Huge sperm whale washes up on Sydney beach PhysOrg :-(
Armadillos Can Transmit Leprosy to Humans, Federal Researchers Confirm New York Times (hit tip Crocodile Chuck)
FBI serves Grand Jury subpoena likely relating to WikiLeaks Glenn Greenwald
Tsunami Towns Face ‘Empty Monument’ Risk as Japan Rebuilds Bloomberg
Fatah and Hamas Announce Outline of Deal New York Times
Inflation expectations my butt MacroBusiness
Barclays and the C12 jackpot Guardian (hat tip reader Tim C)
Banks Play Shell Game with Taxpayer Dollars Bernie Sanders (hat tip reader furzy mouse)
Federal Judge Invites Rank Bigotry Into 9th Circuit Courtroom FireDogLake
Obama Denies Vermont Healthcare David Swanson
Sixth Republican Senator Faces Recall in Wisconsin Dave Dayen, FireDogLake (hat tip reader furzy mouse)
BofA Said to Target Individual States in Foreclosure Inquiry Bloomberg (hat tip Lisa Epstein)
Treasury can still spend $60 bln on TARP: report MarketWatch
For the Servicers: Is It Better to Rob Peter or Paul? Bob Lawless, Credit Slips
Antidote du jour:
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no one in MSM is covering this story:
Wet April delays area corn planting – With nearly 10 inches of rain so far this month, and more promised for today and Thursday, farmers say it will take a week of nice weather for the soil to dry enough to plant. “Last year we finished planting corn in April,” Howell said. “I don’t think we’ll even get started in April this year.” Only 2 percent of Indiana’s corn crop is planted, a number down from more than 50 percent planted at this point in 2010 and 15 percent for the five-year average, according to Monday’s USDA crop progress report. Ohio farmers have planted only 1 percent. Forecasters aren’t offering much hope the persistent rains will end anytime soon. The soggy season could last into the summer, Indiana associate state climatologist Ken Scheeringa said.
http://www.pal-item.com/article/20110427/NEWS01/104270320/Wet-April-delays-area-corn-planting?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
planting after May 1st will decrease yields in the eastern cornbelt…i’ll have about a dozen links on it tomorrow…
Same here in Australia, plus there are a lot of fungus / mold disease, pistachios are toast see: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/pistachio-disease/
Skippy…going to need a lot of chemicals…sigh…great barrier reef.
I saw this happening in Hawaii as well. A friend has stopped ginger farming because of new bacteria causing rot and local, pretty big organic farmers have also had trouble with new diseases. Then there is the coffee borer beetle as well…
http://www.jimseven.com/2011/03/02/coffee-berry-borer-global-climate-change/
One of the principles of the new secession movement is that each divorcing state should not have the right to join with other divorcing states in creating a new nation nor should any divorcing state have the right to join another nation without the expressed consent of the remaining states in the union. In the case of Vermont, insofar as its motive to file for divorce would be the right to setup a single payer health insurance program, the United States would be well advised to allow it to join Canada.
Re Japan’s “empty monument” risk:
Far worse is the threat that any rebuilding will be done under shock doctrine auspices. I’ve already seen several pieces lauding this as a great opportunity for corporate consolidation and concentration of previously more decentralized industries, for example the fisheries.
It would be better to leave the place an inert ruin than to “rebuild” it as another malevolent corporate machine.
Re Vermont single payer:
The wickedness of Obama and the Democrats, the lies of Republicans about “states rights”, and the typical liberal combination of malevolence, stupidity, and cowardice become ever more patent with every new paragraph we read having anything to do with this infinitely vile health bill.
And the problem is not purely that Republicans are evil.
Yes. Democrats/establishment liberals are equally evil. And the system is set up to do nothing more or less than empower evil.
vermont is also fighting an uphill battle to close down a nuclear plant long overdue for retirement.
it is marvelous to witness how difficult it is for a state government to dare to oppose the will of a large corporation.
