"In a post yesterday, Krugman refers to my suggestion that it's mostly a case ofseptaphobia, or fear of the 70s. The idea here is that inflation really did run out of control in the 70s, and it really did take a massive recession engineered by Paul Volcker to rein it in. If that was one of your seminal experiences of the consequences of loose money, then it's no surprise that you fear inflation. But Steve Randy Waldman says this is "bass-ackwards":"
Scratches to Sketches
Wednesday, 3 September 2014
Who is nuttier? Belief in conspiracy theories: What do the data say? - The Washington Post
"In a recent Monkey Cage post on belief in conspiracy theories among liberals and conservatives, Alfred Moore, Joseph Parent and Joseph Uscinski criticized liberal pundit Paul Krugman for writing, "Unlike the crazy conspiracy theories of the left — which do exist, but are supported only by a tiny fringe — the crazy conspiracy theories of the right are supported by important people: powerful politicians, television personalities with large audiences." They responded, "Krugman is mostly wrong that nuttiness is found mainly among conservatives."
Three Roads to Hard Money - NYTimes.com
"So, a hedge fund manager, a right-wing politician, and a freshwater economist walk into a restaurant and order wine. No, this isn't the setup for a joke — it's a real story. We don't actually know what they talked about, but all three have been prominent in warning that the Fed is embarked on a dangerously inflationary path. And as I have written many many times, this inflation paranoia has proved remarkably resilient, enduring despite five-plus years of utter empirical failure. Why?"
Money in a Time of Zero - NYTimes.com
"It's true that we're living in a time of monetary impotence, where central banks trying to reflate economies are not having much success gaining traction. But it's important to note thatcontractionary monetary policy is working just fine; all the central banks that mistakenly decided that it was time to raise rates succeeded in doing just that, before realizing their error and reversing course."
Here’s how bad it would be if Yellowstone’s supervolcano erupted today - Salon.com
"For starters, there's the ash: computer modeling indicates that a supereruption (as befits a supervolcano) would spew about 240 miles of it into the atmosphere, effectively shutting down electronic communications and air travel throughout the continent as it dispersed in what's known as an "umbrella" cloud. How it lands depends on wind conditions, but cities closest to the eruption could end up blanketed in up to a meter of ash; those on the East, West and Gulf Coast would get smaller, but still disruptive, ash deposits of their own."
Medical costs in America falling?
"In his most recent column for the New York Times, award-winning economist and best-selling author Paul Krugman argues that the ongoing slowdown in national healthcare costs, which has been especially pronounced among users of Medicare, is going underreported on by the mainstream media, despite the fact that it's a "really big deal" that could "transform a lot of our political debate.""
As Bill Gates lounges aboard the 440-foot Serene super yacht in Sardinia, another super yacht may be headed to Seattle - Puget Sound Business Journal
"Folks are buzzing about the super yacht Serene, a 440-foot personal yacht of Russian vodka titan Yuri Scheffler, which is being chartered by Bill Gates and his family for $5 million a week. The huge yacht and its Medina residents are currently off the coast of Sardinia, Italy, according to reports in the Daily Mail and other publications."
Russian owned super yacht 'A,' arrives in Seattle
"The sleek gleaming-white super yacht is owned by 42-year old- Russian billionaire banker Andrey Melnichenko and his wifeAleksandra Melnichenko, who are said to be on board. (This year he ranked 97th on the Forbes world's billionaires list.) It is one of the largest and most opulent and luxurious private yachts in the world today and, according to reports, can accommodate 14 guests and a crew of 42. It was built in Kiel, Germany and is registered in Bermuda."
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2014/08/one-of-the-worlds-largest-private-yachts-the-super.htmlConstruction spending at highest level since 2008, powered by energy boom, manufacturing and new office buildings - The Business Journals
"Construction spending reached its highest level since 2008 in July, according to the Census Bureau, and industry economists think the party is just getting started.
Spending on both private and public construction increased in July, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $981.3 billion. That's more than 8 percent higher than last July's rate."
http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/washingtonbureau/2014/09/construction-spending-growth-shows-vigorous.htmlConstruction Boom Won’t Save Australian Economy: BIS
The report notes, however, that with activity in other non-mining business sectors such as retail and manufacturing expected to remain soft as long as the dollar – which is expected to drop back to below $US0.80 over a 12 to 18-month timeframe – remains high, any broader recovery in the non-mining sector will be several years away while housing by itself will not be sufficient to make up for an anticipated 40 per cent pull back in resource construction over the next four years. -
Economists are defined by their constituents ...
"When an economist says something, we are all supposed to sit up and listen. If "a leading economist" warns a reporter that an administration's policies are likely to tip the country into recession, it will almost certainly make headline news."
