Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category
Monday, December 28th, 2015
I hope everyone had a merrier Christmas than I did. (My father recently went on hospice care after a two year fight with cancer, so I was back home helping my mother care for him.) Here’s a LinkSwarm to start your week with.
Inside Obama’s pity party.
Remember, Obama’s policies never fail, and all opposition to him is because his opponents are bitter clinging racists.
We live in a nation founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
“Many Obamacare customers pay more than 10 percent of their incomes toward coverage (and some paying considerably more).”
What would Democrats do to defeat the Islamic State? Not a damn thing.
Iraqi government forces retake Ramadi, the Anbar province city the Islamic State took in May.
“Two weather occurrences – the Arctic Oscillation and El Niño – are combining to shake up temperatures from coast to coast in the U.S., bringing springlike conditions to the Northeast for much of this month and leaving parts of the West colder and wetter than usual.”
2015: The year Europe reached the breaking point:
Adjusting for inflation, the gross domestic product of the 19 countries now sharing Europe’s common currency, the euro, was less in 2014 than it was in 2007. Widespread joblessness and diminishing opportunities confront an entire generation of young Europeans, especially in Spain, Italy, France and Greece. The economic malaise tinges everything: Young people resist marriage for lack of economic opportunity. Poorer European countries are experiencing brain drains as many of their best young professionals and college graduates move abroad. Numerous Greek doctors, for instance, now work in more prosperous Germany while Greece’s health system is in crisis.
Sweden tries to force a cash-free society on its citizens. Wait, did I say “citizens?” I meant “vassals.”
Spain continues to be screwed.
Democrat Jim Webb contemplating an independent run for President.
Pennsylvania’s insane, disgraced Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Kane accused of suborning perjury.
Democrats in congress have proposed a sweeping gun control bill. Because that’s always such a big electoral winner. It just kills liberals that free citizens are allowed to remain armed…
The left eat their own.
Black teenagers riot, shut down mall in Kentucky.
Another entry in the annals of criminal SUPERgenius. (Hat tip: Moe Lane.)
“Database Leak Exposes 3.3 Million Hello Kitty Fans.” This is a real headline from the real world we live in…
Here’s a swell Christmas story from Dwight.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Crime, Democrats, Economics, El Nino, Elections, Euro, Europe, Eurozone, flash mob, Global Warming, Guns, Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Jim Webb, Kathleen Kane, LinkSwarm, Military, Obama, ObamaCare, Spain, Sweden
Posted in Border Control, Crime, Democrats, Economics, Elections, Global Warming, Guns, Military, ObamaCare | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 25th, 2015
Merry Christmas! Instead of a Friday LinkSwarm, enjoy something more in keeping with the festive nature of the holiday: Dave Barry’s 2015 year-end roundup:
“Wait a minute! Surely there were some positive developments in 2015! How about the fact that, after so many years of sneering judgmentalism and divisive, overheated rhetoric, we were able to have rational, open-minded conversations about such issues as gun ownership, gay marriage, race relations and abortion, so that, as a nation, we finally began to come together and … Whoa! Sorry! Evidently I am high on narcotics.”
“In Paris, two million people march in a solidarity rally following the horrific terrorist attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Eyebrows are raised when not a single top U.S. official attends, but several days later, Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in France with James Taylor, who — this really happened — performs the song You’ve Got a Friend. This bold action strikes fear into the hearts of terrorists, who realize that Secretary Kerry is fully capable, if necessary, of unleashing Barry Manilow.”
“NBC suspends Nightly News anchor Brian Williams after an investigation reveals inaccuracies in his account of being in a military helicopter under fire in Iraq. ‘Mr. Williams did not actually come under fire,’ states the network. ‘Also technically he wasn’t in a helicopter in Iraq; it was a Volvo station wagon on the New Jersey Turnpike. But there was a lot of traffic.’ A contrite Williams blames the lapse on post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from killing Osama bin Laden.”
“In business news, troubled retailer RadioShack files for bankruptcy, citing the fact that in the past six years, the chain’s 4,000 stores had made a nationwide total of one sale, that being a home email server purchased by Hillary Clinton.”
“There is troubling news from Baltimore, where the death of an African-American man in police custody touches off a conversation on race that lasts several days, resulting in 250 arrests and extensive property damage. The Rev. Al Sharpton rushes to the scene but is unable to prevent things from eventually calming down.”
