>>>In the coming age of more automation I see a need to try out new tax structures, but will not claim to know the formula
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>I perceive disruption +++
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>Having been over-optimistic about the availability of my latest phone with instant speech to text that actually works (I thought I'd have it by 2010 at latest) I'm hopeful that it's similarly optimistic that within 7 years gas-driven cars will be worthless, replaced by electric vehicles with 18 moving parts that can expected to do 500,000 miles before replacement and that cost 1/10 to refuel... this, combined with the ability to drive themselves, will turn transport on its head, devastate oil economies, and further enrich the Chinese who continue to bolster their near total monopoly over large batteries.

It's going to take more than 7 years - and of course some gas-driven cars will never be worthless as some are collector's items - (and by 'some' I mean very very few of course). Anyway Tesla says their new roadster will do 650 miles on a single charge - so we're getting there as far as making them more practical in that aspect - but ummmm $200,000 isn't what I would call a realistic price to move them into the mainstream. ...but technology will advance and sooner or later an electric car with such a range, if not more, will cost no more than a gas powered car - but I would think it would be closer to 20 years than 7 years. It would be nice if the USA was the leader in this technology and large batteries - but sadly with Trump in office you have a guy who wants to bring back coal (and actually think's that 'clean coal' is when you take coal out of the ground and you wash it -- no joke, he's actually that stupid) and the GOP being full of global warming deniers who have no interest in new technology that combats it, the USA will be left in the dust by countries like China, not to mention the developing countries that will actually leap-frog over the dirty-energy cycle as they become more industrialized. As far as trucks and cars that can drive themselves, I don't know what kind of impact that would bring to the economies - I haven't bothered to look into an experts forecasts of that - but maybe I will look into that as it would be something I would be interested in. On the bright side it would be nice not to feel like I'm playing a game of real-life frogger every time I put my Lotus on the street since there are too many idiot drivers that for some reason do not notice the bright yellow car... plus getting into a taxi-cab on Oahu is a total roll of the dice - I often wonder how some of them even got a driver's licence, not to mention the language barrier.