October 13, 2010
Financial Briefing: Hokey-Pokeying To the Poorhouse
— Monty If you laughed at the "pull my finger" jape I am so fond of, you probably went into a very risk-averse mood. Hilarity, as it turns out, does not promote risky behavior. Gloom, despondency, existential despair, and DOOM promote risky behavior. That being said...let's move on to the doom-filled portion of our program and break out our gallon jugs of Val-U-Rite Breakfast Blend. If This Were the Private Sector, Those Congressional Staffers Would End Up in Jail. But this is the public sector, where perfidy is not only tolerated; it is rewarded! The MBS (mortgage-backed securities) fiasco, laid out for your perusal like a patient etherised upon a table. Via Insty: College -- a bad consumption decision. A college education, like our currency, has been so debased over the past several decades that the [EDIT]costs benefits of acquiring it do not offset the debts you incur. Students (and their parents) are spending more and more and getting less and less. If you want your child to go on a four -- or five, or six -- year alcohol-fueled bacchanal, there are cheaper ways of going about it. (Insty has been riding this "Higher Education Bubble" story for a long time now, and I fully expect him to be vindicated when the university system crashes and burns in the next few years.)
$14,165.00. Pay up, sucker.
Mish roughs up a wizened little troll Paul Krugman, gives him an atomic wedgie, and sends him crying home to momma while crying hot snotty tears of shame. Or at least that's how I imagine it in my head. (Read the section entitled "Final End of Bretton Woods 2" for some pretty scary news if you're a fiat-money fan. I remain enamored of my barbaric gold hoard.)
Have you been enjoying the buoyant stock market of the past six or eight weeks? I hope so, because the party is about to come to a crashing halt. I will say with no shame whatever that the stock market makes no fucking sense at all to me, and hasn't for most of the summer. I'm gratified that my 401(k) and Roth IRAs are doing better, but I'll be damned if I can explain the uptick. And right now I'm just hoping that my gains will act as a buffer when the market nosedives again. I may even end the year in postiive territory! Yay! (Yeah: a "good year" now is when you don't actually lose money.)
Amity Schlaes takes on the Obama Administration's contempt for contract law. When you live by imperial fiat instead of the rule of law, it's hard to run an efficient business. On any given day, His Majesty's piles may be acting up and thus lose you the Imperial favor. You're out and your competitor is in: not because your competitor is better than you, but because His Majesty's ass hurts.
Do we really need a central bank? I don't mean to go all Ron Paul on you but...no. No, we don't. In fact, in my view having a central bank does more harm than good -- it deforms the market, and almost always in nonbeneficial ways. And the nearly maniacal insistence on stability often works against the creative destruction necessary for an economy to prosper over the long-term. In political terms, the Fed favors the incumbent over the upstart, regardless of the merits of either candidate. This is a recipe for long-term stagnation, and we are seeing the wages of that philosophy playing out right now. Pull quote:
— Monty If you laughed at the "pull my finger" jape I am so fond of, you probably went into a very risk-averse mood. Hilarity, as it turns out, does not promote risky behavior. Gloom, despondency, existential despair, and DOOM promote risky behavior. That being said...let's move on to the doom-filled portion of our program and break out our gallon jugs of Val-U-Rite Breakfast Blend. If This Were the Private Sector, Those Congressional Staffers Would End Up in Jail. But this is the public sector, where perfidy is not only tolerated; it is rewarded! The MBS (mortgage-backed securities) fiasco, laid out for your perusal like a patient etherised upon a table. Via Insty: College -- a bad consumption decision. A college education, like our currency, has been so debased over the past several decades that the [EDIT]
So if we define inflation traditionally as a monetary probem-specifically as a decline in the market value of money - the Fed has failed impressively. When the Federal Reserve Act passed in 1913, a dollar purchased 1/20th of an ounce of gold, while today it purchases 1/1350th.Can the Japanese escape their malaise? I'm doubtful. The Japanese are living an iron law of nature: demographics is destiny. How can a cold metal make me feel so warm inside? Wall Street to Congress: I don't think you thought your cunning plan all the way through. Unless you intended to finish the destruction of the private housing market. In which case -- well done! I was going to make a snark-filled joke about this story. Then I read the piece. Pull quote:
Jack Dawson will buy cheap whiskey instead of his beloved Canadian Club.You bring a tear to my eye, Jack. I take back every mean, hurtful thing I've ever said about you rocker-jockies. You, sir, are an inspiration to us all. I will think of you the next time I mug a hobo for his bottle of Night Train. And catch this:
"I'm kind of glad in a way," Stella Wehrly, an 86-year-old retired secretary, said of the freeze. "One thing depends on the other and when people aren't working there's not enough people feeding into the Social Security system."Can it be? Can it be possible that even elderly retirees are beginning to understand the Ponzi scheme that is Social Security? For some reason this story fills me a wild hope that even the people most personally invested in the status quo of Social Security may be amenable to reforming it. Small businesses come to a consensus on economy: it sucks. The forecast? Continued suckage, with a 20% chance of DOOM! Retailers are ramping up for the holidays. Any uptick in employment is a good thing, but these are seasonal jobs that will disappear in January. I'm sure the Democrats will crow about the better job numbers, and then grow very quiet when the layoffs occur six to eight weeks later. And the deep discounting may make buyers happy, but it's going to murder the balance-sheets of low-margin places like Wal-Mart and Target. This counts as financial news because someday we're going to be funding the retirements of these people (or not, as the case may be). The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) posts "teabagger" web video. This is what they think of us. Well, fine -- if they hate my politics, no doubt they hate my dollars as well. I'll just hang on to those dollars and laugh when the AFGE comes begging for a pension bailout. Later, during my stint as Humongous of the Wasteland, they will be slave-labor in the assless-chaps factory I will set up in the ruins of Washington D.C. to serve the wasteland mutant-biker market. Pour encourager les autres. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? A world where I can't bash the French is not a world I care to live in. I fart in your general direction! When you're boned, there is value -- even if only spiritual -- in quantifying exactly how boned you are. (Meanwhile one political dead man consoles another.)
