10 Monday Reads
By Barry Ritholtz - October 26th, 2009, 4:00PM
Its Monday, and that means y’all has gots some readin to do:
• Economists Push Employer Tax Break For New Hiring (NPR)
• Andy Xie: Insight: Is China due a reality check? (FT)
• Shipping News May Signal More Reality (WSJ)
• Language Lessons at the Fed (Barron’s)
• Record NYC real estate deal now on the rocks (AP)
• Healthcare system wastes up to $800 billion a year (Reuters)
• Seven questions that keep physicists up at night (New Scientist)
• Fall Back: Europe Moves to Winter Time, U.S. Changes Clocks Next Weekend (Basex)
• Herd Mentality (Daring Fireball)
What are you reading?
Tweet
Facebook
Reddit
Digg this!
October 26th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
SPX closed below 1071. Every day traders kept this as their source of “strength” that the market was holding 1071. Could this be the trigger for the big downdraft? Very good chance of that happening IMO.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Regarding the hiring article. Well just look at CAT, they’re going to hire back 550 people by the end of 2010. Of course they’re also laying off 2,500 more people. So yes, there is a pick up in hiring but at the cost of others who are not so fortunate.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
“Economists Push Employer Tax Break For New Hiring”
I suppose this will be a nice benefit for companies that will be hiring anyhow, but can anyone explain to me how this is going to increase the demand for goods or services and result in additional jobs?
I do not think our politicians, and for that matter apparently some economists, have an understanding of how our economy functions. It is either that or this is a politically expedient approach rather than an effective one.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9BIUSEO0.htm
Dodd wants immediate rate freeze on credit cards
…What do I know? In the future, nothing. But if I were going to have to bet on what the 29.9% credit card charges recently intoduced by several companies (CITI made the most headlines) would do…I would guess it will cause further deleveraging…and repudiation of debt. I also think it will probably have adverse effects on the bottom line of these credit card entities…
B in T
October 26th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Jim Cramer Says Sell, Sell, Sell His Company TheStreet.com According to HIS Rules:
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/jim-cramer-says-sell-sell-sell-the-street-com/?p=2982/
Damien Hoffman Touches A Jim Cramer Nerve:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/damien-hoffman-touches-jim-cramer-nerve
Excellent research and reality check for Mr. Cramer
October 26th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I agree, Bruce. Think it’s going to backfire big-time. This is why failing banks need to be broken up. The strong ones will fill the void they leave behind and offer valued service to customers, instead of what we’re seeing now – - raping and pillaging the taxpayer who just bailed them out. Beyond insane.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
B in T
I was wondering if people might spend less at Christmas because of the credit card debacle.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
http://www.hussman.net/wmc/wmc091026.htm
October 26, 2009
Rumors of the Death of the Credit Crisis Are Greatly Exaggerated
John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
“HousingWire – October 25, 2009
“The number of properties on the market may be much larger than anyone thought and appears likely to swamp South Florida with more deeply discounted homes, clouding the prospects for a housing recovery. Figures from the Florida Association of Realtors released Friday show that South Florida’s median home prices have stabilized over the past several months and sales are up year-over-year as the number of properties on the market shrinks. But an analysis of the so-called shadow market done for The Miami Herald suggests the number of homes and condos in the pipeline to come on the market in South Florida is nearly five times larger than all residential properties currently listed for sale by Realtors. LPS Applied Analytics, a firm that supplies loan data to the federal government, did the analysis on the shadow market, which refers to properties that will eventually be listed for sale — because they are about to enter foreclosure, are in foreclosure or already owned by banks.”
Miami Herald, October 24, 2009
The idea that foreclosures will continue to lag delinquencies because of forbearance assumes that banks will hold the impaired, non-performing mortgages on their books indefinitely as if they were good assets. This may go on for a few months, but will ultimately be unsustainable if delinquencies accelerate, as we can expect from the reset schedule.
In short, rumors of the death of the mortgage crisis appear to be greatly exaggerated.”
