In these letters, I look at the economy and tell you what I think, for better or worse. Recent missives were mostly negative. I regret being the bearer of bad news but sometimes that’s just reality.
I often say that I am the most optimistic man in the room, and it’s true. That’s because I look over the horizon and see where we are going. I can also look at “boring” statistics and find out how far we have come. The trends are our friends.
Today I want to focus just on good news and sometimes great news. The world is getting better, but it doesn’t make the headlines like the problems and catastrophes do. The byword in newspapers when I was growing up was “If it bleeds, it leads.” Today’s online headlines are even more so. Crisis and gloom sell. Good news, not so much.
Letting yourself wallow in negative thoughts won’t solve whatever problems you face and may even make them worse. Humanity got where it is not by complaining, but by finding solutions. So let’s take a break from the bad and look forward to better times.
Abundant Energy
Since energy is a top issue right now, we’ll start the good news there. The war-related disruptions, plus the inflation that preceded them, are breaking down some of the entrenched positions that delay progress.
I’m especially pleased to see more flexibility on nuclear power. Germany is reconsidering its plan to shut down nuclear plants and France plans to build more. That’s major progress. Modern nuclear technology greatly reduces the risks of older designs that caused incidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima. They can provide “base load” electricity when weather conditions don’t favor wind and solar. There are numerous projects focused on small, clean nuclear plants that would provide cheap power.
And it’s getting even better. A staggering amount of research funding is going into nuclear fusion (as opposed to the current fission) reactors. These would produce more energy while reducing radiation and radioactive waste. A fusion reactor essentially replicates the sun on a tiny scale. So in a sense, it will be 24-hour “solar” energy.
I have been following this industry for some time. They are getting money from very serious investors who understand that cracking the fusion code is a 1,000X investment multiplier.
