Quote of the Day
To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul.
Cicero
Political Potpourri:
Is the Presidential Battle Over Already? NO
Obama's post convention bounce is already starting to dissipate: his approval ratings are back below 50 and Rasmussen already has Romney back up by 3. I was on a mainstream media site that said, looking at the preponderance of polls, why even bother holding an election? The Gray Lady indicates Obama has closed the gap on terms of running the economy, that Mitt's residual edge is dealing with the budget.
The idea that Obama or government knows how to plan an economy is pure hubris. Romney has been pummeled by months of unanswered attacks on him and a convention with a bounce. Romney needs to explain how government competes with the private sector, regulations can hurt business, competition and jobs, how uncertainty in government policy impedes business decision making, and the government can crowd out resources for business starts and expansion. Romney needs to remind people that Obama's "solutions" haven't worked in the past, and won't work in the future either. The answer isn't the government picking winners and losers in the economy; the answer is to produce policies promoting business growth through fiscal, regulatory, and tax reform, which Obama has failed to do.
I have done quite a bit of applied statistics and I have to say I don't like the numbers right now, but bounces go down, I see more states (like Minnesota) coming into play, but I haven't seen Romney's game plan, and he has a lot of campaign money. In a bad economy with a President below 50 approval, I like Romney's chances.
Printing Money out of Nothing: That Ain't Wealth
Eggan-Jones, which like S&P had earlier cut US Treasury notes from AAA to AA+, just announced that it's further cutting ratings to AA, pointing out among other things a declining dollar for producers importing parts or resources will pressure margins, which could get passed along to consumers, not to mention a spendthrift Congress and Administration doing nothing serious over mounting debt, which is unsustainable.
When I reflect on the Fed, I recall an anecdote related by one of my sisters, whom has 5 sons. She had trained the boys well on promptly disposing discarded present wrap. Every birthday and special occasion I would mail my 21 nephews and nieces cards (yes, I think I single-handedly kept the USPS afloat); I used to slip a few dollars inside birthday cards. So this one day one of my nephews opened my card , crumpled up my greenbacks in his little hand, and gave them to my sister, saying "Trash, Mommy!" I thought for sure we had a prescient budding economist in the family...
CNBC has some good points about QE forever; moral hazard (the federal government needs to enact serious reforms), when does it stop and what happens what if the policy doesn't work, and the Fed's action undermines confidence in the underlying economy.
Emtertainment Potpourri
To he sure, the Lincoln years and the War Between the States is a subject worthy of the silver screen and one of the greatest movie directors, not to mention actors! The big question is whether Spielberg presents a deified version or the stripped down version debunked by DiLorenzo (see below interview). See here for a retrospective of the academic kerfuffle DiLorenzo sparked by his work on Lincoln.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Commodores, "Just to he close to you"
