Archive for Politics
March 26, 2008 at 22:25 · Filed under Culture, Politics
I just came across this essay in an article on Salon.com. It’s a very interesting essay by John Maynard Keynes called The End of Laissez-Faire and in my view it is a must read. Anybody who is not familiar with Keynesian Economics and how it fundamentally differs from the current Austrian School as championed by the likes of Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan would do well to read Keynes if only to see that there are other options. I find Keynes’ writing style awkward and a bit hard to read, but his theories are undoubtedly interesting and his intellect is impressive.
When I was in school, I’m sure I never imagined I’d be reading economics papers for my own amusement. I’m getting old.
March 16, 2008 at 22:21 · Filed under Culture, Politics
The BBC is reporting that JPMorgan is not only bailing Bear Stearns out using money from the New York Federal Reserve, but before the markets even open on Monday, they’re poised to buy Bear Stearns for $2/share. On Thursday Bear Stearns closed at $57/share. This is, by any measure, a complete collapse of one of Wall Street’s biggest banks/investment firms. I wonder if this is an isolated situation or a harbinger of things to come.
I just finished reading The Party’s Over. I must say I’m not feeling overly optimistic about either the short or long term tonight…
February 19, 2008 at 22:33 · Filed under Politics
I just came across the current Canadian national debt numbers on the StatsCan website. It’s a bit higher than I thought, roughly C$619 billion. According to the chart this is balanced against C$111 billion of assets, but I’m unclear what that actually represents. I’m not sure if I’d consider the net number as actually representative of our real situation. After all, we can’t just pawn Fortress Louisbourg if the US economy tanks.
January 21, 2008 at 07:37 · Filed under International, Politics
It remains to be seen exactly what 2008 holds in store for us, but rumours/fears/speculation that a recession waiting in the wings seem to be gathering credibility. I woke up to news that Asian markets had taken a serious fall over the (North American) night.
This is a top story for a number of news organizations such as the BBC. The most disappointing part for me, and apparently a number of financial analysts, is that all that Dubya can do is march out the tired line of “tax cuts to stimulate the economy”. I have this vague recollection that cutting taxes for the wealthy and businesses while spending billions on wars halfway around the world was more or less the recipe that got the US economy to where it is right now. Not good news, but it seem like bad news is in the air. Milton Friedman must be rubbing his hands in anticipation.