Posted by: Monty at
03:23 AM
| Comments (70)
Post contains 1138 words, total size 9 kb.
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Fuck, the vampires are already on this thread.
Posted by: Beto at October 13, 2010 03:32 AM (j5CHE)
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Spam at 2 and 3, they have to waiting for you
Posted by: Jean at October 13, 2010 03:34 AM (CPefM)
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Wow, that AFGE video plumbed new depths of suckitude. Utterly lame and ineffective down to the subatomic level. Obviously the work of government workers.
Posted by: nickless at October 13, 2010 03:35 AM (MMC8r)
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I am waiting for the Spam to declare "First".
Posted by: Johnnyreb at October 13, 2010 03:40 AM (JSetw)
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SRV sure cheered me up this morning.
Got notice of a 30% increase in the assessable value of my hovel from the county yesterday.Thanks to the tax-man, I have greater worth than I thought. How about that!
County in Illinois, of course.
Got notice of a 30% increase in the assessable value of my hovel from the county yesterday.Thanks to the tax-man, I have greater worth than I thought. How about that!
County in Illinois, of course.
Posted by: Lizabth at October 13, 2010 03:41 AM (JZBti)
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Good Morning Monty
If This Were the Private Sector, Those Congressional Staffers Would End Up in Jail. But this is the public sector, where perfidy is not only tolerated; it is rewarded!
When I first saw that story breaking I entered a post about the assholes hitting Martha Stewart over chicken feed and when they couldn't prove it hit her for "lying to investigators" based on a he said she said.
This is a pure violation of insider trading rules and if these wing nuts are not prosecuted we can add that to "things to do when the Republicans take over the House.
Yeah, we're draining the swamp alright. This is just one more item on the list to show that government regulations are shit and serve to punish honest people and reward crooks.
If This Were the Private Sector, Those Congressional Staffers Would End Up in Jail. But this is the public sector, where perfidy is not only tolerated; it is rewarded!
When I first saw that story breaking I entered a post about the assholes hitting Martha Stewart over chicken feed and when they couldn't prove it hit her for "lying to investigators" based on a he said she said.
This is a pure violation of insider trading rules and if these wing nuts are not prosecuted we can add that to "things to do when the Republicans take over the House.
Yeah, we're draining the swamp alright. This is just one more item on the list to show that government regulations are shit and serve to punish honest people and reward crooks.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 03:42 AM (/jbAw)
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I saw that lame AFGE video yesterday. Bunch of useless whiny bitches.
Posted by: Annabelle at October 13, 2010 03:42 AM (pWgNR)
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(Insty has been riding this "Higher Education Bubble" story for a long
time now, and I fully expect him to be vindicated when the university
system crashes and burns in the next few years.)
Actually a LOT of people have been preaching this sermon for a long time. And who is to blame for this?
Who is to blame for everything, except this time it is a combination of the Federal Government AND State Government for a change.
Actually a LOT of people have been preaching this sermon for a long time. And who is to blame for this?
Who is to blame for everything, except this time it is a combination of the Federal Government AND State Government for a change.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 03:45 AM (/jbAw)
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Headline News!
Libertarians ranked Lower than HOBOS!!
with TeaBaggers only slightly above that...
http://preview.tinyurl.com/25ku4sg
Libertarians ranked Lower than HOBOS!!
with TeaBaggers only slightly above that...
http://preview.tinyurl.com/25ku4sg
Posted by: J2 at October 13, 2010 03:45 AM (DCdSz)
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$14,165.00. Pay up, sucker.
Actually they need to do what I recommended in the local paper when the city manager was bitching about county residents who fought incorporation.
I wrote the paper that in that case the simplest thing to do would be for the city to disincorporate and just become part of the county and everyone would be happy.
In the case above they should declare bankruptcy first. If their retirement plans are unfunded then too bad for succors who worked for them and got a free ride anyway.
Actually they need to do what I recommended in the local paper when the city manager was bitching about county residents who fought incorporation.
I wrote the paper that in that case the simplest thing to do would be for the city to disincorporate and just become part of the county and everyone would be happy.
In the case above they should declare bankruptcy first. If their retirement plans are unfunded then too bad for succors who worked for them and got a free ride anyway.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 03:48 AM (/jbAw)
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I killed the spams. I am a tolerant man, but only up to a point .
Posted by: Monty at October 13, 2010 03:52 AM (o2hlb)
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ot
Amanda Hess: This blog post originally stated that one in three black men who have sex with me is HIV positive. In fact, the statistic applies to black men who have sex with men.
Amanda Hess: This blog post originally stated that one in three black men who have sex with me is HIV positive. In fact, the statistic applies to black men who have sex with men.
Posted by: maverick muse at October 13, 2010 03:54 AM (H+LJc)
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What is stunning is that while insider trading is illegal in the private
sector, it is totally legal for government employees to do it, because
insider-trading laws donÂ’t apply to Congress. Basically, Congress passed
a law making insider trading illegal for the private sector and
exempted itself.
