The New Ideas Blog

Forbes magazine recently did a profile of Victor Li from the the University of Michigan, and his newest innovation; flexible self-healing concrete. Great idea (and you should see the photo of the concrete bending without breaking). But that is not exactly what this post is about. Instead I want to look at another idea that occurred to me as I read the article. It is that we often create things without regard to the future costs they will impose on us or others.

In fact, after neglecting the massive highway system we have built in this country for decades, it would now cost well over two trillion dollars to catch up on maintenance and Read the rest of this entry »

Big brother? Yes, and big mother and father too. There is an obvious and increasing tendency to assume that we mere humans are not able to take care of ourselves or make decisions about our own lives, and that government should therefore be there to “guide” us. This argument very obviously forgets or purposely ignores the fact that government is made of fallible humans as well.

The example that reminded me of this is a recent government-ordered recall of over five million window blinds or shades. They happen to have Read the rest of this entry »

There are many books out there that explain THE WAY to manage your money. The truth is we all have different habits, goals, and skills, so there is no one way to manage money. Some less common ideas are suggested below, in case you find one or two useful. I also want to announce my new website:

The Meaning Of Money

It is about the purpose of money, the philosophical issues, and all the deeper questions, although it also covers making it, saving it, investing it and such. Now, let’s look at some creative ways to manage your money.

I know two people who bought a home and Read the rest of this entry »

A politics of personal responsibility demands that we understand the consequences of laws or government actions that we support. We should also consider political candidates we support as our “agents” meaning we’re somewhat responsible for the choices they make since we hire or elect them. With that in mind, I have decided on a new rule for what or who I can support. I’ll get back to that in a moment, but first I have to relate the true story that inspired me to write this.

The Associated Press on September 29, 2009, reported on the case of a woman in Michigan who Read the rest of this entry »

Although I don’t do it as much as I used to, I still rush around at times. Rushing isn’t really about moving fast, but about a state of mind. After all you don’t call it rushing if you are relaxing in you car listening to good music while going eighty-miles-per-hour down the highway. You don’t consider it rushing if you just know how to do things efficiently and so get them done faster.

To rush is to be mentally compelled to do things faster. It is an anxious state of mind that can’t honestly be said to be necessary. Lets look at how it arises and then consider a new Read the rest of this entry »

I have written a lot about creativity in the business world. Innovations and inventions and ideas will always be interesting to me. But what about getting more creative in one’s everyday life? That’s what I’m going to write about today, and again soon. Consider this the first installment of my “Creative Life Series.”

For today’s post I want to suggest some new ways to provide yourself with housing. Some of you who are reading this already own a home and perhaps have no plans to move anytime soon. Others are perhaps renting and not sure if you want to buy. Let me start by saying that those are certainly not the only two options.

I once lived in a shed. Why? Because Read the rest of this entry »

Why is Boeing making planes from carbon fiber now? Because it is lighter than aluminum and so the planes use less fuel. Between this and other technological advances, the new Boeing 787 will be 20% more efficient than conventional planes. Airlines will like that.

Now, it is no surprise that companies will make environmentally-friendly changes when it means more profit. We don’t have to believe that they are interested in making such changes for the sake of the environment itself, although they will likely hint at that in their marketing. Nor do we need them to have any concern for a clean environment.

If we want a livable planet, we need only Read the rest of this entry »

It is easy to imagine that we can do the right thing, and that we can know what the right thing to do is, but is it so? We are so influenced by desires for things and what we want to be true that it colors everything we see if we allow our minds their usual ways. Let’s look at an example.

Suppose a politician long ago said “vote for me and I’ll force future generations to pay for you to quit working and relax.” People vote for him, and the “social security program” is created. To make it look fair people pay into the plan as though it is a retirement fund. But that’s for appearances only, since Read the rest of this entry »

I recently wrote a page about one of the ways to make a government health care plan work better. That doesn’t mean that I am in favor of such a system, but if we are going to have one I hope that we can at least do it in a way that doesn’t result in either bankrupting the country or rationing medical care. My idea was that you have to make people pay for the first thousand dollars of their care annually and pay an ongoing portion thereafter in order to discourage unlimited demand and to keep the medical industry competitive, as well as to make the whole thing affordable for taxpayers. That page is here:

Health Insurance Reform - New Solutions

But in this post I want to suggest some more radical ideas for making the system more affordable for everyone. Specifically, I want to start with this: Stop licensing doctors and other health care professionals. Stop Read the rest of this entry »

I just got a sales brochure in the mail from a local rent-to-own store. It’s one of the big companies, but the name is not important since they all operate about the same way. They target the young and irresponsible and ignorant.

Let me give you a quick example. One item in the brochure is a Toshiba 26-inch LCD TV. I went online just now and found that you can buy one for $399, not to mention that you can buy cheaper brands in that size as well. So what does it cost you to own one by making payments? Just $18 per week, the advertising says. But look at the small print, which the law must require.

“Total of all payments: $1,637.08.” That’s right. You get to pay four times as much as a cash buyer. By the way Read the rest of this entry »