“Hackers announce that they have broken into the Ashley Madison website and obtained personal data on millions of clients allegedly seeking to have affairs. A statistical analysis will later reveal that, of the 37 million accounts hacked, only 23 belonged to actual women, 21 of whom were Ashley Madison employees posing as clients. The remaining two belonged to Miley Cyrus.”
“On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton continues to have no choice but to roll her eyes over all these pesky scandals that her enemies keep dreaming up to prevent her from serving the American people, especially women. The current scandal involves the email server she used as secretary of state, which, in a deviation from government-security standards, was located in her home and had Mrs. Clinton’s personal secret password (‘PASSWORD’) written on a sticky note stuck to the front. A Clinton spokesperson, speaking through another Clinton spokesperson who was briefed by a third Clinton spokesperson on condition of anonymity, denies that the server ever held classified emails and promises that it will be turned over to the FBI ‘as soon as it has been melted down to a softball-sized blob.'”
“After much agonizing, Vice President Joe Biden announces that he will not run for president, stressing that the decision had nothing to do with the severed horse head wearing a HILLARY! button he found in his bed, which Biden says he believes ‘was meant in a supportive way.'”
Read the whole thing.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Dave Barry, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton Scandals, Joe Biden
Posted in Economics, Elections | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 8th, 2015
It turns out that 100% inflation, widespread repression and corruption and endemic shortages of basic consumer goods are not a recipe for electoral success:
Electoral authorities in Venezuela say the opposition coalition won a key two-thirds majority in the National Assembly in legislative voting.
The National Electoral Council has published on its website the final tally of results from Sunday’s elections showing that two previously undecided races had broken in favor of the opposition, giving them 112 out of 167 seats in the incoming National Assembly. The ruling socialist party and its allies got 55 seats.
The supermajority gives the opposition a strong hand in trying to wrest power from President Nicolas Maduro after 17 years of socialist rule. It now has the potential votes to sack Supreme Court justices, initiate a referendum to revoke Maduro’s mandate and even convoke an assembly to rewrite Hugo Chavez’s 1999 constitution.
Sooner or later, socialists always run out of other people’s money.
Though Maduro is still President, there are a lot of things the new government can do to improve the lives of their citizens:
To end food shortages, the new congress can immediately lift price controls so entrepreneurs have an incentive to produce or import. The only way to strengthen the “strong bolivar,” as the late Hugo Chávez named the currency, is to make it valuable enough for people to hold. That means lifting capital controls and ending the central bank’s multiple exchange-rate system so business can get access to dollars. On current course Venezuela will run out of international reserves and face default in 2017. Restructuring debt now with creditors would make that prospect less painful.
Which brings us to oil. Chávez used the country’s energy wealth to buy permission in Latin America—and Massachusetts; remember Joseph Kennedy’s Citgo PR campaign—for his many human-rights violations. As long as governments in the Caribbean were getting low-priced petroleum from Venezuela, they voted with the military government in Caracas at the Organization of American States.
Chávez and Mr. Maduro have also traded oil for security help from Cuba’s intelligence apparatus. Putting an end to these trades would retain more resources inside Venezuela and send a signal that the days of government repression are numbered. Meanwhile, rejoice that one of this hemisphere’s lost countries has a chance at revival.
Tags:Economics, Elections, Foreign Policy, Hugo Chavez, hyperinflation, Latin America, Nicolas Maduro, socialism, Venezuela
Posted in Communism, Economics, Elections, Foreign Policy | No Comments »
Friday, October 23rd, 2015
Another Friday, another LinkSwarm, heavy on Benghazi and Presidential race news:
Seven revelations from the Benghazi hearing.
You know who wasn’t happy about Hillary Clinton’s latest Benghazi testimony? The families of the Benghazi victims. Funny how that “absolute moral authority” the MSM bestowed on Cindy Sheehan doesn’t apply to families of the slain when they criticize Democrats…
China vs. the United States: a tale of two economies.
Longshot GOP Presidential contenders are running out of money. “Any burn rate over 100 percent is considered dangerous by campaign finance experts. Pataki’s was 226 percent, Graham 188, Paul 181, Jindal 144, Huckabee 110 and Santorum 101.”
Speaking of Presidential fundraising, here’s why Rick Perry had to drop out: “Perry spent more than a million dollars during the last reporting period – July through September – while raising only $252,000 in contributions. And the former Texas governor, who exited the race in mid-September, had only $45,000 cash on hand at the end.”