Laws and regulation for thee, but not for me, eh Congress? It is time the scales were balanced.
Which let me to thinking, just how many laws has Congress exempted itself from? Some quick searching led to this list, although I am certain it is nowhere near exhaustive:
LAWS THAT DO NOT APPLY TO CONGRESS
Laws and regulation for thee, but not for me, eh Congress? It is time the scales were balanced.
Which let me to thinking, just how many laws has Congress exempted itself from? Some quick searching led to this list, although I am certain it is nowhere near exhaustive:
LAWS THAT DO NOT APPLY TO CONGRESS
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at October 13, 2010 03:56 AM (9hSKh)
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12-we are trying to convince my high-school senior son that two years at the nearby junior college will be just fine, and that he can finish at the school of his choice afterwards. He's whining a moaning about it, but we don't have college money for him, and he screwed around his freshman and sophomore years, and didn't have the top grades needed for scholarships-his SAT's are off the charts, but you need the combination for the full rides. His dad and I both went to school on scholarship, which meant we had no debt coming out of school.
Frankly, even my free education was slightly a waste-I got a degree that I wish I hadn't, because it's not useful outside of government/university teaching, but at the time, I refused to get an education degree because I thought all of the girls in the ed program were idiots. The joke is on me now, because those idiots are teaching my kids.
I pray my kid uses the information his dad and I give him, and makes better choices. There are no back up plans anymore. Unless you want to be completely beholden to the government.
Posted by: moki at October 13, 2010 03:57 AM (dZmFh)
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no wonder someone who is not wealthy can go to Congress & retire filthy rich. insider trading by Congress is immoral.
Posted by: kelley in virginia at October 13, 2010 04:00 AM (MEs24)
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What is the point of the French strike?
Do circumstances dictate either make concessions now, or have utterly no chance for anything in old age?
Fuck Socialists.
Emigrants left Europe to get away from authoritarianism in America.
Do circumstances dictate either make concessions now, or have utterly no chance for anything in old age?
Fuck Socialists.
Emigrants left Europe to get away from authoritarianism in America.
Posted by: maverick muse at October 13, 2010 04:02 AM (H+LJc)
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Amity Schlaes takes on the Obama Administration's contempt for contract law.
I love Amity Shlaes and I am glad that there is at least one prominent voice talking about these violations of core tenants of free markets. It is amazing that one of the key tenants of the judicial system and historically our firsts cases in the Supreme Court were those involving contract law. Indeed, Art 1, Sect 10 in the Constitution specifically says that no State shall impede the obligation of contracts. I guess they think that the feds can do it at will.
In any case we saw how they cheated people in the GM/Chrysler bailout in favor of the unions. When sued in federal court a liberal judge ruled for Obama essentially not even giving standing. That ruling was ludicrous. I would have loved to see that case go to the Supremes but it died and for the life of me I can not figure out why, unless the Indiana State Pension Fund was bought off under the table.
Hell the first cases ever brought to the Supreme Court under the new Constitution involved upholding contract law. Without enforcement of contracts you can not have capitalism so I guess there is the answer to the question.
I love Amity Shlaes and I am glad that there is at least one prominent voice talking about these violations of core tenants of free markets. It is amazing that one of the key tenants of the judicial system and historically our firsts cases in the Supreme Court were those involving contract law. Indeed, Art 1, Sect 10 in the Constitution specifically says that no State shall impede the obligation of contracts. I guess they think that the feds can do it at will.
In any case we saw how they cheated people in the GM/Chrysler bailout in favor of the unions. When sued in federal court a liberal judge ruled for Obama essentially not even giving standing. That ruling was ludicrous. I would have loved to see that case go to the Supremes but it died and for the life of me I can not figure out why, unless the Indiana State Pension Fund was bought off under the table.
Hell the first cases ever brought to the Supreme Court under the new Constitution involved upholding contract law. Without enforcement of contracts you can not have capitalism so I guess there is the answer to the question.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 04:03 AM (/jbAw)
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"...and I fully expect him to be vindicated when the university system crashes and burns in the next few years."
I fear this is only wishful thinking. Yes, the university system is overpriced. However, it has morphed into a system where the poor, regardless of academics, get ample financial aid and the responsible working class gets little financial aid. Responsible parents will continue to pay to send their children to college; the poor will continue to take the highly subsidized ride. What is going to make this change?
I fear this is only wishful thinking. Yes, the university system is overpriced. However, it has morphed into a system where the poor, regardless of academics, get ample financial aid and the responsible working class gets little financial aid. Responsible parents will continue to pay to send their children to college; the poor will continue to take the highly subsidized ride. What is going to make this change?
Posted by: George at October 13, 2010 04:03 AM (WA19M)
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I'm gratified that my 401(k) and Roth IRAs are doing better, but I'll be damned if I can explain the uptick.
Don't worry, Monty. Even if your 401(k) and Roth IRAs manage to survive the Wall Street melt-down instigated by the current financial Obarrackalypse, Congress is scheming to take them away.
In the end, there will be only chaos.
Don't worry, Monty. Even if your 401(k) and Roth IRAs manage to survive the Wall Street melt-down instigated by the current financial Obarrackalypse, Congress is scheming to take them away.
In the end, there will be only chaos.
