Central Perk: 11 dec. 2010

sâmbătă, 11 decembrie 2010

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Nine Simple Questions; The Fed? Ron Paul’s Not a Fan; Bonus 10th Question

Posted: 11 Dec 2010 05:23 PM PST

When it comes to the Fed, military spending, bailouts, and upholding the constitution, Ron Paul stands alone, and he is about to make Bernanke miserable.

Please consider The Fed? Ron Paul's Not a Fan

On Thursday, House Republican leaders announced that Representative Ron Paul of Texas, the outspoken Republican libertarian who ran for president in 2008, will become the chairman of the subcommittee that oversees the Fed. His position on the central bank is captured in the title of his 2009 book, "End the Fed". Here's some of what he wrote:

The Gold Standard

"Whenever I talk of a gold standard, there are always people ready to accuse me of having some obsession or fixation. Fetish is a word thrown around. In fact, I'm only observing reality: the idea of sound money in most of human history has been bound up with gold money."

A Full-Time Counterfeiting Operation

On Mr. Bernanke: "There is something fishy about the head of the world's most powerful government bureaucracy, one that is involved in a full-time counterfeiting operation to sustain monopolistic financial cartels, and the world's most powerful central planner, who sets the price of money worldwide, proclaiming the glories of capitalism."

New Money Out of Thin Air

"Only the Federal Reserve can inflate the currency, creating new money and credit out of thin air, in secrecy, without oversight or supervision. Inflation facilitates deficits, needless wars and excessive welfare spending."

Low Interest Rates

"Artificially low interest rates are achieved by inflating the money supply, and they penalize the thrifty and cheat those who save. They promote consumption and borrowing over savings and investing. Manipulating interest rates is an immoral act. It's economically destructive."

The Obama Legacy

"For the same reason a disease cannot be cured by more of the germ that caused it, the inflation and debt accumulation of the Obama years will not inflate our way out of it. This depression will likely last and last."

See the article for more select quotes regarding The Bailouts, The Beginning of the End, and Fed Chairman He Has Known.

Ron Paul's Nine Questions

In case you missed Ron Paul's passionate speech on Wikileaks please watch. this video.

With a tip of the hat to From The Old here are the questions Ron Paul asked in his speech.

Number 1: Do the America People deserve know the truth regarding the ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen?

Number 2: Could a larger question be how can an army private access so much secret information?

Number 3: Why is the hostility directed at Assange, the publisher, and not at our governments failure to protect classified information?

Number 4: Are we getting our moneys worth of the 80 Billion dollars per year spent on intelligence gathering?

Number 5: Which has resulted in the greatest number of deaths: lying us into war or Wikileaks revelations or the release of the Pentagon Papers?

Number 6: If Assange can be convicted of a crime for publishing information that he did not steal, what does this say about the future of the first amendment and the independence of the internet?

Number 7: Could it be that the real reason for the near universal attacks on Wikileaks is more about secretly maintaining a seriously flawed foreign policy of empire than it is about national security?

Number 8: Is there not a huge difference between releasing secret information to help the enemy in a time of declared war, which is treason, and the releasing of information to expose our government lies that promote secret wars, death and corruption?

Number 9: Was it not once considered patriotic to stand up to our government when it is wrong?

Thomas Jefferson had it right when he advised 'Let the eyes of vigilance never be closed'

Please note the common sense discussion of Ron Paul vs. the completely hysterical (as well as totally misguided) reaction of Sarah Palin: "Assange is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?"

My response:
Excuse me for asking but since when does exposing corruption and hypocrisy make one an al Qaeda' terrorist? Is the whole world supposed to stand up and salute our illegal wars, our torture of civilians, our holding of prisoners in Cuba with no charges being filed. Are we supposed to salute or simply look away from fraud by our banks and coverups in our Treasury department?

Assange is not even a US citizen. Clearly, Sara Palin is not capable of figuring out the implications of her proposal to hunt down foreigners allegedly in violation of US laws.

If we can prosecute others for violating our laws (if Assange even did such a thing), then why can't Iran or Iraq prosecute George Bush for violation of their laws?

Bonus 10th Question

Here is a key 10th question Ron Paul failed to ask: Since when does the US have the right to impose its laws on the rest of the world?

The answer, no matter what neocons may think, is "we don't".

Sara Palin cannot think clearly, she just reacts, perpetually grubbing for attention. The simple truth of the matter is she is not fit for office no matter how much media attention she receives. Hopefully Republicans come to their senses regarding her electability before it's too late.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Chicago's Mayor Daley Discusses Bankruptcy For City Pensions

Posted: 11 Dec 2010 10:56 AM PST

Mayor Daley is begging Governor Quinn for pension reform.

Quinn now has on his desk a bill that would allow state to withhold sales tax and income tax revenue from cities that won't do more to fund their pension plans.

Property taxes will have to go up for cities to meet their pension obligations and that is on top of a massive income tax hike that governor Quinn campaigned for.

Daley, aldermen ask Quinn to veto pension measure

The Chicago Tribune reports Daley, aldermen ask Quinn to veto pension measure

Mayor Richard Daley this afternoon expressed his frustration with the city's pension situation, suggesting that the retirement funds need to be fixed before leaders are forced to declare them bankrupt as a way to restructure.

Speaking on a Global Metro Summit panel at the University of Illinois-Chicago with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Daley at first appeared to indicate that allowing the pensions to go bankrupt so they could be reorganized was something he believes could happen.

