Saturday, August 07, 2010
Shorter Edmund Phelps
Except for the lack of business investment and consumer spending, we have no demand shortage whatsoever.
Friday, August 06, 2010
Recovery Summer
While apparently it was the Times, and not Geithner, which wrote the title "Welcome to the Reovery," we had this...
WASHINGTON, DC – The Administration today kicks off “Recovery Summer,” a six-week-long focus on the surge in Recovery Act infrastructure projects that will be underway across the country in the coming months – and the jobs they’ll create well into the fall and through the end of the year.
Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Racist
It's something his 700 fawning major media profiles have gone out of their way to ignore, but he doesn't actually hide it.
Money For Nothing And Who Knows Maybe Some Chicks For Free
Banksters peddled this crap to municipalities and agencies all across the country. I assume the people who took the deals assumed that potential reputational damage would prevent the banksters from screwing them, but obviously they're impervious to reputational damage.
Freedom Isn't Free
Saw that sticker in a window the other day and it's been bugging me ever sense. I'm sure some people mouthing that slogan have connections to people who have served and paid a price, but for the rest of them... what price have they paid?
And Camden, NJ Just Shut Its Libraries
I've been semi-joking for some time that this is how empires collapse, well....
Depressingly Stupid
I chatted briefly with a certain member of Congress at netroots nation. While I didn't really get his views, and don't know if he was in the depressingly stupid column, looking back he probably thought I was nuts. We were talking about the economy and he said Dems in his cohort were still trying to figure things out, which was an honest admission. I launched into a diatribe about how Bernanke should be dropping money from helicopters, the federal government should open the spigots and spend money on anything and everything, etc. You know, the usual crap you read here.
The Right Place
Ezra:
I'm not going to deny the importance of private sector job growth, but there's no reason to see private sector jobs as somehow superior to public sector jobs. More than that, plenty of private sector jobs really are "government jobs," from contractors in the military-intelligence industrial complex to private highway construction workers. Plenty of jobs and companies wouldn't exist without government spending, however they're technically classified.
Either we lost 131,000 jobs, or if you ignore the census jobs, we gained about 10,000. The good news? The 71,000 jobs we did gain came from the right place, and the jobs we lost are job losses we can prevent if Congress finds the will and the votes.
I'm not going to deny the importance of private sector job growth, but there's no reason to see private sector jobs as somehow superior to public sector jobs. More than that, plenty of private sector jobs really are "government jobs," from contractors in the military-intelligence industrial complex to private highway construction workers. Plenty of jobs and companies wouldn't exist without government spending, however they're technically classified.
How Now
Summers on April 4:
Labor force participation rate has fallen for the past 3 months.
TAPPER: Now, if you remove the temporary census worker jobs, 48,000, you're left with 114,000 new jobs. Big businesses have retained earnings. They are not spending that -- that money on creating new jobs. They're investing abroad. They're buying their own stock. They're buying other companies. Why are they not creating new jobs?
SUMMERS: They're starting to. We're in a very different place than we were a year ago. A year ago, we were losing 600,000 jobs a month. Now the process of job creation has started. We expect that it will accelerate.
...
You know, the -- the good news is that, if you look at what's happened in the first quarter of this year, it's hardly satisfactory, but it is running somewhat ahead of what the administration was forecasting, because our forecasts were conservative. And I'd expect continued progress in job creation.
As you see progress in job creation, you tend to see unemployment go down. It's not quite as simple as some people think, Jake, because as conditions get better, more people decide to look for work and are counted as in the labor force. So sometimes it's frustrating and the progress doesn't show up immediately in the unemployment rate, but it's progress nonetheless in giving jobs to people who need them.
Labor force participation rate has fallen for the past 3 months.
Jobs
The under wins.
Maybe somebody should do something.
Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Federal government employment fell, as 143,000 temporary hired for the decennial census completed their work. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.
Maybe somebody should do something.
Resigned
Hard not to think about giving up.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| I Give Up - 9/11 Responders Bill | ||||
| ||||
Dear Internet Gods
Thank you for giving us Dr. Kevin Pezzi M.D. I spent a solid hour tonight laughing about this, and no, that time was not wasted at all.
For those of you who chuckled but didn't go all the way down the rabbit hole, let me share my favorite (of oh so many) Pezzi websites (dude owns more domains than GoDaddy).
