Climate Change skeptics? [ot]

Cost[edit]
The total cost of the work done in preparation for Y2K is estimated at over US$300 billion ($411 billion today, once inflation is taken into account [40]).[41] IDC calculated that the U.S. spent an estimated $134 billion ($184 billion) preparing for Y2K, and another $13 billion ($18 billion) fixing problems in 2000 and 2001. Worldwide, $308 billion ($422 billion) was estimated to have been spent on Y2K remediation.[42] There are two ways to view the events of 2000 from the perspective of its aftermath:
Supporting view[edit]
This view holds that the vast majority of problems had been fixed correctly, and the money was well spent. The situation was essentially one of preemptive alarm. Those who hold this view claim that the lack of problems at the date change reflects the completeness of the project, and that many computer applications would not have continued to function into the 21st century without correction or remediation.

Expected problems that were not seen by small businesses and small organizations were in fact prevented by Y2K fixes embedded in routine updates to operating system and utility software that were applied several years before 31 December 1999.
The extent to which larger industry and government fixes averted issues that would have more significant impacts had they not been fixed, were typically not disclosed or widely reported.
It has also been suggested that on 11 September 2001, the New York infrastructure (including subways, phone service, and financial transactions) were able to continue operation because of the redundant networks established in the event of Y2K bug impact[43] and the contingency plans devised by companies.[44] The terrorist attacks and the following prolonged blackout to lower Manhattan had minimal effect on global banking systems.[citation needed] Backup systems were activated at various locations around the region, many of which had been established to deal with a possible complete failure of networks in the financial district on 31 December 1999.[45]
Opposing view[edit]
Others have claimed that there were no, or very few, critical problems to begin with, and that correcting the few minor mistakes as they occurred, the "fix on failure" approach, would have been the most efficient and cost-effective way to solve the problem. Editorial writing in The Wall Street Journal called Y2K an "end-of-the-world cult" and the "hoax of the century".[46] This opposing view was bolstered by a number of observations.

The lack of Y2K-related problems in schools, many of which undertook little or no remediation effort. By 1 September 1999, only 28% of U.S. schools had achieved compliance for mission critical systems, and a government report predicted that "Y2K failures could very well plague the computers used by schools to manage payrolls, student records, online curricula, and building safety systems".[47]
The lack of Y2K-related problems in an estimated 1.5 million small businesses that undertook no remediation effort. On 3 January 2000 (the first weekday of the year), the Small Business Administration received an estimated 40 calls from businesses with computer problems, similar to the average. None of the problems were critical.[48]
The lack of Y2K-related problems in countries such as Italy, which undertook a far more limited remediation effort than the United States.[citation needed] In a 22 October 1999 report, a US Senate Committee expressed concern about safe travel outside of the United States.[citation needed] The report stated that overseas public transit systems were considered vulnerable because many did not have an aggressive response plan in place for any problems. Internationally, the report singled out Italy, China and Russia as poorly prepared. The Australian government evacuated all but three embassy staff from Russia.[49] None of these countries experienced any Y2K problems regarded as worth reporting.[citation needed]
The absence of Y2K-related problems occurring before 1 January 2000, even though the 2000 financial year commenced in 1999 in many jurisdictions, and a wide range of forward-looking calculations involved dates in 2000 and later years. Estimates undertaken in the leadup to 2000 suggested that around 25% of all problems should have occurred before 2000.[50] Critics of large-scale remediation argued, during 1999, that the absence of significant problems, even in systems that had not been rendered compliant, suggested that the scale of the problem had been severely overestimated.[51]

In response to my post regarding false predictions not being properly punished, some blog readers took exception to my argument that the hysteria that surrounded Y2K was a false prophesy. Their argument is that all of the preparation leading up to Y2K averted what would have been a disaster.
That just doesn’t ring true to me. Was there not anyone, anywhere who either failed to properly prepare, or maybe happened to overlook some aspect of how Y2K might affect their systems? Did every small business and third world country catch every bug? Did anything go wrong as a result of Y2K? Did anyone ever test a system in advance of Y2K and find that had they not tested, something catastrophic would have happened?
Here is a good article from Larry Seltzer who knows much more than me about the subject and holds the same view.
My recollection is that programmers were getting paid far above standard wage rates due to the great demand for their services with Y2K. Could it be that there were strong incentives on their part to exaggerate the danger? Sounds logical.

It was only in the wake of Jan. 1, 2000, when we all saw the lights still on, the planes still aloft and the computers still running that the rationalization went into high gear. The Y2K scare motivated people to improve their emergency preparedness. It awakened healthy skepticism in institutions like banks, governments and the computer industry. It created a new level of scrutiny in the development of software. (That last one is especially funny.) Ive seen people claim that it was Richard Clarke and his Y2K coordination work in the NSC that saved the world. It was clear that the emperor had no clothes, so the only thing left was to praise nudity.
You certainly couldnt justify all the money spent on the straightforward merits. Did all that remediation actually solve serious Y2K problems? If it did, why didnt the problems manifest themselves in serious ways in the unremediated third world? Either the problems were less frequent or less malignant than advertised. In either case, some famous consultants misled their clients.

hey Blah - I threw that out there as bait as much as anything.

What this has to do with Climate Change is a stretch. Perhaps blahblah is offering it up as an existence proof for global conspiracies of technical people to hoax the poor, simple, ignorant business class out of their profits...

I'm sure he's serious... and if so, it would not be so far fetched that people could be so stupid.

But no question whatsoever y2k was a gravy train boomtown rush / bust. Lots of unscrupulous people took advantage of public and private stupidity.