....Federal government today and their willingness to use ideology instead of science to 'solve' the problems we face I can understand you perspective here.
But....
Really large scale infrastructure, that which I assert we will need to avoid the Road to Olduvai Gorge such as the Solar Grand Plan will require a national effort not only because of cost but such truly large projects require that intrastate commerce laws be revised or, in some cases, new legislation written.
We still have tremendous advantages over many other countries, no not coal..coal bad, bad, bad, as you can easily see if you contrast what we are up against with the Solar Grand Plan and the challenges the Japanese are struggling with in 'Rope the Sun!'
America's failures today are of leadership and learning. Leaders no longer lead and the citizenry has spent the last generation getting dumb enough to love American Idol.
The tidal wave of foreclosure notices are sorting that out quite nicely however.
(see if I can capture a conservative with the subject title ;))
Ditto Pluto and just to remind everybody, we can make up our own rules as we go along...so if someone gets into a writing jag and wants to post 3 writings in a day, no problemo as long as it's good juju.
Also, the forums are for those little "did you see this" type things where you want to grab attention to something. almost glorified mini open threads if you will.
I've been putting little quick news links in them for the most part.
You can find many of your favorite issues here without having to dig through loads of non-economic stuff. And more and more fellow commentors you know from Big Orange are stopping by too.
Income tax paid only to the states -- and not to the Feds at all.
(Greetings everyone. First-time poster, here.)
Then let the States pay taxes to the Feds to underwrite perimeter infrastructure and defense, national museums and archives, foreign aid and international affairs, National Guard, certain emergency services, intrastate issues, enforcing the constitution, and shepherding the nation. That way we get rid of earmarks, the IRS, block grants and bullshit legislation, and most government crap.
And the states can start to take care of the people and the region at the local level -- where it is most cost effective and contextual.
All Social Security and Medicare-related revenues should be kept in a blind trust in Switzerland -- and may not be used for any other purpose.
While it sounds far-fetched and a little Ron Paulish, I'm pretty sure this is inevitable.
The European Union quite recently invented itself into nation states -- and the states continue adding themselves.
Below is a link to a really cool animated map of how quickly that happened and how Europe is now poised to become the biggest single market in the world.
Bottomline -- the U.S. does not scale. It's too large and its infrastructure is way too primitive for the 21st century -- unlike all other nations created before the automobile.
I don't see a reason to change the currency, in this scenario.
I think I read yesterday that their economy had cooled to a mere 10.5% growth for the year from 12%. ;) they may be going through a patch but 10% is still outrageous.
They've always existed. They're called gold and silver. Also, an effort has already been made in this country to monetize these coins. It was called Liberty Dollars.
The FBI and Secret Service raided the offices and seized all the assets under questionable legal justification.
This is what the US Dollar seems to have turned into: A way for big con games on the East Coast to rape the economies of the rest of the nation.
This leads me to believe it's time for local governments who care about keeping jobs in their cities and keeping food on the tables of their citizens to consider starting to print their own currency.
Such currency could be used in a return to small centralized market places, where those who don't want to trust people 3000 miles away can trade goods and services without having to bother with federal taxes or the ultimately corrupt central banking system.
We don't need to "avoid the pain" of having the centralized banking system collapse- we need to go through the pain to decentralize the economy.
....it would seem that at this point we have no choice but to protect foreign investors. Without them....well, we are not going there.
What needs to happen in my mind is, in addition to Robert's call to 'fix Fannie Mae et. al. is....
Cut defense spending to the bone and raise taxes. We really don't need the V-22 and a bunch of other stuff on the boards and the folks who've been getting a heavily discounted ride, historically speaking, need to step up and cough it up.
Really like to see a post about income tax rates, upper levels, and productivity and growth in GDP going waaaaaaaaaaaay back. I have a feeling that the Clinton years are no 'exception' as the 'conservative' hack economists, yeah 'Chicago School I'm talkin ' bout you, would have you believe.
Now is the time to take a look at the underlying assumptions and data which the Republicans have been using to justify their looting of the Treasury for the uber-rich as the citizenry is sounding like they are finally ready to listen.