October 26th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
U.S. bank chargeoff rate exceeds Depression: Moody’s
REUTERS — 12:33 PM ET 10/26/09
https://news.fidelity.com/news/news.jhtml?cat=Top.Investing.RT&articleid=200910261232RTRSNEWSCOMBINED_TRE59P3LM_1&IMG=N
October 26th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair Addresses Thousands of Taxpayers at Showdown in Chicago in Support of President Obama’s New Consumer Protection Agency
“Looking at indecipherable credit card statement and documents and mortgages you can’t
understand and APRs from Payday Loans and high overdraft fees – I don’t see
how anybody can say that we’ve done a good job protecting consumers and
financial services. I just don’t see it….. ”
“This new agency would eliminate regulatory gaps between insured institutions and non-banks, consistent with the need for consumer protection standards across the board. And it would address another gap with authority – to examine for the first time non-bank financial providers. We need an examination and enforcement, not just rules, but examination and enforcement as well. By regulating the non-bank shadow sector for the first time, this new agency CAN help future abuses. I hope to see
other measures being taken that will create a more resilient, transparent and better regulated financial system, including an end to the ‘Too Big to Fail’ doctrine. Yes, no more bail outs. No more bail outs.”"
More incl. video from this link
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS182785+26-Oct-2009+PRN20091026
October 26th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Barry:
I am not an economist. Could please let me know:
Does NABE stand for “National Association of Bad Economists” or “Negligent Assholes, Bastards and Euphorics”?
October 26th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
You know your economy is in bad shape when…..
McDonald’s Closes in Iceland After Krona Collapse
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=amu4.WTVaqjI
October 26th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Re: Healthcare system wastes up to $800 billion a year
Compared to the rest of the (developed) world, that number is about right. US spends approx. 16% of GDP on healthcare. Taking 8-10% of GDP for other developed countries, then US spends about 6-8% of GDP too much. GDP=$14T, 6-8%=$0.84T to $1.12T.
How much is profit for healtcare providers. Limit profits, costs go down. This method works in the rest of the developed world. Take the FIRE lobbyists out of the picture, and soon we would see some real “change”. What a ridiculous system.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5504Z320090601?sp=true
FACTBOX: Healthcare costs in U.S. vs. rest of world
Mon Jun 1, 2009 2:54pm EDT
(Reuters) – The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world but has higher rates of infant mortality, diabetes and other ills than many other developed countries.
Here is a comparison of the United States’ healthcare costs versus those of selected other countries in 2006:
UNITED STATES: 15.9 pct of GDP, $6,657 per capita
BRAZIL: 7.9 pct of GDP, $371 per capita
CANADA: 9.7 pct of GDP, $3,430 per capita
CHINA: 4.7 pct of GDP, $81 per capita
FRANCE: 11.1 pct of GDP, $3,807 per capita
GERMANY: 10.7 pct of GDP, $3,628 per capita
INDIA: 5.0 pct of GDP, $36 per capita
ISRAEL: 7.9 pct of GDP, $1,533 per capita
JAPAN: 8.2 pct of GDP, $2,936 per capita
MEXICO: 6.4 pct of GDP, $474 per capita
SOUTH AFRICA: 8.7 pct of GDP, $437 per capita
SWEDEN: 8.9 pct of GDP, $3,598 per capita
RUSSIAN FEDERATION: 5.2 pct of GDP, $277 per capita
UNITED KINGDOM: 8.2 pct of GDP, $3,064 per capita
(Source: The World Bank)
October 26th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
ECRI
October 26th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I’m not a physicist, but here’s a physics question that keeps me up, well not at night, but sometimes all the way through the afternoon:
Was Einstein right?
Why do I ask?
Einstein’s special theory of relativity posits that light is the speed limit for the universe. Yet we know (even Einstein knew, but scoffed at it) that entangled particles can communicate instantaneously across vast spaces. How then can light be the fastest thing in the universe?