If you visit Stop-burglars.com you'll get to enjoy a Pezzi trifecta. 1) Nausea inducing web design. 2) Absurdly hilarious crackpot invention, in this case a "compact disc" (sorry for the techie jargon) of construction noises for you to play loudly enough to deter burglars. 3) A contact page that points to another Dr. Pezzi M.D. web innovation that he thinks would revolutionize the internet if his genius weren't so unappreciated.
Oh, and if you love internet dating but just hate having to write all those profiles for yourself, problem solved! Now you can benefit from the charm and wit of Dr. Pezzi M.D. and write them by selecting sentences from drop down menus! I can see now how Pezzi so easily bested Bill Gates in an unnamed battle of mathematical ability and logic. His logic is flawless!
For those of you who chuckled but didn't go all the way down the rabbit hole, let me share my favorite (of oh so many) Pezzi websites (dude owns more domains than GoDaddy).
If you visit Stop-burglars.com you'll get to enjoy a Pezzi trifecta. 1) Nausea inducing web design. 2) Absurdly hilarious crackpot invention, in this case a "compact disc" (sorry for the techie jargon) of construction noises for you to play loudly enough to deter burglars. 3) A contact page that points to another Dr. Pezzi M.D. web innovation that he thinks would revolutionize the internet if his genius weren't so unappreciated.
MySpamSponge is a site I developed that anyone can use to block all of their spam, but never any legitimate messages. With MySpamSponge, you communicate using handles instead of e-mail addresses. A handle is essentially a contact code that gives people a way to contact you via e-mail without you having to reveal your e-mail address. Similarly, you can send a message by using the recipient's handle as the address (mine is stopburglars). Smart people will quickly "get it" and realize that this could be the magic bullet that makes spam a thing of the past, but I wonder if the average Internet user can grasp a major innovation that didn't come from Microsoft or Google. We'll see.In case you were wondering, the handle "doctor" is already taken by you know who. And you can bypass the captcha (unless you clear your cookies...) if you buy some of his books or products and he personally approves you. Watch out, Google! That business model scales!
Oh, and if you love internet dating but just hate having to write all those profiles for yourself, problem solved! Now you can benefit from the charm and wit of Dr. Pezzi M.D. and write them by selecting sentences from drop down menus! I can see now how Pezzi so easily bested Bill Gates in an unnamed battle of mathematical ability and logic. His logic is flawless!
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Don't Listen To The Girlymaths
Oh well.
The people who are always wrong about fucking everything maintain power.
Romer had run simulations of the effects of stimulus packages of varying sizes: six hundred billion dollars, eight hundred billion dollars, and $1.2 trillion. The best estimate for the output gap was some two trillion dollars over 2009 and 2010. Because of the multiplier effect, filling that gap didn’t require two trillion dollars of government spending, but Romer’s analysis, deeply informed by her work on the Depression, suggested that the package should probably be more than $1.2 trillion. The memo to Obama, however, detailed only two packages: a five-hundred-and-fifty-billion-dollar stimulus and an eight-hundred-and-ninety-billion-dollar stimulus. Summers did not include Romer’s $1.2-trillion projection. The memo argued that the stimulus should not be used to fill the entire output gap; rather, it was “an insurance package against catastrophic failure.” At the meeting, according to one participant, “there was no serious discussion to going above a trillion dollars.”
The people who are always wrong about fucking everything maintain power.
Depressing And Unsurprising
Romer's no dirty hippie, but nor is she a Very Serious Person.
Romer, an economics professor at the University of California (Berkeley) before taking the key admin post, did not respond to repeated calls to her office.
"She has been frustrated," a source with insight into the WH economics team said. "She doesn't feel that she has a direct line to the president. She would be giving different advice than Larry Summers [director of the National Economic Council], who does have a direct line to the president."
Great Moments In Random Dumbassery
NPR did one of their "interview random unrepresentative people and get quotes" segments about Prop 8. One of the guys interviewed said something like, "I think it's ok if gays can get married, I just wish they'd call it something else."
Jobs
Important number tomorrow is the private sector number, as the overall number will be skewed by the loss of Census jobs. Overall expect a negative number. Consensus forecast for private sector jobs is +83K. I'll take the under as I usually do... As I also do these days I'll hope for a really bad number, not because I hope for a really bad reality, just a really bad measurement in the hope that it spurs some action....
The Good Kind Of Curb Cuts
When I write about my war on curb cuts, I of course don't mean corner curb cuts that make sidewalks more accessible. My local transit authority is not perfect, largely built before accessibility issues were a concern, but certainly is used by large numbers of people with disabilities and provides them with a degree of independence they wouldn't otherwise have.
