Originally Posted By mawnck Interesting slideshow. I blame Fox News. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-asia-makes-the-west-look-like-the-stone-age-2009-12" target="_blank">http://www.businessinsider.com...-2009-12</a>
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones A few notes: Maglev is an interesting technology but it costs way too much money for only a marginal benefit over steel wheel on steel rail trains. Shanghai Maglev is the only such service operating in revenue service in the world, and it will probably stay that way for a while. The US should not be jealous of maglev, but the conventional trains right down to local service. The broadband coverage in Korea is ridiculous. I think wiring up the US should have been a stimulus goal. Japan is in the middle of a decade long recession. They may look innovative on the outside, but their domestic markets are still pretty weak.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Also, I wouldn't want to haggle before every purchase. That's a sign of a weak market where prices are not known. Markets work when everybody knows what the fair price is beforehand. It's inefficient to haggle.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Yeah, I wouldn't trust that door just yet. It's got the makings of a Three Stooges moment written all over it.
Originally Posted By SuperDry All I know is that I just got off a Disney Resort monorail that was able that was *packed* with people, standing room only at hundreds of people per car, yet still managed to run on a set schedule and depart each station on time without waiting for traffic clearance, nor breaking down with passengers on board.
Originally Posted By EdisYoda <<Also, I wouldn't want to haggle before every purchase. That's a sign of a weak market where prices are not known. Markets work when everybody knows what the fair price is beforehand. It's inefficient to haggle. >> Please tell that to my boss and my customers. I do it on a daily basis with the appliances and TV's that I sell.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I assume you mean the TDR system, SD, because it's the only Disney monorail that even has a schedule.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Maglev is an interesting technology but it costs way too much money for only a marginal benefit over steel wheel on steel rail trains. Shanghai Maglev is the only such service operating in revenue service in the world, and it will probably stay that way for a while.>> China reportedly purchased 140 Shinkansen train sets a.k.a bullet trains from Japan and will be up and running between Beijing and Shanghai, and Beijing and Guangzhou. Service is to start next year. China already runs a high speed rail line between Beijing and Tianjin, using German trains (I.C.E. in Germany.)
Originally Posted By DAR <<All I know is that I just got off a Disney Resort monorail that was able that was *packed* with people, standing room only at hundreds of people per car, yet still managed to run on a set schedule and depart each station on time without waiting for traffic clearance, nor breaking down with passengers on board.>> That's because it's run by Disney not the government. And before anyone gets on me, yes I know Disney has its problems and does have its fair share of screw ups.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>That's because it's run by Disney not the government. << Mind explaining to me WHY "the government" is cosmically incapable of running things? In your mind, I mean?
Originally Posted By DAR They run things just not very well. Take for example, we have a 10% unemployement rate in Milwaukee County and everyone has been receiving their property taxes. Now did they A)Go down B)Stay the same C)Go Up If you said C you win, people are struggling to make ends meet and you're still going to raise property taxes? Kiss my butt. And this is with a democrat for a mayor and a republican as the county executive.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "They run things just not very well." As far as efficient transportation is concerned there are plenty of shining examples of government sponsored public transportation in this country. BART here in the Bay Area is one and NYC's MTA is another.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Please tell that to my boss and my customers. I do it on a daily basis with the appliances and TV's that I sell.>> What percentage of your customers haggle? I've never seen anyone haggle over prices at the local Best Buy, WalMart, Sears, Sams Club, etc.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I've never seen anyone haggle over prices at the local Best Buy, WalMart, Sears, Sams Club, etc.>> You've never met my mother.
Originally Posted By mawnck >> I've never seen anyone haggle over prices at the local Best Buy, WalMart, Sears, Sams Club, etc.<< I've done it. And it's getting easier!
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I absolutely hate haggling over prices. The whole process is exhausting and depressing, makes me walk away with the feeling I've been swindled no matter what the price ends up being.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I actually just did it with my credit card company. I settled the bill for almost half what I owed.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << If you said C you win, people are struggling to make ends meet and you're still going to raise property taxes? Kiss my butt. And this is with a democrat for a mayor and a republican as the county executive. >> That's the problem with real estate driving the economy. Milwaukee still has to provide services to all of the developments that were barfed up during the boom. Just because homes are vacant and in foreclosure doesn't mean that Milwaukee can't provide fire service, police, sewer, roads, and a myriad of other responsibilities of a city. Somebody has to pay those bills that don't go away. This is what happens when you let real estate developers run amuck. They build excessive developments that sap city resources in perpetuity without generating any additional revenue to pay for those developments. How many Milwaukee citizens were clamoring for their City Council to deny building permits back when the developers were barfing up places like it was going out of style? This is a classic example of trying to have your cake and eat it too.
Originally Posted By EdisYoda <<<What percentage of your customers haggle? I've never seen anyone haggle over prices at the local Best Buy, WalMart, Sears, Sams Club, etc.>>> I would say at least half of them. When I worked at Sears a few years ago, we would get a few a day. But at my current store, (Sorry, I can't say the name due to contract, but it's a midwest/southeast regional company) Part of this is coming from the fact that Sears, Best Buy, Lowes, Home Depot, The Store that Shall Not be Named (aka Walmart), and others guarantee to be the lowest priced. People now play stores off of each other to get prices near, at, or below cost.