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at October 13, 2010 04:04 AM (9hSKh)
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17-we were wondering how they did it. Honestly, the "rank and file" senate/house salary is $174,000 (courtesy of about.com-us government info.) How can these guys live in the extraordinarily overpriced homes in Northern Virginia/Maryland/DC on that? It had to be either sweetheart deals with realtors/constituents or insider trading. At least now we know it's one. I am still willing to bet that the other is true too.
Posted by: moki at October 13, 2010 04:06 AM (dZmFh)
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live and learn
1922 teapot dome scandal
This and a subsequent Senate inquiry triggered several court cases testing the extent of the Senate's investigative powers. One of those cases resulted in the landmark 1927 Supreme Court decision McGrain v. Daugherty that, for the first time, explicitly established Congress' right to compel witnesses to testify before its committees.
Tell that to the banking industry, representatives refusing to answer questions in any court on the basis of "confidential client information" and to the Sec./Treasury executive ordered into autonomy by Bush.
1922 teapot dome scandal
This and a subsequent Senate inquiry triggered several court cases testing the extent of the Senate's investigative powers. One of those cases resulted in the landmark 1927 Supreme Court decision McGrain v. Daugherty that, for the first time, explicitly established Congress' right to compel witnesses to testify before its committees.
Tell that to the banking industry, representatives refusing to answer questions in any court on the basis of "confidential client information" and to the Sec./Treasury executive ordered into autonomy by Bush.
Posted by: maverick muse at October 13, 2010 04:09 AM (H+LJc)
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That ruling was ludicrous. I would have loved to see that case go to the
Supremes but it died and for the life of me I can not figure out why,
unless the Indiana State Pension Fund was bought off under the table.
Vic
Even if they were bought off, I don't understand why someone else affected by Obama's disregard for contract law wouldn't take that ruling to the Supreme Court in protest. ALL business interests are affected. Since Obama has taken it upon himself to attack the US Chamber of Commerce, they could take him to court.
Vic
Even if they were bought off, I don't understand why someone else affected by Obama's disregard for contract law wouldn't take that ruling to the Supreme Court in protest. ALL business interests are affected. Since Obama has taken it upon himself to attack the US Chamber of Commerce, they could take him to court.
Posted by: maverick muse at October 13, 2010 04:13 AM (H+LJc)
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I don't mean to go all Ron Paul on you but...no. No, we don't. In fact,
in my view having a central bank does more harm than good -- it deforms
the market, and almost always in nonbeneficial ways.
I totally agree, in fact I would make the case that almost every major financial problem we have had since the 1800s has been caused or made infinitely worse by the actions of the "central bank" and the Government.
While Congress shits around with a few republicans trying for a law that allows them to audit the Fed what they should be doing is screaming to abolish the Fed.
I was for the TARP BS as an emergency measure until I saw a WSJ article that said the Fed was dumping $600B into the money supply immediately and considering another $600B down the road. My first reaction was WTF is TARP for then?
After that I was totally against it. And all that $600B, who approved that in the government? NOBODY.
And we can see what good it did.
I totally agree, in fact I would make the case that almost every major financial problem we have had since the 1800s has been caused or made infinitely worse by the actions of the "central bank" and the Government.
While Congress shits around with a few republicans trying for a law that allows them to audit the Fed what they should be doing is screaming to abolish the Fed.
I was for the TARP BS as an emergency measure until I saw a WSJ article that said the Fed was dumping $600B into the money supply immediately and considering another $600B down the road. My first reaction was WTF is TARP for then?
After that I was totally against it. And all that $600B, who approved that in the government? NOBODY.
And we can see what good it did.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 04:13 AM (/jbAw)
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Since Obama has taken it upon himself to attack the US Chamber of Commerce, they could take him to court.
Posted by: maverick muse at October 13, 2010 08:13 AM
It is hard to get standing in a federal case. The Indiana Pension Fund was defrauded in that deal which was "direct harm" which is the chief tenant of standing, the others being that the harm could be linked to an action of a government entity, and the last being that it was within the power of the Supreme Court to provide a remedy. The Indiana case met every one of those tenants and yet the court ruled against them for standing. I remember reading their reasoning and saying to myself that it made no sense what-so-ever, but I didn't remember exactly what it was.
IIANM it was basically "because we said so". They could have appealed on up but they didn't and that is what I am wondering about.
For someone to get standing they would essentially have to be one of those "preferred stockholders/investors" who were supposed to be paid up front in a bankruptcy proceding. That is why you have that class of stock, it pays a lower dividend and IIANM doesn't even provide for voting. The reason for its existence is absolute safety.
The bankruptcy court illegally violated that contract and the second district court of appeals allowed it. .
Posted by: maverick muse at October 13, 2010 08:13 AM
It is hard to get standing in a federal case. The Indiana Pension Fund was defrauded in that deal which was "direct harm" which is the chief tenant of standing, the others being that the harm could be linked to an action of a government entity, and the last being that it was within the power of the Supreme Court to provide a remedy. The Indiana case met every one of those tenants and yet the court ruled against them for standing. I remember reading their reasoning and saying to myself that it made no sense what-so-ever, but I didn't remember exactly what it was.
IIANM it was basically "because we said so". They could have appealed on up but they didn't and that is what I am wondering about.
For someone to get standing they would essentially have to be one of those "preferred stockholders/investors" who were supposed to be paid up front in a bankruptcy proceding. That is why you have that class of stock, it pays a lower dividend and IIANM doesn't even provide for voting. The reason for its existence is absolute safety.
The bankruptcy court illegally violated that contract and the second district court of appeals allowed it. .
