No Need to Read

I'm posting this commentary on climate statistics mostly for my own future reference. Of course you're welcome to take a peak if you wish. As a former student of atmospherics (for the purposes of radio communications), this is some pretty fascinating information and consistent with what I learned way back when: the climate is a vastly, vastly, vastly (vast to the 3rd power?) complex mechanism.

Quote of the Day

From one of my favorites, Jonah Goldberg,who can regularly be found at National Review (http://corner.nationalreview.com/). He's commenting on a recent article by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times.

"Last, at the bottom of Friedman's column it says "Maureen Dowd is off today." Question: Why don't they put that disclaimer under Maureen Dowd's column where it belongs?"

Corporatism is not Capitalism

There is a natural tendency for any organization to seek to tilt the playing field to its own advantage. Businesses have this tendency like any other entity and I fear that we are now in the throws of full grown Corporatism. (In the old days this was called Mercantilism.) This statement by Donald Trump is an excellent example. He wants the government to force (not encourage, but force) banks to lend money where they would rather not. That, my friends, is not free markets in action nor is it Capitalism. That is Corporatism where one party (Trump) is trying to use an external player (the government) to provide him with his preferred working environment.

I was never a great Trump fan and now I know why.

As the Brits say, "Brilliant!"

I contend that stakeholders in General Motors and Chrysler will rue the day they got in bed with the U.S. government. One of the best business moves of my lifetime was Ford Motor Company's sidestep away from direct government aid at the end of 2008. Here is a cautionary tale from British Leyland in the 1970s for anyone who thinks government ownership of a major industrial enterprise is a good thing.

The Old Term Was Crowding Out

It the bad old days (pre-Reagan and early Reagan), a common phrase in economics was "crowding out" and that government borrowing reduced the capital in the system available for private investment. It's probably happening again.

The Decline of the IPO

I saw on CNBC this morning that the Initial Public Offering is in a secular (long-term) decline in the United States. You may think this is a recent event, tracking to Sarbanes-Oxley or the 2008 crash ... and you'd be wrong. It goes back to around 1997.

In general, this is a bad thing. An open market is a very efficient allocator of capital. There are many more transaction costs in raising money through private equity than in the open market.

So, if it's a bad thing, why is it happening and can anything be done? Here's one idea and I'll try to stay on this topic for a bit to see how it develops.

To Good to Pass

This must be the quote of the month - referring to Sunday's Minnesota 38 Green Bay 26 result.

"On Sunday, Brett Favre got what really wanted: revenge against his wicked ex-employer, the Green Bay Packers. If you were a Packer fan at Lambeau, it had to smart. Sort of like watching your high school girlfriend show up to your 25th reunion—with George Clooney."