Sunday, August 07, 2011
SIX PERCENT
I don't doubt that there are very real issue in the Eurozone, but I admit I giggle a bit when people start freaking out when Italian sovereign debt rates rise to SIX PERCENT. Really, this isn't weird.
I'm not saying there are no problems, just that SIX PERCENT isn't a problem.
I'm not saying there are no problems, just that SIX PERCENT isn't a problem.
Piety
I admit one thing I'm not very good at doing (though I'm not sure who is) is distinguishing between true believers and pure grifters. Though, admittedly, the introduction of Prosperity Jesus has made the distinction rather irrelevant.
Welcome To The Recovery
The internet tells me we'll have Geithner to kick around through the 2012 election.
Big Shitpile
Still really shitty.
Bank of AmericabizWatch told investors that its liabilities for mortgage repurchases from Fannie MaebizWatch and Freddie MacbizWatch could be worse than expected as the two companies become “more rigid” in dealing with the bank.
Fannie and Freddie are sending back to the bank many more faulty loans than BofA had anticipated.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Meet the Press has President John McCain, John Kerry, Alex Castellanos, Pope Saint Maestro Professor Greenspan, Goolsbee, and Rachel Maddow.
This Week has the ambassador to Syria, Governor O'Malley, Gloria Steinem, GeorgenCokie, Steve Rattner, and some Republican member of Congress you've never heard of.
Face the Nation has Attorney General Lindsey Graham, Axelrod, Quaxelrod, and Howard Dean.
Document the atrocities!
This Week has the ambassador to Syria, Governor O'Malley, Gloria Steinem, GeorgenCokie, Steve Rattner, and some Republican member of Congress you've never heard of.
Face the Nation has Attorney General Lindsey Graham, Axelrod, Quaxelrod, and Howard Dean.
Document the atrocities!
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Doing It All Wrong
One does wonder why the S&P doesn't believe TEH MARKET which seems quite content to lend money to the US government for free based on the quaint notion that they expect to get it back one day.
Rescue thread
Here's something you might want to listen to while you're waiting for Dr. Black to return.
Signed,
Not Atrios
Signed,
Not Atrios
The CHICOMS Are Bossing Us Around!!!!!
Maybe this will cause the right to learn to love borrowing again.
If not, I for one welcome our new Chinese overlords.
If not, I for one welcome our new Chinese overlords.
Meanwhile
Over there.
Another report says 31 US troops.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter during an overnight operation in eastern Afghanistan, killing 37 people on board, a military official said on Saturday. It was one of the worst single-day losses of life for coalition troops in the nearly decade-long war and comes amid rising violence across the country.
Another report says 31 US troops.
Friday, August 05, 2011
Stupids
Apparently we're supposed to care about what some idiots at some corrupt organization think about anything.
Pirouette
Here we go.
Oh, sorry, that was January 2010.
President Barack Obama on Friday made his promised hard pivot to jobs, following up the morning’s news about a 10 percent unemployment rate by announcing $2.3 billion in tax credits for clean-energy jobs.
Oh, sorry, that was January 2010.
President Crazypants
Yes, if the Republican nominee is a bit more into the crazy wing of the party it'll marginally increase the likelihood of an Obama re-election, but it will also greatly increase the likelihood that we'll hand the football over to a lunatic.
Argumentum Ad Verecundiam
Yes famous, important, and very smart people can be wrong, and being famous and important does not prove you're fucking right.
More Kenyan Muslim Socialism Please
BLS is down because government data is all the rage with the kids these days, along with zoot suits I think, but we're -37K government jobs. It's important to note that generally government jobs are pretty good, not necessarily high paying but with decent benefits and at least modest opportunities for career advancement.
But government can't create jobs, only lose them apparently.
But government can't create jobs, only lose them apparently.