Putin Threatens Nuclear War Over Ukraine - The Daily Beast
"On Friday, as Russian Federation tanks and troops poured across the border into eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin talked about his country's most destructive weaponry. "I want to remind you thatRussia is one of the most powerful nuclear nations," he said. "This is a reality, not just words." Russia, he told listeners, is "strengthening our nuclear deterrence forces."
That same day, Putin used a term for eastern Ukraine meaning "New Russia." So when he refers to repelling "any aggression against Russia" and speaks of "nuclear deterrence," as he did on Friday, the Russian president is really warning us he will use nukes to protect his grab of Ukrainian territory."
Convince yourself he is not luny?
Europe needs to see its reality?
"The reduction in military spending is a common theme across Europe. Five years ago, according to NATO figures, France's military budget amounted to 2.4 percent of its G.D.P.; this past year, it stood at 1.9 percent, and France's budget law orders no increase before 2019. As for Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, it spends only 1.3 percent of its G.D.P. on defense."
Ukrainian Winter will Define West's Agenda ... War is Almost Impossible to Avoid... Get dirty?
"So much policy in recent years has been based on wishful thinking. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton preferred to see problems in U.S.-Russian relations as rooted more with their predecessors than with Putin himself, hence the investment in the "reset." There continued years of denial about Putin's true intentions, all the while making compromises and offering concessions based on the deluded notion that Putin was more partner than pariah. When Putin invaded Crimea, when he shot down Malaysian Airlines flight 17, and when he continued his push into his neighbor, Obama simply reacted with a patchwork of statements and superficial pronouncements until the television cameras moved on. Indeed, if there is one core principle to the Obama doctrine, it is not leading from behind (for that would imply leading), but rather simply reacting to world events in a scattershot fashion."
Putin's Threats Require European Summit to Support Ukraine | New Republic
"In the space of a few days, everything has changed.
According to NATO sources, a thousand Russian soldiers have been on the move in the vicinity of Lugansk for several days now.
Several dozen Russian tanks, including a division flown in from Pskov, crossed the border and, since August 25, have been on maneuvers.
With complete impunity Moscow's aircraft violate Ukraine's airspace on a daily basis, flying over the now-encircled positions of the forward units of Kiev's army."
Eyes wide shut — Obama in denial on nature of terror threat | New York Post
America could act to late and the over-react.
"As he raised the terror alert in his country to "severe," the second-highest level, on Friday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, "We are in the middle of a generational struggle against a poisonous and extremist ideology."
True. So what's needed is coordinated global action, the kind of approach only America can lead.
Instead, Washington's national-security sophisticates will bore you to death with the nuances separating one jihadi group from another."
http://nypost.com/2014/09/02/eyes-wide-shut-obama-in-denial-on-nature-of-terror-threat/After Steven Sotloff Murder, Congress Demands a Vote on Obama’s ISIS War - The Daily Beast
The taunting of America is very dangerous...
""The beheading of poor Mr. Sotloff really just brings back that we are dealing with a dangerous adversary…Congress needs to play a vital role and we are determined that the House Foreign Affairs Committee will lead the way," said Rep. Eliot Engel, ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "We believe that before the president can continue beyond 60 days of doing airstrikes in Iraq or anyplace else, he would have to come to Congress and get Congress's authority to continue."'
The West Must Decide Whether Putin Is Hitler - Bloomberg View
The madness of the man has to be stopped with the strongest show of force. That is obvious to any idiot. The problem is again appeasement, as it was in 1938. Only difference is that Putin is far more dangerous than Hitler...
'The West faces a dilemma now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has demonstrated his willingness to win at any cost in Ukraine: Does it, too, go all in, or does it admit Putin's de-facto sovereignty over Russia's post-Soviet neighbors? Both options are unpalatable, and the right answer depends on whether Putin plans to go beyond subjugating Ukraine.
"Arm Ukraine or surrender," is the way commentator Ben Judah formulated the Western world's dilemma in the New York Times. "American and British special forces should be dispatched to plant the flag and protect the airports of Kiev and Odessa," he wrote, warning that the alternative is "a surrender, too, for NATO, for Europe and liberal democracy, and for American global leadership."'
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-09-02/the-west-must-decide-whether-putin-is-hitler
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Sketches from scratches is a provocative blogspot that has grown out of the Wuh Lax experience. It is eclectic, which means that it might consider just about anything from the simple to the extremely difficult. A scratch can be something that is troubling me or a short line on paper. From a scratch comes a verbal sketch or image sketch of the issue or subject. Other sites have other stuff that should really be of interest to the broad reader. I try to develop themes, but variety often comes before depth.
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