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Another thread mentioned countless missed opportunities economy-wise for Britain in the years after WW2. I would be interested in hearing what the members of this forum consider those to be, and how they might best have been taken advantage of?

Ignoring the ideological squabbles about capitalism and focusing on the question, European colonialism wasn't inevitable. I suspect the large interest in it was engendered by the massive riches Spain managed to obtain from the gold and silver mines, but this wasn't exactly inevitable and relied...

Eh. The ToV is massively overhyped, the majority of the reparations weren't intended to be repaid anyway but were more to have a politically palatable number to parade in the newspapers. The Germans heard this and went "This is a great propaganda opportunity." Even then, the rise of the Nazis...

The problems for the Germans in Russia was logistics. Very slightly more supplies isn't going to suddenly give them the better logistics to get those supplies to where they're needed.

I don't think anything in history is really inevitable. The course of history is incredibly path dependent, and even situations that favour particular results don't mandate them happening. I think we have a tendency to assume things are inevitable because the brain is a sense-making machine, and...

Yes, but this is an alternate history site and this thread is specifically an AHC asking how it the US might have had HSR. The path actually taken shows what not to do, I believe the OP wants to know how it could have been different.

Since it's looking likely that any attack by Rommel in North Africa ITL will be thrown back, or at the very least not achieve the spectacular success as OTL, I think it is likely he won't get a particularly good reputation. OTL a large part of his reputation was made because he experienced...

I'm not going to reiterate arguments, since my previous experience convinced me that a lot of those in this thread have absolutely no willingness to be convinced, and I'm tired of people taking singular aspects of my arguments to dismiss the whole. Another opportunity for better transit that...

A HSR does have impact on every part of the country, it has impacts on every part of the globe. It reduces emissions by allowing people not to drive or fly when not necessary, which impacts literally everyone. By reducing the need for cars, it reduces peoples need to use the expensive transport...

Regarding construction costs, as I said recently the USA (and the UK too unfortunately) seems to be really good at spending twice as much to get half as much as other countries do. I'm not really sure why. I quoted France building 400 km for estimated €12 billion, that's supposed to be...

That's 114 million trips that weren't done by car or plane, and it's likely increased since 2010. Also, that's like saying only 300,000 people drive/fly 500 miles in a day compared to 60 million people in the country, well yeah...? Do you believe the entire population of France are supposed to...

People would use it to commute, just like they use roads to commute. They'd use it for business trips, or trips home, or whatever. There are countless reasons people go on trips. Pretending that no-one would use it is bizarre, it's not like the plans are to build it in the middle of nowhere, the...

This is straying dangerously close to current politics, since it's becoming clear that johnrankins rejects the entire premise of the AHC and prefers his government small enough to drown in the bathtub. Focusing on the AHC a bit more, I think once there is one HSR in the USA (probably the North...

High speed rail in the US is absolutely possible, especially in the North East Corridor which has higher densities. A national network probably doesn't work though, since you want more than dense regions at both ends but you want at least some density along the route as well. Linking the East...

So I've gone back and read your previous argument with alexmilman, and you were arguing over who specifically owned land before the war. You claimed (using some random marxist website) that 90% of the land was owned by Kulaks. Alex replied, using other sources, that the peasants actually owned...

Cheers, I hadn't noticed that. Also your timeline was hilarious.

In the 1973 Mississippi Floods the Old River Control Structure almost failed. Had it done so, the present course of the Mississipi River would likely have changed, because the Atchafalaya is a shorter and steeper route to the sea. There's a fantastic New Yorker article about this here, and...

Are triple replies allowed? Anyway, it definitely makes it easier for Britain to win, that's for sure. I wonder if Spain deciding not to bother might lead to France backing off, since they'd probably have to shoulder even more costs to allow the rebels to compete properly. Alternatively they...

I suppose a two thousand horsepower engine might not be enough to defend against William the Conqueror :).

I find it hilarious that none of the pro-CP posters have responded to Sarthaka providing evidence Germany committed itself to war days before Russia decided to mobilise. I wonder why...? Regarding OP, I think Britain had to intervene both morally and geopolitically. Morally, treaties need to...