It’s no better with the general theory of relativity. According to today’s astrophysicists, about 94% of the universe is invisible dark matter and energy (or is, if the general theory is correct). What good is a theory that only explains the behavior of 6% of the universe?
Maybe Einstein has become to the 21st century what Aristotle was to the 17th–an impediment to inquiry whose ideas will have to be discarded if our understanding of the universe is to expand.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
There’s really only ONE question that keeps physicists up at night…
“Where’s my next funding coming from?”
October 26th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Watching the dollar, it’s as if a fever has broke…I see a huge squezze causing dollar to surge and gold to tank…as I posted on the other thread:
You cannot print your way to prosperity and you cannot solve a debt problem with more debt. Therefore the rally is doomed. It does seem that stocks now move inverse to the dollar. That is also an unsustainable conundrum. You can’t debase your currency to prosperity. So what will give?
Gold speculation is at record highs…dollar is also heavily shorted. Those two go hand in hand. Since other currencies are equally as bad, and China can’t have the dollar collapse, fundamentals and sentiment calls for a huge dollar rally. Physical demand for gold is plunging – this is a deflationary debt crash.
Therefore, I conclude big dollar rally coming, massive gold and stock collapse. According to Hussman last week, we are at record overbought conditions in stocks.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
The health care comparisons re infant mortality rate are false and misleading. Many countries with apparently good IMR do not use the WHO definition of infant mortality, but the US does. So if a preemie dies a day after birth, we count it as the death of an infant (and the death of a person),which brings our numbers up. Many other countries would count this as a still birth, thus artificially making their IMR and life expectancy numbers look better.
Here’s a link to some physicians writing about this: http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/sections/commentary/orange_grove/article_443950.php
Similar objections apply to many of the other comparisons between our system and those listed. Having faced sickness (myself or of friends) in Israel and the UK, I for one would pay for an air ambulance to get back here before subjecting myself to one of their hospitals for anything more serious than, say, strep throat. And come to think of it, when I had strep in Israel, I took a cab to a private clinic. Wouldn’t go near the public system.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
@Curmudgeon 5:12pm — What Einstein was really on about was that there are multiple ways of modeling / looking at things depending on your frame of reference — the stupid, difficult way, or possibly an easier way. For example, there’s nothing particularly “wrong” with holding the earth as the center of the universe, it just makes the math unnecessarily difficult.
So, start with the following axioms, and you can invent “simpler” Physics all by yourself (left, of course as an exercise for the reader):
1. There’s no such thing as infinity (don’t argue, it’s just a mathematical convenience).
2. All quantities have finite maximums, at which point they wrap back to zero (think of computer “registers”).
3. All math should be done in binary (base two, or some power of two) rather than base ten.
Please send me a thank you note when you get your Nobel Prize.
@Pete from CA (days ago)– yes, this is tongue-in-cheek, but then again, maybe it isn’t…
October 26th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Caroline hits it again.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aCWOAWpdTpKo
October 26th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
re Curmodgeon’s physics question about was Einstein right — I am a physicist, so I’ll take a crack at it.
The speed of light as a maximum speed refers to something actually moving at that speed, including information, as in sending a signal. The quantum entaglement you refer to:
(1) [standard answer] can’t be used to send a signal, therefore doesn’t violate special relativity;
(2) [less standard answer, adds to (1)] comes out of Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics as per the Schroedinger Equation. As such, of course it predicts the possibility of things moving at greater-than-light speeds. NRQM modifies classical mechanics as to things that are very small (there are exceptions that I’ll leave out), and classical mechanics is fine with things moving faster than light. So the quantum modification wouldn’t change that.
But special relativity modifies classical mechanics at very high energy and/or speeds. That is, SR and NRQM refer to different realms. Don’t expect them to agree perfectly. Both are approximations, applicable in the right circumstances.
One other point for engineers, the Schroedinger Equation is just the heat equation with imaginary time, and the heat equation is well-known to have instantaneous propagation.
