> In addition the development of this new power may displace the use of horses,
Obviously.
> which would wreck our agriculture.
Probably this was wrong. Instead it got transformed and made more efficient. They didn't foresee the tractor, the tresher, etc.
This is a lesson about the impossibility of thinking in advance about even the major consequences of new technologies. You get some, you miss others, so it's difficult to decide if you'll be better off.
Edit: the report turned out to be fake (see noobermin's comments). It was written in 1950 as satire, when it was spot on but too late to stop cars. A lesson about checking sources.
> The cost of producing gasoline is far beyond the financial capacity of private industry…
Check the history of subsidies to the oil industry http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/oil-subsidies-en...
> In addition the development of this new power may displace the use of horses,
Obviously.
> which would wreck our agriculture.
Probably this was wrong. Instead it got transformed and made more efficient. They didn't foresee the tractor, the tresher, etc.
This is a lesson about the impossibility of thinking in advance about even the major consequences of new technologies. You get some, you miss others, so it's difficult to decide if you'll be better off.
Edit: the report turned out to be fake (see noobermin's comments). It was written in 1950 as satire, when it was spot on but too late to stop cars. A lesson about checking sources.