paradigms and beliefs paradigm - a pattern, example, or model -Webster New World dictionary The world we live in is an incredibly complex place. Man has developed to the point that he is striving, with some success, to understand the world around him. He has learned to harness many of the forces of nature. He has learned to shape many elements of his environment. In so doing he has built an understanding of how the world works; physical processes have been studied and ...
A Quick Aside: I can't resist pointing out that, somewhere in my ravings over the years [I think, on this site], i wondered who would bail out the governments when they all were underwater... Unfortunately I may get to see the answer to that question. Originally Posted by robdashu SOME PROPOSED PROGRESSIONS I'VE OBSERVED Capitalism → Marketing → Advertising → Mendacity → Deceit Freedom of Speech → Niche Journalism/Propaganda ...
On reading Louis Brandeis on the “Money Trust”, it struck me that the risks facing investors were much more understandable and concrete in that era. Most capital-intensive operations and industries were in a stage of development and growth to meet basic needs of a large, growing population. The resulting commercial and industrial infrastructure , with utilities (and sometimes governments) organized to deliver power, water, food and consumer products and waste services for urban living, plus a ...
Updated 01-23-2012 at 03:17 PM by robdashu
With the talk of tax cuts at or near the top of the economic policy news, why will no one ask: Where are all the jobs all the tax cuts over the past decade or so were promised to create? The record of tax cuts creating jobs is, by my count zero. Tax cuts killing jobs is way up there; in the past decade, the tax cuts have come so fast and furious, one can hardly tell which tax cut killed which jobs, which tax cuts prevented which jobs from being created, and which tax ...
Financial Reform has finally hit the top of the action list in Washington. The moment of truth , when we see whether the federal government has the cojones to stand up to the titans of finance [and campaign finance] is here. From my reading, and subsequent limited understanding of the financial meltdown, some of the issues requiring attention are: Direct limits on size? Is it size or nature/practices of business that are a problem? The scope of the largest banks – i.e. having their ...
No. Not Teddy Kennedy, god bless his soul. Where's Teddy Roosevelt when we need him? Teddy decided to stand up to the captains of finance and industry and protect the unmonied interests from the worst ravages of unfettered markets. That is what we need to modernize our government/finance industry relationship. The mealy-mouthed questions and answers from Senatorial or House committees indicate they are buying the Wall St b.s. The fact that Goldman Sachs was betting against the ...
Updated 04-27-2010 at 03:30 PM by robdashu
Efficiency is a great thing. It means we can get more accomplished in a given stretch of time. When labor is short, and there are many things that need doing, efficiency is a boon. It improves the quality of life, and allows each individual to accomplish more, thereby deriving self-satisfaction and, presumably, a decent wage to support a comfortable life style. On the down side, when labor is plentiful, excess efficiency can be a societal negative. In particular, automation robs ...
The Dow is up to 10,900 or thereabouts. This is seen as a good thing by those who own stocks. I suspect a lot of those people (with significant assets in equities) are still a little nervous. There does not seem to be any sound basis in terms of the business activity outlook that would warrant the price levels. Some say the answer to our employment problem is to manufacture for export. This is difficult given salary structures in the U.S. It would mean either huge automation ...
Given the complexity of the economic landscape, it is not surprising that there is no consensus about what needs to be done. It seems like we can look at four main areas to glean some signs for the future: I) General revision or overhaul of high finance rules and regulations. a) can it be done? b) should it be done? c) if it can and should, who can do it besides government? c1) can a popular movement (e.g. 'Bank locally") ...
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