Me try to amend Health Care? If I try to amend it, it would be a full repeal of it, which obviously won't pass, so why bother? Foriegn affairs aren't my current cup of tea and I shouldn't be held responsible for the inaction of my fellow Senators on the subject. I am an economics guy and I am trying get a good feel of the economy to see where to go next and so far what you have given me is so blind to underlying factors as to be worthless. Finally its election time and we are approachin Lame Duck status for this session. You are a former Senator, you know the drill. Now give me the data or I will have your a** impeached in the next Senate. I am in a very bad mood right now and you ain't helping.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2009, 09:22:22 PM »

Now give me the data or I will have your a** impeached in the next Senate.

Oh yes, impeaching the only active and competent GM in a while. What a marvelous idea!

Competent in certain ares yes. However he spouts off practically meaningless economic data on a regular basis and then when I ask for some special info on a one time basis so I can craft some economic legislation, I get a BS response about not responding. I ran on GM Reform, ID theft and the Economy. My focus right now is the economy, and I shouldn't be denied info critical to turning around the economy, because none of the other 9 Senators hasn't bothered to respond to his conflict with Chavez.  He was not appointed GM so he could point to us and laugh every election season and say, they aren't doing anything. He was appointed to work with the Senate to craft legislation, when I ask for critical data I get all kinds of excusses from "I don't know", to, "you idiots won't respond anyway". I came here to get what I need so I can do my job, I didn't expect to be caught up in a verbal attack on the entire Senate. He took this job, and said he would do daily reports, which he has, so I don't expect it to be a problem when I ask for one time dosage of more specific info.

I also ran on accountabililty for officeholders, and I sure as hell plan to continue to hold people accountable when I find they are not.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2009, 04:07:45 PM »

Now give me the data or I will have your a** impeached in the next Senate.

Oh yes, impeaching the only active and competent GM in a while. What a marvelous idea!

Competent in certain ares yes. However he spouts off practically meaningless economic data on a regular basis and then when I ask for some special info on a one time basis so I can craft some economic legislation, I get a BS response about not responding. I ran on GM Reform, ID theft and the Economy. My focus right now is the economy, and I shouldn't be denied info critical to turning around the economy, because none of the other 9 Senators hasn't bothered to respond to his conflict with Chavez.  He was not appointed GM so he could point to us and laugh every election season and say, they aren't doing anything. He was appointed to work with the Senate to craft legislation, when I ask for critical data I get all kinds of excusses from "I don't know", to, "you idiots won't respond anyway". I came here to get what I need so I can do my job, I didn't expect to be caught up in a verbal attack on the entire Senate. He took this job, and said he would do daily reports, which he has, so I don't expect it to be a problem when I ask for one time dosage of more specific info.

I also ran on accountabililty for officeholders, and I sure as hell plan to continue to hold people accountable when I find they are not.

Also, he updates infrequently!  He should be updating more than once a day!  We demand minute-by-minute stock data!

Its not frequency but a content issue.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2009, 09:40:25 PM »

Enough, enough. This thread is not for your petty threats, nor is it for countermeasures.

You will all be kept plenty busy by a fun regional and financial week.

Check your PM box, before you get me going again. Tongue
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #14 on: August 24, 2009, 05:27:58 PM »

Financial News

Financial Indicators
  • ANSE     1,006  +5.50 (0.55%)
  • $1 Atlasian = $0.99645 U.S. (-0.00154)
  • Crude Oil = $74.04/barrel -0.75 (1.0%)
  • Libor = 4.2075; OIS = 0.96
  • Prime Rate = 4.5
  • 3-Month Government Bond Yields = 0.218
    6-Month Government Bond Yields = 0.722
    2-Year Government Bond Yields = 1.42
    10-Year Government Bond Yields = 3.45

Analysis:
The ANSE rose slightly at the news that the Senate’s composition would remain relatively stable. Investors, hoping that the incoming Senate will continue to address economic matters, were comforted by the stability, as it was the previous Senate that passed major health care reform and the economic stimulus bill.

The Atlasian Dollar continued its falling trend as regional budget numbers have appeared worse than expected.

Oil fell slightly after rising nearly six percent in one week. This is likely a result of the lack of tense news coming from Venezuela.

The split between the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the Overnight Index Swap (OIS) rate is 3.2475 and growing. The rising LIBOR indicates that banks believe the other banks they are lending to have a higher risk of defaulting on the loans so they are charging a higher interest rate to offset this risk. It also tells us that the credit markets are not functioning as smoothly as they could be.

