5 votes

It's time to build

2 comments

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      skybrian
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      It looks like we need more dialysis machines as well. But beyond stockpiling, I think more emphasis on preparedness and resilience is important. This isn't necessarily building more stuff right...

      It looks like we need more dialysis machines as well.

      But beyond stockpiling, I think more emphasis on preparedness and resilience is important. This isn't necessarily building more stuff right away, but having the ability to do so quickly, and also having multiple sources ready to scale. In financial terms this means paying for options and not just paying for stuff.

      An example of preparing is the idea of a "platform vaccine" that Dr. Fauci mentioned in an interview.

      We should also be questioning single-use items. If mask recycling were already set up then it wouldn't have been a problem.

      This might be more your area of expertise: why is the oil industry not more prepared for the boom/bust cycle? Is it so difficult to leave oil in the ground when it's not wanted, instead of filling up all possible storage?

      2 votes
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        1. skybrian
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          I was thinking more just the physical tradeoff between above-ground and below-ground storage, since the oil has to go somewhere. I guess that comes from things not being in equilibrium, and the...

          I was thinking more just the physical tradeoff between above-ground and below-ground storage, since the oil has to go somewhere. I guess that comes from things not being in equilibrium, and the pumping can't slow down? Or alternately, I guess you'd need a lot more storage?

          Inflexible contracts seem like a pretty bad thing too, but then again that's a problem all over, particularly for mortgages and rent. It seems like if we were thinking ahead, a lot more contracts would be written with a national emergency exception. There should probably be standards for this.

          It sounds like Russia and Saudi Arabia have a lot more flexibility as to what they can do?

          2 votes