Re dark matter and General Relativity — you’re really talking cosmology rather than GR. Cosmology handles theories of the universe (ie models) based on applicable physics, usually including GR and other things, like particle physics, thermodynamics, etc. But GR itself doesn’t have to explain what the universe is made of, how it began, dark matter, etc.
It is a theory of gravity, and a damn good one. But also not quantum mechanical. Efforts to find a direct quantum version of GR are, in my opinion, ugly and wrongheaded. Recent attempts proceed indirectly by generalizing the problem to more dimensions and exotic symmetries, leading to string theories that might include GR and actual particle physics models. At least that’s the propaganda.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
….I have become somewhat simple-minded in that I still go back to the tightening or easing of liquidity for the boosts or retracements of the price of equities. Iwon’t bore you with that again. But if things CAN be that simple I think if you put 1 and 1 (article) together you might reach 2…
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601009&sid=ac1KaPxa0Bso
S&P 500 Overvalued by 40%, Set to Fall, Smithers Says
“Markets are very vulnerable to an end of quantitative easing,” said Smithers, 72, who recommended avoiding stocks in 2000 just as the U.S. benchmark entered a two-year bear market. “Central banks, they’ve got to stop some time and if that happens everything will come down.”
Central banks from the Federal Reserve to the Bank of England last year embarked on unprecedented measures to flood credit markets with cash in order to rescue the global financial system from the worst crisis since the Great Depression.
Those purchases may be nearing an end, said Smithers, who worked for 27 years at S.G. Warburg & Co. where he ran the investment management business. The Fed’s emergency liquidity programs including the Term Auction Facility and commercial paper purchases have shrunk as the central bank completes the scheduled purchases of housing debt and Treasuries. Bank of England policy makers voted unanimously at their latest meeting to leave the asset purchase program unchanged, minutes showed.
…and…
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aIYvRd5Zjf2Y
Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — Central bankers from Washington to Oslo are taking greater account of accelerating asset prices to avoid the policy mistakes that inflated two speculative bubbles in a decade and led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
A month after warning that property prices are rising “probably excessively,” Norges Bank Governor Svein Gjedrem is set to increase interest rates on Oct. 28. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens cited costlier real estate as a reason for raising rates three weeks ago.
…Should be an interesting winter…
October 26th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
big banks good??? spin zone?
http://baselinescenario.com/2009/10/26/are-big-banks-better/
so why don’t we change banks if some are so bad?
http://baselinescenario.com/2009/10/26/bank-switching-costs/
how not to fix the regulations….with patches?
http://baselinescenario.com/2009/10/24/patchwork-fixes-conflicting-motives-and-other-things-to-avoid-some-lessons-from-the-regulated-non-financial-sectors/
just for fun
will the super rich become a different species?
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/10/will-the-super-rich-evolve-into-a-separate-species.html
and of course
why did the economists see that train that ran over the economy? after all its not like it can change directions and stopping is a question of time…..not distance
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/10/let-a-hundred-theories-bloom.html
October 26th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
and business loans fall
http://econompicdata.blogspot.com/2009/10/business-loans-record-freefall.html
October 26th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
@The Curmudgeon: No need to lose late-night sleep (or mid-afternoon nap) — entanglement doesn’t involve travel ‘through’ space. Einstein called it ‘spooky action at a distance’ for a reason.
BTW, right around Big Bang time, it was ALL connected…so, based on all known quantum mechanics, everything is connected at once throughout the entire universe.
If you check with your local neighborhood physicist, he will all but certainly agree that “all reality is non-local.” See Bell’s theorem on Wikipedia in this regard. It’s a fancy schmanzy way of saying what the above paragraph does, but also comes to us by way of some validating experiments.
Einstein did have his flaws, including a fairly unerasable belief in determinism. If the universe is truly deterministic (and at the quantum level, it certainly is not), then we can all just go grab a nap because nothing we do will ‘matter’ (so to speak).