Let's bring in some of the newer ways of looking at things such as 'Complexity Economics' and move the 'dismal science's' theory and effect on policy into the 21st Century.
China Southern Airlines Co. and the nation's other carriers posted a 3.8 percent fall in combined passenger traffic last month, as an economic slowdown curbed demand for air-travel.
....
Inflation, near a 12-year high, coupled with a falling stock market has cut Chinese spending on leisure. A series of natural disasters including an earthquake that killed more than 69,000 people in China also hampered demand for tours.
....
Cargo traffic for the country's carriers fell 0.8 percent to 321,000 tons in June. It rose 8.1 percent in the first six months of the year.
...giving the Bush administration a blank check to bail out Fannie and Freddie (not to mention whatever else the Bush administration, known for its punctilious adherence to the rule of law) for the next 6 months,
What are the odds that favored cronies of the Administration, be they wealthy individuals or connected firms, will be given an unlimited license to loot?
I put other in the poll because I would like to see them fix Fannie/Freddie once and for all, immediately freeze all foreclosures and evaluate all of them for predatory loans to restructuring to even putting some of the losses onto the bank and refinancing at a new price evaluation and so on, but that's pretty detailed. I do think bailing out Wall street and a bunch of screwed companies and not the people suffering is dead ass wrong.
Bottom line people are drowning in debt because the middle class and good jobs are being squeezed. Only so long can America be viewed as a bunch of consumers and disposable workers and the consequences don't come home to roost.
So, bottom line is a huge depends but as it's currently being presented this is @&*)$&@ and it appears they are not addressing the underlying reasons this became the mess it did.
It's fine to blame the Executive Branch, but Americans do not elect a King or Dictator every 4 years; a President does not pass legislation - it is the House of Representatives and the Senate ("Congress"). Congress should be arrested and tried for what it has done to America. We need to make Congress accountable and stop allowing Congress to point the finger at the Executive for enforcing the laws Congress passed (sometimes even overriding a Presidential veto).
Oh, we can blame the President too. LOL And the US Supreme Court. LOL But mostly we have to blame ourselves for continually voting for members of Congress who fund the war in Iraq, who want to pass legislation to bail out the GSE's, who have passed laws (NAFTA, for example) allowing US manufacturing jobs to be lost; etc.
Well, I just wrote up a report on R&D investments and there is an additional report I want to get to talking about China sovereign wealth fund. They are flush with cash. Maybe we have temporary malaise but all indicators to me imply we're getting our ass kicked.
I agree with you though, this supply/demand stuff, that has been the #1 indicator to me, not the actual "hidden supplies" that make me believe the speculator theory has some real merit. My issue is I just don't understand commodities futures markets and derivatives to point to anything for analysis, but intuitively the slope of the price change just I don't see how can correlate to real world supply demand curves.
...oil could reverse course again and be at $150 next week. That's the problem with this parabolic move. Don't tell me that it is fundamental market forces causing these 10%+ moves up and down in just a couple of days.
My view of what is crucial is essentially the same as that of Calculated Risk. I expect oil to reverse soon (now?) and for inflation to moderate, and the recession to have a respite -- possibly an anemic brief recovery. If oil doesn't, the recession gets deeper.
And that depends first and foremost on when China slows down. I watch the news out of China daily the best I am able, but I suspect we will get little if any warning.
And Time Magazine still refuses to have an oil-related cover story!
NDD, I just am adding this comment since you wrote this about a month and a half ago and magically we have oil tanking. Talk about one hell of a prediction going against the stream. Pretty impressive!
There is so much opinion out there and little data and especially policy that is not based on labor economics and what is in the best national interests, especially working America's interests, well, hopefully this site can be unique. Take trade for example, now I wrote a clear opinion piece on a common public relations talking point, ripping it asunder, but that said, I'm trying more to write pieces pulling up policy changes, legislation, statistical details and we start talking about those things versus the rhetoric.
Take the amnesty o no argument. Now there are various points which should be taken seriously on it. But the obvious point, which both sides have said is the cause, are the magnet of illegal employers using illegal labor to avoid taxes, avoid worker safety requirements, US labor law and to union bust and undercut labor costs (wages).
