I have never understood why so many people in the US are so interested in Britain’s “Royal Family.” A “royal wedding” occurred while Dick Vermeil was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. He was asked by a reporter if he was going to watch the “royal wedding.” He answered, “the royal what?” Great answer…for me, all the news about that family belongs on WGAF TV. I think you can figure out what WGAF stands for.

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From Fred Allen via The Muscleheaded Blog:

“A committee is a group of the unprepared, appointed by the unwilling to do the unnecessary.”

Amen!

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Below are two charts that, in my opinion, no one in the US should apologize for:

 

Rank	Country	Tot Wealth ($B, 2019)	Global Share	Population	Pop Share	Share/Per Cap	Wealth/Pop
#1	United States	$105,990	29.4%	332,639,102	4.4%	0.884	6.63
#2	China	$63,827	17.7%	1,394,015,977	18.6%	0.127	0.95
#3	Japan	$24,992	6.9%	125,507,472	1.7%	0.550	4.13
#4	Germany	$14,660	4.1%	80,159,662	1.1%	0.511	3.84
#5	United Kingdom	$14,341	4.0%	65,761,117	0.9%	0.608	4.56
#6	France	$13,729	3.8%	67,848,156	0.9%	0.560	4.20
#7	India	$12,614	3.5%	1,326,093,247	17.7%	0.026	0.20
#8	Italy	$11,358	3.1%	62,402,459	0.8%	0.497	3.73
#9	Canada	$8,573	2.4%	37,694,085	0.5%	0.637	4.78
#10	Spain	$7,772	2.2%	50,015,792	0.7%	0.440	3.30
#11	South Korea	$7,302	2.0%	51,835,110	0.7%	0.386	2.90
#12	Australia	$7,202	2.0%	25,466,459	0.3%	0.785	5.89
#13	Taiwan	$4,062	1.1%	23,603,049	0.3%	0.466	3.50
#14	Switzerland	$3,877	1.1%	8,403,994	0.1%	1.309	9.82
#15	Netherlands	$3,719	1.0%	17,280,397	0.2%	0.579	4.34
	All Other Countries	$56,585	15.7%
	Global Total	$360,603	100.0%

 

This chart is from this post, except I added the population and wealth share per capita, for which I must admit I had to multiply the number so that it wouldn’t have a lot of zeroes after the decimal. Yes, I could have divided the actual wealth figure by population, but I thought my way is more novel. Yes, I could have added a column for share of world population and divided the wealth share by the population share. The rankings of the per capita metric would not have changed. OK, here is that chart:

 

Country	Tot Wealth ($B, 2019)	Global Share	Pop Share	Wealth/Pop
United States	$105,990	29.4%	4.4%	6.63
China	$63,827	17.7%	18.6%	0.95
Japan	$24,992	6.9%	1.7%	4.13
Germany	$14,660	4.1%	1.1%	3.84
United Kingdom	$14,341	4.0%	0.9%	4.56
France	$13,729	3.8%	0.9%	4.20
India	$12,614	3.5%	17.7%	0.20
Italy	$11,358	3.1%	0.8%	3.73
Canada	$8,573	2.4%	0.5%	4.78
Spain	$7,772	2.2%	0.7%	3.30
South Korea	$7,302	2.0%	0.7%	2.90
Australia	$7,202	2.0%	0.3%	5.89
Taiwan	$4,062	1.1%	0.3%	3.50
Switzerland	$3,877	1.1%	0.1%	9.82
Netherlands	$3,719	1.0%	0.2%	4.34

 

The US share of world wealth is almost 7 times its share of world population. Among these countries, only China and India have a smaller wealth share than population share, but that’s probably to be expected for the two most populous nations on earth. Yes, more than a third of the world’s population lives in just those two countries.

Only Switzerland, with a population 1/40 of the US, has a higher share of wealth per capita than the US. These charts also show how poor India really is. Almost all of these countries are democracies and whose economies are, for the most part, capitalistic.

Share the wealth? How about EARN the wealth.

