h/t Donald Sensing
...How did modern economics fly off the rails? The answer is that the "invisible hand" of the free enterprise system, first explained in 1776 by Adam Smith, got tossed aside for the new "macroeconomics," a witchcraft that began to flourish in the 1930s during the rise of Keynes. Macroeconomics simply took basic laws of economics we know to be true for the firm or family--i.e., that demand curves are downward sloping; that when you tax something, you get less of it; that debts have to be repaid--and turned them on their head as national policy.
As Donald Boudreaux, professor of economics at George Mason University and author of the invaluable blog Cafe Hayek, puts it: "Macroeconomics was nothing more than a dismissal of the rules of economics." Over the years, this has led to some horrific blunders, such as the New Deal decision to pay farmers to burn crops and slaughter livestock to keep food prices high: To encourage food production, destroy it.
#2
I wish some other example than agriculture had been cited. American agribusiness is inherently more surreal than anything Salvador Dalí ever created.
And the government response to it has always been extreme. In the first 20 years of the 20th Century, it had taken an extreme laissez-faire approach, despite enormous fluctuations in the markets that were causing chaos.
Which was started with Lincoln's push to railroad industrialization, which created an immense agricultural boom on either side of the tracks throughout middle America from the early 1860's through the end of the frontier in 1910.
"How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?" (After They've Seen Paree), was a pop song in 1919, and the answer to the question was "You don't". Returning veterans abandoned their farms in droves and moved to the cities.
And then the damn Dust Bowl hit, wiping out farms from Texas to Canada. Tens of thousands of family farms.
And even then, by the time the deflation hit at the start of the Great Depression, the remaining farmers still produced so much food that it was too cheap to be transported to market. Starvation in overabundance.
"Ol' Frank's" response to all of this was massive over-regulation, something we still live with today. Close to the nationalization of all farm production.
Barry and company are even pushing beyond this, with an effort to regulate all aspects of food production, in de facto nationalization. This includes the federal takeover of even small scale farms, and control over all surface water.
And some downright weird regulations, such as the prohibition of any form of "live" food. That is, fresh food untreated with either radiation, anti-bacterial preservatives or at least Pasteurization, unprocessed and uninspected meats or produce, prohibition or control over medicinal herbs, etc.
#4
It seems simple enough to me. Exponents are not considered simple math by most people, and this ignorance is how economics, politicians & media can obscure & distort the issue. Main example is the Federal Reserve. Supposedly half of its mission is to maintain stable prices. In my ignorance I believe 'stable prices' = zero inflation. In the mind of the Fed, 'stable prices'= 98% devaluation of the US dollar since the creation of the Fed in 1913.
Many basic assumptions and presuppositions in economic and political thinking are based on exponential economic growth projected to continue indefinitely. That is why people buy annuities - handing over a large fund with the expectation of getting MORE than was handed over, spread out over years. The MORE part is necessary to overcome the damaging effects of inflation, etc. If long term economic growth becomes 'stable' all bets are off and we are all in for a world of trouble.
#5
this has led to some horrific blunders This analysis omits the eternal phenomenon of economic bubbles. Yes, governments can promote and aggravate bubbles. Bubbles still occurred when the world was on the sacrosanct Gold Standard and when economics was laissez-faire. Farming surpluses are a type of bubble. American food prices have been among the lowest in the world. In Texas in the early 1980's, newly build housing was simply bulldozed in the aftermath of a housing bubble there.
#6
Bubbles still occurred when the world was on the sacrosanct Gold Standard and when economics was laissez-faire
Which was one of the main rationales for the Fed. Just like the Energy Dept was established to make America energy independent. Given a mere decade or two, those rationales get forgotten and the beast created takes a life of its own that ultimately compounds rather than mitigates the original perceived problem.
#7
The basic premise of economics is that you have limited resources and unlimited wants. No aspect of left thinking can be reconciled with that premise.
