On 2012-03-12, George Plimpton wrote:
On 3/12/2012 11:24 AM, Ignoramus12788 wrote:
Check out Wikipedia for "backyard furnace", which were used in the
great Leap Forward in China.

Small-scale economic activity is loathed by the left wing. It makes it
harder to regulate and tax, and the economies of scale just aren't there
to allow for health insurance deductions, Americans with Disabilities
Act enforcement (e.g. special toilets and parking for "handicapped"), etc.

What does your comment have to do with my post?

i


On 2012-03-12, Tim wrote:
I was just Wiki-walking instead of working, and while reading the
Wikipedia page on steel, came across the statement:

"Though steel had been produced by various inefficient methods long
before the Renaissance, its use became more common after more-efficient
production methods were devised in the 17th century. "

And it made me wonder -- do any of these _efficient_ methods apply to the
small-scale workshop (i.e., one or two people, or at most a dozen), or if
one were inclined to do a spot of home steel-making would one be reduced
to using methods from the 1600s?

Not that I'm going to go digging for iron ore on my property or anything;
I'm just curious.