This is how I feel about the economy some days.

Wait for the chorus....Tracy Bonham says what many are probably feeling now.

Communism in action.

When I heard the objective is to make sure no one has any different health care experience than any one else, even if you have the money to pay for it, I saw red. This is nothing more than naked communism. The best thing you and I can do is get in great shape so we won't need any health care...and then curl up and die.

True wisdom

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

-- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
16th President of the United States of America

The whole health care argument falls flat with the first lie...47 million uninsured.

Will Seniors just roll over and die?

It's medication time.

Dogs make life worth living.

George Will points out the theatre of the absurd.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/17/AR2009061702802.html?wpisrc=newsletter

ECU Economics Alumni Hall of Fame member Keegan Lynn in action off the coast of Ocracoke.

With his father Clyde Lynn

I'm from Chicago....

...and I learned at a very young age to be nice to the police. Or they'll whack you.

JoeJihadi has his worst day ever!

Michael Boskin is one sharp dude. Ignore him at our economic peril.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203946904574302332578189864.html

Point vs. Counter Point

Yes, we are tracking the Great Depression:

http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3421

No we are not:

http://economy.nationaljournal.com/2009/06/a-new-depression-after-all.php#1337734

Dog racing fun.

Rick Mishkin talks...you ought to listen.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=14643793&ch=4226720&src=news

Professor Mehrling tries to make sense of it all.

You really need to try and get through this article. You'll come out on the other side a whole lot smarter.



http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/07/exclusive_interview_what_is_shadow_banking_and_how_did_it_fail.php

More on Global Warming.

For the last three days Nashville has recorded the coldest mornings since the 1870s. What's up with that?



http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/06/26/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5117890.shtml

Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe

This is no joke. This is a 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollar note. Last year they had an inflation rate over 79 billion percent.

Friedman and Schwartz answer Bernanke.

Somehow I think Milton Friedman would be a bit gentler here. But that is just my guess.




http://www.newsweek.com/id/207218/page/1

The death of your health care.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203946904574298661486528186.html

If you don't think the president's one and only goal is the complete and total take over of health care by the government, then you are (click play) ....

An open letter to Congress and the President: Don't mess with Fed Independence please.

Open Letter to Congress and the Executive Branch

Amidst the debate over systemic regulation, the independence of U.S. monetary policy is at risk. We urge Congress and the Executive Branch to reaffirm their support for and defend the independence of the Federal Reserve System as a foundation of U.S. economic stability. There are three specific risks that must be contained.

First, central bank independence has been shown to be essential for controlling inflation. Sooner or later, the Fed will have to scale back its current unprecedented monetary accommodation. When the Federal Reserve judges it time to begin tightening monetary conditions, it must be allowed to do so without interference. Second, lender of last resort decisions should not be politicized.

Finally, calls to alter the structure or personnel selection of the Federal Reserve System easily could backfire by raising inflation expectations and borrowing costs and dimming prospects for recovery. The democratic legitimacy of the Federal Reserve System is well established by its legal mandate and by the existing appointments process. Frequent communication with the public and testimony before Congress ensure Fed accountability.

If the Federal Reserve is given new responsibilities every effort must be made to avoid compromising its ability to manage monetary policy as it sees fit.

Ricardo Caballero, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kenneth French, Dartmouth College
Robert Hall, Stanford University
Anil Kashyap, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Pete Klenow, Stanford University
Frederic Mishkin, Columbia University
Thomas Sargent, New York University
Michael Woodford, Columbia University

Here is a link to all those who have signed on. You'll find me and Dr. Rothman there.

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/anil.kashyap/research/petition_signees.pdf

Too good not to share.

Oil and the Macroeconomy.

Read and learn from the best...


http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2009/04/oil_shocks_and_1.html


http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3664

More Blues...one of the greatest ever!

I'm from Chicago...the blues are part of what makes life so wonderful. Check out Lightning HopKins.

