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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Randy Parker Moron Hall of Fame






Let me clarify. There is: 1. The Randy Parker Hall of Fame occupied by the best of the best the human condition has put forth like Jackie Robinson, Frank Robinson, "Ralph" whom you will meet on Friday, Lee Elder, Ronald Reagan, Walter Payton and others who have made a positive impression on my life. I have indicated who these people are and will continue to do so over time. 2. The Randy Parker Schmuck Hall of Shame occupied by miscreants and other low lifes and degenerates that did something without shame and admit to nothing or act like it is no big deal. We have seen John Edwards, Mark Foley and Tim Mahoney take up residence here. 3. The Randy Parker Moron Hall of Fame occupied by me (based on general moron principles) and folks who were trying to help but did something diametrically opposed to what should have been done and yet did not realize it and steadfastly maintained their correctness even in the face of overwhelming counter evidence.
Anybody know who these Moron Hall of Fame members are directly above? That's right Senator Reed Smoot and Representative W.C. Hawley the guys who gave us trade protectionism in response to the downturn of 1929-30 and thus contributed to the Great Depression. And since we are here, that's ole Herbert Hoover on the right. The same guy who raised taxes to balance the budget and crashed the economy in 1932. What do we know from economic history? Right, you don't choke off trade nor raise taxes when you are staring into the teeth of an economic downturn. Seems I have been hearing the same Depression-era mumbo jumbo lately. Those who do not know the lessons of history are condemned to repeat the same dumb mistakes. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122445840565148489.html?mod=djemEditorialPage



4 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, that calls for an introduction of the moronmeter. After all, we have thermometer, barometer, all sorts of -meters. So it seems that there should be something to measure the quality of economic ideas of the politicians as well. But I guess the hardest part may be to find the range, because it seems that politicians are always capable of reaching any lower bound ..... *SMILE*

Anonymous said...

Behavioral Finance tells us that most people buy into stocks when the markets go up and sell them when the markets go down. The exact opposite of the old buy low and sell high strategy that sounds so simple.

Today Morningstar reported that mutual fund redemptions hit an all time high in September 2008.

The last bear market saw mutual fund redemptions hit a peak in July 2002 and the market began turning around a few short months later.

Could poor decisions by Joe Investor signal a turning point in the equity markets (a leading indicator)?

Anonymous said...

Dr P- you told me that Obama had some serious economic scholars from Stanford advising him. Do you think they will advise him to change course on his tax hike plan after the election?

Randall Parker said...

Cal Berkeley actually Derek.

I would not bet on it, but did I not hear Obama say something of suspending these increases for a time? Be that as it may, it is tautological that you can not "spread the wealth around" without revenue enhancement, or rather, taxes.