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Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.

13 Responses to “10 Tuesday AM Reads”

1. MikeNYC Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 10:15 am

   Whenever these studies of “traders” are done, invariably they are of traders who work for an institution. These are people who take large risks with other people’s money, while (ostensibly) under the tight yoke of a risk manager.

   What about a study of those who trade their own money, or on behalf of their own small pool of trusting customers, and who successfully manage their own risk?

   I suspect the emotional makeup portrayed would be very different. Naturally, it would be harder to locate such people, and likely the results would not make such good copy.

   The biases inherent on these types of article are so easy to see and so apparent, I’m surprised you haven’t commented on it, Barry.

   I suspect that your own emotional makeup, as a trader who needs to carefully define his own risk to survive and seems to have done so, is far different then that of a psychopath. Except perhaps when you get behind the wheel of whatever over-horsepowered luxury beast you are driving these days. (j/k)

   As a person trying to find his own way as an independent trader I find these kinds of portrayals of ‘traders’ very one-dimensional, a little depressing, and, hopefully, incorrect when applied to the whole of traders. It seems it’s perhaps just more interesting and link-worthy to talk about the carefully controlled and corrupt maniacs that, if we’re to believe the latest studies, seem to be working for so many banks and funds.

2. mathman Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 11:00 am

   http://www.slate.com/id/2304442/
   Will a Robot Steal Your Job?

3. digistar Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 11:07 am

   “Obama’s Economic Quagmire: Ron Suskind’s Revealing New Book About the White House.”

   Apparently Suskind suggests that Obama is such a dunce and a pushover that he let his economic team walk all over him – going exactly opposite of where the president would like to have gone. Now, in Obama’s campaign mode speeches, he wants us to believe that he is really a true Democrat after all. I guess he wants us to forget all his pandering to the rich and powerful.

   One of the comments on the article got it just right: “I’m sorry Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

4. Moss Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 11:16 am

   There is no such thing anymore as a true Democrat nor a true Republican.
   You are now either a Corporatist, a Conservative Corporatist or a Libertarian.

5. Greg0658 Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 11:30 am

   thanks Moss to that ax from digi and that book .. not going to read it (sorry) .. so thanks MSM for revealing the nature pre purchase … the brain can control the body for just so long then the supporting mechanism rules

6. VennData Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 11:50 am

   Another take on Suskind…

   Don’t Believe Ron Suskind: His book about Obama is as spurious as the ones he wrote about Bush.

   http://www.slate.com/id/2304220/

   The entire health insurance industry is bullish on the entire economy…

   “…Throughout this year, major health insurers have defended higher premiums — and higher profits — saying that their expenses would rise once the economy recovered and people believed they could again afford medical care…”

   http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/business/health-insurance-costs-rise-sharply-this-year-study-shows.html

7. acai Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 12:01 pm

   Will someone kindly enlighten me on the following:

   Herman Cain’s 999 Tax Plan calls for the following.

   9% Corporate Tax
   9% Income Tax
   9% National Sales Tax

   When you add a new 9% National Sales Tax to the various State Sales Taxes
   doesn’t this mean the net sales in most states becomes a massive sales tax, for example:

   Texas Sales Tax = 8% + 9% Herman Cain Tax = 17% Sales Tax in Texas
   New Jersey Sales Tax = 7% + 9% Herman Cain Tax = 16% Sales Tax in NJ
   South Carolina Sales Tax = 9% + 9% Herman Cain Tax = 18% Sales Tax in SC
   Idaho Sales Tax = 6% + 9% Herman Cain Tax = 15% Sales Tax in Idaho

   Or does Mr. Cain expect the states to eliminate their sales taxes, which would destroy their already insolvent balance sheets.

   Either way, seems to mean this plan either bankrupts the citizens or bankrupts the states.

   Am I missing something?
   Have any of the debate moderators asked Mr. Cain about this?

8. formerlawyer Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 12:15 pm

   “Don’t Believe Ron Suskind
   His book about Obama is as spurious as the ones he wrote about Bush.”

   http://www.slate.com/id/2304228/

9. singfoom Says:
   September 27th, 2011 at 12:34 pm

   Deloitte & Touche Sued Over Taylor Bean Collapse
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204010604576595133072373372.html

   This may be the start of a trend of investor suing the accounting firms that blessed bad numbers.

10. brasilianista Says:
    September 27th, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    A Telegraph opinion piece sets Angela Merkel straight on what’s really behind the crisis in the euro zone:

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100012223/frau-merkel-it-really-is-a-euro-crisis/

    Now, if only she and the rest of the EU heads were listening.

    The Telegraph is doing some good reporting on the crisis, and its website is mercifully free of the paywalls and flakiness of the Financial Times site.

11. DeDude Says:
    September 27th, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    I have always believed that about 10% of the population are psychopaths and another 20% borderline psychopaths. No surprise that it is a lot higher than that on Wall Street.

12. rexx18 Says:
    September 27th, 2011 at 3:26 pm

    @acai:

    It is in addition to the local sales tax. States would still tax locally (or not) for their own revenues. It would be a National VAT, effectively.

    As for “bankrupting” the people, you seem to forget/overlook/ignore the piece about dropping the personal income tax to 9%. You pay much more than that now, no?

13. DeDude Says:
    September 27th, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    All you need to know is that the Cain plan is increasing regressive taxes (sales) and decrease progressive (income) taxes. Presuming that you try to get the same amount of revenue out of those taxes it will amount to income an redistribution plan, that will reduce after tax income for the poor (consumer class) and increase it for the rich (investor/speculator class). I am sure that he will claim that everybody will be paying less in taxes and convince many low income morons that it’s true (there are free lunches). But the fact is that unless you reduce overall taxation someone will have to pay more in order for someone else to pay less.

    Income redistribution from poor to rich is the exact wrong medicine for an economy that is starved for demand, and is blowing all kinds of speculative bubbles because of a lack of enough productive investment opportunities.