10 Links (Tuesday Version)
Here is our Tuesday Top Ten:
• Loaded For Bair (The Big Money) Universally regarded as the sole member of the Bush administration’s crisis rescue team to have recognized early both the magnitude of the fraudulence in the mortgage business and the magnitude of the risk that fraud posed to the financial system, Bair has distinguished herself as not only our most populist regulator but, if a recent New Yorker profile is to be believed, our most intellectually curious and competent regulator as well.
• Ben Bernanke Was Incredibly, Uncannily Wrong (Mises) See the Video;
• Lessons From Irwin T. Yamamoto (Kirk Report)
• Beijing worries about another market crash (Associated Press); See also Andy Xie says China Market is a Ponzi Scheme
• “Shadow” inventory lurks over U.S. housing recovery (Reuters)
• Not Home Yet (The New Yorker)
• Microsoft’s Long, Slow Decline (Daring Fireball)
• Why Do We Spend $34 Billion in Alternative Medicine? (ABC)
• High Risk, High Reward John McCain Was Looking for a Way to Shake Up His Campaign. He Took a Surprising Gamble on a Relative Unknown
• Why people like cars with ‘angry faces’ (Christian Science Monitor)
Did I miss anything good ?
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August 4th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Loved the sub-headline under this headline…
Why Do We Spend $34 Billion in Alternative Medicine?
National Study Shows How Much America Spends on Alternative Care, But Not Why
August 4th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Speaking of Sheila Bair, for anyone who hasn’t read about the recent showdown between her and Geithner:
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE5730CG20090804?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&rpc=23&sp=true
or the original WSJ link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124934399007303077.html
August 4th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Why bully Ben Bernanke now? Ok , he didn’t quite see the bubble, didn’t pop it in time and probably never heard about regulations. It’s still mainly Greenspan’s faults. He’s an expert in depressions (manic). What makes you think anyone (including Volcker, yeah, yeah V. never would have gotten us in this deep post Greenspan) would have handled things better since September 2008? Once the deep recession is over, I doubt his unique skills are needed.
August 4th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Here’s a little anecdote related to naturopathic medecine (the subject of the 9th link). My wife’s a naturopathic doctor. My buddy had some abdominal pain and went to a doctor. The doc does the standard check for appendicitis (touching squeezing parts of the belly looking for pain)and concludes that his appendix is inflamed but he doesn’t actually have appendicitis. He tells my buddy to drink lots of water and come back if it gets worse, at which point he’ll probably need his appendix removed. So my buddy asks my wife what she thinks. She does the same test and agrees the appendix is inflamed. But then she touches/feels around some more and also listens to his belly with a stethescope (apparently you can tell a lot of what’s going on in your guts by listening). There’s nothing new-agey about this. MDs know these same techniques, they just don’t use them much. She concludes that the reason his appendix is inflamed is (simplifying here a bit), he’s got poop backed up in his intestines. Apparently this can lead to appendicitis. So she treats him with some herbs and accupunture, the poop starts flowing and in a couple of days, he’s fine. My guess is that the MD telling him to drink lots of water was aimed at the same goal in a pretty half assed way (if drinking water was all it took, nobody would ever be constipated).
The moral of the story: alopathic (i.e. “real”) doctors really don’t operate well in the space between accute treatment and lifestyle generalities (“drink lots of water”, “don’t smoke”, “exercise regularly”). Much of what my wife deals with are incipient problems that can be treated before more complex and costly interventions like pharmaceuticals and surgery are required. More than half of her treatments involve nothing but diet change. The key is that her focus is on keeping people healthy before they get sick.
August 4th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
@ ramster, I find it unfortunate that people are allowed to call themselves Doctor after a BS degree or as in the US two BS degrees. Call them healers. The term doctors are for advance academic studies (research degree). Why not just give him some oral laxatives? What your wife deals with isn’t scientifically proven and hasn’t been validated by rigorous trials and approved by the FDA. For alternative medicine you might be stuck with the snake oil salesman. For sever allergies, I would suggest trying acupuncture, rather than a year long, potentially deadly, immunotherapy. However, how do I find a “good” one?