#8
the status of world reserve currency has the invevitable seed of mega inflation it it - as stated by Triffin shortly after Bretton Woods:
The Triffin dilemma is the observation that when a national currency also serves as an international reserve currency (as the US dollar does today), there are fundamental conflicts of interest between short-term domestic and long-term international economic objectives. This dilemma was first identified by Belgian-American economist Robert Triffin in the 1960s, who pointed out that the country issuing the global reserve currency must be willing to run large trade deficits in order to supply the world with enough of its currency to fulfill world demand for foreign exchange reserves. The use of a national currency as global reserve currency leads to a tension between national monetary policy and global monetary policy.
So if the $ is world money... it has to be funny money?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/22/2011 23:39 Comments ||
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h/t Instapundit
Much of what the government spends money on does more harm than good; this is particularly true over the past several years with the massive uncontrolled increase in government spending. I believe my business and non-profit investments are much more beneficial to societal well-being than sending more money to Washington. Charles G. Koch, Chairman and CEO, Koch Industries, Inc.
#1
Mr. Buffet's commentary has been totally misunderstood, in my view. He pleaded for entitlement reform and agreed that he was willing, as a price for this reform, to let them squander billions of his hard earned money as a price for that reform. Put differently, his acceptance of higher tax rates buys him a seat at the redistributionist's table. Who else do you want there? George Soros?
#3
he (Buffet) is fundamentally dishonest. To start with, I have ill feelings toward someone who lobbies for estate tax and then buys these estates when those people cannot pay that tax.
Second, his manipulation garnered him great advantage with Goldmann Sachs thereby profiting from government prolifigate spending.
He is far from a hero.
#4
Warren Buffet NEEDS Democrats in power for the next ten years, or he looses his shirt on all the windmills and other "alternate energy" boondoggles he's invested in. Republicans are very, very likely to cut the subsidies for "green" energy they see as wasteful, unproductive, and a drag on the economy. Warren can't have that. His current screed is just a smokescreen to cover his need for government subsidies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/22/2011 12:14 Comments ||
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#5
Ergo, he is no different than a welfare parasite. It matters not how little or much money you have if it's all from taxpayers and other people.
In either case, the government is a tool.
#6
Key issues for the electorate are (1) rent seeking combined with regulatory capture (2) debt overhang (not sovereign debt) - someone has to eat all that bad debt, no reason that the taxpayers should -- this is closely tied in to the first issue (3) wrongdoing by the financial industry being overlooked by captive politicians & media -- stop the looting and start prosecuting (4) squandering of government resources, currently being used by pols to buy votes for the next election cycle from people who don't pay any taxes.
I would support a candidate who would do something about all these issues. Thain't none at the moment.
Not sure, Nimble Spemble. This one appears to be posting from Amsterdam, but is also Etienne. He could be spoofing the IP, though -- it's not my area of expertise.
The FCC gave the coup de grace to the fairness doctrine Monday as the commission axed more than 80 media industry rules.
Earlier this summer FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski agreed to erase the post WWII-era rule, but the action Monday puts the last nail into the coffin for the regulation that sought to ensure discussion over the airwaves of controversial issues did not exclude any particular point of view. A broadcaster that violated the rule risked losing its license.
While the commission voted in 1987 to do away with the rule -- a legacy to a time when broadcasting was a much more dominant voice than it is today -- the language implementing it was never removed. The move Monday, once published in the federal register, effectively erases the rule.
Monday's move is part of the commission's response to a White House executive order directing a "government-wide review of regulations already on the books" designed to eliminate unnecessary regulations.
Also consigned to the regulatory dustbin are the "broadcast flag" digital copy protection rule that was struck down by the courts and the cable programming service tier rate. Altogether, the agency tossed 83 rules and regs. I am actually shocked by this. I guess the political cost of implementing the regs would have been more than the politicians were willing to bear. I have faith the liberals will find another way to try to silence the right though.
#1
Perhaps the bureau-libs were concerned about a 'Hannity' type on "All Things Considered (aslongasitsinourworldview®)".