@everyone else: Caveat emptor, Your mileage may vary, Use at your own risk, etc., etc….but my fractal trading signals are again saying (in a loud tone of voice) that the market has peaked for the time being.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
job losses continue
http://econompicdata.blogspot.com/2009/10/non-manufacturing-layoffs-continue-to.html
October 26th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
A snapshot of where we are according to Mish:
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/10/will-stimulus-take-hold.html
Steve Barry:
Everybody says they want a strong dollar, but none of them really do. Your comment is interesting in that it suggests there’s nowhere to turn when, and to a degree, because, all currencies are bad. I agree, but I believe it’s because all currencies are fiat. Still, you lump gold in with the markets as opposed to comparing it to currencies. Gold is due for a correction, and maybe a major correction, no doubt. While the dollar might rally, it certainly won’t help matters, and it will ultimately resume its downward trend simply because that’s all it can do. Remember — the central banks/nations still own gold (China is increasing its holdings), and they will hold it despite its value in currency terms.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
just don’t get sick…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33441437/ns/health-health_care/
October 26th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
nano tech any one?
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=13188.php
October 26th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
None of the questions in the New Scientist article keep me up at night, except for the last one. Oh, and also the question of whether Perimeter is doing more harm than good to the state of modern theoretical physics (though I am happy that it keeps many smart people employed in thinking).
October 26th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Curmudgeon – As you are probably well aware there are four main forces in our universe Weak and strong nuclear, electromagnetic and gravity. The first three are considered “Strong” force gravity a weak force.
However gravity is the only force (We know of yet) that acts instantaneously with others, If you jump in the air the earth is pulling you back down just as you are pulling the earth toward you, this is a bond that is always there. EVERYTHING is tied to gravity and gravity impacts all things and the impact is immediate.
I am of the humble opinion that because gravity is a weak force and not yet understood in space time Einstine simply over looked the true nature and instantaneous reaction gravity has.
Or maybe I am just drunk, who knows.
October 26th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Just got this invitation in the mail:
Dear William,
By invitation, you have been PRE-QUALIFIED to receive the exclusive Visa Black Card. Limited to only 1% of U.S. residents, Black Card members are ensured the highest caliber of personal service. Cardmembers enjoy s 24-hour Concierge Assistant, Exclusive Rewards Program, and Luxury Gifts from some of the world’s top brands. Made with carbon, the Visa Black Card is guaranteed to get you noticed.
Here are the Terms and Conditions; note the annual fee. YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO NOTICE!
https://www.blackcard.com/app/japply/lp/TnCs.jsp?cpc=ack&prodidreq=CCVPS22994
October 26th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Homebuyer tax credit to be “extended then phased out by end of 2010″. The insanity gravy train rolls onward.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGuiU0lB58kg
October 26th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
This little juicy morsel from that article above jumped out at me. So only $504 million in fraudulent credits? “Only 74K or so fraudulent claims? I’m telling anyone who will listen, fraud and criminality ARE the new economy. What could go wrong?
Fraudulent Claims
The Internal Revenue Service has identified 73,799 claims totaling almost $504 million that may not be from first-time homebuyers. They also found that 582 taxpayers under 18 years old and ineligible to buy a home claimed almost $4 million in credits. Children as young as 4 years old received the credit, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George told a House panel.
October 26th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
MERSee me, the mortgage documentation mess keeps growing.
http://www.dsnews.com/articles/bankruptcy-court-wipes-out-mortgage-debt-when-servicer-fails-to-document-claim-2009-10-26
http://rismedia.com/2009-10-26/wall-street-vs-main-street-courts-beginning-to-side-in-favor-of-foreclosed-property-owners/
October 26th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
UCLA Study: The Internet Is Altering Our Brains
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,568576,00.html?test=latestnews
Burger King’s 7-Patty Burger Honors Windows 7
http://www.wbur.org/news/npr/114068620
October 26th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Two Posted last Friday: (I see bloomberg picked up Mr. Smithers article today. (BTW, Linear regression of Shiller’s Cyclical PE ratio data and Data from Smither’s analysis of Tobin’s Q were integral parts of the vodoo analysis I did to say the fall resumes in October for an eventual final bottom of S&P 474)
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/10/23/79346/the-us-stock-market-is-overvalued-by-40/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125630337678303795.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_markets
The dollar carved out moderate gains against the euro and hit one-month highs against the yen Friday, as global risk appetite shriveled in the face of weaker stock markets.
