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

That 3.5% rise in GDP

UPDATED Divorced one like Bush wants to know how accurate the polling was that came up with a consensous that the GDP rose 3.5% in the third quarter. I did my own poll last night at band practice and 100% of the self employed band members (only one for an employer and that’s the public […]

Economic time/space phenomenon: Health care/Unemployment

by divorced one like Bush While your reading this, think about the physics concept of two things occupying the same time and space. Think about the similar idea that light is both a wave and a particle. Think about the message we have been told that many very bright people (like physicist) went to Wall […]

What about me!

by divorced one like Bush So I’ve been thinking: What, since the passage of Medicare has the federal government implemented that actually reduced the risk of living for the US citizen? No, tax cuts do not count. They do not reduce risk. We have reduced risk for business all over the place. NAFTA, CAFTA, exemption […]

Place your bets, the recession predictions are in

by divorced one like Bush Come on, step right up, don’t be afraid. Lay that money down. 3 and 1/8 economist out of 4 say the dastardly deed is done or ending by next month. After months of uncertainty, economists are finally seeing a break in the clouds. Forecasts were revised upward for every period, […]

Furthering my understanding of the money from money theory

By divorced one like Bush I’m reading Kevin Phillips “Bad Money”. I want to understand where this idea that money is made from money comes from. On page 61 he writes: In 1996 a much discussed article in Foreign Policy titled “Securities: The New World Wealth Machine” had set out the ultimate paper entrepreneurial opportunity: […]

NYT asks when will it end?

By divorced one like Bush Via C & L via CR comes the NYT asking when will the recession be over. They have 11different responses. Roubini is there suggesting we could see an L curve. We now face a 1 in 3 chance that, if appropriate policies are not put in place, this ugly U-shaped […]

DOLB’s Punditry on Obama’s speech

by divorced one like Bush Ok, here are my basic issues with the substance of President Obama’s speech. First, may I remind everyone that as of 11/08 I declared my divorce successful. Has it become my mission accomplish moment? I heard this: “And we will expand our commitment to charter schools. but as a father […]

The Only Good Crowding-Out Argument

I was pontificating earlier today about how many of the now-unemployed Financial Services workers were, in a previous life, engineers of one stripe or another, and if we’re going to be doing things with the stimulus bill such as re-engineer the power grid, some of them may well decide to return to their previous life. […]