Since we had a dustup here the other day over the systematic conduct of professionals as a group:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/links-easter-sunday.html#comment-377969
I thought I’d link this example from today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/nyregion/psychologist-advisers-on-questioning-terror-suspects-face-ire.html?src=recg
Of course, the states of NY, Ohio, Louisiana, and Texas; their courts so far; the Society of Military Psychologists, and the American Psychological Association, all say “move along, nothing to see here”.
Here’s the most Orwellian part:
The psychologists may also benefit from circular reasoning by the government and ethical authorities, said Dr. Bloche, whose book, “The Hippocratic Myth,” explores the tension of doctors’ ethical commitments.
While the Justice Department under President George W. Bush said its interrogation guidelines were legal because psychologists designed them, the American Psychological Association has said that the psychologists who consulted on interrogations had a duty to follow government guidelines, Dr. Bloche said.
Since we had a dustup here the other day over the systematic conduct of professionals
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/links-easter-sunday.html#comment-377969
I thought I’d link this example from today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/nyregion/psychologist-advisers-on-questioning-terror-suspects-face-ire.html?src=recg
Of course, the states of NY, Ohio, Louisiana, and Texas; their courts so far; the Society of Military Psychologists, and the American Psychological Association, all say “move along, nothing to see here”.
Here’s the most Orwellian part:
The psychologists may also benefit from circular reasoning by the government and ethical authorities, said Dr. Bloche, whose book, “The Hippocratic Myth,” explores the tension of doctors’ ethical commitments.
While the Justice Department under President George W. Bush said its interrogation guidelines were legal because psychologists designed them, the American Psychological Association has said that the psychologists who consulted on interrogations had a duty to follow government guidelines, Dr. Bloche said.
It’s tough yaka dehumanizing others when you are self professed, achieved by proxy, self acclaimed.
Skippy…see Nazi’s and other historical gadfly’s.
Yes, Obama must have put a pony’s head in Kucinich’s bed….
And the appalling spectacle of Kucinich actually whipping for what turned out to be Romneycare on the House floor, after he was saying, only the day before, that he opposed it, and on grounds of principle, too, should… Well, it should give pause to anyone who puts any faith in the Ds whatever, let’s say.
* * *
The perfidy of the Ds on single payer is well known, in particular the sorry history of the Kucinich amendment.
However, AFAIK, Vermont can still ask for a waiver after they pass their bill, and they have not yet done so, and so Obama has not yet sabotaged the current VT effort.
Kucinich admits to being despondent about any prospect of sympathetic elites contributing to reform. He’s now convinced the system is rigged and the only possible impetus is external to electoral politics.
The Sanders link on how we lend the banksters money for nothing, and then they lend it back to us for interest, reminds me of parasites who change the behavior of their hosts:
To be clear, I’m comparing the banksters to T. gondii, and not rat droppings, tempting though that may be.
Thank you for the warning.
I will have to wear gloves the next time I clean those litter boxes.
Maybe it’s too late.
When I smell a cat, I always skitter off to find it.
Probably best to avoid zoos and hiking in places where mountain lions live.
It is rather disturbing to find out that nature is this diabolical. Brings to mind Heinlein’s Puppet Masters novel.
Makes me wonder if a similar organism exists which make trout jump into a bears arms. And if tying flies is really the most effective way to go trout fishing. Of course wearing a bear suit in bear country poses it’s own set of risks….
But the main thing I worry about is the USG funding research to develop a strain that gets humans to walk into a loan brokers office. I wonder what Elizabeth Warren would say about that? Does MMT have that covered in their theoretical framework?
@ Lambert
LOL. No you aren’t comparing banksters to rat droppings. You are comparing them to a parasite in cat droppings.
I thought there might be a link or a post about the Commerce Department’s report of 1.8% GDP growth in the first quarter. This effectively blows up all those estimates for 3% growth for 2011. I can’t help thinking that this is why Bernanke scheduled his press conference yesterday so reporters wouldn’t have this sh*tty number to beat him over the head with.
You have to love too how it is that when a bad number comes in how many excuses are found to explain its exceptional nature. Yet when a good number comes in there is almost never a similar effort to chalk it up to exceptional circumstances.