News of a surprise contraction in U.K. economic growth also damaged sentiment by cutting into optimism about global economic recovery prospects, resulting in a sharp selloff for the pound and leaving it as the major underperformer on the day.
Late Friday, the euro was at $1.4996, from $1.5028 late Thursday. The dollar was at 92.07 yen from 91.28 yen, while the euro was at 138.07 yen from 137.18 yen. The pound suffered the day’s most crushing losses, falling to $1.6307 from $1.6621. The dollar was at 1.0095 Swiss francs from 1.0048 francs.
U.S. stocks were solidly in the red, weighed down by flagging shares of energy companies amid a pullback in oil prices, and the selloff was also informed by a sense that the recent rally past the 10000-point mark for the Dow Jones Industrial Average wasn’t backed by the economic outlook.
That diminished the appetite for risk and forced at least a pause in the dollar’s continuing downtrend against many currencies.
The euro slipped slightly below the psychological $1.5000 threshold against the U.S. currency late Friday as stocks deepened their losses, but that reversal and Friday’s modest correction in a general sense isn’t seen as damaging the euro’s potential to move further above $1.5000 in coming days.
Another major development dimming risk-taking Friday was news from the U.K. that its economy contracted by 0.4% instead of growing by 0.1% as expected, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of economic decline.
While some believe the pound could see some relief from general dollar weakness, the magnitude of Friday’s selloff and the shock to economic expectations could just as likely lead to further decline.
October 26th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Here’s what I just read at cnbc.com:
Greg Merlino, president and founder of Ameriway Financial Services “told investors not to focus on the housing and unemployment numbers. “Those two things are lagging indicators and unfortunately, investors focus on those headline topics,” he said. “This economy is starting to improve, things look a lot better than a lot of people anticipated and I think the market has quite a bit on the upside.”
Mr. Merlino, that’s unbelievably laughable. You are seriously telling investors that housing and unemployment don’t matter? Really? Good luck with that.
October 26th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Barry in answer to your question what am I reading: two things
Based on your link to Warren Mosler I am reading my way through his “Mandatory Reading” or trying to – not being an economist I am struggling with a lot of it and wondering why he seems all alone although I like what he has to say anyway.
I am also reading Super Freakonomics (Levitt & Dunbar’s second book. I just got to the part about Kitty Genovese and am intrigued as a New Yorker (Bronx not Kew Gardens) to find that what I thought I knew may not be so.
October 26th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Tom Keene had an interesting guest today, Axel ?, German dude, he casually mentioned that the Fed may be deliberately using inflation to solve the home price crisis. H just casually offered it up.
Scary thought, hyperinflation to make all the US investments in AIG, CITI, GM etc nominal winners, make all houses million dollar homes, nobody will be underwater, debase the currency so we can repay the Chinese with the new Ameri-peso. Of course, Chinese products will be too expensive to import so Detroit will be pounding out Cheerys for export to China.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
jc-
is this news?
October 26th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Curmudgeon, if you can experimentally discredit Relativity, let us know. So far, every prediction arising from General Relativity has been proven 100% accurate. In Physics, only Quantum is in the same league. We are now attempting to expand relativity to the quantum world, with questionable results, but there is nothing wrong with Einstein’s theory in and of itself. I don’t think it’s limiting us in any way. Is unification even necessary? That’s one of the questions that keeps me up at night. Maybe there is something to a paper Weinberg recently wrote suggesting that Field Theory could be enough.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
New York Pest
October 26, 2009
Dick Cheney Possessed By Spirit Of Billie Burker
The spirit of Billie Burker, better know as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in the 1939 film classic The Wizard of Oz, has been identified as the non-malevolent being who recently possessed the body and soul of ex-vice President Dick Cheney and caused him to call President Barrack Obama “a really misunderstood and eloquent man”.