Come and take your whipp'in econ boy.

http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=14031376

Dude! All I wanted was a small hole to fill with sand so my kid would have somewhere to play in!

Gasoline prices again.....

http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2009/06/gasoline_prices_5.html

Fools and jackasses.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124753106668435899.html

More Cleptomania...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124511955030617745.html#mod=loomia?loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r1:c0.418837:b25447126

Not what he had in mind.

Bumper stickers seen about town.

This is too good not to share.

I have cleaned this up for our itsy-bitsy econ bloggers.

If you don't think this is a Trojan Horse, you need to put down that crack pipe.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124709618142215031.html

Moron Hall of Fame: Kim Jong Il "Dear Leader"

On the right I give you a 50 won North Korean "scrip" note. I have kept it all these years after a friend of mine John Byrd gave it to me after a visit to North Korea. Yes, that's right, he went to North Korea. You see, he is a big shot at the Central Identification Lab out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and goes all over the world looking for US MIAs. He found a WWII US bomber and crew off the coast of Morocco and finally let their family have some rest. He has been to Vietnam, and the Killing fields of Cambodia identifying bodies. He even had the task of identifying who was killed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Well, back a few years ago when things were not so tense, the North Korean government let the identification team into the Korean DMZ and beyond to look for MIAs. The whole time, the speakers from the North blared propaganda over and over, louder and louder. What did the South Koreans do? They just played a tape of a cow mooing to remind the North Koreans what a hamburger must taste like. John also told me the countryside of North Korea is beautiful and should have some of the best trout fishing in the world. I asked him "so why doesn't it?" He looked at me like the fool that I am and said "because they netted all the rivers and streams and have eaten all the fish." Kinda obvious eh? He also said there were only two programs on TV. It was either propaganda where some peasant farmer discovered the wonders of collectivism and shouted Socialist victory slogans or it was some program of the communist world defeating the Yankee imperialists. When you are told this over and over again from the time you come out of the womb, you should not wonder why the North Korean population feels as they do. John spoke to one North Korean military commander who had to go everywhere they went and asked if he ever thought of visiting the US. He said he would love to but if he left, the regime would murder his whole family all the way down to all of his first cousins. How charming.

Anyway, all you young folks out there, you do not have to wonder what Hitler and Stalin were like. They live in North Korea. I got a real bad feeling about how this is going to go down.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124511648024217217.html

This is really neat and a must see!

Follow all 9 interactive pages. Really Great!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/02/business/economy/20090705-cycles-graphic.html

Phil Donahue...who's your daddy?

Get the economics right.

Read this first. It is on the way here to the US...http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124692973435303415.html





Then read this...

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/03/health-care-and-competitiveness.html

Back by popular demand. Not for our more sensitive viewers.

These are some examples of the fight in Afghanistan.. These video shots
are not made through the shooter's telescopic sight... they are made
looking through the spotter's scope. The spotter lies right next to the
sniper and helps the sniper to find and home in on the target.

The sniper is using a 50 caliber rifle. A 50 cal. round is 7.26 inches
long and the casing is about an inch in diameter. The bullet itself is
one-half inch in diameter and roughly one and one-half inches long.
Pay close attention to the beginning of the video. A Taliban is laying
on top of the peak in front of you... when you hear the shot fired....
watch what happens. The sniper is also about a half mile away... or more.
It is not known if the sniper team is US Marine or Army. It is known
that a Canadian Forces sniper has the distance record in Afghanistan of 1.5 miles.

This is Macroeconomics since it is your tax dollars at work.

Demography is the #1 economic issue facing the world today, and most don't even know what the word means.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/24/demography-lou-dobbs-opinions-contributors-destiny.html?partner=email

The terminator is calling!

Happy Fourth of July!

Pick'in and Grinn'in.

Chairman Bernanke in his own words.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/04/4-questions-4-answers-from-ben-bernanke.html

The Wyden-Bennett bill.

This type of reform for health care makes a great deal of sense. That is why no one is talking about it.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_Americans_Act