United Liberty
Dow Jones
Two Democratic Candidates Talk Sense About Wall Street
Tue, 02/02/2010 - 12:06pm | posted by Michael Orion Powell
We live in weird times, and in these weird times, the truth cannot be relied on from predictable sources. Take for instance New York’s Democratic Governor David Paterson, who said:
But the candidates are couching their support in economic terms. Gov. Paterson, who is facing an uphill battle against likely rival Andrew M. Cuomo, told a group of bankers recently: “In New York, Wall Street is Main Street. … You don’t hear anybody in New England complaining about clam chowder. If you say anything about oil in Texas, they’ll string you up near the nearest tree. We need to stand behind the engine of our economy in New York, and that engine of economy is Wall Street.”
Paterson’s comments bring to my mind my experience growing up in Seattle, in which the public school system was effectively modernized with computers by Bill Gates and new stadiums and buildings, which brought in a host of new jobs and replaced the dangerous eyesore that was the Kingdome, were put into place by Gates’ fellow tech pioneer Paul Allen. Allen also turned radio station KCMU into the powerhouse that is today KEXP, a move that brought alot of early criticism, alleging that KEXP would be just another bland, commercial radio station.
Despite modernizing Seattle during the 1990s and 2000s, to the benefit of everyone living and working in the area, envy can be heard by many (but not all, of course) Seattleites simply because Gates and Allen have done well for themselves.
Maybe Germans Did Learn Something From The Weimar Republic
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 6:23am | posted by Austin Wilkes
When President Obama arrives in London this week he will meet with the leader of Germany, a nation where his election has brought newfound goodwill towards America; but will the goodwill be enough to force the hands of Germany to conform to Washington’s desires for additional stimulus and bailouts? If the latest media reports, which point towards an Administration attempting to dial down expectations, are any indication, then the answer is most likely a soft no.
The NYT is reporting that little ground is expected to be made in regards to additional German stimulus, with Chancellor Angela Merkel expected to cite fiscal discipline as a reason for German non-cooperation with President Obama’s Administration on the issue-
Elections, And Why The American Economy Will Collapse
Wed, 02/03/2010 - 12:33pm | posted by Peter Quinones
I know what you’re thinking: man that Pete is a positive guy. I like to describe myself as realistic, with a bit of fatalism throw in. Either way, I find it hard to look at the economic landscape and have any hope. It is especially dreadful when politicians have to get re-
elected, AND said politicians consult certain “economists”.
Economists have for years looked at what is happening in a society and sought to come up with solutions as to how an economic crisis can be “fixed”. The problem is, like in all fields, you have good economists, and you have the not so good (The latter seem to be the ones that always find their way onto the public payroll).
In extremely broad terms economists can be split into two categories:
1. The “good” economist traces what a policy can do not only in the present, but
in the future; AND what it does for not only one segment of society,
but the whole.
in the future; AND what it does for not only one segment of society,
but the whole.
2. The “bad” economist does the exact opposite; they examine only what
will fix the present issue and usually concentrate on only one segment of
the population.
If you are a student of American history your eyes should be opening as to which economist is most often chosen by our elected officials. The real question is “why”?
Well, why wouldn’t a politician pick economist #2?
At Least Someone is Doing Well
Thu, 07/16/2009 - 4:29pm | posted by Michael Orion Powell
According to Sean Kleefeld, Marvel Comics’ stock is at a record high of $38.79. At his blog is also a graph of the company’s stock since 2004.
Is the Economy Discouraging Divorce?
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 12:26pm | posted by Michael Orion Powell
My favorite political magazine, Liberty, had an interesting observation by writer Richard Kostelanetz in its April 2009 issue:
One libertarian truth is that social problems consigned to the state can instead be resolved by the free market. Since I’ve previously advocated that divorce be made illegal, so tacky and unnecessary is government intervention in the termination of relationships, may I take pleasure in noting that the current decline in personal assets discourages divorce? People sharing a house don’t want to be forced to sell in a soft market, and it’s hard to claim alimony from someone who is unemployed. On Bloomberg Radio here in New York, I heard one matrimonial attorney complain that his biz was down a whopping 50%. Good-bye, with good riddance.
$1,800,000,000,000
Fri, 10/03/2008 - 1:37am | posted by Jason Pye
That is the total cost of government bailouts.
Oh, and the Dow finished down 157.47 points to 10,325.38. It’s was up over 10,785 shortly after 1pm today. That’s a more than 400 point drop. It started to fall shortly after the House voted today.
Gee, I thought this bill was supposed to send a message to the markets.
Bailout Bill Defeated- What Now?
Sun, 09/28/2008 - 10:24pm | posted by Shana Kluck
Patriots across the country are pleased as punch that the wishes of the majority of Americans were honored and that H.R. 3997 has been defeated. It was a close vote and no one knew until the nay votes passed that magic number - 218- which way it was going to go. I encourage everyone to find out as soon as possible how your Congressperson voted. If they stood with us, please contact them and give them the kudos they deserve. If they voted for this bill, they need to be called on the carpet and told that their job is in serious jeopardy.