August 4th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Fertile land for Green Shoots
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-03-antidepressants_N.htm?csp=34
August 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Loved the Mises article. Kudlow take this: “They demonstrate the complete inadequacy of mainstream macroeconomics in its present state, devoid as it is of the essential insights of the Austrian School.” It means that Bernanke is apt to continue to err. That’s where my money is…
August 4th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Speaking of healers – i met one last night at a green shoot party (use your imagination). She offered to read my aura and help me with sleeping problems by working on my “energy curves”. I’m all for natural medicine but where does one draw the line between cooks like this and ramsters wife?
August 4th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
jobless rate map by state
http://www.bls.gov/web/mstrtcr1.gif
August 4th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I don’t know if you guys watch Showtime but Penn & Teller have a show called Bullshit and they investigated all the alternative medicine in one of the episodes-
wasn’t too flattering- there was even a woman who offered birthing classes in the water w/ dolphins so the new born can get into the dolphin vibe early- or some shit like that-
anyway- I always kept asking- why do these people think the dolphins want them around at all- but who knows- maybe they would start bouncing the baby back and forth on their noses like at Sea World
August 4th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
From the microsloth article..
“….a report from NPD claiming that 91 percent of $1,000-and-higher retail computer sales now go to Apple….”
Not sure I believe that 91% of > $1k goes to Apple…
rt
August 4th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I’d view Naturopaths a little better if I’d ever heard of a single instance where someone visited one and wasn’t diagnosed with gluten intolerance and/or told to stay away from dairy.
And then when, after months/years avoiding anything with gluten people have the same symptoms are then told to avoid all grains… At the same time, treatment is supposedly ‘highly individualized’?
That’s not to say that the approach is entirely wrong but I find this whole gluten thing to be just the latest in a long line of dietary fads and the anti-dairy stemming more from ideology than sounds science…
August 4th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
super_trooper: The training isn’t actually that much different. MD’s most definitely do not have “research” degrees. Typical MDs have a 4 year bachelors (usually in a science of some sort) and then 4 years of med school. Naturopaths also have 4 year bachelors (also in science) and then do a 4 year degree in Naturopathic medicine.
As far as oral laxatives, perhaps that would have done the trick, though apparently that didn’t occur to the doctor my buddy saw first. Oral laxatives also have their own negative consequences to the health of your gut. My wife’s treatment was intended to get the body working as it should, not to swing the pendulum from one bad situation (being blocked up) to another (flowing like a firehose).
You’re certainly correct that there’s a risk of snake-oil but that’s one reason why part of the alternate health world has attempted to establish structure, in the form of accrediting bodies and accredited schools, required curriculum and licensing of practitioners. Hell, my wife even has malpractice insurance. Certainly not every alternate health practitioner does this; there’s nothing stopping from someone from setting up shop and shoving healing crystals up your butt while massaging your aura to cure your migraine if they want to.
As far as scientific proof, clinical trials and the FDA go, such activities are heavily oriented towards accute treatments. They don’t address keeping people healthy in the first place. Also, there are vast areas of health problems where standard medicine has little to offer (back pain anyone?). The demand for this sort of thing didn’t come out of nowhere. Every patient of my wife’s has an anecdote similar to that of my bunged-up buddy.
August 4th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124932480886002237.html
The problems that guys like Summers can cause are hard to quantify in terms of specific economic cost. But these paras might hint at the kind of risk that a$$hat likes to take:
“In February, the White House tapped Ms. Hathaway, a senior intelligence official who had launched President George W. Bush’s cybersecurity initiative, to lead a 60-day cybersecurity policy review. Ms. Hathaway completed her review in April, but the White House spent another 60 days debating the wording of her report and how to structure the White House cyber post. National Economic Adviser Larry Summers argued forcefully that his team should have a say in the work of the new cyber official.
The result was a cybersecurity official who would report both to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. Supporters said that arrangement would cement cybersecurity as a critical security and economic issue; detractors said it would require the new official to please too many masters and would accomplish little.”
Also, I haven’t any interest in Miss Hathaway’s permanence- as a “striped and narrow-waisted” holdover from the Bush Junta (ht/MEH) I would have released a note about how she is off to pursue new and different opportunities. Final note: this departure is tied to the scuffle around Craig.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124935604510503669.html
Fifth columnists abound.