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 04:20 AM (/jbAw)
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Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed Charlie Crist
Really?!? You'd have to be beyond Pluto at this point to endorse the LOSER.
Really?!? You'd have to be beyond Pluto at this point to endorse the LOSER.
Posted by: dogfish at October 13, 2010 04:27 AM (MgiA6)
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live and learn
1922 teapot dome scandal
McGrain v. Daugherty was a POS ruling in a bad case that makes bad law as the old pundit from Charleston used to say.
That ruling was among the first of the courts meandering illogical write ups to justify and outcome based on trying to "set things right" instead of applying the Constitution as written.
The Senate is NOT a court and has no basis in the Constitution for subpoena power. What's more, I have never seen ANY congressional committee investigation in my lifetime that was for the purpose of actually "making law". They are all worthless forums for grandstanding before the press and then the cameras.
The founders probably started rolling in their graves with that ruling. By now they are spinning faster than a Sharpless Lube Oil purifier.
1922 teapot dome scandal
McGrain v. Daugherty was a POS ruling in a bad case that makes bad law as the old pundit from Charleston used to say.
That ruling was among the first of the courts meandering illogical write ups to justify and outcome based on trying to "set things right" instead of applying the Constitution as written.
The Senate is NOT a court and has no basis in the Constitution for subpoena power. What's more, I have never seen ANY congressional committee investigation in my lifetime that was for the purpose of actually "making law". They are all worthless forums for grandstanding before the press and then the cameras.
The founders probably started rolling in their graves with that ruling. By now they are spinning faster than a Sharpless Lube Oil purifier.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 04:30 AM (/jbAw)
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Warming up here quickly, gotta go for walk now. Back later folks.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 04:31 AM (/jbAw)
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Monty:
I've railed about the polical ruling class and how they have created a class unto themselves, with this being a major point. There are studies that show on average that the portfolios of Congress and their staffers outperform those of the average citizens by 12% , with some years being as high as 25%.
The average for professional investors is 6%.
There are reasons most of these fucks are desperate to hold onto power and are against term limits
Posted by: beedubya at October 13, 2010 04:35 AM (AnTyA)
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Monty,
My portfolios are doing gangbusters.
I've got several stocks and funds that are at 52 week highs, but i am still worried.
I know you think the stock market measures the mood more than anything else, and I think stocks are going up on the hopes there is a wave in the election this year. Not that the people think the republicans will save us, but at the very least they will thwart Obama and give us businesses some certainty over the next two years.
Also did you the 60 minutes special on High Frequency Trading. I feel like i should get out because the game is clearly rigged. Its like playing a computer game with a 56K and the other guy is playing it with the most cutting edge technology avalable
Posted by: Ben at October 13, 2010 04:38 AM (wuv1c)
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>>> I would make the case that almost every major financial problem we have
had since the 1800s has been caused or made infinitely worse by the
actions of the "central bank" and the Government.
Yep. The only "problems" that existed in the banking industry prior to 1913 were also the result of government.
One of the main tools governments used back then to fuck people was the suspension of "specie" payments, which is a fancy way of saying that banks were granted the special privilege of defaulting on their debts pretty much whenever they felt the need to.
Also, there was a lot of price-fixing going on, establishing mandatory exchange rates between silver and gold, by fiat, rather than by market prices. The Federal Reserve Act was sold as a cure for the evils of monetary metals, but the problems there had been caused by governmental disasters in the first place.
The details in the way these bastards rape us on a daily basis may have changed, but the source of the problem is still the same as it was then, and the correct solution to these problems is still the same, too.
Yep. The only "problems" that existed in the banking industry prior to 1913 were also the result of government.
One of the main tools governments used back then to fuck people was the suspension of "specie" payments, which is a fancy way of saying that banks were granted the special privilege of defaulting on their debts pretty much whenever they felt the need to.
Also, there was a lot of price-fixing going on, establishing mandatory exchange rates between silver and gold, by fiat, rather than by market prices. The Federal Reserve Act was sold as a cure for the evils of monetary metals, but the problems there had been caused by governmental disasters in the first place.
The details in the way these bastards rape us on a daily basis may have changed, but the source of the problem is still the same as it was then, and the correct solution to these problems is still the same, too.
Posted by: Phinn at October 13, 2010 04:39 AM (yInhd)
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I look forward to the day when Humongous drives the politicos out of DC, all of them, and sets up shop there. the folks who founded this once great nation would have went all medieval on Washington DC long, long ago.
Posted by: les grossman at October 13, 2010 04:47 AM (K/USr)
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Well, reading that was like a cold splash of water on my face...followed by a slow and deliberate stabbing directly to my increasingly weak heart.
Posted by: 4thGenerationBuck at October 13, 2010 05:12 AM (BG8x1)
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I remember even as a kid seeing my dad's parents scraping by on Social Security, and contrasting that with my mom's parents, who were retired business owners and living off their interest income and distributions from business interests.
That's the way to go, says young Jeff. I asked my rich grandpa if he got Social Security, too, and he said, "Yes, I do. That's MY damn money and I want every bit of it."
He once asked me if I saw a penny on the ground, would I pick it up? I said, "I dunno, probably not - you can't buy much with a penny."
He clouted me on the ear and said, "How the hell do you expect to ever make any money if you're fool enough not to pick it up when it's laying on the ground in front of you?"
I look at that story about SS and just shake my head in wonder at the attitude of people who at one point had to have understood personal responsibility - didn't they have jobs, homes, raise children? And then at the end of their lives they revert to infancy, relying on Uncle Sugar to spoonfeed them?
