I looked up some numbers. Wow ( Read more... )

So, this is interesting.  The BBC ran a story today that is, well, a bit disturbing.  The arrogance of America is one that is so fraught with nationalism that I would say most Americans think that we are not susceptible to the follies of [sarcasm] idiot socialist states in Europe[/sarcasm] like Greece.  But check out this headline: Who defaults ( Read more... )

From what I learned from classical (myopic, simplistic, Smithian) economics, the whole point of capitalism is that it makes the three attributes of building wealth fungible (tradeable).  This doesn't mean everything is equal, but if you need something, you should be able to get it.  What it doesn't consider is non-economic factors, such as human ( Read more... )

I found this interesting article having to do with gas taxes today.  It is basically a bunch of cars pictured with their associated gas taxes.  Check it out.

Now, according to the powers-that-be that tells us of the infinite wisdom of the private sector and the awfulness of the public sector, they insist that lower taxes sparks business.

The Middle ( Read more... )

Supply-side economic tweaks are a joke, at least in practice.  I've been saying it all along here and I'm sure you, fair readers, are tired of hearing about it.  But today, I read essentially the most succinct distillation of the point I have made with respect to socialising certain, targeted goods (the basic needs for human life and social success ( Read more... )

The Portland Tribune, who I believe to be a conservative paper whose purpose was to out-Right-wing the Oregonian (steep task), wrote an interesting article on trade today.  I'm not sure what to think of it or how to read all the subtexts.

The angle that they took on A Crumpling Paper Industry is this odd free-market/protectionist cake-and-eat-it-too ( Read more... )

Dear AT&T:

Years ago, I got a phone with Cingular because they were a smallish company that had a really decent plan.  Then you bought Cingular.  Somehow, that wasn't a breach of contract (I had a contract with Cingular, not with AT&T), and I let it go.  I continued to be a customer, but it always felt wrong and dirty, like I was supporting a giant ( Read more... )

Quote of the decade: "Representative Stephen Lynch, Democrat of Massachusetts, warned: 'You think regulation is costly? How about the $7trillion we just lost from not regulating the derivatives markets?'"
-http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/2011218151257526294.html#

Wow...  A particularly damning interpretation as to what has been happening in the private sector (aka capitalism) is wide open here in the modern media.

But an even more important factor is basically a 20- or 30-year period of failure in the private sector. What we are really looking at here is a private sector that for quite a long time now has ( Read more... )

Dear America:

After 30 years of nearly Rightist economic policy, our systems are breaking down at an unprecedented rate.  The neoliberal economic model has messed up a slew of things, including:

• Healthcare
• Airlines (deregulation), both in profit and in service
• Our underfunded school system and the labour backlash that has created (entrenched unions ( Read more... )