Post Tagged with: "Society"
More on Byron Wien’s Ten Surprises for 2010
Byron Wien was amazingly accurate last year in his economic predictions even though his annual list is an attempt to build a non-consensus list of likely outlier events. So, I was eager to see Byron Wien’s 2010 surprises, which were unveiled earlier today. Please read his list in the previous link as background. Reviewing 2009
Byron Wien: Ten Surprises for 2010
I will have some commentary on this in a future post or an updated version of this one. Update 1600 ET: you can see my commentary in the next post here. The Surprises of 2010 The United States economy grows at a stronger than expected 5% real rate during the year and the unemployment level
Obama: Now watch this drive
Back in September I posted “Now watch this drive” to explain voters’ increasing alarm at Obama’s detachment from the economic problems of ordinary Americans. Commenting on a video featuring a famous George W. Bush gaffe, I said: As I see it, the man in video number one shows extreme callousness when switching abruptly from a
The year in review at Credit Writedowns – Kleptocracy
Yesterday, I indicated I would write a few thematic posts as a look back at some of the more important economic topics that this credit crisis has uncovered. Tying posts together in a theme definitely gives a better holistic view of a the themes than the posts do in isolation. But I also enjoy writing
News from around the web: 2009-12-23
Liu Xiaobo: China’s top pro-democracy dissident goes on trial – CSMonitor.com Ruling: Runaway teen doesn’t have to talk to family | The Columbus Dispatch (This is a legal case about a Muslim girl who converted to Christianity. Watch this case.) FBI releases files on Michael Jackson involving child-molestation charges – NYPOST.com How do I know
Hitler flips out over hacked climate change e-mails
I believe climate change is coming and peak oil is upon us. But I have to post the video below anyway. I remind you, this is pure propaganda: Goebbels, anyone? Kind of ironic, isn’t it? But, I love how this scene from “Der Untergang” can get used for any topic. See also Hitler finds out
Greece risks financial Armageddon while Ireland makes cuts
The Irish government announced draconian spending cuts of 6 billion Euros in order to stave off a debt crisis in the worst modern-day downturn in the nation’s history. Even so, Irish government bond yields have been rising relative to German government bond yields, the benchmark for the Eurozone. Over the past five years the spread
A few thoughts about the limitations of government
In this post: A few thoughts about the limitations of government Our founding fathers How large should government be? How policy helps frame the debate Where we are headed In a recent post, “Stop the madness now!” I voiced my growing concern with the direction in which the country is headed. I am not alone
News from 17 November 1930: “we face a winter of hunger and distress”
This excerpt comes from the blog News from 1930 which gives us a day-to-day account of what was being reported in 1930 before the worst of the Great Depression hit. “The unemployment situation in New York is critical. Unless it is speedily met, we face a winter of hunger and distress for families whose bread-earners
Food insecurity: alternative measure of economic distress skyrockets
The US Department of Agriculture highlights how the United States in the last decade, despite increased aggregate wealth, slid back significantly in terms of food insecurity as measure of poverty. With everyone now focused on the unemployment situation, it bears noting that even before the downturn in the economy there had been a large surge
May the Lloyd be with you
That’s how my friend Jeff described the most recent flap over a banker allegedly using religion to defend the industry. If you haven’t caught it, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein was quoted in the Sunday London Times as saying “we have a social purpose,” in referring to the banking industry. What caught everyone’s eye was
Why you won’t hear me using the word bankster
In the months since I began this website, I have had some fairly harsh things to say about economic policy in the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere. I have consistently condemned what I think is a captured government promoting an unstable financial system and a bloated financial sector. But, I have made a conscious effort