Today's WSJ has a great editorial making the same point I made last week in greater detail. To wit, Hillary Clinton does not know squat about economics and her policies will cause the problems she is trying to prevent.
The quick recap, Mrs. Clinton is concerned we are headed for Japanese style malaise. My point was that the out-dated, government will "help," Keynesian solutions that Mrs. Clinton proposes is EXACTLY what caused the malaise in Japan.
The WSJ comes through with the data.
Of course, Tilam v. Thew readers had that info last week.
3.31.2008
3.27.2008
Clintonomics
From the WSJ: "Hillary Clinton said she fears the U.S. is slipping into a Japanese-style economic malaise that will overwhelm the Federal Reserve's considerable powers.
"The Democratic presidential candidate said the U.S. government should be ready to buy troubled mortgages from investors and lenders to spur a recovery and avoid a lengthy period of stagnation because of unaddressed weaknesses in the financial sector."
Okay, now I will give you three guesses as to WHY Japan has been in a malaise for the past 10 years:
1) Japanese are lazy and the national savings rate is low.
2) Japanese businesses are non-competitive.
3) The government took on the burden of their banking crisis instead of letting the market sort things out.
The answer is 3. So Clinton, in all her economic wisdom, is proposing just the path the PUT Japan in its slow growth period.
Unbelievable.
"The Democratic presidential candidate said the U.S. government should be ready to buy troubled mortgages from investors and lenders to spur a recovery and avoid a lengthy period of stagnation because of unaddressed weaknesses in the financial sector."
Okay, now I will give you three guesses as to WHY Japan has been in a malaise for the past 10 years:
1) Japanese are lazy and the national savings rate is low.
2) Japanese businesses are non-competitive.
3) The government took on the burden of their banking crisis instead of letting the market sort things out.
The answer is 3. So Clinton, in all her economic wisdom, is proposing just the path the PUT Japan in its slow growth period.
Unbelievable.
3.20.2008
Madness 2008
Crap, everything that's going on - Spitzer, Wright/Obama, Paterson - can distract us from the really important things. March Madness is back, Baby!
As usual, I have been following basketball fairly closely this year, but I find myself in a very different camp then most of the sportwriters. Stewart Mandel says, this is the year of the favorite. The ESPN guys average Final Four Rank is 1.29 and no one has anyone seeded lower than 2. And even Dickie V. says no chance a 5 seed or lower makes the Final Four.
Hmmmm.
Okay, now I admit I always pick conservatively, but my humble opinion is that ANYONE can lose in the second round. Sure, I think UNC and UCLA are tough, but not unstoppable. And the teams ranked 3 through 6 have some solid players who can pull of the "upset." UConn got torched by Providence and WV (curse you, Joe Alexander), but have an outstanding point guard, a shot blocking god and two very strong forwards. Xavier, USC, Pittsburgh, Clemson, Louisville can all make a case that on any given day, they can win against anyone even if things don't go perfectly. Most importantly, all the top seeds have looked very vulnerable at times.
This may be the Year of the Favorite. More likely, it will come down to the point guard and great defense.
That said, Mr. Wimp picks:
UNC, Kansas, Texas, UCLA with UCLA beating UNC 82-75...
As usual, I have been following basketball fairly closely this year, but I find myself in a very different camp then most of the sportwriters. Stewart Mandel says, this is the year of the favorite. The ESPN guys average Final Four Rank is 1.29 and no one has anyone seeded lower than 2. And even Dickie V. says no chance a 5 seed or lower makes the Final Four.
Hmmmm.
Okay, now I admit I always pick conservatively, but my humble opinion is that ANYONE can lose in the second round. Sure, I think UNC and UCLA are tough, but not unstoppable. And the teams ranked 3 through 6 have some solid players who can pull of the "upset." UConn got torched by Providence and WV (curse you, Joe Alexander), but have an outstanding point guard, a shot blocking god and two very strong forwards. Xavier, USC, Pittsburgh, Clemson, Louisville can all make a case that on any given day, they can win against anyone even if things don't go perfectly. Most importantly, all the top seeds have looked very vulnerable at times.
This may be the Year of the Favorite. More likely, it will come down to the point guard and great defense.
That said, Mr. Wimp picks:
UNC, Kansas, Texas, UCLA with UCLA beating UNC 82-75...
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