December 06 2008 William writes:
A story about four men who helped shape America’s modern economy. Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan, each in their own sector, pulled America past its competitors to the scales and technological supremacy that we complacently enjoy today. This story that follows each character through their influential lives gives a clear picture of America during the turn of the 19th century when it surpassed Britain and Germany in GDP per capita.
New Favorite Invention
I did find my new favorite invention in this book. It is not something I had ever heard of nor would ever had known existed without reading this book. It was one of the many technologies that helped the north win the Civil War. The three dimensional lathe or gun-stock machine invented by Thomas Blanchard in 1818. It is a lathe that can produce an unsymmetrical three dimensional shape. Prior to this invention all gun stocks were made by hand by a skilled crafts man. The machine is designed to have one block of wood and one wood pattern turn in unison, side by side. A tracer wheel rested against the pattern that connected to a rapidly spinning cutting wheel that transfered the same path on to the block of wood (see a picture here).
Tale Spinners
The most moving quote from the book seems timely with all hell breaking loose on wall street and everyone with a mouth has something to say about it.
“The surge of raw power at the commencement of a great empire can sustain expansionist momentum long after its internal dynamism flags. A telltale sign of ebbing energy is when its intellectual elites start construction imperial narratives. The tale spinners of Augustan Rome were priests and poets; in the twentieth-century empire of American business, they were pundits and professors.” p291
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September 28 2008 William writes:
There was a great op-ed by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times recently. Two paragraphs wrote exactly what I’ve been thinking:
“Infants and the elderly who are disabled obsess about survival,” said Sridhar. “As a nation, if we just focus on survival, the demise of our leadership is imminent. We are thrivers. Thrivers are constantly looking for new opportunities to seize and lead and be No. 1.” That is what America is about.
But we have lost focus on that. Our economy is like a car, added Sridhar, and the financial institutions are the transmission system that keeps the wheels turning and the car moving forward. Real production of goods that create absolute value and jobs, though, are the engine.
“I cannot help but ponder about how quickly we are ready to act on fixing the transmission, by pumping in almost one trillion dollars in a fortnight,” said Sridhar. “On the other hand, the engine, which is slowly dying, is not even getting an oil change or a tuneup with the same urgency, let alone a trillion dollars to get ourselves a new engine. Just imagine what a trillion-dollar investment would return to the economy, including the ‘transmission,’ if we committed at that level to green jobs and technologies.” (read the whole article)
America needs to promote productive developments such as infrastructure and technology. Where are our leaders in government?
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February 15 2008 William writes:
This book is written in the format of memos to the next president of US. They detail which policies could effectively reduce our nation’s oil consumption. The solutions are explain in plain and simple terms without delving deeply into the science of each energy technology. Sandolow recommends Plug in Hybrids, Cellulosic Ethanol, and a Gas Tax as the three best methods break our oil addiction. Though their are some inaccuracies in his explanations of the science behind the energy technologies, the proposed policies would set America in the write direction.
My thoughts on the book… continue reading »
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