This a submission by Jim Fitch of
Some Assembly Required.
2007 was the year of subprime.
2008 seems to be the year of everything else
One Size: Pundits worry that Freddie, Fanny, GM, Citibank, and such are teetering on the edge, but are relieved that they are too big to fail and that Uncle Sam will (somehow) save the day. Why isn’t the concern that they, and the US, are simply too big to save?
Essay Question: In 500 words or less, describe Obama’s proposed $1,000 tax rebate based on a windfall energy profits tax without using the words ‘pandering’ and ‘ridiculous’. Usual prize.
Waiting Room: By 2011 the VA be able to accurately track every veteran who died for lack of care while the VA spent $11 billion improving its record keeping.
Dear Diary: Economist Paul Krugman says “I don’t think there’s any fundamental inflation problem, just a one-time hit on food and energy.” Just for the record, the hit was by a 32 ton cement mixer falling from a great height.
Indecent Proposal: Interesting that oil at $140 or, more accurately, gasoline at $4, can change core beliefs. In California and Florida, a majority of voters now support drilling off the coast.
Peak Travel: Even with higher fares, airlines are charging for suitcases, coffee, water. And going broke. Air travel is perhaps the poster child for what the End of Oil will mean. Not the end of travel; the rich and politically prominent will still travel, but the rest of us will slowly lapse into a 15th century parochialism, seldom traveling more than 25 miles from home.
Third Degree: Researchers say that examination of 30 billion ‘instant messages’ sent during July 2006 showed that we are all Kevin Bacon. Results of NSA’s examination of the same 30 billion messages have not been released.
Some Assembly Required reflects my somewhat cynical view of the world on a daily basis. Think of it as having coffee with a curmudgeon. Come visit.
2 comments
Comments are closed.
Re: Krugman
I think he was smoking crack on that off-the-top-of-his-head thinking:
Now here’s the thing: all of the recent evidence points to (1). I’d argue that the logic of the situation does the same: without cost-of-living allowances in wage contracts (we’ve got an un-COLA economy), there’s no reason either workers or employers should regard the price of gasoline as relevant to their bargaining. That, fundamentally, is why I’m a monetary policy dove right now: I don’t think there’s any fundamental inflation problem, just a one-time hit on food and energy.
Anyone see a connection with cost of living and gas, like the cost of gas to deliver food which really costs the same as it always did……I give up.. I wonder if he will be in The Obama Cabinet……. if so, moving to Mexico is not a bad idea!
Fitch, Cass, or whoever, you might comment on this bloomberg article regarding the decline in the number of primary government securities dealers will increase the taxpayer's / government's borrowing costs.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602002&sid=akZhwpE0wt_Q&refer=markets