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I was under the impression that companies had to make products with superior characteristics to gather sales. Now I am seeing that the fascist enterprise of companies selling inferior goods have the power to force you to use inferior products because they are getting the regulators to schtup everyone on their behalf.

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Apr 13, 2023·edited Apr 13, 2023

This is mostly correct. Clap hands for Mr. Epstein. But he gets a few important things wrong.

First, consumption patterns do not indicate a "superior product." Lots of superior products get buried because of market forces like advertising, monopolies, and social signaling. We all know towns where every single person is buying an ICE pickup whether or not they need it, and the same is true for EVs in liberal areas. It's revealing that Mr. Epstein prefers this proxy over the technicals.

Let's explore that, because the technicals are what matter -- not who buys what. EVs do have the potential to be far superior to ICEs. That's because ICEs must convert heat energy (burning fuels) to mechanical energy (powering a drivetrain), and there is significant energy/power loss in the conversion (thermodynamics). Applying electrical energy directly is much more efficient, and can be up to 3x as powerful. That's a big reason that numerous logistics fleets are switching to EVs.

Finally, Mr. Epstein ignores the fact that the Texas blackouts occurred because the private sector runs the grid and routinely chose efficiency over resilience. Sometimes, when dependability is the preferred outcome, private ownership is bad. Cost savings often come at the expense of resilience. Shocking.

But Mr. Epstein is right that California's woes are due leftist posturing. To think the state burned millions of tons of dirty coal last year because they refused to build gas pipelines from the Permian basin, or build out a nuclear grid... the palm on my face is getting sweaty just thinking about it.

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