Category: Innovations

Don’t get smart with me-ter: Part 2, the cost of knowing

17 March, 2010 (10:51) | Homeownership, Innovations, Metering, Theory, US News, Utilities | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 
[Continued from yesterday’s Part 1.]
 
Yesterday, in our most recent installment of No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, we explored the got-to-be-a-good-idea of smart meters for single-family residential customers.  As revealed in a recent Wall Street Journal article, the meters are an unequivocal advance, since they enable both producer and consumer to know what [...]

Don’t get smart with me-ter: Part 1, the value of knowing

16 March, 2010 (10:17) | Homeownership, Innovations, Metering, Theory, US News, Utilities | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 
When people know what they are doing, they do it smarter.  That’s the principle behind biofeedback.
 

Now, as you can see, reading AHI blogs makes you happier
 
When people know what they are spending, they usually spend less.  Of the three main costs of sheltering a family – cost of occupancy, cost of transportation [...]

The biggest invisible stories of the decade: Part 7, effects not yet visible

13 January, 2010 (11:59) | Capital markets, Decade, Essential posts, Global news, Innovations, Regulation, Theory, US News | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 
 [Continued from yesterday’s Part 6 and the preceding and Part 1,  Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5]
 
As 2009 opened, virtually the entire credit-crunch tidal wave had sloshed through the financial markets. 
 

At least we’re still here
 
Single-family home prices appeared to be bottoming, albeit at lower levels and with much [...]

The biggest invisible stories of the decade: Part 6, rule changes with the game in progress

12 January, 2010 (11:17) | Capital markets, Decade, Essential posts, Global news, Innovations, Regulation, Theory, US News | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 
[Continued from yesterday’s Part 5 and the preceding and Part 1,  Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4]
 
During 2007 and 2008, what we thought merely a sector-restricted problem became a full-blown crisis.
 

That water costs money, you know
 

This is a major, seven-part post, best read in order.
 
If you’ve just arrived, we recommend [...]

The biggest invisible stories of the decade: Part 5, the wrong zags

11 January, 2010 (13:36) | Capital markets, Decade, Essential posts, Global news, Innovations, Regulation, Theory, US News | No comments

By: David A. Smith
 

[Continued from yesterday’s Part 4, and the preceding Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.]
 

By 2006, asset slides had crested and were slowly sliding.  It was time for the world to zig.
 

This is a major, seven-part post, best read in order.
 
If you’ve just arrived, we recommend jump back to Part 1 and [...]