With all the views about the Fed’s latest round of money-printing fighting to be heard, it is as if QE II is the ship that launched a thousand Op-Eds.
Whatever crosses my mind.
With all the views about the Fed’s latest round of money-printing fighting to be heard, it is as if QE II is the ship that launched a thousand Op-Eds.
The entire European Monetary Union structure is a mess. The euro zone members are all trapped within this monetary monstrosity, Germany included. Germany might occupy the penthouse suite, but it’s the penthouse suite of a roach motel.
Anytime you have a system that is not subject to the voluntary interactions of the marketplace, you’re going to have massive corruption. Holding elections does not eliminate this problem, but at least the money is more likely to be exchanged in public view.
More wealth brings, on average, greater happiness (see Wolfers-Stevenson for the evidence, Kahneman too), but often through indirect and circuitous routes, and without guarantees. The bottom line is that most of us keep on striving for more. Furthermore, happiness isn’t the only end we desire, and money is a route to power and esteem as well, as distinct from happiness. Material satisfaction isn’t enough in life. Unlike Keynes (and Bell), I expect that norms to both encourage and regulate avarice will be with us for a very long time to come.
Outside the blogosphere and into realm of high ranking government officials, it is rare to hear words like “clueless” to describe the Fed. That such talk is now occurring shows just how upset the rest of the world is at Bernanke’s policies.
The second, and very different, way for government to be pro-business is to bestow favors and privileges on politically connected firms. Such favors, such as tariffs and export subsidies, invariably oblige consumers to pay more – either directly in the form of higher prices, or indirectly in the form of higher taxes – for goods and services. This way of being pro-business reduces the nation’s prosperity by relieving businesses of the need to satisfy consumers. When this second way is pursued, businesses are rewarded for pleasing politicians. Competition for consumers’ dollars is replaced by competition for political favors. The fact that more than 200 American business executives are in India with the President is cause to fear that any pro-business policies he might adopt will be of the second, impoverishing sort.
Behold, basic economics! This is more proof that those upcoming high-level G-20 negotiations about China’s currency practices may be somewhat misguided, and that US efforts to force China to appreciate the nominal exchange rate are totally unnecessary (yet still very antagonistic). I have no doubt that Chuck Schumer and every other US politician who demagogued China all year will be issuing a correction any second now. Rrrriiiight.
The quality is poor, but the idea is excellent.
The Olbermann case features a joke pundit working for a joke network. It is impossible to take seriously.
This story is so outrageous that I cannot figure out why it has not gone viral on the internet. Unicredit America Inc, a debt collection firm, had people dress up (pretending to be police), serve fake papers to people requiring them to show up in court. People showed up in a fake court for a fake hearing with a fake witness stand, and an individual in black pretending to be a judge.
