Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

No signs of the international political crisis creating any Western economic crisis at this point

No signs of the international political crisis creating any Western economic crisis at this point No important economic data today, and no significant COVID updates over the weekend. Let me make a few comments and then turn to the bond market, particularly as it reflects the international situation.I have no more insight into the Ukraine […]

Define Rich, part II: Rat Race and the American Dream

I have had this re-posted today because I believe it is as relevant today as when I wrote it in May, 2009.  My hope is that this event we are living moves enough new people to realize the society we built is not sustainable.  My hope is that one of the basic questions I was […]

Panel Discussion with: Krugman, Sachs, Phelps, Soros

Just wanted to let everyone know about a presentation that aired on Cspan’s Book TV.  It is a 2 hour panel discussion titles: Global Economy: Crisis Without End.  It was held 2/17/12.   Click hereto bring up the show.   What I found most interesting was the different perspectives between Krugman and Sachs. I’m not […]

A oh, Some in Europe can’t take the pressure

Seems the austerity thingy is starting to hurt where it really counts. Just read via the AP: … and amid growing concern in Europe that austerity aimed at cutting ballooning deficits may also be choking growth. A dozen European Union leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Premier Mario Monti, called Monday for […]

What’s a person to do? or ‘motivated avoidance’

What’s a person to do? or ‘Motivated avoidance’  From the American Psychological Association comes two studies here and here. Individuals are often confronted with information that they do not know how to comprehend or evaluate, even though this information can be of critical importance to the self (or society as a whole). In the case […]

A reminder from Obama’s February 2009 speech

By: Daniel Becker In answer to the generic question regarding President Obama’s actions regarding the debt ceiling, I am re-posting this from 2/25/09.  In comments of the original I stated that cutting the deficit by 1/2 seemed to “optimistic” for me. *************************** Ok, here are my basic issues with the substance of President Obama’s speech. […]

A Conversation with George Soros

With thanks to Felix Salmon for arranging the invitation. There’s an episode of House where he has to get rid of one of the people for his new team.  By the end of the episode, the sharpest person in the group has said everything that we would have expected to hear from House—and is therefore […]

The 1920s Depression: Glenn Beck, Thomas Woods, and "Benefits" of Cutting Taxes to Combat a Recession, Part 2

by cactus Last week I wrote a post about some nonsense Glen Beck was peddling, with said nonsense originating with Thomas Woods.  Woods claimed a smorgasbord of things, the dollar meal version being: 1.  lefties talk up how the New Deal (big gubmint, tax hikes) saved the economy from the Great Depression but it didn’t […]

Making Markets be Markets

by Daniel Becker I came across a presentation called Make Markets be Markets sponsored by the Roosevelt Institute which is tied to New Deal 2.0.  Here is the full report here (pdf). The following are two videos, first by Simon Johnson, second by Elizabeth Warren,  from the full presentation (see here). I have not read the full […]

A scaled model of debt driven stimulus

by divorced one like Bush Well, here is what I’m doing to support the US of A’s economy. It’s a lesson in the real model of economics. It is a scaled version of the concept of stimulus. I even did it by using financing just to make the model as close to real as possible. […]