August 4th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
these link-fests sure lead to a schizo comment thread :)
August 4th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
mregan-
check out both your links- from your Fifth Column remark it appears you think Obama is being sabotaged from the inside-
but Summer’s is an ardent supporter and Craig and subsequently Obama had some missteps on Gitmo- but do not think Craig was purposely trying to discredit Obama-
please elaborate
August 4th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Barry covered this early when the data was released…but wages went down ( 9th of the last 10 months) while spending went up..but the spending was for gas and other planet-killing items…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/business/economy/05econ.html?ref=business
Higher Costs Spur Rise in U.S. Consumer Spending
“The broader economy may be testing the bottom, but for American consumers, there appears to be no end yet in sight for falling wages and higher living expenses.
That was the picture painted Tuesday by the government’s monthly report on personal incomes and consumer spending. While consumers spent more in June, they did so because prices of food and energy were rising, and not because they were ready to spend freely again. ”
…Well, if expenses are going up we are still spending more right? Gotta be good news, right? Franklin, help me here….put some fertilizer on my shoots…
August 4th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
John McCain is a fool.
I respect the man for his military service absolutely.
But his political career is/was a complete fucking disgrace.
First the S&L scandals….then he votes against every single Vet assistance bill…..then picks wingnut extraordinaire/Quitta from Wasilla for VP….then stops campaign to run to DC to bail out the Banksters.
August 4th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Birther movement BC is a tepid fraud…
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/08/04/australia_certificate/
Birther movement Leader is a stupid broad…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/03/orly-taitz-melts-down-on_n_250441.html
August 4th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
She needs a life. Why is media giving this air head any air time?
August 4th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
http://blog.mises.org/archives/010400.asp
…..
Fifteen years ago less than two percent of U.S. banks and thrifts had exposure to commercial real estate that exceeded five times their Tier I capital, according to a report by Oxford Analytica. But the recent real estate boom seduced most banks into property lending and by late 2008 that ratio had jumped to 12 percent.
With commercial property values down nearly 35 percent from the peak in October 2007 and the downturn just getting started, banks will be feeling the pain for months and years to come. Real estate consultant Foresight Analytics estimates that commercial property losses could reach $250 billion, causing another 700 banks to fail. ….
August 4th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Ahab-
1) Summers is an ardent supporter of whom? I submit that LS serves interests that do not align with the best interests of the US population and as an indication recall for you that DE Shaw wrote him some big checks for flapping his gums.
2) Sabotage- those two were holdovers from the previous admin- Craig is a cleaner. Rearguard. Why the current admin kept anyone from the prior group I’ll never know.
To wit: Williams & Connolly- http://citizenx.org/index.php?s=Williams+%26+Connolly%2C
3) Hathaway’s position afforded her extraordinary access to the classified information- would you let anyone with organic ties to the former crowd be privy to your admin’s initiatives going forward.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
mregan-
hmm . . .
August 4th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Ramster:
Er, MD’s have a bachelor’s, then 4 years of med school. Once the MD degree is granted they do another 3-5 years of residency. Then they sit for boards from their peers.
In my training…1/3 of the freshmen in med school were failed. Those places filled the next year with mostly PhD’s who couldn’t get in….as freshmen. My sophomore desk mate across the aisle taught me biochemisty as a freshman.
Once residency is finished only about 50-60% of those who take boards pass them the first time and most fields only allow about 3 tries. Many don’t pass their boards.
Naturalistic doctors equivalent to MD’s? Er, maybe not.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Poor little Timmy- throwing tantrums and pulling out the profanity when everyone wont go his way…
Poor little Timmy.
I think he got picked on alot as a child.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
so Bruce- my weeks of training in crystals and high colonics doesn’t pass muster with you?
I’m offended
August 4th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Bruce – Would you agree though, that even given more than a decade of education and training, doctors are exactly like every other profession we have today? Some are good, some are not. The doctor I go to seems to want to do nothing more than prescribe me something for every ailment I ever have. . . . Education and training are not the same thing as competence and talent. I have found however, that doctors tend to have a lot more confidence in their ability and much less acceptance of either an alternative viewpoint or an admission of wrongdoing, not a good combination imho . . . .
