But We Stopped Talking About Libya

Since it stopped being in the news didn't we all agree that it was model for how to blow stuff up with awesome results?

Only Larry Summers Can Save The World From Larry Summers

If you think another financial crisis is inevitable, you're doing it wrong. They aren't earthquakes. They aren't "acts of God." They're a product of the system. If they're inevitable, it's because you (the people in charge) are presiding over a system that makes them inevitable.

Obama and others in the White House who support Summers were deeply impressed by his ability to navigate the financial crisis. Administration officials who endured the tumultuous crisis period -- and many people who didn't -- assume the next crisis is a matter of when, not if. Obama has confidence that Summers would be effective in handling such a crisis, while he barely knows Yellen.

And if the financial players know you believe this, and if they know "we" have all learned the supposed lesson that you can't let any too big too fail institution fail, then they know that they can steal all the money and wait for the free money water cannon to be pointed at them.

Wednesday Crass Commercialism

Neko Case has a new CD. It's good. She sings "fuck" a lot on it.

"Our Standing In The World"

According to an NPR report I just listened to, that's what it's all about.

Can we just sext Syria some dick pix?

Last Person To Weep For

But still grossed out by people cheering on the death of Ariel Castro. Make him pay for his crimes, make him unable to commit similar crimes, but I'm still against the death penalty. No the state didn't do this, but cheering death-as-rightful-result is still cheering on the death penalty.

Outcomes

Falllows again,  this time with Errol Morris.

When  even the good outcomes suck,  you'd think  people might reconsider.

Tuesday Night

Rock on.

One More Ride On The Tire Swing

Know When To Fold Them

Glad the most serious man in America takes this stuff seriously.

Armchair Isolationists

Thank you, Secretary Kerry, for giving the chickenhawk armchair warriors the stupid retort they've been trying to come up with for years.

Happy Hour

And, watching this Senate hearing on granting the Administration permission to go after Assad, do we ever need a happy hour. Or hours.

Hard Work

The serious people seem to agree that, well, yes, maybe there are other things we could do besides blowing stuff up. But, you know, that's hard work. Blowing stuff up is easy!

It's also expensive, kills people, and doesn't achieve anything positive.

At least it's easy.

Afternoon Thread

enjoy

Not Clear On The Concepts

Sexual assault and rape are about lack of consent, not about women who drink too much, or who act "immodestly." Rape happens because some people are rapists and they rape people.

Hitler Of The Week

Villagers regularly need a new Hitler.

Oh Richard

Making me re-run this and this and this and this and this.

Savvy

That things unsurprisingly are the way they are doesn't mean they should be that way.

WDS

Actually what Fallows posted from his email,  via digby.

Update: Link fixed.

Update 2: More from echidne.

Dead Economists

Ronald Coase died. All Econ 101 or Intermediate Econ students learn about the Coase Theorem, which sets up a set of conditions - particularly clearly defined property rights and low transaction costs - such that we don't have to worry about externalities and the government need not consider taxation or regulation to deal with things like pollution. However the property rights are assigned, an efficient outcome will be achieved. If you own the right to pollute, I can pay you to not dump as much shit into my river. If I own the right to not be polluted on, you can pay me for the right to dump shit into my river. Who owns the right matters for wealth distribution, but either way the optimal amount of shit is dumped into the river.

But Coase thought the Coase Theorem (how others dubbed it) was sort of ridiculous, a way of pointing out something absurd. Of course property rights are never that clearly assigned, and of course in these situations the number of actors involved is usually so large that transaction and bargaining costs are not sufficiently small.

Still it's often taught as a lesson in how Teh Market can take care of everything, as opposed to a lesson in how there are situations in which Teh Market ain't gonna solve the problem.

Evening Thread

Rock on. Tomorrow is Tuesday, Tuesday. No more holiday for you!