The John Batchelor Show

Friday 12 June 2015

Air Date: 
June 12, 2015

Photo, left:  Russia's new tank, the Armata [Tанк «Армата» Т-14], is expected to form the backbone of the nation's armed forces for years to come. Its designers say the new machine may evolve into a fully robotic vehicle that could operate autonomously on the battlefield. Here is a look at some of the key features of the new tank:
REMOTE-CONTROLLED TURRET   The Armata is groundbreaking in having a remote-controlled turret and an internal capsule for the crew that is isolated from ammunition and fuel, a layout that could significantly increase the chances for the crew survival if the tank is hit.
While previous Russian tanks featured a low silhouette and compact size at the expense of crew comfort, the Armata is significantly bigger and heavier. Designers say they put special emphasis on ergonomics, so that even very tall people feel comfortable in it. One designer said the new tank is as pleasant and easy to drive as a modern SUV.
COMPUTERIZED CONTROLS  The Armata features a digital control system that directs its movement, tracks targets and activates the tank's defense systems. It frees the crew from performing routine tasks to allow it to focus on key combat functions. "For the crew, it's like playing a video game," said Ilya Demchenko, one of the Armata's designers.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Hour One
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 1, Block A: Simon Constable, Street.com;  Forbes.com; Barron’s; & author, The WSJ Guide to the Fifty Economic Indicators That Really Matter; in re: TheStreet: If Apple CEO Isn't Losing Sleep Over Greece, You Shouldn't   /  TheStreet: The Reason You Should Worry about Falling Factory Orders Isn't What You Think   /  Barron's: Rice Prices May Soar  /  WSJ: What Are Frontier Markets?
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 1, Block B:  Harry Siegel, New York Daily News, in re: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/car-washers-win-exploiters-extorted-article-1.2255435
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 1, Block C: Daniel Henninger, WSJ editorial board, in re: Bye, Bye, American History   Professors and historians urged opposition to the College Board’s new curriculum for teaching AP U.S. History.
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 1, Block D:  James Taranto, Wall Street Journal, in re: The Worst of Times 1706   The First Amendment and first principles.
Hour Two
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 2, Block A:  Gene Marks, Washington Post, in re:  Good news: U.S. household wealth reaches new high of nearly $85 trillion  /  Number of U.S. Job Openings Jumped to a 15-Year High in April  /  This Company Thinks It Can Improve Your Job Prospects in 60 Seconds   /   Worker Shortage Hammers Builders  /  2015 is the year to buy a home   /  Why Is Almost No One Using Apple Pay?   /  5 Things Every Business Owner Should Know (but Probably Doesn't) about Windows 10  /  Hillary Clinton is on Instagram and this is her first post   
Food: Restaurants had a really good first quarter  /  Pizza Hut might be bringing its most ridiculous menu item ever to America   Dunkin' Donuts tests delivery  /  Survey: Millennials more receptive to ‘trendy’ limited-service chains
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 2, Block B: Gene Marks, Washington Post, in re: Richard Branson gives new parent employees a year off with pay   / First pot-friendly camping resort to open in Colorado  /   
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 2, Block C: Conrad Black, author, & NRO, & New York Sun, in re:  Public Sector Debt Bubble  Could Yet Rupture  as 2016 Approaches  The decline in the GDP of the United States in the first quarter of this year has been officially treated as almost as much a ho-hum as the fall of Ramadi to ISIS, but at least the Federal Reserve is not relying on America’s new Iranian allies to rectify the economic-growth problem, too. / The official version of events is that a strong dollar, a severe winter, a reduced oil price and slackened activity in that industry, and a dock strike on the West Coast are to blame. These are the feeblest excuses imaginable, and if the acumen of the country’s monetary managers is no more acute than their powers of improvisation in this case, the country could  . . . 
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 2, Block D: Sohrab Ahmari, WSJ Editorial Board, in re:  Putin Opens an Arctic Front in the New Cold War Russia’s military exercises in the region can only be an attempt to provoke.
Hour Three