Sh**t a 300 point spread that means the banking system is collasping. We need to move on this at once. Like Yesterday. Good job PS! Smiley
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #15 on: August 24, 2009, 09:06:00 PM »

I'm not researching American railways for this. Wink

The engineers and planners will deal adequately with the placement of tracks, the modernization of current lines, etc. I'm no engineer, I simply report the news.

My railway workers un my as yet unamed Railroad are considering going on strike due to your lack of appreciation for there importance.

I have some more requests
I need Housing market Data
Retail Sales
Durable Goods orders
Factory orders(also say whether this number is due to export changes or changes in domestic consumption)
Consumer Spending
Consumer Confidence

Please try to do some research on these. Tongue

NCY, if you could specify which data specifically in those categories you would like it would greatly expedite the process.

Housing market data:
Housing Starts-measure Home Constructionconstruction
New and Existing Home Sales-Measures the Housing Market.
A regional and Nation Avg Home price would be helpful
Avg time it takes to sell a home-Another measure of the market. In RL we are at 11 months I think. 

Retail Sales- Just give a summary of how retailers are doing, and percentage change from the previous month's.

Durable Goods- Pretty straight forward single piece of data measuring sales of Goods that last longer the 6 months(Cars, Stoves, Refridgerators, Freezers, Washing machines, and other large appliances. If you want you could just give the percentage increase or decrease over the previous month's sales and keep it simple.

Factory Orders- Similar to the Durable goods orders only it includes non durable good's orders and exports. Percentage increase over previous month will work here as well.

Consumer Spending- Just percentages like the previous two would be fine.

Consumer Confidence- Measures consumer's likeliness to spend in the future. I would suggest finding an index that tracks this and then using that in Atlasia, Rasmussen has one as do a few other organizations. They differ in how they measure and how they display Confidence.

If you want to, you could also create an Index similar to the ISM index of the Manufacturing sector and tie together Durable Goods, Retail Sales, Factory Orders together into something so we aren't left with just individual data, and it would gives us a big picture of how these individual pieces of data come together.


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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #16 on: September 01, 2009, 05:27:35 PM »

Wow I honestly thought it was like the only person who used the term "ruskis".  In fact, I actually didn't know anyone outside my friends even heard of that word.  God I am so stupid sometimes Tongue

Its in the Michael Moore film, Canadian Bacon, I beleive.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #17 on: September 03, 2009, 09:23:45 PM »

Wow I honestly thought it was like the only person who used the term "ruskis".  In fact, I actually didn't know anyone outside my friends even heard of that word.  God I am so stupid sometimes Tongue

Its in the Michael Moore film, Canadian Bacon, I beleive.

Never seen a Michael Moore film actually.  And Canadian bacon is not very good.

Canadian Bacon, the movie, is.

However, all the older forumnites should be laughing in their sleeves right now, as they were no doubt entirely aware that the slur of choice for "Russians" was "Russkies" (sp?) at the time, and so they should find it lulzworthy that you actually think it came from a movie.

I never said it "came" from the movie, stupid. Tongue I was pointing out that it was in that movie which was made 14 years ago an so it predates his group of friends. You read too much into what I said.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #18 on: September 07, 2009, 03:30:57 PM »

Housing data gives me more cause for concern. Hopefully my credit bill will have some impact. Which should be introduced by tomorrow.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #19 on: September 07, 2009, 08:06:13 PM »

Housing data gives me more cause for concern. Hopefully my credit bill will have some impact. Which should be introduced by tomorrow.

For the remaining economic stuff up on the queue I've been having trouble finding data. If you could point me in the right direction (feel free to post it or PM it to me) it would be appreciated.


Okay, if I am correct the two remaining are Factory and Durable Goods orders. Thats good, cause they go hand in hand. Durable Goods+NonDurable Goods=Factory Orders. Just for a reminder durable goods last longer then 3 years(I realise I told you 6 months before, I was incorrect) and non durable last less then 3 years.

