"Economy" as individuals apply the concept

[sear]

In the early '70's a schoolmate mentioned his eagerness to visit Europe with his Eurail Pass. The math suggested to me such passenger rail ticket / pass would only be a bargain if he spent most of his time on the train.

What's the counter-argument? He can take any train ride he chooses - for free - , meaning no additional charge? Where's the economy there?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My broadband is through a cell-tower. I have incentive to surf the Internet frugally. Exceeding use limit costs $more.
If fiber-optic cable becomes available here it might cost more per month.
But some ISP charge a set fee, without limiting bandwidth.
Paying the higher monthly cost for fiber-optic speed would provide perverse incentive to stay online longer.
In that scenario, what is the wisest economy?

"Education is an investment in ourselves" is the recipe for thick spectacles?

 

[sear]

Individuals may have limited options this holiday season. Reports of transport ships full but idle near U.S. ports because of inability to move the cargo from ship to port to warehouse to store.
Supply shortages have already appeared in some U.S. markets.

Help Wanted signs proliferate. Reports of need of school bus drivers, and truckers to relieve the U.S. supply chain bubble continue. Autonomous school buses and trucks are not yet ready / available to meet current need.

"270 prominent scientists say within 40 years robots will be doing most of the jobs we do not want to do. Especially illegal robots from Mexico." Jay Leno

 

[mark mywords]

many people who used Eurail used the train as night time accommodation saving the cost of hotels/hostels.

back logs at ports is now a world wide thing it has lead to a world wide shortage of shipping containers and a dramatic rise in the cost of oceanic shipping apparently the cost of transporting a 40ft container from China has just about trebled in recent months.

UK is suffering a severe shortage of drivers of heavy trucks (else where a similar shortage in the US has been blamed on Biden) fuel is not being delivered (to the extent that the army is now driving the delivery trucks) there is talk that many of the drivers of the gritting trucks have left for more lucrative jobs driving heavy delivery and as a result the roads will go unsalted in the coming winter

in other news UK in recent weeks has suffered CO2 shortages (used in fizzy drinks and food packaging) and piglets have been culled because there is no one to butcher fattened pigs and in the last 2 weeks road fuel has risen by 5% and gas for heating by 30%.
because there is a cap on the price that can be charged for heating gas some companies were in the position that they were forced to sell it for less than they were buying it at on the international market

 

[sear]

"When the picture doesn't make any sense, a piece of the puzzle is missing." psychologist Joy Browne

mm #3 seems like examples of systemic failure to me.
It's coincident with the pandemic. But I can't make sense of it. A truck driver can wear a mask while he's at the depot. Something else is going on here.

My vague suspicion:
the collective system manifesting all these failures is not as robust as it could be. Certainly such status quo has a powerful constituency. But couldn't the system be strengthened without cutting them out of the profit pie?

We have the expertise to improve. Yet we don't.
I'd like to examine the dominoes that have fallen, one by one.