Defunct Economics

Friday, February 6, 2009

Nuclear Scientist

I hope he is tethered. Link.

People and Thinkers That Need To Be Watched in 2009

Big Names in Finance and Economics. This group may not be complete, but it is the list of the authoritative public figures in the Finance and Economics World.

- 25 People Who Will Affect Your Finances in 2009

I do not know much about the Prospect Magazine, but I do know this list of Public Intellectuals is deep and accurate.

- An Intellectual Surge

For this article, I think the bottom line is correct, but the defintion of liberal is overally broad. Some people on the list, would laugh at the fact that others on the list are considered liberal. However, these are some of the best minds on the left. Oh, and if there is a liberal media bias then one would think these folks would get a hell of a lot more face time.

- 25 Most Influential Liberals in the U.S. Media

Above all, please do not listen to this guy. There are people who have intellectual disargreements about data, then there are people whose lives are governed by raw emotion and misguided ideology. This gentleman seems to be of that latter.

- Crazy Guy on Bloomberg

Centrists

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/appeasing-the-centrists/

The time of posts on my blog are Pacific Time Zone, so it looks like Paul Krugman and I had the same thought at the exact same time.

I'm just honored that I hit publish post at the same time as Professor Krugman.

Political Debate

Many contend that the President has lost or gotten behind the debate about the Economic Stimulus (or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). By and large I agree with this assessment. That said, I also think the President has looked strong and determined the last two days.

One, line of argument he should have raised much earlier is this idea that Supply Side Economics (or more correctly Neo-Supply Side Economics) or as he calls them, "the failed ideas of the past." Basically, the President came out with the plan and said I'm open to all ideas. Bipartisanship is great, but he had just won an election. It should have been more along the lines of, "I am open to good ideas. But the scope of these challenges is unprecedented and the American people will not accept the failed ideas of the past."

The other thing that could have been done, is to open the debate with a much much larger package, like $1.2 or $1.4 trillion. This number would have been a sort of shock therapy to the psyche of law makers. This action would have made $100 - $300 billion in cuts seem reasoned, measured, and bipartisan.

I'm not an expert of political posturing on the Hill, but I think have a pretty good feel for "Main Street." And if this sort of action was taken moderate Republicans would have been forced to concede to their constituents.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

TV

It doesn't look like these jobless folks are spending much time watching TV. It looks like they are getting degrees. Hopefully in Math, Science, and Engineering - says the guy who has degrees in Economics, Law, and worked in politics.