Another valid argument, which again is recognized by both sides is that NAFTA and bad trade policies S. of the border have eroded opportunities for people and caused waves of migration N. Another incentive are those remittances, which believe me, is of interest to these economics S. of the US border. They are significant.
So, when one gets wrapped up in the opinion of all of it, the details on how this is affecting US labor gets lost. For example, both major unions are for amnesty. But what is often overlooked is the AFL-CIO (unlike the SEIU) was against those comprehensive immigration bills and the reason was the affect on US labor.
Now one might analyze why these two unions push different agendas and what is behind their positions. It's clear the AFL-CIO recognizes that illegal labor union busts and lower wages, so why would they be for amnesty? Well, they have some reasons for that....you can agree or think it through or not, but at least these arguments are assuredly coming from a labor economics and worker perspective and something to examine.
I'm requesting that we all dig in deep. I'm not saying that any post, has to be of a particular political agenda at all.
I'm saying to analyze policy based on very in depth facts and to put on your objective method from science and math class hat in the process.
For example, someone posted already 100% bogus data on immigration trying to claim that no immigration policy at all is good for the economy....well, guess what, he got voted off the front page because his methods are absurd. He wanted to present this simply as his own personal philosophy without looking at the data, having sound reasoning methods.
We had another try to argue for a different sort of global corporate tax code. Now some attacked him but myself and others simply tried to analyze corporate tax codes in a world where any corporation can easily relocated and manipulated national taxes.
So, even when something is unorthodox, it is my hope that people simply consider and analyze and the writer is diligent with the statistics, sticks to well established research methodology and doesn't post spin with numbers.
Now that's what I want to avoid, spin. I strongly want to avoid spin. and that doesn't matter if you're coming from the fair tax to some corporate tax reform and believe the removal of the offshore outsourcing tax incentives will simply drive corporate headquarters out of the United States to no immigration policy to an no amnesty post.
See? What matters are the details, facts and accuracy.
Immigration, for example, is vastly complex. It's a major policy component and cannot be addressed with a few simply black and white answers. Getting some real facts, causes and effects, economic implications, labor implications and so forth, well facts to me are always a good thing.
....Federal government today and their willingness to use ideology instead of science to 'solve' the problems we face I can understand you perspective here.
But....
Really large scale infrastructure, that which I assert we will need to avoid the Road to Olduvai Gorge such as the Solar Grand Plan will require a national effort not only because of cost but such truly large projects require that intrastate commerce laws be revised or, in some cases, new legislation written.
We still have tremendous advantages over many other countries, no not coal..coal bad, bad, bad, as you can easily see if you contrast what we are up against with the Solar Grand Plan and the challenges the Japanese are struggling with in 'Rope the Sun!'
America's failures today are of leadership and learning. Leaders no longer lead and the citizenry has spent the last generation getting dumb enough to love American Idol.
The tidal wave of foreclosure notices are sorting that out quite nicely however.
I'm using the rating system! Yay for me!
(see if I can capture a conservative with the subject title ;))
Ditto Pluto and just to remind everybody, we can make up our own rules as we go along...so if someone gets into a writing jag and wants to post 3 writings in a day, no problemo as long as it's good juju.
Also, the forums are for those little "did you see this" type things where you want to grab attention to something. almost glorified mini open threads if you will.
I've been putting little quick news links in them for the most part.
You can find many of your favorite issues here without having to dig through loads of non-economic stuff. And more and more fellow commentors you know from Big Orange are stopping by too.
Income tax paid only to the states -- and not to the Feds at all.
(Greetings everyone. First-time poster, here.)
Then let the States pay taxes to the Feds to underwrite perimeter infrastructure and defense, national museums and archives, foreign aid and international affairs, National Guard, certain emergency services, intrastate issues, enforcing the constitution, and shepherding the nation. That way we get rid of earmarks, the IRS, block grants and bullshit legislation, and most government crap.
And the states can start to take care of the people and the region at the local level -- where it is most cost effective and contextual.
All Social Security and Medicare-related revenues should be kept in a blind trust in Switzerland -- and may not be used for any other purpose.
While it sounds far-fetched and a little Ron Paulish, I'm pretty sure this is inevitable.