“When you vote in your first Presidential election, please remember which political party decided to make your lunchtimes a living Hell for a decade. Spoiler warning: it wasn’t the Republicans.”
Some people Hillary Clinton listed as endorsing Hillary Clinton have not, in fact, actually endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Ohio Senate race update: “Incumbent Rob Portman (R) raised almost eight million this year, with eleven million in the bank, while former governor Ted Strickland (D) raised about two and a half, with about a million and a half in the bank.”
Turkish opposition leader accuses Erdogan’s Islamist government of protecting the Islamic State.
Criticize Islam in your blog in Bangladesh? That’s an arresting.
Heh:
Alvin bond update: “Firm in cracked stadium debacle funds pro-bond propaganda.”
Texas Democratic trial lawyer Mikal Watts indicited over fraud related to the BP oil spill case.
Arthur Miller — Communist. (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)
Bernie Sanders is “paying” bloggers.
Emus on the loose in Round Rock.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Arthur Miller, Bangladesh, Benghazi, Bernie Sanders, Bobby Jindal, China, Communism, Democrats, Foreign Policy, George Pataki, Hillary Clinton, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Jihad, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Republicans, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Round Rock, Texas, Turkey
Posted in Austin, Communism, Democrats, Economics, Elections, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Texas | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 21st, 2015
I could roll this up into the next California vs. Texas update, but I thought this Texas Public Policy Foundation paper by Vance Ginn on why Texas’ low tax, low regulation model generates prosperity was meaty enough to be worth a separate post.
The Texas model has been touted as an approach to governance that other states and Washington, D.C. would be wise to follow. This approach promotes individual freedom through lower taxes and spending, less regulation, fewer frivolous lawsuits, and reduced federal government interference. Does this Texas restatement of the unalienable rights of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” actually promote freedom, prosperity, and jobs when compared to the largest states and U.S. averages?
To answer this question, this paper (in most cases) compares various measures in California, Texas, New York, and Florida—the states with the largest populations and economic output—and U.S. averages during the last 15 years. Five fiscal measures of economic freedom and government intervention for these states show that Texas generally leads the pack as the most free with the least government intrusion. Eight measures of the labor market indicate that Texas provides the best opportunities to find a job. Five measures of income distribution and poverty show that Texas leads in most categories with a more equal income distribution and less poverty despite fewer redistributionary policies than these large states, particularly California and New York.
Though a mere 15 pages, the paper offers up an in-depth survey of various economic metrics and studies, where Texas repeatedly comes out on top, and New York and California repeatedly come in last and second-to-last.
A few more tidbits:
In a “Soft Tyranny Index” (measuring state government bureaucracy, state spending, income tax, and tax burden) “Texas ranks first with the least government intrusion, Florida 17th, California 49th, and New York 50th.”
“Texas outpaces the rest of the U.S. in nonfarm job creation since December 2007.”
“Texas’ distribution of income is more equal compared with other large states.”
Read the whole thing.
Tags:Budget, California, Economics, Florida, New York, Regulation, Taxes, Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Vance Ginn
Posted in Budget, Economics, Regulation, Texas | No Comments »
Friday, October 9th, 2015
If you want to attend tomorrow’s blogshoot/meetup/tweetup, try to drop me a line (lawrenceperson at gmail dot com) so I’ll know how many will attend.
Now the LinkSwarm:
ObamaCare co-ops are going bankrupt.
Thanks to The Magic Power of Socialism™ and an estimated 800% inflation rate, Venezuela is now the most expensive place to live in the world, at least going by the official exchange rate. “Depending on which exchange rate you use, Venezuela can either be one of the cheapest countries in the world, or the most expensive.”
Democrats last year: “All those gun-toting white racist redneck freaks from Jesusland will be lining up to vote for Hillary!” Pollsters this year: Not so much.
Hillary Clinton now totally opposes the very Tran-Pacific Partnership she helped negotiate.
“Let’s take Malcolm Turnbull at his word that it’s only “a very very small percentage of violent extremist individuals”. What is the actual percentage? In the aforementioned Malmo, where up to a thousand mostly young male “refugees” arrive each day, suppose the “very very small percentage” is two per cent. That’s 20 brand new “violent extremists” per day. During the Northern Irish “Troubles”, MI5 estimated that there were no more than a hundred active members of the IRA at any one time – that’s to say, people actively involved in shooting and killing. So Malmo is taking in the equivalent of the entire IRA every week.”
How spree killers get their weapons. Or, once again, the New York Times twists facts to fit the narrative.