"I'm one who believes that pension funds can go bankrupt and then you reorganize, and that's the hardest thing to say," Daley said.

Moderator Richard Stengel, managing editor of Time Magazine, then asked Daley: "Let them go bankrupt?"

"Yes, and then you reorganize it," Daley replied.

The mayor's comments came after much of the Chicago City Council sent a letter to Gov. Pat Quinn today urging him not to sign a pension reform bill passed by the General Assembly and Daley again lambasted the plan.

Daley has been publicly attacking the bill at every opportunity over the past week, saying it would lead to the biggest property tax increase in Chicago history. Daley said he doesn't know whether Quinn will listen to Chicago officials' pleas not to sign the legislation, but he said he and Quinn have different views on raising taxes.

"(Quinn) wants to tax people. What can I do?" Daley said.

"We can't go tax crazy, but people may want to go tax crazy," the mayor said.

The bill requires municipalities move toward funding police and fire pensions up to 90 percent of obligations by 2040, and allows the state to withhold sales tax and income tax revenue from cities that don't do so. Daley says that to meet the pension funding standard would require a $550 million property tax hike in Chicago.

A letter to Quinn signed by 43 of Chicago's 50 aldermen acknowledges the need for pension reform, but says any legislation should include increased employee contributions and lower benefit payouts.

Now?! Why Now?

Now Daley is whining. Now?! Why Now?

He should have thought about this before the election. Quinn campaigned on a pledge to raise the state income tax by 33% (from 3% to 4%) thereby buying the vote of every public union worker in the state.

Who is to blame if not Daley and idiots in Chicago who voted to return Quinn to office by a margin of 87% to 13%, hundreds of thousands of votes.

All it would have taken to defeat Quinn was one simple statement by Daley endorsing Bill Brady. Quinn won the election by 19,000 votes out of over 3.6 million cast. Quinn's margin of victory was 46.6% to 46.1%.

Daley could have gotten any favor he wanted for endorsing Brady. Any! But no! Daley sat on his ass and let this happen.

Chicago deserves to suffer. The whole rest of the state shouldn't have to. But it will, and Mayor Daley is to blame.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Your Weekly Address: Protecting the Middle Class and the Economy

Your Daily Snapshot for
Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010

Your Weekly Address: Protecting the Middle Class & the Economy

The President strongly urges both parties in Congress to pass the compromise on tax cuts, unemployment insurance, and job creation. Not doing so would hurt the middle class, those struggling to find work, and the economy itself.

Watch the video.

Weekly Wrap Up

Framework on Tax Cuts: Austan Goolsbee’s breaks it down on the White Board, a chart on wins for working families and more information on how this bipartisan agreement delivers key victories that will give the average American family assurance that there will be more money to pay the bills each month. Learn more about the framework on tax cuts, unemployment insurance and jobs.

DREAM: "Now is the time to press on with our full support for the DREAM Act. We’re closer than we’ve ever been and we’re not giving up," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Read the post.

West Wing Week: “It’s alive!” Watch the video.

Notable Number: $2,500. Learn more about how the President saved more than 8 million students that much in tuition costs.

New Photos: 1 of 80 new behind-the-scenes shots from the month November, thanks to the White House Photo Office.

A Symbol of Hope: The menorah used at the White House Hanukkah ceremony -- on loan from a congregation in New Orleans -- is one of very few items from the congregation that survived the devastation of Katrina. Watch a short video.

#1q: Press Secretary Gibbs answers your Twitter questions on unemployment benefits and bickering between Republicans and Democrats. Watch the video response.

Tuesday Talks: This week featured a panel on the Open Government Directive, which requires federal agencies to take steps to achieve key milestones in transparency, participation, and collaboration. Watch the video. Next week, join us for a talk on the White House Fellows Program.

“A Good Deal for the American People”: President Obama holds a press conference about the tax cut compromise framework. Watch the video.

Let There Be Light: The First Family lights the National Christmas Tree with a little help from B.B. King, Sara Bareilles, Common, Maroon 5 and more. Watch the video.

Treasury 2.0: The Department of Treasury launches a new website with data visualizations, FAST search technology and a blog. Take a look at the new website.

“Our Generation’s Sputnik Moment”: While visiting Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, President Obama speaks about his vision and his specific proposals for strengthening the economy.

Into the Wild: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the only place in America where polar bears can be found in their natural habitat, it also just celebrated its 50^th anniversary. Learn more about America’s largest National Wildlife Refuge.

Inside the Cabinet: President Obama holds a Cabinet meeting, get a glimpse inside the meeting with these behind-the-scenes photos.

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Seth's Blog : "The answer is simple"

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

"The answer is simple"

...is always more effective a response than, "well, it's complicated."

One challenge analysts face is that their answers are often a lot more complicated than the simplistic (and wrong) fables that are peddled by those that would mislead and deceive. Same thing is true for many non-profits doing important work.

We're not going to have a lot of luck persuading masses of semi-interested people to seek out and embrace complicated answers, but we can take two steps to lead to better information exchange:

1. Take complicated overall answers and make them simple steps instead. Teach complexity over time, simply.

2. Teach a few people, the committed, to embrace the idea of complexity. That's what a great college education does, for example. That's what makes someone a statesman instead of a demagogue. Embracing complexity is a scarce trait, worth acquiring. But until your customers/voters/employees do, I think the first strategy is essential.

You can't sell complicated to someone who came to you to buy simple.