The Big Picture - Macro Perspective on the Capital Markets, Economy, Technology, and Digital Media

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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.

18 Responses to “10 Thursday AM Reads”

1. DebbieSmith Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 9:52 am

   Since it appears that Colonel Qaddafi has been killed, the markets are already expecting an increase in the world’s oil production which has pushed prices lower.

   Here’s an article showing how much oil Libya produces and which countries benefit the most from the country’s exports:

   http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2011/02/muammars-oil-libyas-contribution-to.html

   Let’s watch the world’s leaders start lining up now for those all important sp”oil”s of war!

2. wunsacon Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 10:17 am

   thinkprogress.org/special/2011/10/11/304642/erickson-whines-53-percent/

3. VennData Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 10:24 am

   “Give us your rich, your frisky, your huddled job-creators yearning for a lower effective rate than their housekeeper.”

4. SOP Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 10:25 am

   An Economist who is awake ?

   ——–

   Peak Oil and the Great Recession

   Jim Hamilton, an economist at UC San Diego who has done extensive work on the economics of oil spikes, has just published a summary of the current state of oil macroeconomics called “Oil Prices, Exhaustible Resources, and Economic Growth.”

   His conclusion:

   “The historical record surely dictates that we take seriously the possibility that the world could soon reach a point from which a continuous decline in the annual flow rate of production could not be avoided.”

   Translation: peak oil might not be far away, and we should take it pretty seriously. And Hamilton’s research suggests strongly that when peak oil does arrive, it’s not going to be pretty…

   If Hamilton is right, then the oil spike is responsible for about two-thirds of the Great Recession all by itself. The housing and credit bubbles are only responsible for a fairly small piece of it.

   http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/10/peak-oil-and-great-recession

5. dpharris Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 10:38 am

   RE: Fox Business Network

   Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Business_Network

   “Murdoch had publicly stated that if the purchase of The Wall Street Journal went through and if it were legally possible, he would have rechristened the channel with a name that has “Journal” in it.[3] However, on July 11, 2007, the parent company, News Corp, announced that the new channel would be called Fox Business Network (FBN).” (Sourced NYT)

   “However, CNBC has stated on air that it has a contract with Dow Jones until 2012. One potential issue down the road is the fact that CNBC operates several news bureaus under the same roof as the Wall Street Journal.” (Could not find source)

   If that is in fact true, I would not be surprised at all if FBN was overhauled and rebranded The Wall Street Journal Network (etc…) in the coming years. Will be interesting to watch.

6. SOP Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 10:47 am

   “Ignore the sceptics, the ‘peak oil brigade’ is right”

   According to Shell, in order to maintain global oil production at today’s level, we would need to add the equivalent of four new Saudi-Arabia, within the next ten years… . To quote the US Joint Forces Command, ‘as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day’.

   While conventional oil production peaked in 2006, it is correct that unconventional resources – Canadian oil sands, US shale oil and Venezuelan extra heavy oil – are enormous. But producing oil from these resources is slow … According to the energy consultant, IHS CERA, described by The Economist as ‘oil optimists’, Canadian oil sands could, in the ‘high growth case’, reach no more than 5.7 MBD by 2030.

   Meanwhile, the extra heavy oil in the Venezuelan Orinoco Belt and US shale oil are expected to play an even smaller role in future production.

   These are no more than peanuts in regard to the four new Saudi-Arabia we need within ten years…

   http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/other_comments/1098849/ignore_the_sceptics_the_peak_oil_brigade_is_right.html

7. streeteye Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 10:53 am

   Wargaming the weekend. So I guess the French are holding out for an ECB EFSF backstop, the Germans demur.
   http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/71981ab6-fa43-11e0-8e7e-00144feab49a.html

   Do I have this right? French credit backs EFSF, open-ended EFSF promises might jeopardize French credit, and if the French lose their credit rating, the whole house of cards collapses? Who’s on first? Fruit flies like a banana?