I forgot to add that it goes to show how rigged the stock market is that as I write the Dow Jones is trading up and is above 12,700. You might think that if it were a real market it might react to real economic news. The fact that it doesn’t shows how completely manipulated it is.
Like austerity, deficit spending seems to fail to generate much economic growth.
The market is not going down until HAL 9000 says it’s going down.
But Ben did concede yesterday that the Fed and just about every other economist have lowered 1Q predictions. GS cut a week ago. The Fed surveys this week showed manufacturing activity plummeted in the Mid Atlantic and Texas zones. The last couple weeks of unemployment data have been tepid.
Some heritics are saying that maybe food and gas price inflation doesn’t lead to higher employment. But there is little support for silly arguments like that among real economists.
An article on how “The Arab Spring” affected Obama’s foriegn policy strategy. Actually spends a lot of time on how Obama’s foreign policy views developed in the first place.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/02/110502fa_fact_lizza
Maybe it’s been flogged already, but I had to highlight this. It has about the best line ever:
“[Obama] started to move away from the ideas of people like Power and Slaughter.”
You should read some Bogle:
http://www.vanguard.com/bogle_ site/sp20030611.html
Owners Capitalism vs. Managers Capitalism
http://www.vanguard.com/bogle_ site/sp20090513.html
The Culture That Gave Rise To The Current Financial Crisis
http://www.vanguard.com/bogle_ site/sp20060208.htm
The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism
From STRATFOR… Portfolio: Risk of U.S. Debt Default http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110427-portfolio-risk-us-debt-default
It’s easy to get dis-oriened or lost in academic theory or minutiae of various economic and political economy arguments. Therefore I thought this STRATFOR article hit the key points (related to money and power) quite well. Since I come to this blog to learn more about economic issues I was wondering if anyone substantially disagrees with STRATFOR’s contentions.
I don’t think STRATFOR is saying anything here that we don’t already know. The question for the US is how to bring down the budget deficit. There tough choices to be made and no political will to do so.
Yes I know that’s the obvious stuff. Should have been more clear, as I am really asking about the limits of of POWER and MONEY, which we do not yet seem to have encountered. In this STRATFOR post, and others where they have mentioned the US economy, they have not expressed any urgency about the debt. This ties in to my own observations about the attitudes of the financial power elite.
I observed that when Bush was in office lots of folks (Dems especially) screamed about the increased debt, but gov’t friendly economists didn’t seem all that concerned. Now that Obama is prez the Repubs are screaming about the increased debt and getting everyone all worked up about it, while gov’t friendly economists don’t seem as concerned.
Here on this blog many seem very concerned about the debt. There is alot of fuss in the MSM about the debt, and now the citizenry is all worked up about it too… but I do not see the same concern at higher levels of power. I find that suspicious and intriguing, and I don’t think it’s as simple as governmental or elite denial (as many do). While I do not have much background in economics or finance (working at it), I have spent much time studying history, economic history, history of warfare and changing political and cultural beliefs… so this statement regarding Pax Americana’s ability to control (or attempt to control) the monetary system…
“the U.S. is a special case because it is a country that can manipulate the currency policy of the entire global system for its own benefit, and as we’ve seen in the past, the Federal Reserve really doesn’t have a problem doing that”
The question is, how far and how long can the Federal Reserve attempt to “manufacture consent” about the nature of the monetary reality they are creating? How much power do they really have here? Depending on how much power they have, the debt issue changes relevance.
“Luckily for the Americans, there is absolutely no currency out there that is within a generation of replacing the United States dollar as the global currency.”
The above STRATFOR article (subscription firewall) seems to think that the US doesn’t have to worry about finances until there is another currency (or currencies) that could take on the global currency role. The article analyzes the future of the euro and yuan in this regard and finds them a non-threat right now, but does not address the recent BRIC currency agreement.
Soros is big on currency games… all this has me wondering if currency trading will take on a larger role in the Great Money Game in the future.