And the simpering gratitude for the return of their confiscated wages: "I'm just grateful they give us this little bit," I don't know whether to rage or cry at the slave mentality of that woman.
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at October 13, 2010 05:17 AM (Un5Dt)
36
they will be slave-labor in the assless-chaps factory
Oh no. Oh please no. Monty, I've seen my fair share of government workers. I WORK with government workers. Trust me when i say you do not want to see any of them in assless chaps. TRUST ME.
May I suggest bondage masks and studded leather fetish gloves instead?
Posted by: MWR at October 13, 2010 05:19 AM (4df7R)
37
Jack Dawson will buy cheap whiskey instead of his beloved Canadian Club.
You bring a tear to my eye, Jack. I take back every mean, hurtful thing
I've ever said about you rocker-jockies. You, sir, are an inspiration
to us all. I will think of you the next time I mug a hobo for his bottle
of Night Train.
LOL, I gave up my beloved Crown Royal a few years ago and I am NOT on SS. I first went to Jim Beam because I could get it at Costco in Myrtle Beach for 1/3 the price of Crown Royal here and I could get it for 1/2 CR price here. After a while I found that after two of my drinks (about 7 fluid oz) it didn't matter anyway because you could barely taste the difference. So I went to R&R which you can get for $16 per 175 L bottle.
So start with Beam and after two switch to R&R.
LOL, I gave up my beloved Crown Royal a few years ago and I am NOT on SS. I first went to Jim Beam because I could get it at Costco in Myrtle Beach for 1/3 the price of Crown Royal here and I could get it for 1/2 CR price here. After a while I found that after two of my drinks (about 7 fluid oz) it didn't matter anyway because you could barely taste the difference. So I went to R&R which you can get for $16 per 175 L bottle.
So start with Beam and after two switch to R&R.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 05:21 AM (/jbAw)
38
I asked my rich grandpa if he got Social Security, too, and he said, "Yes, I do. That's MY damn money and I want every bit of it."
Yeah, but this is actually a fallacy. Most people will draw *far* more out of SS than they ever put in. That's why it's a Ponzi scheme.
Posted by: Monty at October 13, 2010 05:22 AM (4Pleu)
40
Can it be? Can it be possible that even elderly retirees are
beginning to understand the Ponzi scheme that is Social Security? For
some reason this story fills me a wild hope that even the people most
personally invested in the status quo of Social Security may be amenable
to reforming it.
I will agree to reforming it, and since this adm is all into violation of contract law and the Constitution, the reform must include the following as a condition for cheating those of us who paid into this crap our intire lives:
In as much as there has been three major tax hikes and adjustment of retirement age to allow for getting the so-called "baby-boomer hump" past retirement, and in as much as congress and the President all agreed to spend those tax hikes on non-SS social programs the following must occur before any other tax hikes or reduction in SS benefits occur:
1. All politicians who have voted FOR spending above the incoming federal dollars that was not directly related to emergency war funding shall enter a special tax category in which their income is taxed at 95% and their accumulated wealth is taxed at 50%.
2. This tax shall also be applied to their heirs and assigns.
3. No deficit spending shall be allowed for ANY reason other than a "DECLARED" war for the next 50 years.
4. Congress shall immediately enact a budget that acomplishes the above through spending cuts.
After that, they can reform all they want.
I will agree to reforming it, and since this adm is all into violation of contract law and the Constitution, the reform must include the following as a condition for cheating those of us who paid into this crap our intire lives:
In as much as there has been three major tax hikes and adjustment of retirement age to allow for getting the so-called "baby-boomer hump" past retirement, and in as much as congress and the President all agreed to spend those tax hikes on non-SS social programs the following must occur before any other tax hikes or reduction in SS benefits occur:
1. All politicians who have voted FOR spending above the incoming federal dollars that was not directly related to emergency war funding shall enter a special tax category in which their income is taxed at 95% and their accumulated wealth is taxed at 50%.
2. This tax shall also be applied to their heirs and assigns.
3. No deficit spending shall be allowed for ANY reason other than a "DECLARED" war for the next 50 years.
4. Congress shall immediately enact a budget that acomplishes the above through spending cuts.
After that, they can reform all they want.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 05:29 AM (/jbAw)
41
Most people will draw *far* more out of SS than they ever put in. That's why it's a Ponzi scheme.
Posted by: Monty at October 13, 2010 09:22 AM (4Pleu)
That is not true for the middle and upper class. Most of them will pay far more into it than they will ever get out. The people who are "making out" are the same deadbeats that live off the government their entire life and those who somehow get their bad drug and alcohol habits classified as a damn disability.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 05:32 AM (/jbAw)
42
Is it me or did the opening bell just ring twice? Geez, WS is so superstitious, they will think this is an omen.
Posted by: curious at October 13, 2010 05:32 AM (p302b)
43
If you didn't pay your mortgage and bought apple at 99 instead, wonder how well you are doing now?
Posted by: curious at October 13, 2010 05:33 AM (p302b)
44
Monty, I appreciate your financial posts coming up at the same time The Three Stooges are on AMC. They make the burn go away.
Nora and Shemp are honeymooning on the Island of Stromboli .
Posted by: dr kill at October 13, 2010 05:33 AM (FJQB5)
45
From that Zerohedge link
it is only fitting that America, now on the verge of being a fully-blown communist country, is also abrogating property rights, courtesy of the much discussed foreclosure scandal. Dylan Ratigan provides a concise explanation of just how our bankers have managed to bring us to this last descent into central planning hell.