Durable Goods only
http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/m3/
http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/m3/adv/pdf/durgd.pdf

Total Factory orders
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112467517
http://www.reuters.com/article/gc04/idUSTRE58147L20090902
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #20 on: September 08, 2009, 12:40:22 PM »

I didn't notice till know that Crude oil raced up to the $80's recently. We may have to take drastic actions. I hope recent bills by Marokai and others might have an impact. If not, or if not enough, I might have one or two arrows in my quiver but neither is very promising either. We did Health Care, the biggest drain on consumers and small Business. The next biggest drain is Energy costs. Whats left to be done, that hasn't already though? Atlasia has programs for Mass Transportation and alternative energy, and have done much more then in RL in general. We start getting over $100 is when the cause for concern becomes real. 
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #21 on: September 08, 2009, 01:09:04 PM »

I didn't notice till know that Crude oil raced up to the $80's recently. We may have to take drastic actions. I hope recent bills by Marokai and others might have an impact. If not, or if not enough, I might have one or two arrows in my quiver but neither is very promising either. We did Health Care, the biggest drain on consumers and small Business. The next biggest drain is Energy costs. Whats left to be done, that hasn't already though? Atlasia has programs for Mass Transportation and alternative energy, and have done much more then in RL in general. We start getting over $100 is when the cause for concern becomes real. 

Most of the current increases in crude oil are a result of the tension in South America. It is understandable that the Senate does not have all that much power to change things there. Diplomacy mostly depend on how the executive handles the situation. HW has tried. Perhaps Lief will as well?

I have not yet made up my mind on how the matter there will proceed. It really can go either way (war or deescalation), but it depends fully on how it is handled.

I was referring to our dependence on oil in general. Do we still rely on imported oil for 70% of Atlasias energy or has that gone up or down from RL at all?
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #22 on: September 08, 2009, 03:44:27 PM »

If any accuses Atlasia of not doing enough to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, my head will explode. One need only look through the massive expenditures pushed through (in part during my administration) to expand mass transit opportunities. Not to mention the fact that Atlasia put so many tax benefits on hybrids that they're subsidized below the cost of non-hybrid vehicles.

Besides, given the imposition of the Carbon Tax, what is gas now, maybe $5 a gallon?

I am aware of this and beleive I mentioned it in my post, hence the point, what else could be done?
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #23 on: September 10, 2009, 04:41:34 PM »

Financial News

Financial Indicators
  • ANSE     951.50  +2.50 (0.26%)
  • $1 Atlasian = $0.99053 U.S. (-0.000332)
  • Crude Oil = $85.25/barrel +2.86 (3.47%)

Analysis:
The ANSE rose slightly as investors continue to await substantive economic initiatives, while the reality of the legislative process sets in.

The Atlasian Dollar fell as commodities, led by Oil, rose significantly

Oil increased by nearly three-and-a-half percent as Colombia was rocked by a FARC attack and war with Venezuela seems almost inevitable.

Sometimes I just gets so pissed at Chavez, I want to aim an ICBM at the mens room of his Presidential palace.
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Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
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« Reply #24 on: September 10, 2009, 08:07:49 PM »

National News

From the GM’s Desk: Efficient Automobile Rebate System Bill
An important function of the Game Moderator is to provide functional and timely information to not only discussing the impact of Senate legislation, but also to notify the Senate and nation about possible effects of legislation currently being debated. To achieve this function, the Atlasia Dispatch-Herald launches the series “From the GM’s Desk.”

Efficient Automobile Rebate System Bill: This legislation, proposed by Senator Marokai Blue and currently being debated in the Senate, seeks to establish an $8 billion, six-month program to increase short-term demand for automobiles through a rebate scheme, while also promoting trade-ins of old “clunker” vehicles for more fuel-efficient cars, trucks and SUVs.

The Office of the GM believes that this legislation would generate nearly 2 million rebate applications for approximately $7.75 billion. This will translate into nearly $60 billion of economic activity, a massive short-term boost to domestic auto sales benefiting local car dealers throughout Atlasia first and foremost. Of that, it is likely that $24 billion, or 40 percent, will be from those who had not previously planned to purchase a new car. This is three times the amount spent by the government on the program, not including expectations of increased production by automakers, increased spending from rebates and other effects.

The environmental impact of the bill is less clear. If someone swapped a clunker that got 18 miles per gallon for a new car that got 27.5 mpg (the current average fuel economy standard for passenger cars) and drove it for 12,000 miles (the average distance an Atlasian car travels annually), you would personally save a little more than two tons of CO2 from being emitted in one year. However, manufacturing a new car produces 6.7 tons of carbon dioxide on average, the equivalent of burning approximately 700 gallons of gas.

The likely environmental results of the program would require at least two years before realizing CO2 reductions. If each car purchased is kept for 10 years, then the total savings should be a little less than 26.6 million tons of carbon dioxide. That means each ton of carbon dioxide would be worth about $291.35 to the Atlasian government. A ton of CO2 currently goes for about $17.50 on the European Climate Exchange.

The environmental gain comes from raising the Average MPG of the US car fleet. The CO2 reductions may not be realised immediately.
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