We Used To Make Stuff
 | |
| Thomas Buck Hosiery |
Was wandering through a more northern bit of Philly awhile back, I think in the Kensington neighorhood, and came across some old industrial sites. The post-industrial city is so severed from its industrial past that it's easy to forget how it was. People lived here and there were factories.
Bush Tax Cuts
If the Dems were smart there would be no debate about the "Bush tax cuts" instead they would let the Bush tax cuts expire as the law currently requires and come up with their own exciting "Obama tax cuts" or "Democratic tax cuts" or whatever. Why they want to essentially give Bush credit for their tax cutting is bizarre.
Can't They Do Something Useful
I get that it's sadly difficult to stop certain parasitic entities from taking their cut of federal tax dollars, but can't we just give them the money and have them do something actually useful instead?
Thursday IS New Jobless Day
And hey, uh, still high.
Very unexpected.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 in the week ended July 31, the Labor Department said. That was the highest level in claims since early April.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast claims dipping to 455,000 from the previously reported 457,000 the prior week, which was revised modestly up to 460,000 in Thursday's report.
Very unexpected.
The lessons of 9/11, September 11th, remember remember the Eleventh of September
What FREEDOM smells like, Giuliani time!
The daughter of New York's toughest-talking, law-and-order mayor was arrested for petty larceny and hauled out of the store in handcuffs. She was taken to the 19th Precinct stationhouse, where she was expected to be issued a desk appearance ticket.
Once store employees learned who the suspect's father is, they told cops they didn't want to press charges, a source said.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Shorter Colbert and Ingraham
If you have 6 minutes this video of Ingraham on Colbert is worth watching.
If you only have 9 seconds here is the shorter version. Ingraham is wearing the hat.
Relatedly, rock on to some Cut Chemist and Biz Markie.
If you only have 9 seconds here is the shorter version. Ingraham is wearing the hat.
Relatedly, rock on to some Cut Chemist and Biz Markie.
Depressingly Stupid
Years later, and the idiots can't distinguish between what your church does (don't care) and what the government does (do).
Rescue
Senate actually managed to pass some teacher money and Pelosi will recall Boehner from his golf game so the House can do same soon.
Not enough, but something.
Not enough, but something.
W=GDP/N
Mike Konczal:
A big problem with economists is that they do a bit of sleight of hand with policy analysis. First they'll come up with some policy change which, IN THEORY GIVEN APPROPRIATE REDISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS, can be Pareto Improving, that is make everyone as well or better off without making things worse for anyone. That is, because the policy change increases the size of the pie - makes per capita gdp higher - there's more to go around. But the next step, the actual redistribution, of course does not happen so GDP enhancing policies might give Bill Gates an extra billion bucks while leaving the rest of us with $500 million less.
I think this sets people off. There are those who think that once you focus on growth nothing else matters, and that worrying about the distribution is a waste of time.
A big problem with economists is that they do a bit of sleight of hand with policy analysis. First they'll come up with some policy change which, IN THEORY GIVEN APPROPRIATE REDISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS, can be Pareto Improving, that is make everyone as well or better off without making things worse for anyone. That is, because the policy change increases the size of the pie - makes per capita gdp higher - there's more to go around. But the next step, the actual redistribution, of course does not happen so GDP enhancing policies might give Bill Gates an extra billion bucks while leaving the rest of us with $500 million less.
Say Yes To Cramdowns
It is never too late, but imagine how awesome things would be if it passed 3 years ago. I'm displaying my angry face right now.
Car Sharing Is The Great Thing Ever
The great private value of car sharing is that it allows households to have a lower ratio of cars to driving age members than 1. Reduce one car/insurance payment and you've got a nice extra chunk of change. The great social benefit is reducing the amount of necessary parking, particularly in a world where parking is expected to be free or cheap.
Put The Story Back In The Musical
I like Glee, but it went too far from its original 'backstage musical' format with few songs to full-blown all out musical. Hopefully they put back the quirk and dialogue a bit more as this article suggests.
And then bring back Cop Rock damnit.
And then bring back Cop Rock damnit.
Life Sentences
I don't think most people really think through the consequences of what that means. I get the desire to be punitive in the extreme for certain crimes, and a "life sentence" provides an option for those of us not inclined to support the death penalty, but the consequences of very long or life sentences is that our prisons are increasingly populated by old people. Does it really make sense to keep a bunch of 70-year-olds behind bars?
