Spend a week hiking: Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Capitol Reef, Diamond Fork Canyon, Uintah Forest.
OK, Utah landscape is beautiful. It's also huge. You could put a huge energy complex out there and ... Oh.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Samuelson sees trouble looming
This column by Robert Samuelson is especially important.
First, he is alert to the failures of regulation. It's sometimes thought that regulators are objective, therefore more reliable. But precisely because they have "no skin in the game" they often fail.
As Glenn Beck and others note, the SEC had chances to nab Bernie Madoff. But it failed to act.
For a bureaucrat, there's no payoff to action. Better to knock off early, CYA, and collect that pension.
Second, he points out that regulation can be more dangerous.
From the last graf: "So the next crisis could come from anywhere -- perhaps the follies of government, not finance. Between now and 2019, the U.S. federal debt could rise to $11 trillion, projects the Congressional Budget Office. U.S. Treasury bonds are the bedrock of the global financial system; they're considered safe and reliable. What if a glut of bonds causes investors to lose faith? Good question."
You didn't like the Internet bubble or the mortgage bubble? What about the Treasury bond bubble? It would dwarf what we went through in 2001 and are going through now.
First, he is alert to the failures of regulation. It's sometimes thought that regulators are objective, therefore more reliable. But precisely because they have "no skin in the game" they often fail.
As Glenn Beck and others note, the SEC had chances to nab Bernie Madoff. But it failed to act.
For a bureaucrat, there's no payoff to action. Better to knock off early, CYA, and collect that pension.
Second, he points out that regulation can be more dangerous.
From the last graf: "So the next crisis could come from anywhere -- perhaps the follies of government, not finance. Between now and 2019, the U.S. federal debt could rise to $11 trillion, projects the Congressional Budget Office. U.S. Treasury bonds are the bedrock of the global financial system; they're considered safe and reliable. What if a glut of bonds causes investors to lose faith? Good question."
You didn't like the Internet bubble or the mortgage bubble? What about the Treasury bond bubble? It would dwarf what we went through in 2001 and are going through now.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Welcome back to disco era
The warning signs are so obvious: we're in for a re-run of the Seventies.
Hey, I lived through the Seventies. I had a job then. What a depressing pain.
The worst part was the feeling you could never get ahead. At least in the last two booms, some people could get ahead.
Obama and Congress have set us up for years of bleakness. That's the worst part: the mediocrity, the feeling of helplessness and doom.
Hey, I lived through the Seventies. I had a job then. What a depressing pain.
The worst part was the feeling you could never get ahead. At least in the last two booms, some people could get ahead.
Obama and Congress have set us up for years of bleakness. That's the worst part: the mediocrity, the feeling of helplessness and doom.
This explains it all
The Des News just had a feature on Greg Hughes. He's from Pittsburgh.
I lived for 25 years in Pittsburgh. That explains it all.
Life is different in Pittsburgh. People are different. Behavior that is A-OK in the Burgh won't fly here in Happy Valley.
It's not that the politicians won't stab you in the back. But they'll do it politely. And smile at you.
I lived for 25 years in Pittsburgh. That explains it all.
Life is different in Pittsburgh. People are different. Behavior that is A-OK in the Burgh won't fly here in Happy Valley.
It's not that the politicians won't stab you in the back. But they'll do it politely. And smile at you.
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