Tornados, and Budget cuts at NOAA

[Gravitymaster 0]

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The US spends more on education than any other country. You're right - it's raw dollar total should be brought in line with the rest of the world.

I won't say your graph is a problem. I will tell you that I think it's a problem. But somparing what the US does with the rest of the world isn't something I view as compelling.

What about socialized education where all college professors are paid the same? We could make it a scale like a government employee. It would really help bring educational costs down.

[lawrocket 3]

True. If we cut education spending in the US by 2 percent we could fund all of NOAA with it.

But what if we cut military education? Hmmmm.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Gravitymaster 0]

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True. If we cut education spending in the US by 2 percent we could fund all of NOAA with it.

But what if we cut military education? Hmmmm.

I think we are on to something here. I'm thinking we should also cut the amount of money available for student loans. The readily available money has caused college educational costs to skyrocket. We could invest the 100's of $billions saved to help pay down the deficit and the debt. Lets start dictating what colleges can charge, too.

[champu 1]

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See attached. Then tell me that everything is just fine the way it is.

"Just fine" is an interesting metric to use here. Not one I'd use, but then I suppose I should leave it up to the internet trolling experts.

In the meantime, see attached. Then tell me the car is driving at a reasonable speed.

[kallend 2,180]

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The US spends more on education than any other country. You're right - it's raw dollar total should be brought in line with the rest of the world.

Does it spend more than the rest of the world COMBINED?

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[lawrocket 3]

Quick research did not demonstrate any statistics for it. There are plenty of stats about the amount spent per student ranking as anywhere from first to third. And the US total education expenditure is at 7% of GDP - which is the highest in the world. (Denmark is #2 with 6.7% of GDP). US government spending is at 5.7% GDP (ranking 37th in the world).

I'll do some math. Total worldwide weighted average of spending as a percentage of GDP is 4.8%. Take the IMF figures of $63.1 trillion world GDP and US GDP of $16.2 trillion for 2011 and do some math.

US has $16.2. Rest of the world $46.9.

US is 7%. 16.2 times .07 is $1.13 trillion.

Rest of world is .047 times $46.9, meaning $2.25 trillion on education.

So, no, the US spends merely half of everything the rest of the world combined spends. So if we look at the rest of the world's spending, I reckon that US education should be slashed by half of what the military is slashed, eh?

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kallend 2,180]

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Quick research did not demonstrate any statistics for it. There are plenty of stats about the amount spent per student ranking as anywhere from first to third. And the US total education expenditure is at 7% of GDP - which is the highest in the world. (Denmark is #2 with 6.7% of GDP). US government spending is at 5.7% GDP (ranking 37th in the world).

I'll do some math. Total worldwide weighted average of spending as a percentage of GDP is 4.8%. Take the IMF figures of $63.1 trillion world GDP and US GDP of $16.2 trillion for 2011 and do some math.

US has $16.2. Rest of the world $46.9.

US is 7%. 16.2 times .07 is $1.13 trillion.

Rest of world is .047 times $46.9, meaning $2.25 trillion on education.

So, no, the US spends merely half of everything the rest of the world combined spends. So if we look at the rest of the world's spending, I reckon that US education should be slashed by half of what the military is slashed, eh?

Depends whether you think the spending produces any value.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[lawrocket 3]

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Depends whether you think the spending produces any value

And here you've hit on a crucial point.

I'm not about whether the spending produces any value. Spend a million dollars for a Ticonderoga number 2 and you've gotten some value. Pay a guy a million bucks to mow my lawn and I've gotten some value.

I'm about bang for the buck. Take a look at the US educational achievement as compared with other places. Sure, we spend half the world spending on education and look where it gets us. There is the law of diminishing returns, and we apparently hit is a while ago.

There is some value. But where can we get the greatest marginal utility. The GSA - spending other peoples' money - doesn't give a shit about cost v. utility. One might say, "Who are we to judge how the GSA spends its money? They are the experts."

No. I don't have the numbers or the ideas on whether the satellites will provide a good return on investment versus weather alerts. And I frankly think satellites are really cool.

It does come down to what I think. Versus what you think or others. Reasonable minds can differ.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[billvon 3,132]

>Spend a million dollars for a Ticonderoga number 2 and you've gotten
>some value. Pay a guy a million bucks to mow my lawn and I've gotten
>some value.

But pay a million bucks to insure your ten million dollar house and you may never get any value; that house may never burn down. Was that a waste of money?

That's the problem trying to quantify the value of more accurate forecasts. If you predict the next Katrina accurately and save the lives of 1000 people it's worth it. If no serious storm hits the US for the next ten years it might not be. What are the odds of that? Much easier to choose your bet _after_ the storm hits.

[lawrocket 3]

[Reply]But pay a million bucks to insure your ten million dollar house and you may never get any value; that house may never burn down. Was that a waste of money?

[lawrocket 3]

kallend

www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/

No wonder the GOP is cutting NOAA's research budget.

The GOP has heard your concerns. [Url]http://judithcurry.com/2013/07/11/climate-vs-weather-prediction-should-we-rebalance/#more-12147[/url]

The Democrats oppose the Weather Forecasting Improvement Act of 2013. Which will not backfire on them. It's a smart move. They can kill the bill and blame the GOP for the next tornado.

In all seriousness, I do think that there is an overemphasis on climate science to the detriment of weather. Many on this thread have pointed out the problems - the here and now problems - with the NOAA budgetary priorities. Congress has now decided to take charge and establish their own priorities.

I do think that more should be given to weather. Yes, I think that the future is also important. But I also think that present dangers should be given at least equal consideration to theorized future possibilities. Reasonable minds can differ.

My wife is hotter than your wife.