No One Would Notice
The very frustrating thing about gas tax increases is that while I get that increasing them is a direct assault on everything which makes us proud Americans, if they could just pass it without telling anyone no one would even notice. People don't notice 3-5 cent fluctuations in the per gallon price. And it would raise a lot of money to pay for those roads which, despite myths, don't actually pay for themselves.
Rendell also said a 3.5-cent increase in the state's gasoline tax would raise $240 million, while boosting vehicle fees - to match inflation since they were last raised 13 years ago - would produce $327 million.
Pennsylvania's gas tax of 32.3 cents a gallon (including the franchise tax) is 13th-highest in the nation. The national average is 29.3 cents.
...
Rendell has been pushing for the legislature to be much more ambitious and raise about $3.5 billion a year for transportation. The funds would be used to reduce a backlog of 5,600 structurally deficient bridges and 7,000 miles of roads in poor condition, in addition to allowing transit agencies such as SEPTA to buy buses, install automated fare-collection systems, upgrade run-down passenger stations, and replace power substations.
HAMP'D
Political reporters usually like finding "administration failures," but they mostly ignore the biggest piece of shit of all, the HAMP program, which not only failed to help many people but ultimately made life worse for a lot.
Some sort of mandatory principal reduction, either through bankruptcy or some sort of carrot-and-stick program through Treasury, was necessary. And it isn't just individuals that are suffering, it's damaged the broader economy.
Some sort of mandatory principal reduction, either through bankruptcy or some sort of carrot-and-stick program through Treasury, was necessary. And it isn't just individuals that are suffering, it's damaged the broader economy.
SUPERBUS
Though really, since it runs on tracks it's really more of a train. Anyway the main purpose of such a thing that I can imagine is that it allows dual use of an existing right of way.
That's Exactly The Attitude They Want You To Have
I'm slightly less pro-bike than some - though I am pro-bike - but I may have to rethink.
(ht reader m)
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is warning voters that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike riding, are "converting Denver into a United Nations community."
"This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed," Maes told about 50 supporters who showed up at a campaign rally last week in Centennial.
Maes said in a later interview that he once thought the mayor's efforts to promote cycling and other environmental initiatives were harmless and well-meaning. Now he realizes "that's exactly the attitude they want you to have."
"This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms," Maes said.
(ht reader m)
Jobs Guess
Real number comes out on Friday, private sector guess is... +42K private sector jobs.
That's not good.
That's not good.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Building Again
Locally it seems that building, which had pretty much stalled, is back. Projects that were put on hold, probably due to financing drying up, are being completed and new projects are beginning. Most projects are small, involving rehabbing shells or new construction on a couple of empty lots.
The punchline is that the abandoned building next to me might be getting at least a partial reconstruction. Oh joy.
The punchline is that the abandoned building next to me might be getting at least a partial reconstruction. Oh joy.
What To Do About My Local Orchestra
It has financial problems. Commenters wildly disagree about what should be done. As with newspapers, "what should be done" conversations have a lot to do with getting more people interested in your product, though I gather that to some extent financial problems go beyond low attendance even if the attendance problem is real.
I go to 6-8 concerts per year usually, and my two cents is...well, just make the whole experience more accessible and more enjoyable. By accessible I don't mean more accessible music - I think they program plenty of that - I mean, less stuffy, less... I don't know, sometimes concertgoers are treated more like invaders than customers. They seemed to have removed all concessions from the upper floors, making that intermission drink or snack impossible for most people.
Their rush program is commendable, but in the age of the internets there's no need to make people stand in line a few hours before the performance to receive a ticket which lets you be seated in a random empty seat right before the show starts. It isn't really a pleasant experience. With attendance as low as it is, they can release actual tickets and let people just print them out a couple hours before performance (can let people line up, too, but should give assigned seats). Should be aggressive outreach to local organizations for concerts with low sales, releasing cheap ticket blocks to them.
Their summer program is a gateway for a lot of people, providing a less stuffy introduction to the orchestra, but the quantity and quality vary from year to year. This year especially it was quite awful, with just a few shows mostly loaded up with pops along with an appearance by Condi Rice. Once upon a time they did 20 or "serious" concerts in the summer, though sitting with a bottle of wine under the stars doesn't make them seem so serious.
The building's a problem, not living up to its promise of being a public space that people would want to visit despite being marketed that way. Anyone not an architect could have noticed that from the designs, but contemporary architects seem to be bad at designing such spaces. There should be a bar which is open nightly, or at least on performance nights, which people not even attending the concerts would want to patronize.
