What happened to the future?

[expat]

And have us connected to France?

Is it true that the military have planted explosives in the channel tunnel in case of war with FRance and we need to pull the plug? Or is that just a shaggy dog story.....

Which military?

[DS23]

the future was overtaken by the past.

[Mich the Tester]

It seems I’ve touched a nerve with this thread. It’s something I care passionately about, and it looks like other techies do too. I’m convinced that mankind is living way below our potential for technological advance. I’m not convinced by arguments of weighing economics versus environment; technology can show us the way to make our lives better, improve our environment and make money doing so, but it needs some vision and the kind of investor who doesn’t demand returns in three months, but over 30 years. Perhaps some of the financial ‘experts’ who’ve lost their jobs can develop financial instruments that are more suited to developing future technologies.

Perhaps also now that governments are throwing huge amounts of borrowed money around, they should stop spending to rescue failed businesses of the past, and divert the money to the infrastructure and industries of the future. That’s surely what borrowing is for; to raise capital to finance an investment which provides long term utility.

[MPwannadecentincome]

It seems I’ve touched a nerve with this thread. It’s something I care passionately about, and it looks like other techies do too. I’m convinced that mankind is living way below our potential for technological advance. I’m not convinced by arguments of weighing economics versus environment; technology can show us the way to make our lives better, improve our environment and make money doing so, but it needs some vision and the kind of investor who doesn’t demand returns in three months, but over 30 years. Perhaps some of the financial ‘experts’ who’ve lost their jobs can develop financial instruments that are more suited to developing future technologies.

Perhaps also now that governments are throwing huge amounts of borrowed money around, they should stop spending to rescue failed businesses of the past, and divert the money to the infrastructure and industries of the future. That’s surely what borrowing is for; to raise capital to finance an investment which provides long term utility.

Well put

[Board Game Geek]

That’s surely what borrowing is for; to raise capital to finance an investment which provides long term utility.

But that doesnt' exactly benefit the here and now does it ?

I mean, you stump up x amount of cash, and in 30 years time, it might provide you with a new income stream.

You might be dead in 30 years time, or not in a state to enjoy the fruits of your lending.

And in 30 years time, if you are still around, and the project is a failure, you're probably going to be too old to take advantage of anything else...so you are fubared because of long termism.

[foritisme]

So we might as well head off back to the caves then

[gingerjedi]

Perhaps also now that governments are throwing huge amounts of borrowed money around, they should stop spending to rescue failed businesses of the past, and divert the money to the infrastructure and industries of the future. That’s surely what borrowing is for; to raise capital to finance an investment which provides long term utility.

We need a Monorail

[expat]

But that doesnt' exactly benefit the here and now does it ?

I mean, you stump up x amount of cash, and in 30 years time, it might provide you with a new income stream.

And if you don't, it certainly won't.

[Board Game Geek]

And if you don't, it certainly won't.

Agreed, which is why short-term investments, and several of them, are more popular with speculators.

[MPwannadecentincome]

And if you don't, it certainly won't.

Agreed - also investment should be across a range of projects - not just one, that way if some succeed it doesn't matter if the others do not.

And, as I am fond of saying to my clients: "Anything is possible, how much do you want to spend?"