A few tidbits from today's media...

Today's "Economists Don't Know How to Subtract" Award goes to this article:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/19990120_1808051_231_0114.asp

"Y2K will boost slow economy: forecaster

AAP- The looming Year 2000 millennium bug may have a positive spin-off, with economists predicting the billions of dollars spent trying to fix the computer problem will boost the economy in 1999.

Amid a gloomy assessment of Australia's economic outlook, independent forecasters Access Economics said the so-called Y2K bug, expected to cause chaos among confused computer systems when the year 2000 hits, could offer a bright spot.

It said up to $10 billion is expected to be spent in Australia, in total, trying to combat the problem.

"Expenditure to try to fix the problem will boost activity in 1999," Access Economics' January Economics Monitor said..."

And for the "We Wouldn't Want to Scare The Sheeple, Now Would We?" Award"

http://www.jsonline.com/bym/tech/0120guard.asp

"National Guard taken out of Y2K bills

Assembly leader says media ignored measures' other important aspects

By Amy Rinard of the Journal Sentinel staff

January 20, 1999

Madison -- Legislation authorizing the National Guard to be mobilized in case of an emergency caused by year 2000 computer problems has been dropped from a package of Y2K bills because the media were focusing too much attention on it, Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen said Tuesday.

The package of year 2000 bills will contain measures dealing with liability from Y2K-related lawsuits, educational efforts by the state, information gathering and sharing and testing of local emergency contingency plans.

But, despite the fact that an Assembly task force that Jensen created recommended last week that it be included, the National Guard provision will not be in it, Jensen said.

"It will not contain the National Guard legislation for one particular reason, and I'm going to be very blunt with you all," Jensen told a group of reporters. "As long as the National Guard provision was contained in this legislation, it was impossible to get the media to cover anything else about it.

"There's a lot of important legislation here regarding immunity, regarding emergency government procedures, regarding public health and safety that the public needs to know about and that the business community needs to know about," Jensen said. "And I cannot recall a single story which detailed those provisions of the legislation. All of them detailed the provision regarding the National Guard..."

And let's not forget the "He Invented The Communications Satellite and He Ain't Done Thinking Yet" Award:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/tc/story.html?s=v/nm/19990120/tc/clarke_1.html

"Arthur C. Clarke Warns Of Y2k Bug Chaos

By Rahul Sharma

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, at pains to point out that the new millennium does not start until 2001, says the so-called millennium bug could cause chaos in 2000.

``So many microchips all over the place that people have forgotten about have been quietly doing their job over the last decades, and suddenly (in) some obscure chip somewhere there will be a problem and it could be a serious problem,'' Clarke, author of ``2001: A Space Odyssey'', told Reuters Television on Tuesday.

``I think everybody would like to celebrate on 2000 and again on 2001, but may not be able to celebrate on 2000 because all sorts of services may be out...''

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), January 20, 1999

Answers

"Y2K will boost slow economy: forecaster

Gee...why didn't those darn economists think of this before? Just destroy half of the worlds software and voila...ecomomic boom!

-- a (a@a.a), January 20, 1999.

"Gee...why didn't those darn economists think of this before?"

They did, a. Make a product--benefit. Clean up the waste--benefit. Cut a forest--benefit. Clean up after floods and mudslides--benefit. Manufacture chemicals--benefit. Treat chemical-related illnesses--benefit.

A Keynesian economist can't lose.

Hallyx

"Every time I think I've hit rock bottom, somebody throws me a shovel."

-- Hallyx (Hallyx@aol.com), January 20, 1999.