Speaking of the Times, this is what happens when the professional editors and proof-readers edit and proofread professional writers.
Wendy Davis thinks the reason she lost is she didn’t talk about abortion enough. Sure, Wendy, that’s it. Go with that… (Hat tip: Perry vs. World).
The Nairobi mall attack revisited. If this report is to be believed, armed civilians actually contained the threat, then army and security forces showed up and promptly managed to start shooting each other.
“In zombie world, the man who relies on the government for his safety will be zombie chow in short order…In zombieland, there are three kinds of people: those who know how to use guns, those who learn how to use guns, and zombies.”
Remembering the Yom Kippur War.
Tags:abortion, Arab-Israeli Wars, Border Controls, Economics, Guns, Hillary Clinton, inflation, Israel, Jihad, Mark Steyn, Media, ObamaCare, Texas, The New York Times, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Venezuela, Welfare State, Wendy Davis, Yom Kippur War, zombies
Posted in Border Control, Crime, Democrats, Economics, Elections, Foreign Policy, Guns, Jihad, Media Watch, Texas, Welfare State | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2015
If you haven’t been checking your 401K recently, now may not be the day to do it, as markets are plunging around the globe.
China’s Shanghai composite index had the largest one-day selloff since 2007.
Japan’s Nikkei average fell 4.6%, the largest drop in two years.
India’s Sensex dropped over 1,200 points, the biggest drop in seven years.
And now everyone is nervously waiting for the NYSE to open…
Tags:China, economy, Japan, New York Stock Exchange
Posted in Economics | No Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2015
Austin had a very, very wet spring, but August is shaping up in normal fashion: Bone dry and hot as hell. Try to keep cool and enjoy a Friday LinkSwarm:
“There is no real distinction between today’s Democrats and socialists.”
Democrats have an America problem.
The email scandal could very well sink Hillary:
Politicized or not, the DOJ will be increasingly boxed in by the FBI and intelligence community investigations. Normally, when the intelligence community finds classified materials in unauthorized locations, it seeks felony prosecutions. Gen. David Petraeus was sunk for keeping his own personal calendars in an unlocked drawer at home. The calendars were deemed classified, even if they lacked an official stamp. President Clinton’s CIA Director, John Deutsch, lost his job and security clearance for using his portable computer at home. It had classified material on it. Those violations are trifling compared to Hillary Clinton’s exposure.
(Hat tip: Instapundit.)
Longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin may be joining her in the big house
Bernie Sanders up over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire? #WhiteVotesMatter
Ohio Democrats continue their youth movement by recruiting 74-year old Ted Strickland for a Senate race.
Someone spilled millions of gallons of toxic waste into a river! Call the EPA! Oh wait, it was the EPA.
Islamic State executes 300 electoral civil servants in Iraq. Good thing we’ve got Nobel Prize winner Barack Obama sowing peace and stability to the Middle East rather than that warmongering bungler Bush… (Hat tip: Jihad Watch.)
So why did the Obama Administration pretend Taliban-head Mullah Omar was still alive when he’s probably been dead 2 years? (Hat tip: Prairie Pundit.)
And why is the Obama Administration siding with the terrorists and against the Americans who have already won legal judgments against them?
A whole bunch of gun myths debunked. (Hat tip: Borepatch.)
Just why did the University of Minnesota think it needed grenade launchers? (Hat tip: Say Uncle.)
China devalues the Yuan. This is Big Freaking News, but hard to conceptualize, since China’s economic statistics are have not even a nodding acquaintance with reality, and haven’t for at least a decade. So is China’s current bubble bad, or super mega world-shatterling bad?
Your guide to global black market pricing.
Islamic State Worse off than Greece?
Brazil: Super-Duper boned.
“Great Cthulhu emerges as surprise front-runner in Labour leadership contest.”
Tianjin, China Blows Up Real Good.
Jihadis kill four, kidnap six from hotel in central Mali. That’s really going to crimp your vacation plans. (Hat tip: Jihad Watch.)
Cop-killing inmate dies in prison riot. Alas, my electron microscope is being recalibrated, so I won’t be able to find the proper sized violin to commemorate this sad occasion… (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Social Justice Warriors continue their war on comedy on campus.
Man arrested for shooting at police in Ferguson was completely unarmed. Except for his guns.
Cool World War II radio intercepts story, via Instapundit.