August 4th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Since we’re on the topic – anyone watch Nurse Jackie? Great show – my favorite line so far is “Doctors do not heal people, they diagnose illness” No offense Bruce ;-)
August 4th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Here’s an interesting link that is worth a read:
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogaug09/KaPoom2CHS.htm
August 4th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
@Christopher
“But his political career is/was a complete fucking disgrace”
Not to add fuel to the fire, but many would also question having put Palin on the ticket…
August 4th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Thor:
OK…of course MD’s are at the top of the food chain…but when some, er, person comes on board and says his wife cured appdicitis with herbs….uh, this is sheer bullshit, and he should be called out on it.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
appendicitis, he wrote..
August 4th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
You wouldn’t, actually couldn’t, believe some of the things I’ve seen over the years from naturopathic healers…silicone into the face, and ankles…(makes a horrible mess), interpretation of bony c-spine tumors as “malalignment” that wound up with a quadraplegia, curing diabetes with herbs, and having a patient present to the ER in ketoacidosis…etc…
There is plenty of snake oil out there buddy….
August 4th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Bruce – I agree – you should know by now that I was mostly pullin’ your chain ;-)
August 4th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
mregan @ 5:35-
good link- quite the conspiracy theory- default on US debt- whew- that would be scandalous- with trillions as far as the eye can see- may be necessary
August 4th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Oh, I know…and the internet is the place where people meet and discuss ideas…it is just that some of these people are given street cred now and no one seems to question their resume….
Anyway, massive day in the salt mine today…and lots of happy folks…a very very good day…saw some interesting things…
August 4th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
ahab
re: that oftwominds piece. I just never know what to think about those kind of conspiracy theories. I know they’re popular, but it just seems like a bit of a reach.
With that said, I know that Bill Fleckenstein is moving some money out of country (Canada, from what I know). He’s a pretty level headed guy, it seems, that is just flat out disgusted with and terrified by the money printing and the extreme consequences thereof. Also big on gold and silver.
August 4th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
onlooker-
Schiff has also advocated moving to foreign currency- or gold- but- to tell you the truth- I am not as smart as these people-
but after reading mregan’s link- I was struck by one thought- the mega rich don’t give a shit- because they will cover their bases-
and then I was thinking that the devaluation would solve so many problems- at the expense of all the regular folk- but still- it would make us competitive and eliminate the debt- at the expense of the creditors- read China-
and then China- would of course be seen as the bad guy-
it was an interesting link indeed
August 4th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
It was certainly interesting. And it has a certain symmetry to it, eh?
Interesting times.
August 4th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
China worried about a stock bubble, we keep bouncing from one bubble to the next having gone to 0% ST interest rates & quantitative easing. Their bubble pops whos next?
http://markettalk.newswires-americas.com/?p=3887
August 4th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
a link for those new yorkers amongst us : ) i sent it to my son who’s living in ny for the summer and he went nuts…
http://nymag.com/nightlife/barbuzz/58200/
August 5th, 2009 at 1:06 am
In my personal experience I’ve found that if you keep the toxin filters of your body (liver, kidneys) in good shape and you maintain a healthy abundance of good bacteria(via acidophilus) and digestive enzymes in your intestinal tract you’ll have a much better chance of being healthy and fighting off disease.
Medicine should be for the most part preventative. Currently, it is about treating the sick and emergency cases. If the medical industry focused mainly on prevention then medical costs would drop dramatically. I have been going to my doctor for over ten years and he has never given me or even suggested anything regarding healthy lifestyle plan. This is not the exception, it is the norm. Why do people do more preventive maintenance on their cars than they do on their bodies?
One other point. I have heard(so don’t quote me on this) that most doctors get about 8 hours training in nutrition in their formal schooling. That is not good if it is true. Nutrition is a key component to a person’s health and proper diet along with a good compliment of vitamins should be taken with a doctor’s guidance but if he has no training in those areas how can he possibly help you on your path to a healthy body?