Dressed in silver sequins and sporting a silver wand, the ex-vice President offered a stunning contrast to the black-suited hulking mass of ex-Republican majority leader Dick Armey, who vowed to never stop cutting taxes or borrowing from the Chinese until the U.S. Army Special Forces had “crucified every last damn Munchkin” who had a hand in turning the ex-vice President into a fairy.
President Obama offered his sympathies and said he would extend the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy to include ex-government workers, even those who were not part of the executive branch.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
@ bsneath: “I was wondering if people might spend less at Christmas because of the credit card debacle.”
I heard from a retail clerk where I was shopping that more people are paying cash and fewer are using credit cards. There could be at least two reasons for this:
1. The black market is growing. Reasoning: My daughter in California tells me the black market is all that’s keeping the state from completely blowing up.
2. People are cutting up their credit cards. Reasoning: two of the most popular talk radio shows are Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard – both of whom counsel, yep – cut up your credit cards and Get. Out. Of. Debt!
October 26th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
@ willid3 “will the super rich become a different species?”
They already are. Have you ever parked your car outside an exclusive boarding/day school and watched the parents and kids in their Jaguars and Lexus’ and other exotic cars exit the beautifully-manicured grounds? You don’t see these folks at the mall.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
3 articles well worth the read:
What Gold Bubble? Setting the Record Straight
http://www.goldalert.com/stories/What-Gold-Bubble-Setting-the-Record-Straight
Gold Price Up, Dollar Down – Does it Really Matter?
http://www.goldalert.com/stories/Gold-Price-Up-Dollar-Down-Does-it-Really-Matter
Gold Price and Negative Nominal Interest Rates
http://www.goldalert.com/stories/The-Gold-Prices-Increasing-Relevance-
- they discuss the history of monetary policy in the U.S., how the Fed has created an unsustainable inflation problem, and potential investment implications for fiat currencies, the gold price, and gold mining companies. The article one I found most interesting is called “Gold Price Up, Dollar Down – Does it Really Matter?” which discusses the relationship between the dollar and gold, and why our financial system is set up in such a way that politicians are not properly incentivized to have the long term health of the country in their best interests.
October 27th, 2009 at 12:32 am
youcontroltheink – it sounds like you are actually describing the problem that Einstein solved. In Newtonian physics gravitation is thought of as action at a distance, but this model was approaching limitations. Einstein’s solution was to reason away the old school Cartesian coordinate system and re-imagine gravitation as a purely local phenomenon. Objects follow the path of least resistance through four dimensional spacetime, which is warped to varying degrees by massive bodies. Thus, our Earth is not being mystically influenced by some instantaneous, distant force as it orbits the sun. The sun has simply bent the space nearby us in such a manner that Earth encounters minimal resistance by moving along a path which we define in Euclidean geometry as a roughly elliptical orbit.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:43 am
If you haven’t yet seen this video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqlqc0ARQr0
I thought it might give you a chuckle…
October 27th, 2009 at 5:42 am
The government switching to open source software:
http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/10/whitehouse-switch-drupal-opensource.html
October 27th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Re my earlier physics question, that alas, didn’t prevent my afternoon snooze:
Thanks to all for the thoughtful answers. I know this really isn’t the forum, but hey, why not think about something other than the markets now and then?
If I can ever disprove Einstein’s theories, you guys will all be mentioned in my Nobel prize speech. But I’m not giving you a cut of the prize:)
October 27th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Why did we bail out AIG’s counterparties at 100 cents on the dollar? Because the Fed said so…
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a7T5HaOgYHpE
Anyone recall how Bernanke, when questioned before Congress said only “We had to… we just had to…” ?
Everyone involved in this drama was a lying scumbag.