Monday, June 13, 2011

Monday Links

1. "Facebook Sees Big Traffic Drops in US and Canada as It Nears 700 Million Users Worldwide."

2. Banking in Africa via a cellphone and a shack.

3. Chinese food delivery in Manhattan goes from the bicycle to illegal battery-powered bikes. (HT: Dan Greller)

4. Interactive state map for 2010 GDP growth at Economix.

5. Steven Landsburg on a "miracle of the marketplace": the Apple iPhone. (HT: Lee Coppock)

6. Markets NOT in Everything: Raw milk.

8 Comments:

At 6/13/2011 12:23 PM, Blogger Larry G said...

The raw milk issue is really about government - and the role that many (not all) consumers want government to play.

The basic problem with raw milk is that unsafe pasture and processing conditions can lead to unsafe milk and the question is - how would you certify such milk as produced and processed under best practice conditions?

Most adults do not drink whole milk because of the fact content. The majority of whole milk is fed to kids.

Do we want raw, unpasteurized milk in the dairy case as long as it is labeled and certified and if we do - is the govt the one to specify labeling and processing conditions and if not the govt, who, if anyone?

 
At 6/13/2011 12:24 PM, Blogger Larry G said...

with regard to the State maps - would a better metric be GDP per capita?

 
At 6/13/2011 12:54 PM, Blogger Jet Beagle said...

Larry G,

A simple GDP per capita comparison - ranking of the states on GDP per capita - would not be adjusted for cost of living differences.

GDP per capita comparisons of nations have been adjusted for purchasing power parity. I've never seen such purchasing power adjustments for state-by-state comparisons, though some may exist.

 
At 6/13/2011 1:04 PM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

OT, but Dr. Perry has been doing some posting on the Bakken field. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Now they are talking about 24 billion barrels of oil, not 4.

This is from Oil & Gas Journal.

"Focus: Unconventional Oil & Gas — Sliding-sleeve fracs unlock more ND Bakken oil

Jun 6, 2011
Paula Dittrick
Senior Staff Writer

Production results for the Bakken formation in the Williston basin continue to improve with technological advances, prompting Continental Resources Inc. to estimate potentially recoverable reserves of 24 billion boe.

Continental’s estimate dwarfs the US Geological Survey’s 2008 most likely estimate of 4.3 billion bbl of undiscovered technically recoverable oil in the Bakken play.

The difference between the estimates is that recoveries on a per-well basis have increased substantially since June 2007, which was the cutoff for wells in the USGS analysis, Continental said.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission in January announced recoverable reserves from the Bakken-Three Forks reservoirs could reach 11 billion bbl in North Dakota alone—fivefold the NDIC’s 2008 estimate.

Jack Stark, Continental senior vice-president, exploration, told the NAPE expo in Houston that the Bakken play could become the world’s largest discovery in the last 30-40 years. He attributes this potential to “ingenuity of the oil and gas industry.”

Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, told OGJ that oil companies expanded “what were considered the sweet spots.”

Having spudded vertical oil wells in the upper Bakken during the 1950s, industry now focuses on middle dolomite between the upper and lower Bakken shale. The formation reaches from Canada through North Dakota and Montana with most activity being in North Dakota."

There is more. Oil & Gas Journal also recently ran an article that basically said that Iraq could go to 12 mbd and keep it there for decades and decades....

Also, an interesting company named Titan Oil Recovery has a product/service out that promises to bring up even more oil from existing fields....

 
At 6/13/2011 1:34 PM, Blogger juandos said...

"The basic problem with raw milk is that unsafe pasture and processing conditions can lead to unsafe milk and the question is - how would you certify such milk as produced and processed under best practice conditions?"...

Easily with food irradiation...

 
At 6/13/2011 3:18 PM, Blogger juandos said...

'The bikes cannot be legally registered in New York because many do not meet federal motor vehicle standards'...

This is insanely ridiculous!!

Where in the Constitution does it say that the federal government should be interfering in state governance?

 
At 6/13/2011 10:19 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

"Where in the Constitution does it say that the federal government should be interfering in state governance?"

Well, nowhere, of course, but it's been happening since 1861.

 
At 6/14/2011 3:43 AM, Blogger juandos said...

"Well, nowhere, of course, but it's been happening since 1861"...

Sad but true Ron H...

Maybe that's why U.S. government is increasing by over 2 million dollars every single minute...

 

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