Economics, as a branch of the more general theory of human action, deals with all human action, i.e., with mans purposive aiming at the attainment of ends chosen, whatever these ends may be.--Ludwig von Mises
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Restaurant Performance Index
Cartoon: Subprime
Cartoon: Unemployment
Cartoon: Unemployed
Cartoon: General Tso's Chicken
Friday, February 26, 2010
Iron Man 2 Trailer
Tony Stark to Congress:
"You want my property, you can't have it."
"I have successfully privatized world peace."
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Cartoon: Economic Theory v. Reality
Cartoon: Military Budget and Recessions
Cartoon: A Scarcity Free World
Monday, February 22, 2010
Top 400 Taxpayers
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
Nevada Casinos Lose $6.7 Billion
Clubs along the Las Vegas Strip, which makes up 53 percent of the gambling revenue in Nevada, registered a $4.1 billion loss.
...
The only other time Nevada gaming companies reported a loss was in 2003, of $33.5 million, said Frank Streshley, chief of tax and licensing for the board.
Total revenues were down from $25.0 billion in fiscal 2008 to $22.0 billion in fiscal 2009. Gambling was off 12.7%, room revenue off 16.6% (hotels are getting crushed everywhere), but beverage sales were flat!
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Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Cartoon: National Debt
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Cartoon: Taxes
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Unemployed over 6 Months
Losing Unemployment Benefits
380,000 workers will exhaust their 26 weeks of state benefits without accessing the temporary EUC extension program or the permanent federal program of Extended Benefits.
Another 814,000 workers will not be eligible to continue receiving EUC past their current tier of benefits.
source
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Bubbles Greenspan and the Significance of Dow 10,000
What went wrong?
The short answer is: Alan Greenspan. (The long answer is also Alan Greenspan). The former Chairman of the Federal Reserve nurtured an epic financial bubble during most of his 19-year reign...
What does this condensed and biased portrayal of history have to do with Dow 10,000? Just this: without easy credit, and the mania it spawned, Dow 10,000 would not have been possible. When the Dow first reached that magical level in 1999, the blue chip index was trading hands for about 28 times earnings – its highest valuation in 70 years.
Bill Bonner on Det and Defaulting
Moody’s warned that the US would lose its triple-A rating if it continues borrowing money at the present rate. Our old friend Marc Faber was on TV this week explaining what the consequences would ultimately be: the US will default on its debt, he said.
Mr. Geithner did not even bother with the idea of default. It was beyond his imaginative powers. As to losing the three As, he said that would “never” happen. Which is what set us to thinking about the quality of US leadership. Of course, the US will lose its bond rating…and will default. There is no question about it. No nation has ever existed, except for present company…whose histories have yet to be completed…that didn’t default, renege, collapse, go bankrupt, disappear, disintegrate, capitulate, or otherwise fall over and die. The only questions are when and how.
Bill Bonner on Ben Bernanke
Mr. Bernanke is a standout example. The former head of the Princeton University economics department knows all there is to know about a depression – except the important part. He doesn’t understand what causes them. And he completely misunderstands what the role of government should be in dealing with them. But we have already explained all this to you, dear reader, so we won’t repeat ourselves here…except to say that any truck driver and hair stylist knows you can’t spend your way out of debt. Mr. Bernanke doesn’t believe it. That’s the very definition of Boobus Americanus Economistica; he has educated himself out of his common sense.
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My thoughts: In case you missed the Mogambo Guru's rant on the Fed, it is easy money and credit that causes the unsustainable boom that inevitably leads to a bust. So this Greenspan/Bernanke recession can be blamed on the Greenspan's attempt to prevent a market correction when he took rates to 1.00% thus fueling massive amounts of malinvestments. He was successful in papering over a recession temporarily. He was also successful in guaranteeing that the next next recession would be much more severe. So does Bernanke learn? Yes, but it is the wrong lesson. When the economy starts to head south in late 2007, Bernanke starts lashing interest rates. He takes them down to between 0.00% and 0.25%. Instead of allowing a market correction that would have put the economy back on solid ground (like 1920-21), we are facing a double dip recession, double digit recession, and possibly a lost decade of economic growth.
Mogambo Guru on the Fed
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Mogambo Guru on Keynesian Economics
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Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Employment: Hirings, Layoffs, Openings
Monday, February 8, 2010
Hollywood's Top Earners 2009
2. Steven Spielberg, producer-director ($85 million)
3. Roland Emmerich, producer-director ($70 million)
4. James Cameron, producer-director ($50 million)
5. Todd Phillips, director ($44 million)
6. Daniel Radcliffe, actor ($41 million)
7. Ben Stiller, actor ($40 million)
8. Tom Hanks, actor ($36 million)
9. J. J. Abrams, producer-director ($36 million)
10. Jerry Bruckheimer, producer ($35.5 million)
11. Tyler Perry, actor-director-producer ($32.5 million)
12. Adam Sandler, actor-producer ($31.5 million)
13. Denzel Washington, actor ($31 million)
14. Emma Watson, actor ($30 million)
15. Rupert Grint, actor ($30 million)
16. Owen Wilson, actor ($29 million)
17. Nicolas Cage, actor ($28 million)
18. Russell Crowe, actor ($28 million)
19. Cameron Diaz, actor ($27 million)
20. Brian Grazer, producer, and Ron Howard, director-producer ($25.5 million)
21. Johnny Depp, actor ($25 million)
22. Steve Carell, actor ($25 million)
23. Robert De Niro, actor ($24.5 million)
24. Sarah Jessica Parker, actor ($24 million)
25. Katherine Heigl, actor ($24 million)
26. Shawn Levy, director-producer ($23 million)
27. Oren Peli and Jason Blum, writer-director-producers ($22.5 million)
28. Robert Downey Jr., actor ($22 million)
29. George Clooney, actor ($22 million)
30. Matt Damon, actor ($22 million)
31. Reese Witherspoon, actor ($21 million)
32. Angelina Jolie, actor ($21 million)
33. Jennifer Aniston, actor ($20 million)
34. Sandra Bullock, actor ($20 million)
35. Robert Pattinson, actor ($18 million)
36. Clint Eastwood, actor-director-producer ($17 million)
37. Kristen Stewart, actor ($16 million)
38. Mark Wahlberg, actor ($16 million)
39. Shia LaBeouf, actor ($15 million)
40. Brad Pitt, actor ($13.5 million)
source
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Obama's 2010 v 2011 Budget
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Cartoon: Investing
Federal Debt and Deficit
Government Employment
The Obama administration says the government will grow to 2.15 million employees this year, topping 2 million for the first time since President Clinton declared that "the era of big government is over" and joined forces with a Republican-led Congress in the 1990s to pare back the federal work force...
Including both the civilian and defense sectors, the federal government will employ 2.15 million people in 2010 and 2.11 million in 2011, excluding Postal Service workers.
source
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Budgets Projections: 2010 v 2011
Obama's Unemployment Forecast
For unemployment, the forecast is for an average of 10% in 2010, with a decline to 9.2% in 2011, 8.2% in 2012 and 7.3% in 2013
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