Naw
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/22/2011 16:22 Comments ||
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#2
...or the tea party leave readers in the Beltway have concluded that there is a chance that the rebel alliance will take down the Deathstar November 2012 is not looking too good and that 'THEY' will get the offices and power to do upon them what they intended to do to others. It gets back to a basic principle the writers of the Constitution intended - don't invest power into the central government that you wouldn't want your opponent to have over you.
#3
I personally think this is designed so that all vestige of any journalistic integrity (oxymoron?) will be thrown out of the window in the rush the keep Chairman Obama in power.
#4
"It gets back to a basic principle the writers of the Constitution intended - don't invest power into the central government that you wouldn't want your opponent to have over you."
Ummm, last time I checked the history books, Georgie Washington and Tommy Jefferson didn't have radio or TV. Stop trying to solve a 21st century problem with an 18th century solution...
[Dawn] Children continue to suffer from polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... myelitis as two new cases have been recorded in Federally Administered Tribal Areas bringing the total number of infected children to 22 this year.
"The newly-detected cases include one each from South Wazoo and Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pashtuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... agencies according to laboratory report conducted at National Institute of Health Islamabad," said Dr Jan Baz Afridi, head of the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI).
It has brought the total number of countrywide polio cases to 69, including 26 from Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , 22 from Fata, 14 from Sindh, six from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and one each from Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab while Islamabad hasn't recorded any case this year so far.
Dr Jan Baz said that South Waziristan became a newly-infected agency bringing the total number of infected areas to 28 in the country.
Both the children hadn't received oral polio vaccine (OPV), he said.
Saira Bibi, the six-month-old daughter of Gul Bacha, a resident of village Jalal Kor in Khoyezai area of Mohmand Agency, was diagnosed positive for the crippling ailment as she hadn't received any OPV dose. "It is the fourth case in the volatile tribal agency this year," he
said.
Three of the positive children, aged between 6 to 23 months, hadn't received any OPV.
The area has been inaccessible owing to the child could not be administered OPV by the vaccination teams. Overall vaccination coverage remained 90 per cent, which meant that 15 to 20 per cent of the target children remained inaccessible for vaccination since early 2010.
Five-month-old Rubina Begum, the daughter of Mohammad Hussain, resident of village Karoch Khel in Ladha tehsil of South Waziristan was also tested positive for poliomyelitis. The child didn't have any OPV dose. Rubina happened to be the first polio case reported from South Waziristan agency this year.
The agency had recorded last polio case from the same tehsil in July 2010, which is inaccessible for vaccination teams since May 2009.
The vaccination coverage during the 14 campaigns since January 2010 was below 90 per cent while more than 40 per cent of the target children could not be reached.
Sources in health department told Dawn that lack of vaccination had become a Herculean task for donor organizations that were pumping huge amount into the campaign.
They said that health authorities had not been able to utilise windows of opportunities to vaccinate children in the inaccessible areas.
They said that close coordination with army could make a marked difference in accessing all children in Fata.
According to them, the government's commitment to eradicate the disease by end of 2011 had already failed. Not only inaccessibility but refusal by parents to administer OPV to their children is also a major hindrance in eradicating the disease.
Last year, Pakistain became the world top polio-endemic country with 144 cases that included 96 cases from Fata. Te country registered 119 cases in 2001, 90 in 2002, 103 in 2003, 53 in 2004, 28 in 2005, 40 in 2006, 32 in 2007, 117 in 2008, 89 in 2009, 144 in 2010 and 69 this year so far.
Majority of the cases during all these years had been recorded due to refusal by parents against OPV, because they thought vaccination was a ploy by the enemies to make recipients sterile and cut the population of Mohammedans.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/22/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Well, they might be paralyzed but they can still have babies. Another triumph for Islam!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The FCC gave the coup de grace to the fairness doctrine Monday as the commission axed more than 80 media industry rules.
[Dawn] Children continue to suffer from 