We abandoned property rights in this country when we gave the EPA the power to regulate by taking private property. We sealed it with KELO.
That was our changeover from a mostly socialist economy to a country accelerating into communism.
it is only fitting that America, now on the verge of being a fully-blown communist country, is also abrogating property rights, courtesy of the much discussed foreclosure scandal. Dylan Ratigan provides a concise explanation of just how our bankers have managed to bring us to this last descent into central planning hell.
We abandoned property rights in this country when we gave the EPA the power to regulate by taking private property. We sealed it with KELO.
That was our changeover from a mostly socialist economy to a country accelerating into communism.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 05:37 AM (/jbAw)
46
And finally Stevie Ray Vaughan, jamming guitar.
Monty I am expecting that movie we talked about a few weeks ago; Crossroads with jammin' by Ry Cooder and Steve Val. Should be in by today or tomorrow.
And since wifey is off playing bridge I can pop it in the DVD player and crank it up loud, accompanied by that Beam and R&R discussed above of course.
Monty I am expecting that movie we talked about a few weeks ago; Crossroads with jammin' by Ry Cooder and Steve Val. Should be in by today or tomorrow.
And since wifey is off playing bridge I can pop it in the DVD player and crank it up loud, accompanied by that Beam and R&R discussed above of course.
Posted by: Vic at October 13, 2010 05:43 AM (/jbAw)
47
Yeah, but this is actually a fallacy. Most people will draw *far* more out of SS than they ever put in. That's why it's a Ponzi scheme.
Wrong. You're not factoring in opportunity cost. He knew he could have had that money working for forty years and it would have returned a hell of a lot more than what he was getting returned to him.
Whether they know it or not, most SS recipients are getting hosed on their return, regardless of the benefit/contribution disparity.
Technically, though, "Ponzi scheme" is accurate, the difference being that it never has to collapse because you can always print more money.
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at October 13, 2010 05:47 AM (TATbF)
48
I look at that story about SS and just shake my head in wonder at the
attitude of people who at one point had to have understood personal
responsibility - didn't they have jobs, homes, raise children? And then
at the end of their lives they revert to infancy, relying on Uncle
Sugar to spoonfeed them?
Something tells me that a good chunk of the above demographic only shouldered responsibility in the first place because they feared society's disapproval if they didn't. They've always been infants, they were just forced for a while to act like grown-ups.
I think it's a similar phenomenon to the people who look forward to societal breakdown because then they won't have to follow anyone else's rules. (And I don't mean that in the Galt's Gulch sense; I mean that in the "nuh uh you can't make me" sense.)
Something tells me that a good chunk of the above demographic only shouldered responsibility in the first place because they feared society's disapproval if they didn't. They've always been infants, they were just forced for a while to act like grown-ups.
I think it's a similar phenomenon to the people who look forward to societal breakdown because then they won't have to follow anyone else's rules. (And I don't mean that in the Galt's Gulch sense; I mean that in the "nuh uh you can't make me" sense.)
Posted by: Joanna at October 13, 2010 05:50 AM (HaYO4)
49
My retirement plan involves a stone cottage with 2 foot thick walls, a garden, a brewery, some milk goats, and a lot of ammo.
Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at October 13, 2010 05:50 AM (5aa4z)
51
51
My retirement plan involves a stone cottage with 2 foot thick walls, a garden, a brewery, some milk goats, and a lot of ammo.
Need a wife to go with that? Or do you have that covered?
(If it's covered to you have brothers/sons?)
Need a wife to go with that? Or do you have that covered?
(If it's covered to you have brothers/sons?)
Posted by: Joanna at October 13, 2010 05:56 AM (HaYO4)
52
Whether they know it or not, most SS recipients are getting hosed on their return, regardless of the benefit/contribution disparity.
Oh, hell, that's obvious to anyone who's been paying attention for the last twenty years. Even in the lousy market of the last decade, I could have done significantly better on my SS contributions had I invested the money myself. But Democrats scare grandpa and grandma by saying that they'll lose all their money "in the markets" (as if Uncle Sam has done any better; they're broke right now -- the money is gone!).
Posted by: Monty at October 13, 2010 05:58 AM (4Pleu)
53
Need a wife to go with that? Or do you have that covered?
Got that one covered. She wants horizontal firing portals for the crossbow. I want vertical ones for the longbow.
Women.....
Got that one covered. She wants horizontal firing portals for the crossbow. I want vertical ones for the longbow.
Women.....
Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at October 13, 2010 06:00 AM (5aa4z)
54
Longbows are only effective if you have sufficient upper-body strength. So I see her point on that one.
Also, dammit.
Also, dammit.
Posted by: Joanna at October 13, 2010 06:06 AM (HaYO4)
55
True, but the higher rate of fire makes it a superior choice to the crossbow.
Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at October 13, 2010 06:10 AM (5aa4z)
56
True, but that's useless if you can't fire it to begin with. I say put in both vertical and horizontal ports; that way you're covered both ways.
Posted by: Joanna at October 13, 2010 06:13 AM (HaYO4)
57
That's why I put my money into safe, solid performers, like Greek government bonds, Powerball lottery tickets and Jim Cramer's Flop Sweat Negative Growth Index.
Actually, I'm trying to migrate to a safer currency, especially before the more restrictive currency controls take effect.
Another Occomplishment from the people who brought you the Summer of Recovery!