Finance World Versus Real World
Finance world is a fantasy world where Our Galtian Overlords mine for WoW gold using HFT algorithims. That the WoW gold they mine is actually worth a lot of money in real world means many of them get filthy rich mining WoW gold, but we shouldn't forget that basically that's what they're doing. In fantasy finance world it matters if you push the button at the right time. It doesn't matter if people have money to pay their mortgages, or buy cable teevee, or put food on their families, or whatever. So, yes, most of the time our WoW gold miners get to live in their Randian know-nothing fantasy, which is rather obvious to anyone who spends any time watching CNBC. Most of these people don't have a clue.
So, yes, it's quite possible that the WoW gold mines have to come up empty before they realize maybe it matters if anybody else has any money.
So, yes, it's quite possible that the WoW gold mines have to come up empty before they realize maybe it matters if anybody else has any money.
Please Don't Tell Them To Do The Math
Jobs report coming out in half an hour. As always I hope for a horrible measurement of reality, which is not the same as hoping for a horrible reality. It's the only hope that lawmakers can be prodded to do something, anything. Obviously what I most hope for is an awesome reality, that I'm wrong about everything, that Free Market Fairy and Confidence Fairy have wed and birthed a trillion jobs and everybody will get rich. But if that isn't actually happening, then maybe somebody should do something. There isn't much time left between now and November 2012 (not to say that's the prime issue for me), and job growth will have to be explosive between now and then to get the unemployment rate down at all.
twitter machine tells me Obama is going to speak about jobs at 11am. They already have the numbers...
twitter machine tells me Obama is going to speak about jobs at 11am. They already have the numbers...
Thursday, August 04, 2011
The Bank Account Is Too Empty
A couple months ago there was an article about how what really worries cable TV execs is the fact that people don't have any goddamn money. It was stunning because it was about the first time I remember noticing any of our Galtian Overlords speaking this way. And, yes, hollowing out the middle class hollows out demand for products that those people purchase. This isn't rocket science.
Vision Fail
Yes, FAST is a good idea, but it's only being pushed (that I know of) by those outside the administration. Tinkering around the edges of the tax code might, at best, tinker around the edges of the economy, but it's very low bang for the buck (as a reminder, such tax codes would, you know, increase TEH DEFICIT (eek!) and do not do too much for jobs).
Perhaps we'd better just leave that accelerated depreciation for corporate jets in place. Oh, wait, we did? Good enough then.
Perhaps we'd better just leave that accelerated depreciation for corporate jets in place. Oh, wait, we did? Good enough then.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE
And the Dow is down another 2.31%. The only way forward is, of course, spending cuts and tax cuts for rich people. It's our only hope.
Crash, Market, Crash
No I don't want that to happen, but it's the only "economic indicator" (the DJIA is neither economic nor an indicator discuss) that our Galtian Overlords seem to care about.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
400K new lucky duckies. Not horrible news, but not good either.
Monthly report comes out tomorrow.
Monthly report comes out tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Dance Dance Discourse Dance
I also don't know if this is just the Mike Allen view of the world, or what "officials" actually think, but, yes, reducing unemployment would be a good thing. It might get Paul Krugman off their backs. Getting Paul Krugman off their backs would have almost zero impact on politics relative to what reducing unemployment would.
Focus on the important stuff like, you know, jobs.
Focus on the important stuff like, you know, jobs.
Service Resumption
Was getting less busy, then the internets were not cooperating.
They are now apparently.
They are now apparently.
Jobs
Actual jobs report comes out Friday. Watched ADP estimate of private sector job growth is +114K. That would be ok but not nearly good enough news, and doesn't take into account public sector job growth, which will likely be negative.
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I see the debt ceiling vote tanked the market.
And, no, I don't claim to believe I can write the monocausal headlines with certainty the way the financial press always does, but it's quite possible that the people who are betting their cash instead of betting their ideology might not think austerity is a good thing.
While all the Very Serious People will tell us that we just have to cut more and more and more and more and more...
