US Must Address Debt, Warns Debt Commission
President Obama’s bi-partisan debt commission gave a preliminary read out of the nation’s fiscal situation today. There was nothing earth shattering about the conclusion. The prognosis from co-chair Erskine Bowles is that current trends will destroy the country from within. I think Bowles is actually a bit off on that one as the holders of … Continue reading
Yankee Utopians in a Chinese Century: Wall Street Orthodoxy and the loss of the US Manufacturing base.
Before I continue, let me qualify something about the individual that’s being quoted in this post, conservative commentator, Pat Buchanan. There’s little doubt in my mind that Buchanan is a racist. I’ve arrived at this conclusion from his books, numerous op-eds as well as his conduct on MSNBC. He’s the type of racist that is … Continue reading
Urban Homesteading: A response to the economic crisis
Although I grew up in a major American city, I got very familiar with growing food mainly from my parents who were from the rural south. We supplemented our diet by growing and caning all of our own vegetables. At one point we maintained a large garden for this purpose. Prior to starting the garden, … Continue reading
A Picture Worth a Thousand Words: U.S. Debt and the Greece Analogy
When talking about economic/financial matters, it’s always good to use a visual as that usually allows for an easier understanding of the situation at hand. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but debt is the biggest and most pressing issue our nation faces on the economic front, whether we’re talking about individuals, … Continue reading
Plato’s Cave: Are the wheels coming off the economy as Obama pushes for another stimulus?
The philosopher Plato once offered an allegory about a cave where prisoners are chained down and forced to look upon the front wall of a cave unable to turn their heads. To the back of the prisoners lies a puppeteer casting shadows upon the wall which the prisoners perceive as reality mainly because they can’t … Continue reading
The Oil Spill: More than one Leak?
The more I learn about this, the more it’s clear that this is an unmitigated disaster both ecologically and economically. The fishing and tourism industries in the gulf and possibly all the way to Florida and the Caribbean may be virtually wiped out for years. I’ve been consistently reading over the past few weeks … Continue reading
Is Goldman Sachs in the Middle of the Greek Crisis?
Goldman Sachs seems to be in the middle of yet another mess. It appears that they were involved in helping Greece set up some “liars” loans via some complex derivatives trades thus helping Greece to meet EU rules by hiding the extent of its deficit. Again, this is likely not isolated nor was Goldman alone … Continue reading
Is a debt crisis coming to your neighborhood?
An excellent article here on a possible US debt crisis coming to your neighborhood in the future. The chart above is a projection of interest payments on the national debt over the next decade. They’re projected to grow to such an extent that they’ll constitute a large percentage of all annual spending. This chart was … Continue reading
A Case for Tort Reform: Employees get fired after capturing a shoplifter because their employer is afraid of the shoplifter suing them
This one of those stories that make you scratch your head. Check it out here. Two employees on break help a security guard capture a fleeing shoplifter and their employer fires them a few days later for violating company policy. Apparently, most companies prohibit employees from apprehending shoplifters for fear of lawsuits from the … Continue reading
Employed but still homeless
A very interesting article out of the New York Times about the employment/homelessness situation in North Dakota. Apparently, North Dakota has a very low unemployment rate (about 4%) due to the growing oil service industry but also a limited housing stock just due to an acute shortage of housing. There have been an influx … Continue reading
The African-American Clarion Call 