Anyway, random thoughts. Financial problems are deeper than attendance problems, but the attendance problems seem to be solvable to me.
I go to 6-8 concerts per year usually, and my two cents is...well, just make the whole experience more accessible and more enjoyable. By accessible I don't mean more accessible music - I think they program plenty of that - I mean, less stuffy, less... I don't know, sometimes concertgoers are treated more like invaders than customers. They seemed to have removed all concessions from the upper floors, making that intermission drink or snack impossible for most people.
Their rush program is commendable, but in the age of the internets there's no need to make people stand in line a few hours before the performance to receive a ticket which lets you be seated in a random empty seat right before the show starts. It isn't really a pleasant experience. With attendance as low as it is, they can release actual tickets and let people just print them out a couple hours before performance (can let people line up, too, but should give assigned seats). Should be aggressive outreach to local organizations for concerts with low sales, releasing cheap ticket blocks to them.
Their summer program is a gateway for a lot of people, providing a less stuffy introduction to the orchestra, but the quantity and quality vary from year to year. This year especially it was quite awful, with just a few shows mostly loaded up with pops along with an appearance by Condi Rice. Once upon a time they did 20 or "serious" concerts in the summer, though sitting with a bottle of wine under the stars doesn't make them seem so serious.
The building's a problem, not living up to its promise of being a public space that people would want to visit despite being marketed that way. Anyone not an architect could have noticed that from the designs, but contemporary architects seem to be bad at designing such spaces. There should be a bar which is open nightly, or at least on performance nights, which people not even attending the concerts would want to patronize.
Anyway, random thoughts. Financial problems are deeper than attendance problems, but the attendance problems seem to be solvable to me.
The Old People Are Alright
Had good seats to see Spoon and The Arcade Fire last light. Was surprised by the number of old people who were there, and by old people I don't mean old buggers like me, I mean people more than a couple years older than I am and who weren't there with their kids. These are two bands that are reasonably popular and you're aware of them if you're at all plugged into the indieish music scene, but don't have complete mass marketing behind them. Anyway, point is not "good that old people like these two bands," the point is good for old people who don't live in an endless nostalgia loop. Life goes on after The Eagles reunions end.
Unpossible Dreams
Given the peculiar nature of the lead fluoride in the water in DC, expanding Social Security and Medicare will probably happen never, but in a sane universe this wouldn't just be a good idea it would be an obviously good idea. Older unemployed workers aren't going to be retrained for the "skills they need to re-enter the 21st-century economy" and even if they could it wouldn't be a cost effective investment given the fact that their retirement is near. Right now they're just depleting what savings they had and ensuring a retirement existence at a far lower wealth/income level than they expected. Lower full eligibility 62, if only temporarily, and lower partial eligibility to 60. And Medicare to 62, and Medicare buy in to 55 while I'm dreaming.
Nothing Really To Be Done
Leaving the policy issues aside, it's really puzzling to me that they've apparently concluded that "stay the course and hope for the best" is a better message than "we'd better do something about this right now."
So Very Unexpected
Can't read too much into month to month data, so it's the "expectations" I always think are interesting.
Consumer spending and personal incomes in the U.S. unexpectedly stagnated in June, showing a lack of jobs is hurting the biggest part of the economy.
Learn Something Useful, Losers
The worst part of Timmeh's piece:
The sentence that should have been written is:
But obviously that's not what they're thinking. Unemployment is a skills mismatch problem, unemployed losers don't "have the skills they need to re-enter the 21st-century economy."
We're screwed.
We have a long way to go to address the fiscal trauma and damage across the country, and we will need to monitor the ups and downs in the economy month by month. The share of workers who have been unemployed for six months or more is at its highest level since 1948, when the data was first recorded, and we must do more to ensure that they have the skills they need to re-enter the 21st-century economy. Small businesses are still battling a tough climate. State and local governments are still hurting. [my emphasis]
The sentence that should have been written is:
The share of workers who have been unemployed for six months or more is at its highest level since 1948, when the data was first recorded, and we must do more to ensure that they have jobs.
But obviously that's not what they're thinking. Unemployment is a skills mismatch problem, unemployed losers don't "have the skills they need to re-enter the 21st-century economy."
We're screwed.
Neither The Center Nor The City. Discuss.
