Tuesday Reads
Some interesting reads:
• Recovery Can Only Go So Far Without Jobs (Market Talk)
• Paul Farrell: Wall Street’s 2012 meltdown sweepstakes (Marketwatch)
• Lessons from the crisis: Re-educate the geeks (Reuters) British quant seeks to reform financial risk-takers
• America’s Newest Land Baron: FDIC (WSJ)
• Not So Pretty Numbers And The New Bubble Logic (Market Talk)
• 6 REASONS RICHARD RUSSELL WANTS TO OWN GOLD (Pragmatic Capitalist)
• Why the Crisis Isn’t Going Away (Counterpunch)
• Inflation Faces an Uphill Climb (WSJ)
• About Half in U.S. Would Pay for Online News, Study Finds (NYT)
• 45% Now Rate Obama’s Economic Performance As Poor (Rasmussan)
• Take Me Back to Constantinople (FR): Advice for the US from the Byzantine Empire
• GE Goes for Backyard Wind Power: Making A Big Deal of Small Wind
What are you reading?
November 17th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
How about this from Bloomberg. How many tax cheats make below the median income level?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXOuLrZhxZwY&pos=8
November 17th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Stumbled on this just a few minutes ago when I was chasing down some of those great Berlin links that were put up on the other link:
Welcome to GreatBuildings, the world of architecture online at the leading architecture reference site on the web. This gateway to architecture around the world and across history documents a thousand buildings and hundreds of leading architects with photographic images and architectural drawings, integrated maps and timelines, 3D building models, commentaries, bibliographies, web links, and more, for famous designers and structures of all kinds.
http://www.greatbuildings.com/
November 17th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Not So Pretty Numbers And The New Bubble Logic – Simple, straightforward and right on the money.
Not a technician other than volume and velocity use but sometimes a candle pops up that hasn’t been around in a while. Today’s SPX put up a fairly ominous one. I’m very long SDS right here – hopefully the old candlesticker in me won’t let me down.
November 17th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Let them eat cake.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/17/millions-hungry-households-us-report
November 17th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
@beaufou:
Great link! It really is sad that we talk about bailouts for banks and bailouts for profligate, overleveraged homeowners when we have hungry people in the (supposedly) richest nation in the world. Money doesn’t grow on trees, so it has to come from somewhere… Although I am against socialism in all its forms, I would at least not mind my tax dollars going into food to feed hungry children rather than to help a Goldman partner to buy his fifth gold-plated Mercedes Benz…
HCF
November 17th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
A jobs bill is on its way….
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE5AG4OY20091117
November 17th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
beaufou Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
“Let them eat cake.”
Twinkies are cake, aren’t they?
Maybe Lloyd could stuff a few in his briefcase every morning and hand them out to the jobless during his limo ride into work. After all, he is a “force for good” you know.
November 17th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Their cake: http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/
Your cake: http://www.foodincmovie.com/
Taleb’s cake: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article4022091.ece
My cake (Taleb’s too): http://www.arthurdevany.com/
November 17th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
In OT,
BR, while you’re sitting on those long plane rides, check out Simple Minds new stuff, after running out of steam in the nineties, they have made three very good albums.
U2 fans are usually very pleasantly surprised.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXCohT0jQM
November 17th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
as indicated in Market Talk article regarding “Bubble Logic”- what can the Fed do??? They can’t raise rates- EVERY asset class is inflated based on FED/USG policy (ZIRP/QE/Tax Credits for homes, foreclosure moratoriums))-
the Fed is willing to risk $ destruction- and high inflation- in fact- it may be their intention- with the hope of supporting asset prices-
my guess- the $ will catch a bid with or without them and the air will be let out of this commodity/equity before long
November 17th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
“About Half in US would Pay for Online News” — this article laments that this number is low compared to other countries.
However, a month ago (Sept. 21st) we were told that “Only 5% of Web Users Would Pay for News”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/sep/21/paid-content-newspapers-online-news
So, what changed?
My guess is that somebody else paid to get a different answer.
If somebody surveyed me I’d say that I’d pay for news but I should be paid for the BS that passes for the “news” that I’m getting now.
Such as these survey results…
November 17th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Using TARP to pay down some debt trial balloons…
“…President Barack Obama plans to announce in next year’s State of the Union address that he wants to focus extensively on cutting the federal deficit in 2010 – and will downplay other new domestic spending beyond jobs programs, according to top aides involved in the planning…”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29471.html
“…The administration wants to keep some of the unspent funds available for emergencies, but is considering setting aside a chunk for debt reduction, according to people familiar with the matter…”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125799009185344567.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1
This is worth an email to support this idea.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
November 17th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
China and the American jobless machine?
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2009/11/china-and-the-american-jobs-machine.html
November 17th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
willid- nice little in that link- quick blurb-
“[Chinese] elite would much rather create export jobs, even at the cost of subsidizing foreign buyers, than allow the yuan to rise and thereby risk job shortages at home. ”
i see it as dumping their cheap goods on the rest of the world by keeping the yuan artificially low-
can’t last forever
November 17th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
I can’t believe Barry is linking to Mike Whitney at Counterpunch! I’ve been reading this guy for a while and he has been spot on on a number of things. Like he sold his house in 2005 because of the bubble… Hard to beat. It’s funny how the truth about the US economy tended to linger on non mainstream website. Whitney is the perfect example.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
The article in Foreign Policy “Take Me Back to Constantinople” by Edward Luttwak doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire (quickest source I could find):
“None of his immediate successors had any particular military or political talent and the administration of the Empire increasingly fell into the hands of the civil service. Efforts to revive the Byzantine economy only resulted in inflation and a debased gold coinage. The army was now seen as both an unnecessary expense and a political threat. Therefore, native troops were cashiered and replaced by foreign mercenaries on specific contract.”
I would suggest you look into this a little more. It is surprising the effect that gold and coinage and the economy, and their debasement, had on the decline of the Byzantine Empire.
Barry, since your blog is mainly about money, I’m shocked you missed the connection.
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Barry-
Isn’t about time for a Sociopath of the Year contest? I’ know Madoff is probable number 1 but maybe some TBP readers can jog our memories? Perhaps break it into categories; Unconvicted SOY, etc.