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New York, 2:07 PM
Sun Dec 20
11 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/16/09
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When one looks at this surprised kitty, they are looking at a mirror if themselves.
This kitty is America. And surprised we are.
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In the last second of life, they're gonna show you how
How they run this show, sure, run it into the ground
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I dunno, maybe they're all still too busy looking for tell-tale freemason symbolism in Lady GaGa videos.
12/16/09
His policies have essentially increased the prices of everything I buy by 37 percent this year.
12/16/09
You can't monetize debt by making money expensive.
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We have trillions of dollars in debt. Not just Federally - at the consumer level.
That debt goes away in one of two ways. Method one? Pay it off, in real terms. Method two? "Monetize" it, by decreasing the real value of dollars. Since debts are dollar-denominated, inflation makes them easier to pay. Ben, and Keynesians, are responsible for engaging in the latter strategy.
12/16/09
I sympathize with your plight living overseas and the costs surrounding that. You probably are not paid in Euros (did Gawker pay your prize money in Euros? that would have been sporting of them.) Our family loves the south of France, but the weak dollar doesn't make that an attractive place to visit right now. Boo. I want to go back to Uzes and Eze. Maintenant.
12/16/09
Gawker hasn't paid me my prize money yet.
You should consider a vacation in Spain. Even with the strong Euro the Spanish economy is so fucked that it's still dirt cheap to vacation there.
I'm doing a long weekend in Madrid next month and the difference between what I'll spend on beer, cigarettes and food during that weekend compared to what I'd spend home in France will end up paying for my hotel room.
12/16/09
Maybe next year. Feckin dollar.
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I propose a toast to a stronger dollar.
12/16/09
@momof3wildkids: The cheap talk about a strong dollar policy is just that: cheap talk intended to assuage the fears of those (like China) who own US debt and dollar foreign reserves that we aren't going to totally fuck them. Of course, I can certainly also sympathize with the tragedy of your family not being able to summer in a villa in the south of France.
We don't even have any household debt but as someone who will most likely be paying taxes for at least the next 40 years, reducing the national debt in real terms sounds kickin' rad to me.
12/16/09
Of course reducing the national debt by fucking over the value of the dollar takes priority over my vacationing in Provence (where it used to be very inexpensive to travel - cheaper than a trip to Florida). A cheap dollar policy has dubious long term benefits to our economy.
12/16/09
Yes!
12/16/09
Call me crazy, but cheaper fruit in the winter would benefit a good number of people, as would cheaper gasoline, clothing, etc... all of which is currently at an inflated price in America because of the weak dollar.
12/16/09
People don't realize how much of the stuff they buy is in some way imported. From fruit and vegetables in the winter to oil to clothing - nearly everything is imported at some point in the process and if your currency is weak you have to spend more of your currency to buy things.
Dare to No apparently likes paying more than he has to for things.
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And yes, I do pay more than I have to for things all the time. For example, I buy regionally- and sustainably-produced food whenever possible (hooray roots and tubers!). I do this because I prefer the taste and nutrition but also because I value the craft of my fellow citizens and our natural resources.
Everything in life can be reduced to an economic choice, but that doesn't mean it needs to be.
An exploding national debt, a (financially and morally) bankrupt knowledge economy, and a culture that selects Ben Bernanke as Person of the Year are the features of America today. Is that the society that you want to live in? (Well, I guess not, since you don't.)
Before you talk about the relative wealth of America, remember that the previous 40 years of affluence hasn't been paid for yet and sooner or later the bill will come due.
12/16/09
Have you seen what's happened historically to other countries when they let their currency become weak? Read about the history of Argentina, or Germany.
12/16/09
Nevertheless, you're right in one accidental sense: if we don't do something controlled while we still can, that's the direction we're headed.
Oh, and read about the history of Brazil or China, asshole.
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Douchenozzles.
12/16/09
Bernanke is fucking us. This discussion reminds me of an Onion headline from a little while back "Federal Reserve Exposed for the giant scam it actually is" or something.
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Personally, I voted for Jay Mariotti.
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This would be like naming Lindsay Lohan Anti Drug Crusader Of The Year.
Or
Naming Courtney Love Mother Of The Year
Or
Naming Tiger Woods Husband Of The Year.
Fuck it.
I've decided that in my own personal alternate universe, Octomom is Person Of The Year.
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Bernake's control is somewhat limited and he didn't do anything about the credit crunch (even though that was totally in his power, because he could have set interest rates at a somewhat higher level, which would have given banks more incentive to lend money) so the economy is getting better but still teetering.
If I was going to give a Person of the Year award out to anyone for saving the Global Financial System it would be to the banking CEOs who managed to generate record profits this year and pay back the TARP money - thus restoring a shitload of long term confidence.
Though, really a more interesting choice would have been Glenn Beck - because while he's an asshole, he helped transform the political discourse while enabling the GOP to effectively nuke real health care.
Again, it's not good that Beck did that, but it had more influence on the year's events than Bernake did.
12/16/09
The fact that these guys are in such a rush to pay back the TARP $ tells me that the plan didn't work as expected. By paying it back, liquidity is reduced in the lending markets.
12/16/09
The next step is to make it profitable for banks to lend money to small businesses and consumers again. I suspect raising benchmark interest rates would go a long way in this direction.
With just a little extra credit out there, companies might be able to sell off a good deal of their backstock inventory which would give them reasons to hire more people to manufacture new inventory, which would put more money into the system, leading to more sales and hiring, etc...
I get that that couldn't happen while we were propping up banks like an Argentinian despot, but now even Citigroup (or whatever they are called these days) is going to pay back stuff, so let's help them profit from consumer and small business lending practices.
12/16/09
Is it?
Google "discount window."
12/16/09
And, let's face it, it's no fun doing business with the government. Too many strings are attached, particularly when it comes to compensation rules. That's why they paid it off in a hurry.
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No.
Let's let consumers and small businesses drastically reduce their debt burdens. Then we can stop relying on long-term financial slavery of the middle class as the basis of our "economy."
12/16/09
The implied assistance is a moral hazard, but, on the other hand, if it stops bank runs in the future it's practical.
As far as I can tell money, the economy, the stock market, all of it is simply about confidence. If it takes a moral hazard to create that confidence I can accept that compromise.
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The promise of assistance is, in and of itself, a moral hazard.
The housing bubble, for example, was fueled by the implicit Treasury banking of GSE's - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They rapidly took on mortgage portfolios that dwarfed the rest of the world. Implicit government banking creates too much "money."
Now that all major commercial banks are subject to the same protections, the size of previous asset bubbles will be nothing but a quaint memory.
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