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at October 13, 2010 06:13 AM (m+G5Z)
58
Actually, I'm trying to migrate to a safer currency
Beans, bullets, and blow jobs will be the currency of the future.
Beans, bullets, and blow jobs will be the currency of the future.
Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at October 13, 2010 06:14 AM (5aa4z)
59
So how the hell am I supposed to buy gold when its $1340 an ounce? I get the same feeling about gold, that I got right after I bought my house, right before the bubble burst. Then, everyone was saying "Ya gotta get into real estate" now its 'ya gotta buy gold". I figure that ten minutes after I buy at $1437 it'll crash back to $760
Posted by: Iblis at October 13, 2010 06:17 AM (hLGVM)
60
RE: the retiree downgrading his whiskey -
I remember once as a yoot stumbling through the French Quarter with some friends and happening upon a bum who was panhandling and sipping on a pint of Jack Daniels.
We marveled at his choice of memory obliterant and asked why he didn't go with a cheaper bumwine like Night Train.
He curled his lip in disgust and sneered, "I've got standards. It takes me longer to get the money, but I will NOT drinl that shit."
We were so impressed that we spared him.
Until we were on our way back to the car. Your skull will have a place of honor on my shelf, but I'll be damned if I let you upset the natural order, hobo.
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at October 13, 2010 06:24 AM (m+G5Z)
61
**Retailers are ramping up for the holidays. Any uptick in employment is a good thing, but these are seasonal jobs that will disappear in January.**
um, WTF, really? Do these stores think that putting up Christmas displays in September???? is going to put me in the buying mood? Desperate and insulting to those of us who think of more than a guy in a red suit come December 25th.
Also, I wish there was some way to thumb my nose back at those union thugs insulting us actual workers.
Posted by: joeindc44 at October 13, 2010 06:24 AM (QxSug)
62
blow jobs will be the currency of the future.
I have some lovely longbows I could let you have, I suppose.
But first, you will blow me.
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at October 13, 2010 06:26 AM (m+G5Z)
63
So how the hell am I supposed to buy gold when its $1340 an ounce?
Buy silver. It's easier to buy, easier to hold, easier to sell, and it's performing almost as well as gold.
Also, you can buy gold in smaller chunks than 1oz. I buy mine in 1/10 oz or gram sizes. You can get Gold Eagles in 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, or oz sizes, and other coins (like Canadian Maple Leafs and Chinese Gold Pandas) also are sold in 1/10 oz coins. The Northwest Territorial Mint sells "bars" from 1 to 10 grams in size.
Smaller gold units are easier to sell, and you tend to get a better per-unit price with smaller units.
Posted by: Monty at October 13, 2010 06:27 AM (4Pleu)
64
"The MBS (mortgage-backed securities) fiasco, laid out for your perusal like a patient etherised upon a table."
You will suffer for that, Yankee.
Posted by: T. S. Eliot at October 13, 2010 06:28 AM (AZGON)
65
Hmm silver eh. When the bottom falls out of that, you'll know I bought just ten minutes before.
Posted by: Iblis at October 13, 2010 06:31 AM (hLGVM)
66
Doesn't look like the top is near yet. Gold just shot up to $1372/oz.
Posted by: Monty at October 13, 2010 06:43 AM (4Pleu)
67
Doesn't look like the top is near yet. Gold just shot up The dollar is to $1372/oz. in the shitter.
Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at October 13, 2010 06:49 AM (5aa4z)
68
Even if your 401(k) and Roth IRAs manage to survive the Wall Street melt-down instigated by the current financial Obarrackalypse, Congress is scheming to take them away.
If you follow all the links, there isn't much to the story apart from some thinktank fruitbats dreaming up a scheme of theft on a galactic scale, but when the Congress even spent five minutes listening to this stuff... well, it's like this. There are only a handful of things that could cause literal blood to be literally spilled in this country, and seizing 401(k)s is one of them. If that were to move forward, individual states would begin confiscating Federal physical property in retaliation, if the politicians in the several states intended to keep their heads on their shoulders.
Posted by: George Orwell at October 13, 2010 06:53 AM (AZGON)
69
I will say with no shame whatever that the stock market makes no fucking
sense at all to me, and hasn't for most of the summer. I'm gratified
that my 401(k) and Roth IRAs are doing better, but I'll be damned if I
can explain the uptick.
The market doesn't have to make sense, in fact, insisting that it should is a conceit that hobbles a huge percentage of investors. They believe that because they pay attention to economic and market news that they should be able to divine the direction of market returns, forgetting that there are millions and millions of other people on the planet that are attempting to do the exact same thing with the exact same information. If there were any reason for shame, it wouldn't be in the failure to predict the future, it would be in thinking that you could in the first place.
The market doesn't have to make sense, in fact, insisting that it should is a conceit that hobbles a huge percentage of investors. They believe that because they pay attention to economic and market news that they should be able to divine the direction of market returns, forgetting that there are millions and millions of other people on the planet that are attempting to do the exact same thing with the exact same information. If there were any reason for shame, it wouldn't be in the failure to predict the future, it would be in thinking that you could in the first place.
Posted by: Ted Kennedy's Gristle Encased Head at October 13, 2010 08:54 AM (+lsX1)
70
Monty - Thanks for another excellent post.
Posted by: mongo78 at October 13, 2010 09:22 AM (2b46R)
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The DOOM is unfortunately, a done deal.
The outcome of that, I am very optimistic.
It should shuck off these parasites if we go after them with the law.
Posted by: Beto at October 13, 2010 03:31 AM (j5CHE)