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From this post comes the news that the C8 Corvette will reduce torque output for the first 500 miles. The C7 Corvette displayed a yellow band around the tachometer for the first 500 miles warning not to rev the engine above 3,500 RPM. For C7s equipped with dry-sump oiling systems, it was highly recommended that the oil be changed at 500 miles. Regardless, the yellow warning band disappears at 500 miles. From the same post, more from Tadge Juechter, Corvette Chief Engineer:

 

“Any machinery that has moving parts, whether they have point contact, a rotational interface or slide against each other will “bed-in” over time. What that means is, no matter the manufacturing process, two interfacing parts will find their own equilibrium. You can think of it as mutually refining each other’s surface texture until they reach a steady state. This steady state condition generally minimizes noise, vibration and wear. Although manufacturing has improved to a point where break in effects are minimized, they are still at play despite claims to the contrary. And the truth is, there may be additional minor benefits to a longer break in period. If it was my car, I would try to be patient for 1,000 miles.”

“Starting with the 7th generation Corvette we established a variable red line on the tach to give drivers a visual indication on when it would be advisable to take it easy on the car. We used it for the first 500 miles of driving and when the engine was coming up to operating temperature after break in was complete. Our reconfigurable display enabled us to do that. We didn’t actually limit torque, horse power or RPM, it was just a visual indication. Despite the tach and owner’s instructions, some customers use the full capability of the car immediately. We have too many videos of people doing burn-outs off the dealer lot or showing up to a track (both road course and drag strip) with near zero miles. Taking any green and cold engine to max torque and speed can cause undesirable wear patterns that could affect engine operation over the long term. Running full torque through the trans under the same conditions can score gears, especially those in the differential after the engine torque has been multiplied. We have had examples of customers not observing the break in guidelines and then returning the car to the dealer with complaints of gear noise or differential whine. [emphasis mine]”

“For the 8th generation Corvette, we have taken it a step farther. With more weight on the rear, the car has more traction and we take advantage of that with more aggressive gearing. That translates into more torque multiplication and more loads in the driveline. We decided for the first 500 miles to limit maximum torque in first and second gears. The torque reduction is roughly 25 to 30% depending on which transaxle (standard or Z51) and which gear…”

 

It’s too bad that some people behave in an ignorant manner and use their vehicles contrary to instructions. I am not being facetious. In his book about Corvettes, Steve Magnante wrote that GM/Chevrolet considered turbocharging the car as early as the C4, but were worried that people would ignore the instruction to use premium gas and tuning the turbo(s) to account for that, the performance gain per dollar wasn’t worth it. A few bad apples can spoil the party for everyone…

Of course, I now “must” show a picture of a C8 Corvette. As production will not begin until next month I have not seen one anywhere except at Bowling Green.

 

 

Once again I will offer my thought that I will not be surprised if my wonderful wife trades her current C7 convertible for a C8 convertible in 3-4 years.

 

#RoyalFamilyWGAF

#DontApologizeForWealth

#C8Corvette

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

If you like this blog please tell your friends and share the blog URL (https://disaffectedmusings.com). Thanks.

 

OK, the charts do not display on mobile devices. I hope this works.

 

Country	Global WealthShare	Global PopulationShare	Wealth/Pop
United States	29.4%	4.4%	6.63
China	17.7%	18.6%	0.95
Japan	6.9%	1.7%	4.13
Germany	4.1%	1.1%	3.84
United Kingdom	4.0%	0.9%	4.56
France	3.8%	0.9%	4.20
India	3.5%	17.7%	0.20
Italy	3.1%	0.8%	3.73
Canada	2.4%	0.5%	4.78
Spain	2.2%	0.7%	3.30
South Korea	2.0%	0.7%	2.90
Australia	2.0%	0.3%	5.89
Taiwan	1.1%	0.3%	3.50
Switzerland	1.1%	0.1%	9.82
Netherlands	1.0%	0.2%	4.34

My apologies to Dirty Dingus McGee. In my attempt to edit the first two charts to make them more legible on mobile devices, his thoughtful comment (and my reply) was lost.