The European Union quite recently invented itself into nation states -- and the states continue adding themselves.
Below is a link to a really cool animated map of how quickly that happened and how Europe is now poised to become the biggest single market in the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/europe/02/euro_borders/html/1.stm
Bottomline -- the U.S. does not scale. It's too large and its infrastructure is way too primitive for the 21st century -- unlike all other nations created before the automobile.
I don't see a reason to change the currency, in this scenario.
I think I read yesterday that their economy had cooled to a mere 10.5% growth for the year from 12%. ;) they may be going through a patch but 10% is still outrageous.
Ya all, I'm wondering if
1. The SEC knew something and 2. if this is having an effect on oil as well as financials.
Since this was announced financials dramatically rebounded and oil is dropping extensively.
Anyone else have some insight?
They've always existed. They're called gold and silver. Also, an effort has already been made in this country to monetize these coins. It was called Liberty Dollars.
The FBI and Secret Service raided the offices and seized all the assets under questionable legal justification.
This is what the US Dollar seems to have turned into: A way for big con games on the East Coast to rape the economies of the rest of the nation.
This leads me to believe it's time for local governments who care about keeping jobs in their cities and keeping food on the tables of their citizens to consider starting to print their own currency.
Such currency could be used in a return to small centralized market places, where those who don't want to trust people 3000 miles away can trade goods and services without having to bother with federal taxes or the ultimately corrupt central banking system.
We don't need to "avoid the pain" of having the centralized banking system collapse- we need to go through the pain to decentralize the economy.
....it would seem that at this point we have no choice but to protect foreign investors. Without them....well, we are not going there.
What needs to happen in my mind is, in addition to Robert's call to 'fix Fannie Mae et. al. is....
Cut defense spending to the bone and raise taxes. We really don't need the V-22 and a bunch of other stuff on the boards and the folks who've been getting a heavily discounted ride, historically speaking, need to step up and cough it up.
Really like to see a post about income tax rates, upper levels, and productivity and growth in GDP going waaaaaaaaaaaay back. I have a feeling that the Clinton years are no 'exception' as the 'conservative' hack economists, yeah 'Chicago School I'm talkin ' bout you, would have you believe.
Now is the time to take a look at the underlying assumptions and data which the Republicans have been using to justify their looting of the Treasury for the uber-rich as the citizenry is sounding like they are finally ready to listen.
Let's bring in some of the newer ways of looking at things such as 'Complexity Economics' and move the 'dismal science's' theory and effect on policy into the 21st Century.
Before it's too damn late.
From Bloomberg:
...giving the Bush administration a blank check to bail out Fannie and Freddie (not to mention whatever else the Bush administration, known for its punctilious adherence to the rule of law) for the next 6 months,
What are the odds that favored cronies of the Administration, be they wealthy individuals or connected firms, will be given an unlimited license to loot?
I put other in the poll because I would like to see them fix Fannie/Freddie once and for all, immediately freeze all foreclosures and evaluate all of them for predatory loans to restructuring to even putting some of the losses onto the bank and refinancing at a new price evaluation and so on, but that's pretty detailed. I do think bailing out Wall street and a bunch of screwed companies and not the people suffering is dead ass wrong.
Bottom line people are drowning in debt because the middle class and good jobs are being squeezed. Only so long can America be viewed as a bunch of consumers and disposable workers and the consequences don't come home to roost.
So, bottom line is a huge depends but as it's currently being presented this is @&*)$&@ and it appears they are not addressing the underlying reasons this became the mess it did.
It's fine to blame the Executive Branch, but Americans do not elect a King or Dictator every 4 years; a President does not pass legislation - it is the House of Representatives and the Senate ("Congress"). Congress should be arrested and tried for what it has done to America. We need to make Congress accountable and stop allowing Congress to point the finger at the Executive for enforcing the laws Congress passed (sometimes even overriding a Presidential veto).
Oh, we can blame the President too. LOL And the US Supreme Court. LOL But mostly we have to blame ourselves for continually voting for members of Congress who fund the war in Iraq, who want to pass legislation to bail out the GSE's, who have passed laws (NAFTA, for example) allowing US manufacturing jobs to be lost; etc.