Florida Man has been busy.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Afghanistan, Bernie Sanders, black market, Brazil, China, Crime, Cthulhu, Democrats, environmentalism, EPA, Florida, Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton Scandals, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Italy, Jihad, Mali, Mullah Omar, Obama Scandals, Palestinians, PIIGS, Social Justice Warriors, Ted Strickland
Posted in Crime, Democrats, Economics, Elections, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Military, Obama Scandals, Social Justice Warriors | No Comments »
Thursday, August 13th, 2015
So I haven’t done a Greek update in a while, since after Greece caved into the inevitable (Newsflash: broke people generally do not have leverage over those lending them money), it was all over but the shouting. Now that Greece and its creditors supposedly have a third bailout deal inked, and Greece settles into its clearly defined misery, let’s take a look at exceptionally bankrupt Greece these days, shall we?
Via Zero Hedge comes former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis’ detailed review of the bailout agreement. It’s a mixture of self-serving lies (trying to distance his own Syriza party from the horrific economic mess they made acutely worse) and brutal truths (about just how screwed Greece is by the agreement).
Speaking of Varoufakis, it looks like he’s going to be up on hacking charges…for preparing emergency plans to float the drachma.
Oh: He also says the latest bailout deal won’t work. He’s not wrong…
Greece’s economy miraculously grew in the second quarter. But that was before the full effects of the crisis were reflected…
Greece’s tax revenues have collapsed.
Greece’s manufacturing sector fell off a cliff in July. Funny how that happens when your banks are closed and you can’t pay for goods.
Greece faces two years of recession. That part’s probably true. But that primary budget surplus? Yeah, not so much.
“Greece’s banks just made the mistake of being banks in Greece.”
After all that? Greece still isn’t fixed.
To add a cherry on top, Greece’s refugee crisis continues to grow. Because it’s still safer to live in bankrupt Greece than the Middle East…
Tags:Budget, Euro, European Debt Crisis, Foreign Policy, Greece, PIIGS, Syriza, Welfare State, Yanis Varoufakis, Zero Hedge
Posted in Budget, Economics, Foreign Policy, Welfare State | No Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2015
Time for another Texas vs. California roundup:
Oakland’s monthly rent has doubled in the last five years, but the Oakland police are laying off people and no longer investigate property crimes. (As Zero Hedge notes, average rent is now more than it was in San Francisco in 2012.) How’s that Blue State model of high taxes, high public union salaries, and declining basic services working out for you California?
Controlling big budget government programs through ballot initiatives.
Only voters can stop California’s union pension crisis. “Government union bosses are desperate to protect their gravy train at taxpayers’ expense. That’s why they are spinning a web of lies about the [ballot initiative].”
“With CalPERS’ actuaries demanding a pension funding increase from $3.7 billion to $7.25 billion by 2020, the state must either cut payroll by 30 percent or find a massive new tax source, like overturning Prop. 13.” (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
Visualizing California’s staggering pension hole. (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
Need to make up the funding shortfall for CalSTARS means cutting into actual teacher salaries.
Finally, California beats Texas in job creations. For one month. And by some 6,000 jobs.
“The Green Behind California’s Greens: A handful of superrich donors have created the illusion of a grassroots environmental movement.”
Cloud Computer company LiveOps is moving from Redwood City, California to Cedar Park.
“Thanks to our low-tax, low-regulation environment that allows all businesses to thrive, the State of Texas has become the national leader for technology job creation, and we continue to attract tech companies from around the country and around the world,” [Governor Greg] Abbott said. “On behalf of the State of Texas, I am pleased to welcome LiveOps to the Lone Star State as the company seeks to transform cloud-based customer service. With their help, the State of Texas can, and will, continue to lead the nation in job creation within the technology sector.”
Bra-maker Fashion Forms is relocating from Ventura, California to Austin.
California-based Relativity Media files for bankruptcy. Forbidden Kingdom was pretty good. Skyline was a pile of crap…
Add California to the list of Democratic Party controlled polises trying to kill Uber.
The War on Photography continues apace in Northern California.
Facebook is opening a $1 billion data center in Ft. Worth This means they’ll be able to ignore your “Most Recent” setting and tag you in sunglasses spam ten times faster…
Tags:Austin, California, CalPERs, CalSTARS, Cedar Park, Facebook, Fashion Forms, Greg Abbott, LiveOps, Proposition 13 (California), Texas, Uber, Welfare State
Posted in Austin, Budget, Crime, Democrats, Economics, Texas, Welfare State | No Comments »