And, no, I don't claim to believe I can write the monocausal headlines with certainty the way the financial press always does, but it's quite possible that the people who are betting their cash instead of betting their ideology might not think austerity is a good thing.
While all the Very Serious People will tell us that we just have to cut more and more and more and more and more...
We Solved The Deficit Problem, Now Let's Add To The Deficit
Obviously I support stimulus measures including highly progressive tax cuts, but I have no idea why anyone thinks any of that is possible.
Perhaps if they start by meeting the Republicans half way... that one never fails.
Perhaps if they start by meeting the Republicans half way... that one never fails.
When I Grow Up
I want to be Athenae
I feel about this the way I feel about people who keep grizzly bears and gorillas and tigers as pets. They keep animals that outweigh them as pampered houseguests, feeding them raw salmon and steak and putting cute little collars on them and shit, and then are ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED when their "best friends" get bored one day and eat their faces.
It's an excellent post, and the comments are worth reading as well.
h/t NJ
I feel about this the way I feel about people who keep grizzly bears and gorillas and tigers as pets. They keep animals that outweigh them as pampered houseguests, feeding them raw salmon and steak and putting cute little collars on them and shit, and then are ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED when their "best friends" get bored one day and eat their faces.
It's an excellent post, and the comments are worth reading as well.
h/t NJ
Monday, August 01, 2011
Always Wondered What I Was Supposed To Do
Frankly, the teevee was mostly what my world offered me at the time, along with a few other butt-sitting activities such as reading and playing with computers and/or video games. And, yes, the MTeeVee once upon a time, for a time, did offer up a window into slightly different worlds than either pop or AOR radio provided then.
We Have Ended Budget Politics For All Eternity
Well, at least until next week or so.
Still busy. More normal blogging schedule to return in a couple of days.
Still busy. More normal blogging schedule to return in a couple of days.
It's A Man's World
I haven't read the book, but I do find there's a lot of resistance to this basic idea even from some good liberals (including some good liberal women!). There are a lot things in our society which are structured around the basic life cycle of a man, and which don't really account for the fact that, yes, women are actually different even over and above those differences which are culturally produced (short but incomplete version: they can have babies). Some are small, many are probably not deliberate in the sense of being put there in order to keep women down specifically, but the net impact is a world where women are not in fact treated equally by our basic institutional structures.
And This Play Is (almost) Over Just In Time For August
Presumably a shark will kill a white woman to celebrate.
But Mark Warner Already Has A Job
People care about jobs. Crazy talk.
The additional political concern (if you are about such things) is that after suggesting fixing the deficit will cause the ponies to appear, people might be even more pissed off when they discovered there's only pony shit in this plan.
The additional political concern (if you are about such things) is that after suggesting fixing the deficit will cause the ponies to appear, people might be even more pissed off when they discovered there's only pony shit in this plan.
"Social Mores"
Kudos to the Obama administration for forcing insurers to pay for birth control without copays, boo to the AP for entertaining the fiction that "social mores" have anything to do with the issue.
...linky fixed.
...linky fixed.
Put The Bus Where The Train Is
I don't know enough about the logistics of the parking deck at Union Station, but otherwise moving all of the inter-city bus companies there sounds like an excellent idea. I use them, and their not-quite-close-enough-to-metro locations haven't been especially convenient.
Deal Fail
I'd be happy for the deal to fail. Perhaps I'm naive, but I think that either a last minute clean debt ceiling would pass or the administration would give those Libyan Hostility lawyers the task of coming up with the rationale for why they can just do whatever the hell they want. Or the Fed would find some new exciting emergency powers and backstop everything. Whatever.
Now They Tell Us
I am not saying there were not any, but I would have appreciated a few more of these stories, you know, before the end.
Good luck with that.
WASHINGTON — The nation’s political leaders agreed on Sunday to spend and invest less money in the American economy, a step that economists said risks the reversal of a faltering recovery, in the hope of improving the nation’s long-term prosperity.
Good luck with that.
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