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 3, Block A:  Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: NATO challenge: Baltic states wary of Russia  As NATO faces a resurgent Russian military, a substantial number of Europeans do not believe that their own countries should rush to defend ...  /  Europe's Selfishness Is Bigger Threat Than Putin  / www.worldbulletin.net-Jun 10, 2015  (1 of 2)
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 3, Block B:  Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: Poll finds Nato's Europeans wary of Russia confrontation / This chart should terrify Russia's neighbors  /  Ex-US Ambassador to Ukraine Calls American Military Commitment ...
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 3, Block C:  Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, in re: http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a15816/russia-us-weapons-comparison-new-cold-war/
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 3, Block D: Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, in re: Surface-to-air missile storyWarplanes over Europe
Hour Four
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 4, Block A:  Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re: Bernie Sanders' Socialist Blunder "Bernie Sanders' Socialist Blunder" by Richard Epstein, Ricochet.com Vermont . . .  As I note in my new column for Defining Ideas: I doubt very . . . (1 of 2)
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 4, Block B:  Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution via Defining Ideas, Chicago Law, in re: Limiting consumer choice, as he wishes to do, will hurt the very people he wants to help.   (2 of 2) 
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 4, Block C: Laurence Kotlikoff, Mercatus Center, in re: America's Enormous Fiscal Gap—$210 Trillion and Counting  According to a new study for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the true US debt is $210 trillion—16 times larger than what the government reports. Authored by Laurence J. Kotlikoff, economics professor at Boston University, the study shows what different American families would have to pay in taxes to close the gap.  He finds that even seemingly uniform tax increases would create vastly different burdens on families, depending on a variety of factors including age, income, and composition of resources. 
Below is a summary. To read the entire study and learn more about its authors, Kotlikoff and Adam N. Michel, a program coordinator at the Mercatus Center, please see “Closing America’s Enormous Fiscal Gap—Who Will Pay?"
•       The US government has a long-standing habit of understating the severity of its fiscal condi­tion, because estimators weigh fiscal sustainability over limited time periods. When measured properly—over an infinite time horizon—the difference between all projected future government spending and all projected future government revenue and resources over time is $210 trillion, far greater than the $13 trillion usually cited.
•       The true fiscal gap is 12 times the size of the US economy, and about 10.5 percent of the pre­sent value of all future US GDP. To eliminate the shortfall solely through tax increases, the government would have to immediately and permanently raise all fed­eral taxes—personal and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, and Social Security taxes—by 58 percent.
•       The required tax increase is 1 percentage point more than it was in 2013, because the fiscal gap has widened by $5 trillion since then. The increase is mainly because tens of millions of baby boomers are drawing closer to retirement, when they will be eligible for Social Secu­rity, Medicare, and (in some cases) Medicaid benefits.
•       The tax burden grows each year policymakers delay taking action. Just 10 years after 2013, the necessary increase will have swollen to more than 63 percent, and in 20 years to nearly 70 percent. Closing the gap through spending cuts would entail a less severe, but still substantial, change in fiscal policy.
•       Tax hikes lower household standards of living by reducing potential lifetime spending. A 30-year-old working couple making $250,000 a year will have almost $700,000 less to spend, in today’s dollars, over its lifetime—nearly three times the workers’ annual income. Even a family making $50,000 will have its lifetime spending reduced by more than a full year’s salary.
•       Different households will be affected differently by the adjustment, but all will see an increase in their lifetime tax burdens if the gap is closed solely through tax increases—and even a 6 percentage point tax hike would materially reduce a household’s welfare.
•       Delaying the adjustment only increases the magnitude of the burden and shifts more of it onto future generations.
Friday  12 June 2015  / Hour 4, Block D: Eddie Alterman, Car and Driver, in re: 1970s BMW.