James:
It should be illegal to run the Federal Budget at a deficit.
Me:
Although they may exist, I am not familiar with one economist who would agree with you. At a minimum, it goes back to the idea that “the Constitution is not a suicide pact“.
James:
You should read Henry Hazlitt.
Rik:
More important than that, we all need to read the “Federalist Papers“.
Here’s a dialog about the state of banking, lending, and business. Built from a Facebook post and comments.
Ed Lowry:
I was fortunate enough to purchase a copy of the Financial Times this morning. To my amazement I read about banks not lending to small business: http://bit.ly/9lofzr. If the bank does lend to SB it’s at a rate 3.5% higher than the fed fund rate.
The article continues with standard language, but I’m wondering:
We (the taxpayers) bailed out the banking industry. The Fed lowered the rate at the window so as to increase lending. Banks are using the Fed borrowings to boost balance sheets.
Given that the Fed rate is zero (or less in real terms), essentially emergency rates, and the banks aren’t lending, the bank shows more cash on hand, more liquidity, and therefore better balance sheet and higher stock price.
From my small knowledge base it would appear the banks are once again “disadvantaging” the average Joe and stifling innovation, entrepreneurship and small business, yet raking in usury rates when they do lend and receiving adventageous tax breaks.
What part of the invisible hand is invisible?
A few weeks back a friend asked, “Why are we in Afghanistan?” I didn’t respond right away because I hadn’t read the McChrystal piece in Rolling Stone. It hasn’t changed my approach to the issue.
Originally we went there with a few hundred super-cool operatives to take out a couple of trailer parks manned by the usual bottom quartile of Arab engineering students.
That victory was mostly attained within a matter of days. One unfortunate detail was the failure to capture the Tall Guy. That was flumoxed so incompetently as to appear to be on purpose. Maybe he’s better served as a myth on the loose?
(Continued)
So I’m in Dave’s, the Irish place at Five Corners in Birmingham. Yeah, you know the place. My crew is tucked away in their jammies in the hotel. Three 1 hour legs took all their newbie gas.
Dave’s has wireless Internet, but it requires a password. That’s great! All viable establishments will have wireless connections very shortly.
I ask the bartenderess about the password, and she says, “One moment.” She comes back with like a little check printed out in faint blue ink, especially for me. It’s got a Usename of “rz7jbt5d” and a Password of “8zsxwn5v”, I think. It’s almost impossibly tiny, faint, and water-spotted to read.
Hey, I have old eyes! I’ve had one beer. This is a dimly lit bar as you might guess. I’ve struggled to enter this high-security code into my iPhone twice, resulting in “Entry Error”.
Is this a tavern or The Pentagon? What is wrong with this design picture? Who are the people who actually get connected to wireless at Dave’s?
===>> Spies?
I posted Fraser’s 4th of July dispatch from Iraq.
Around here, the 3rd and the 5th of July are exactly like the 4th of July. Every now and again I’ve received email from friends, and being from non-military backgrounds they make some interesting statements like, “I hope you have a great 4th!”, or “Are you guys going to have a big parade, a cook out, and fireworks?”
Here’s a fun FACEBOOK interchange that I had with a banker friend of mine. There’s some additional commentary at the end.
Him:
Not the most penetrating analysis, but the essence of the folly is captured.
Financial Overhaul Is Flopping – Barrons.com, “The banking-reform bill misses the mark”
Me:
So you agree with me that the national economic solution is more “innovative financial products”? Maybe something with an acronym like “COWBELL”.
Cigarettes include a substantial tax for societal costs related to cigarette smoking. The justifying argument is; why should everyone have to pay for the costs of the few who have willingly embraced personal health care complications?
Likewise with weapons. Without a loaded weapon there can be no cause for costly medical assistance or law enforcement action resulting from a weapon discharge. Why should the broad citizen population continue to be expected to share in the costs associated with intentional, malicious, or accidental discharge of a weapon? Outside of Government authorized law enforcement and military actions, the answer has to be “No!” What for? Weapons related behavior should be fully costed to those involved.
(Continued)
A friend asked me about my thoughts on Delta Air Lines’ sale of Mesaba Airlines to Pinnacle, and Compass Airlines sale to Trans States Airlines.
My opinion is that it means there is no way for the CAL-UAL pilots to capture the 70 seat aircraft under a scope clause in their common contract. Delta’s given it up, American’s given it up, and US Airways has given it up. Competitive market conditions will not allow CAL-UAL management to do otherwise. With the sale of these airlines, 70 seat turbofan a/c are now a confirmed regionally competitive commodity operated by some half dozen multi-entity holding companies, and those firms will be contracted by all the major brands on lowest cost/best performance.
I know this is heresy to the CAL pilots. But doctrine is usually hope, and rarely an analysis of reality.
(Continued)
I had a First Officer the other week who was age 29, engaged to wed, a serious recently-subdued southern conservative, who had an older brother pilot at Continental Airlines. So he already knew everything, with a firm immutable mental model, having completed his learning phase of life.
In discussing some travel pass particulars that effect my personal situation now and post UAL-CAL merger, he made the statement that the U.S. Department of Justice would not approve the airline merger until the two pilot unions had reached a seniority integration agreement. “They don’t want to end up with another mess like they have over at US Airways.”
It sounded like arithmetic hokum to me, which I tried to convey to no avail. But then, I’m merely an elderly small-jet captain.
So I’m reading the WSJ today and come across this article about US Airways’ business success.
(Continued)
An Anti-Socialist Jobs Example
Steven
(Continued)