F.A. versus John Maynard, They've Been Going Back and Forth for a Century

I couldn't have said it better myself. Hundreds of writers have spent hundreds of thousands of words trying to say this and not done this well. Check it out.

It's Not What You Think

I am the only person that I know personally who has read Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which is the bible of Capitalism. I contend that what we have in the United States now is not Capitalism but is, instead, Corporatism. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz apparently agrees with me. It's nice to see them come around.

Where Is The Money Going?

The public usually does not understand and often does not follow the gymnastics of the Federal Reserve. Pity. The Fed has more indirect influence over the American economy than any other single institution.

Occasionally I go diving into the money supply movements. What I've just seen is that the multiplier has only crept over 1.0 twice in the last year and has been consistently below 1.0 for most of that time. The most recent number shows that for every dollar the Fed creates, only 85 cents is making it into the economy.

Where is it going? Most likely into bank capital reserves. In other words, banks are either holding it to increase their reserves, cannot find suitable loans to make with it, or both. This is what a buddy of mine calls pushing a rope.

The Definitive Timeline

Wow! The definitive time line of Climategate. There are a lot (and apparently increasing number) of reputable skeptics to whom we will owe a great deal in the future.

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.