Well, I just wrote up a report on R&D investments and there is an additional report I want to get to talking about China sovereign wealth fund. They are flush with cash. Maybe we have temporary malaise but all indicators to me imply we're getting our ass kicked.
I agree with you though, this supply/demand stuff, that has been the #1 indicator to me, not the actual "hidden supplies" that make me believe the speculator theory has some real merit. My issue is I just don't understand commodities futures markets and derivatives to point to anything for analysis, but intuitively the slope of the price change just I don't see how can correlate to real world supply demand curves.
...oil could reverse course again and be at $150 next week. That's the problem with this parabolic move. Don't tell me that it is fundamental market forces causing these 10%+ moves up and down in just a couple of days.
My view of what is crucial is essentially the same as that of Calculated Risk. I expect oil to reverse soon (now?) and for inflation to moderate, and the recession to have a respite -- possibly an anemic brief recovery. If oil doesn't, the recession gets deeper.
And that depends first and foremost on when China slows down. I watch the news out of China daily the best I am able, but I suspect we will get little if any warning.
And Time Magazine still refuses to have an oil-related cover story!
NDD, I just am adding this comment since you wrote this about a month and a half ago and magically we have oil tanking. Talk about one hell of a prediction going against the stream. Pretty impressive!
There is so much opinion out there and little data and especially policy that is not based on labor economics and what is in the best national interests, especially working America's interests, well, hopefully this site can be unique. Take trade for example, now I wrote a clear opinion piece on a common public relations talking point, ripping it asunder, but that said, I'm trying more to write pieces pulling up policy changes, legislation, statistical details and we start talking about those things versus the rhetoric.
Take the amnesty o no argument. Now there are various points which should be taken seriously on it. But the obvious point, which both sides have said is the cause, are the magnet of illegal employers using illegal labor to avoid taxes, avoid worker safety requirements, US labor law and to union bust and undercut labor costs (wages).
Another valid argument, which again is recognized by both sides is that NAFTA and bad trade policies S. of the border have eroded opportunities for people and caused waves of migration N. Another incentive are those remittances, which believe me, is of interest to these economics S. of the US border. They are significant.
So, when one gets wrapped up in the opinion of all of it, the details on how this is affecting US labor gets lost. For example, both major unions are for amnesty. But what is often overlooked is the AFL-CIO (unlike the SEIU) was against those comprehensive immigration bills and the reason was the affect on US labor.
Now one might analyze why these two unions push different agendas and what is behind their positions. It's clear the AFL-CIO recognizes that illegal labor union busts and lower wages, so why would they be for amnesty? Well, they have some reasons for that....you can agree or think it through or not, but at least these arguments are assuredly coming from a labor economics and worker perspective and something to examine.
I'm requesting that we all dig in deep. I'm not saying that any post, has to be of a particular political agenda at all.
I'm saying to analyze policy based on very in depth facts and to put on your objective method from science and math class hat in the process.
For example, someone posted already 100% bogus data on immigration trying to claim that no immigration policy at all is good for the economy....well, guess what, he got voted off the front page because his methods are absurd. He wanted to present this simply as his own personal philosophy without looking at the data, having sound reasoning methods.
We had another try to argue for a different sort of global corporate tax code. Now some attacked him but myself and others simply tried to analyze corporate tax codes in a world where any corporation can easily relocated and manipulated national taxes.
So, even when something is unorthodox, it is my hope that people simply consider and analyze and the writer is diligent with the statistics, sticks to well established research methodology and doesn't post spin with numbers.
Now that's what I want to avoid, spin. I strongly want to avoid spin. and that doesn't matter if you're coming from the fair tax to some corporate tax reform and believe the removal of the offshore outsourcing tax incentives will simply drive corporate headquarters out of the United States to no immigration policy to an no amnesty post.
See? What matters are the details, facts and accuracy.
Immigration, for example, is vastly complex. It's a major policy component and cannot be addressed with a few simply black and white answers. Getting some real facts, causes and effects, economic implications, labor implications and so forth, well facts to me are always a good thing.
So what I am hearing is that my posts are not welcome here
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