The BRICs have been accelerating moves to regional agreements and oil pricing agreements, so I agree STRATFOR is very behind the curve if they think the buck is safe for another whole generation. I think US debt to GDP is scheduled to be around 400% by then, so Americans will be on the barter system long before then. There will be a google page for pig/cow/goat conversions, and you will keep your electronic livestock in a Paypal “corral”.
And I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that maybe the world doesn’t really need a single global currency, and maybe central banks just start managing their reserves to match up with their trading partners.
The Saudis always laughed off going off the dollar for oil transactions, because they say they can always set price in dollars wherever they think it should be. But not much help there for American owners of the buck.
This is almost a truism if you are relying on the crutch of being an irreplaceable global, monopoly, fiat currency backed by a super computer that can print dollar electrons at the speed of light and buy all the Treasuries the USG cares to issue.
It’s just that the ROW (and those of us that never seem to find out where that helicopter drop of money is happening) is getting worried we may do that, so paint your own possible futuristic responses. It’s probably best to ignore any professional economic inputs and just go with your own gut feelings.
Weiss Ratings of Jupiter, Fla. initiated their sovereign debt ratings today with a C grade for Uncle Sam.
Next up, his FICO score.
Hmmm… I wonder if Bernanke or Geithner cares about the Weiss rating. I don’t think the “white hat” financial players have all that much impact on the Great Money Game right now.
Follow up from my comment on yesterday’s “Links” where I mused on why the Fed was conducting news conferences:
Perhaps there could be another, brighter, explanation for the news conferences. Perhaps the Fed/Bernanke feels that it needs to raise it profile so that it can act more independently?
The Fed already releases information about its activities and for those that want MORE detailed info from the the Fed, a news conference is not the venue for that. And Bernanke already does interviews from time to time. So why add news conferences to the mix? (especially when the format ensures softball questions)
To my mind, a news conference is fundamentally a political thing. It serves to raise awareness of the Fed’s power and control. The Fed can use that in many ways. Cynics and pessimists can say that it will be used to embellish current political / business power centers (I described yesterday how it could benefit TBTF Banks, or the Obama administration). But MAYBE the Fed wants that added political heft so that it can act independently of the influences of these other power centers?
In some sense, that could be a good thing. In another, it could indicate policy disagreements and a rocky road ahead.
Any thoughts?
I think ZH tallied up 16 Fed member speeches in the 30 days prior to the monumental press conference. Ben even was asked the question why they are doing this, and he said there was much discussion within the Fed whether it was really necessary, but they decided to give it a try anyway.
My bet is the series gets cancelled after episode 2 or 3 due to poor ratings.
“Any thoughts?”
How about… propaganda, disinformation, and deception?
I’m just not buying the newfound love of “transparency” (where “transparency” means taking questions from a handpicked group of establishment reporters).
One could say that they “got religion” after losing the lawsuits that forced them to divulge information that they wanted to keep secret. But I don’t buy it.
So I’m just searching for some more compelling reason for these news conferences.
After watching Steve Liesman play the hard hitting reporter and confronting Ben with the probing question of “isn’t the Fed making the dollar go down?”, I am pretty sure whatever sneaky reason the Fed could have for this teleprompter fest will be re-evaluated as the re-broadcasts start showing up on SNL or maybe redone in animated form for Southpark. If they think the financial markets can get mean, just wait till they try seducing Joe Sixpack. Or Fivepack?
But I did come across an interesting twist on the “losing the lawsuit” where the Fed finally divulged some 3 trillion in emergency lending, which included TALF money for banker’s wives. Yesterday Angry Bear posted the link to the conferences at Roosevelt Institute, which coincidentally was were Yves went yesterday, and someone pointed out that if the Fed info had been available in a timely matter, it would have greatly affected how Frank_appended_by_Dodd was written.
So by fighting the release, the Fed lost a battle but won the war.
If I had to guess, without resorting to theories involving scheming and manipulation by TBTF Banks, the Obama administration, Bernanke himself, etc. I’d say the Fed is trying to talk down inflation expectations.