On my way out of Vegas I stopped at the new "CityCenter" complex. Which, as far as I could tell, was neither much of a center nor much of a city. It's a collection of casino/hotels, a mall, and a residential tower, connected up by an airport peoplemover type thing. It isn't surprising that the residential tower isn't exactly doing well because I couldn't actually find any residential amenities in the complex, unless you count "casino" and "high end mall."
Doing it wrong...
Doing it wrong...
Important
The failure of Geithner to mention housing and foreclosures isn't simply about failing to acknowledge a peculiar form of economic suffering people are facing. The messed up housing market is a giant drag on the economy in a variety of ways. First, people who are locked in can't move. People who are locked in and are living in high unemployment areas both can't move and can't get jobs, of course leading to more foreclosures. All of this also destroys the residential construction industry, usually one of the drivers of recovery. As I've long been saying, failure to appropriately deal with the foreclosure crisis will be the reason recovery fails, if it does.
What's Missing
What's missing from Timmeh's NYT op-ed?
The words "foreclosure" or "housing."
Obviously HAMP isn't in there either.
The words "foreclosure" or "housing."
Obviously HAMP isn't in there either.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Who Knew It Was Harman of Harman Kardon
For $1.01, Newsweek could have been yours...(not really)
Husband of Jane Harman (D-CA)
Sidney Harman, the founder of Harman International Industries Inc., agreed to buy Newsweek magazine from Washington Post Co., ending a three-month bidding process for the money-losing publication.
Husband of Jane Harman (D-CA)
He's An Intellectual!
Or at least smart enough to know that if you basically make stuff up then Kaplan Test Prep Daily will dutifully write it up. If you're a Republican.
Sticky
Economists used to celebrate our geographically mobile work force, but the fact that people can't sell their houses along with health insurance concerns means they're now pretty much stuck where they are.
It's Great When Wages Fall
I guess it should have been obvious for some time, but it's clear that many in the Federal Reserve-Industrial complex always see rising wages as bad. Not simply wages rising faster than productivity gains, or even wages rising faster than inflation, but wage increases period. What this means, of course, is that those who set monetary policy think things are 'good' when the predator class increasingly has the power to extract all rents from workers.
Hooray!
Hooray!
We Are Ruled By Insane Sociopaths
The gelling conservative view is that the recession happened because in 2007 businesses started worrying that future President Barack Hussein Marx Stalin Obama would implement economy destroying regulations so they all went Galt to destroy the economy. Or something. Krgthulu:
For example, last week Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, argued that the Fed bears no responsibility for the economy’s weakness, which he attributed to business uncertainty about future regulations — a view that’s popular in conservative circles, but completely at odds with all the actual evidence. In effect, he responded to the Fed’s failure to achieve one of its two main goals by taking down the goalpost.
He then moved the other goalpost, defining the Fed’s aim not as roughly 2 percent inflation, but rather as that of “keeping inflation extremely low and stable.”
Sunday, August 01, 2010
I'm Sorry It's All My Fault
Things usually are.
Or maybe people are just leaving their wallets at home because they don't have any fucking money in them?
Their warnings could become self-fulfilling prophecies if they frighten enough people into holding tightly onto their wallets. With consumer spending accounting for two-thirds of economic activity, anything that further rattles consumers can undercut recovery hopes.
Or maybe people are just leaving their wallets at home because they don't have any fucking money in them?
Low Inflation
I think it was the Dallas Fed that once sent me a glossy newsletter claiming that we've really had massive deflation over the years because measured against hours worked things are now so much cheaper. No that doesn't make any sense.
Anyway, if you have close to zero inflation in normal times then if things get bad there's much less the Fed can do because of the zero bound. If you're a sociopath who enjoys the prospect of massive long term unemployment and widespread human misery for people who aren't you this is a feature, but for the rest of us this is a very bad idea.
Anyway, if you have close to zero inflation in normal times then if things get bad there's much less the Fed can do because of the zero bound. If you're a sociopath who enjoys the prospect of massive long term unemployment and widespread human misery for people who aren't you this is a feature, but for the rest of us this is a very bad idea.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Face the Nation has Kyl, Mullen, Richard Haass, the chairman of the Very Serious People Council on Foreign Policy, and Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
This Week has Pelosi and Gates
Meet the Press has Mullen, the Maestro, Rendell, and Bloomberg. Bet there's a lot of mosque talk!
Document the atrocities!
This Week has Pelosi and Gates
Meet the Press has Mullen, the Maestro, Rendell, and Bloomberg. Bet there's a lot of mosque talk!
Document the atrocities!
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