   Anonymous Chinese officials call for ban on online anonymity
   http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/10/20/china-microblogs-confusion-not-crackdown/#axzz1bEgJi2xo

8. Transor Z Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 10:58 am

   Hey, check this out! Another 400k in jobless claims!

   http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/us-economic-calendar.aspx

   When this this recurring figure become normal/acceptable?

9. penguin Says:
   October 20th, 2011 at 11:26 am

   best steve jobs cartoon
   http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/89c82f67-820a-4e3c-a65f-92849926773d.html

10. VennData Says:
    October 20th, 2011 at 11:39 am

    See all my further illuminating, typo-laden screeds at this new site…

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-decoy-website-launched-to-lure-away-all-moroni,26393/

11. noahmckinnon Says:
    October 20th, 2011 at 11:58 am

    Your old friend Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com, hanging with the Hoi polloi:

    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/19/libertarian-overstock-com-ceo-supports-occupy-wall-street/

12. emaij Says:
    October 20th, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    BR, did Schumer and Lee consult with you on the residence visa bill? It sounds like what you have been suggesting for a long time.

13. BoulderPatentGuy Says:
    October 20th, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Gallup showing recent sharp drop in unemployment: http://www.gallup.com/poll/150137/Unemployment-Down-Sharply-Early-October.aspx

14. VennData Says:
    October 20th, 2011 at 12:36 pm

    Ron Paul Would Erase Billions in Research Spending

    “GOP Presidential master debater Ron Paul’s new proposal would liquidate, among other programs, the Energy Department’s $5-billion Office of Science, the $4.5-billion National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the $750-million National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the $1.1-billion U.S. Geological Survey.

    http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/10/ron-paul-would-erase-billions-in.html

    Go GOP. Go Tea Party. For the future of America! …Yeah, right.

15. NoKidding Says:
    October 20th, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    Re: Occupy Wall Street Demographic Survey Results Will Surprise You

    “They aren’t all kids. Xers, Boomers, and older are also in on it: One-third of respondents is older than 35, and one-fifth is 45 or older.”

    In other words onlt 14 percent of the movement is between 35 and 45 – the demographic that pays taxes, votes, and overwhelmingly represents the middle class parent archetype in advertising and entertainment.

    “Only about 10% are full-time students… Half of the respondents are already employed full-time”

    The words between tried to explain away the other 40 percent, but this and other data leaves me unsurprised by the demographics.

    OWS is more populous and more entertaining than the tea party was, but there appears to be an outsized share of clowns under its big tent.

    OWS might be a fair representation of the 99 percent, but thinking that “the 99 percent” and “the middle class” are close to the same thing is a mistake. The middle class, which comprises 30 to 60 percent, is disproportionately absent.

16. san_fran_sam Says:
    October 20th, 2011 at 1:40 pm

    Barry —

    Maybe this will be your last Steve Jobs cartoon, if you haven’t posted it already.

    http://weknowmemes.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-gets-reincarnated-comic/

17. rktbrkr Says:
    October 20th, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    Buy a home, get a green card was discussed here 30 months ago, Gary Shilling and Lefrak made the initial proposal. I see the proposed law restricts the ability of the wealthy homebuyers to get a job in the US , requires 500K cash pumped into RE. Coathored by Chucky Schumer (gotta keep those Manhattan condo prices sky high) and Lee from Utah, (gotta keep those sky high ski condo prices up).With a 500K minimum this law has a bicoastal focus.

    http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/solving-the-housing-crisis/

18. ToNYC Says:
    October 21st, 2011 at 6:01 am

    ” ….News Corp, announced that the new channel would be called Fox Business Network (FBN).” (Sourced NYT)….I would not be surprised at all if FBN was overhauled and rebranded The Wall Street Journal Network ”

    Whatever Rupert’s media chooses the time is right to call it, it will always be the Voice of Rupert Murdoch feeding your eyeballs.