Currently viewing the category: "The Economy"

Hyperinflation Doom Approaches…

On February 6, 2012 By

Crank up the printing presses at the Treasury!  Time to print those $1 Billion bills so we can buy bread!

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The Commercial

On February 6, 2012 By

The chatter around the water cooler at the office this morning is about the Clint Eastwood commercial from last night’s SuperDooperBowl.

“Did you see it?”

“Yeah, I saw it, it was awesome!”

“What’s wrong with his voice?”

“Who cares! It’s great! He’s great!  It was a great message!”

Last night, Twitter was ablaze with references [...]

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Halftime in America

On February 5, 2012 By

I do not watch the Super Bowl for the commercials for a couple reasons, 1. They usually suck and 2. if they are good you will see them about 157,000 times in the next month.

Tonight was the first commercial I was impressed with since Clara Peller Asked "Where's the Beef?" albeit [...]

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Do You Want to Play a Game?

On February 5, 2012 By

Ready?  Here we go!

Question: What do Rhode Island, Louisiana, Wyoming, Hawaii, Alaska and Wisconsin all have in common?

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Meet the New Hate, Same as the Old Hate

On February 4, 2012 By

Salon has an interesting interview with Arthur Goldwag, author of the new book The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right.  He argues that the racist and conspiracist approach of today’s right-wing nut jobs is “largely the same as it was 50 years ago.”

But what caught my attention [...]

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Demystifying Libertarianism and Austrian Economics

On February 4, 2012 By

It’s really not that hard as soon as you realize it’s a cult like the Manson Family, Jim Jones or Scientology.  It helps explain Ron Paul and his acolytes quite nicely, actually.

From The Austrian Disease — Poor Scholarship, A Priori Bias

Despite its efforts to reach a broader audience, libertarianism is a marginal discourse [...]

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Punk Economics: Episode 1

On February 4, 2012 By

Great review of the crisis in Europe by Irish economist David McWilliams!  McWilliams has worked as an economist with the Central Bank of Ireland and as a banker with UBS bank and the Banque Nationale de Paris.  He currently does documentary television.

Listen for the bit around 7:30 where McWilliams talks about working in [...]

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Paul Ryan Dishonors Martin Luther King, Jr.

On February 4, 2012 By

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’
Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. day, a teacher from Racine refused an award because it was given to him by Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.). The same Paul Ryan who has perpetually been adamantly against [...]

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Edible Externalities, Part Deux – The Sugar Edition

On February 4, 2012 By

Earlier this week I posted about Edible Externalities.  Well, apparently the Europeans were listening to me…

PARIS — Sugar should be identified alongside alcohol and tobacco as a health danger, and governments should tax sweetened drinks and food as part of their efforts to combat it.

So says a commentary, published on Thursday [...]

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The Cloud Around the Silver Lining Jobs Report

On February 3, 2012 By

By all accounts, today’s job numbers were quite good.  But state and local government employment still represents a drag on the recovery.

A shrinking public-sector workforce as a share of the overall population can have a real impact on residents’ quality of life, since the services that states and localities provide — education, public [...]

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