If that is so, the giveaway, I think, is FOMC DISCUSSIONS of how they will tighten at some indeterminate time in the future.
Its hard for me to image QE2 having much effect on lowering rates (and buying enough to lower rates and overcome the increasing inflation expectations that such purchasing would engender would be VERY expensive). So I tend to believe that it was designed to increase rates. But I guess that the change in inflation expectations went further than the Fed expected and are now in danger of being “anchored” (to use a Fed term).
Here we go. This is almost the South Park version analyzing Ben’s Big Press Conference. An animated Crash Test Dummy is interviewed for his reactions to the press conference.
While this pretty much nails it from a “populist” perspective, I think the Fed is trying to screw creditors too. They want to keep inflation “expectations” low to lower the real cost on gov and private debt. Then after you buy it, and real inflation eventually rises, they very slowly decide they need to do something about it.
Meanwhile, you get negative real return, and then get taxed on your nominal return, just to make sure you realize you are dealing with minds far greater than yours.
But the video is fun anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T64Loi2FJT8&feature=player_embedded
Thanks for the link.
I think by “creditors” you meant savers. You don’t talk to major “creditors” through a press conference.
The news conference is a vehicle for sending a message to a wide audience of ordinary people. The Fed doesn’t want these ordinary people to get the notion that they should get more in their paycheck or more interest on their money.
So they tell us that the FOMC is *talking* about reversing the accommodative monetary policy, and Bernanke says that inflation is “transitory.” That seems to be the key reason for the pressers. Not transparency but PR.
What’s striking is the disingenuous-ness. The Fed talks about “transparancy” but it’s just PR. Just as last Fall they talk about helping the unemployed by lowering interest rates but their actions appear to have been designed to alter inflation expectations (with the effect of INCREASING medium-long term interest rates).
Right. I mean anyone with a savings account, money market, longer term bond fund, or someone that visits Treasury Direct and buys maybe a 30 year treasury bond at 4.25%.
“Fed Design” does not always go per plan. Bond traders are harder to fool than the Little People, tho I wouldn’t underestimate their ability to detect a Fed scam.
Also, I have never known anyone in my employment circles who said “I sure hope the Fed raises inflation expectations so I don’t lose my job”. Or “I sure hope the Fed raises inflation expectations so I can find a job”. And we all went to college too. In fact, oftentimes we would talk about college days and I found out many of my peers admitted to rolling on the lecture hall floor laughing during Econ 101 lecture same as me. Small world.
The irony of armadillos being the only other animal that gets Hansen’s Disease, is that they give birth to monozygotic quadruplets, which makes them ideal for studying Hansen’s Disease.
On the Stratfor statement on rating agency measures, vis a vis the government debt.
They come right out and say the government cannot default.
Being monetarily sovereign with money and debt-issuance DENOMINATED only in their own currency, the US government cannot default if they don’t want to.
That fact alone, having nothing to do with global reserve status, commands a AAA rating according to all the rating agency criteria.
As to the power of the Fed to control global monetary movements, that is not as it appears from the reserve currency position. It is the international bankers and speculators that control all of these movements through the currency exchanges.
All the Fed’s moves are ineffective, crisis-driven wagers with the people’s money system.
The US cannot default as the debt is in US dollars. If the rest of the world decides US dollars are worthless ZIMBUCKS and demand payment in Gold or Silver for OIL…
As I know that Yves has a great interest in the evil Scott Walker crushing unions in Wisconsin, having posted a number of links about it over the past few months, I was a little surprised how she gave those union-busting jackasses in Massachusetts a free pass on imposing laws that substantially curtail union laws much further than what Evil Mubarak clone Scott Walker ever did in Wisconsin.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704463804576291240909536676.html
But then again, in Massachusetts, it was the Dems who passed the stricter legislation, so of course, that makes if perfectly and morally ok, you know.
Twenty or so years ago there was a case where a fellow studying leprosy in armadillos had his daughter come down with the disease. All the scientists said there was NO chance her infection was related to her father’s work. I was always suspicious of that.