tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post5419635320960996367..comments2024-03-14T09:01:47.587-08:00Comments on What Do I Know?: US House Takes Economy HostageStevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10498066938213558757noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-67126801405202225392011-07-26T18:24:01.812-08:002011-07-26T18:24:01.812-08:00Help! I can't keep up today. Writing from th...Help! I can't keep up today. Writing from the Cordova library. <br />Ropi, Part of me is pleased you think I'm neutral. Though part of me thinks being neutral when we're facing fools with enough power to do serious damage is not good either. But I think my titles tend to show my bias. But trying to articulate what the different arguments are as fairly as possible allows for comments from anyone which might actually lead to real conversation and not just ranting. <br /><br />Pi, thanks for the link. It's titled "How Many People Did Thatcher Kill?" and tries a bit to quantify the effects of economic tinkering. It's not just conceptual, it affects people's lives. While some may be playing a game to see who has the most power, they will do harm to people. In some cases serious harm. <br /><br />OK, I've got to go to dinner. Thanks for all your comments.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10498066938213558757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-85325518026629814922011-07-26T06:29:29.178-08:002011-07-26T06:29:29.178-08:00Steve- I am late to comment here because this remi...Steve- I am late to comment here because this reminded me of a few things, many of which are touched on in this essay :<br />http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/thatcher.html<br />I am so irritated by the invocation and misrepresentation of "the will of the American people" / "what the American people want " by such as Mr Cantor who routinely ignore information which points to, contrary to his view, some of the intersections where Americans really do have majority views - where vast, different groups do agree- like the debt ceiling thingy, Social Security, etc. While it is routine to ride the "will of the American people" horse around the floors of both Houses of Congress , it is just flat wrong to clap one's hands over one's ears and chant la-la-la-la when the vast amorphous thing which is the American people do agree on something well enough to voice it which disagrees with one's own agenda.<br />There ARE distinct elements of blackmail and so on in the current behavior of so many in the US House as well as indications, as some have said, of playing chicken with the economy to advance ideology over compromise.<br />What I more and more see with remarks like "leverage moment" is a mindset completely wedded to the extension of market forces language and behavior into realms of human experience and life which are at bottom NOT economic.<br />I see a lot of "sharp practice" moments by legislators . It is deeply disturbing.<br />I also see a cognitive dissonance from those like Mr Cantor when it comes to what is tidily called "excess mortality" in the essay linked above.<br />I am disgusted.<br /><br />Alaska PiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-74331737345701744272011-07-26T05:56:58.893-08:002011-07-26T05:56:58.893-08:00KC, you know bailing out is not sustainable on the...KC, you know bailing out is not sustainable on the long run. There will a time (maybe not now) when extra capital won't solve the economic problems. The USA has the tools to play according to their rules (and ignore some economic rules) but the World is changing, so one day your country may be in serious trouble.<br /><br />I am making an economic project and my teacher warned me not to mention the US as example because of this.<br /><br />If your country didn't affect World economy, I wouldn't care, but I wouldn't be happy if I could say "I told you", but my country would be in recession again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-36724542639992981622011-07-26T03:11:21.112-08:002011-07-26T03:11:21.112-08:00Ropi, I have been worried about the economy collap...Ropi, I have been worried about the economy collapsing, and then I realized that Wall Street will rake in big bucks on it and not let us really collapse. (Big bucks = lots of cash. . . buck is a term meaning "dollar.") Interest rates will sky rocket and somebody in power will simply benefit. <br /><br />Do other countries want us to pay off our debt, or do they like us paying interest?KCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-23949238241740376802011-07-26T01:24:30.468-08:002011-07-26T01:24:30.468-08:00OFF POST WARNING!!! to Steve's regular readers...OFF POST WARNING!!! to Steve's regular readers.<br /><br />Steve, didn't want to try to find the post where you last discussed perception and language so I'm plopping this comment here. My apologies to your readers.<br /><br />I'm writing regards the Alaska bear attack story now in European press (even with Norway lead stories). I've read several accounts now, and I was so amused (at first) by something said by one of the boys I had to post a note to you.<br /><br />The boy who first encountered the bear after coming round a bend in the stream he and his fellow hikers were walking, mentioned that at first, he thought he saw a 'haystack' in the water in front of him. He added that in the moment he realized that it couldn't be a haystack, the bear was upon him.<br /><br />Now, I could leave that as an account of a bear attack. But beneath his comment is something far more profound about human memory and perception. Having grown up in Alaska, having been in its wilderness many times, I KNOW beyond any doubt that I would NOT have had 'seen' a haystack.<br /><br />My experience trained me to react to threat of a bear. And that got me thinking. When I failed to answer a question correctly in my law class a few weeks ago because I understood the word 'department' differently than its commonly used in Britain, how many other things (like haystacks for bears) do I engage each and every day concepts that work perfectly well in my culture of origin but not removed from it?<br /><br />If haystacks and bears can be switched in our mind when it is life-threatening to mix those images, do we experience these flips in the everyday given dissimilar experiences, age, cultures and language? <br /><br />Finally, to bring this to close on the current Norway situation and our thread on anger, isn't it easier for we humans to live among those like ourselves? It seems difficult work to exchange bears for haystacks.<br /><br />Anders Breivik chose nationalism. I'm very afraid we find that easy.Jacob Dugan-Brausehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06287631724339961459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-30767583830856160702011-07-25T10:09:34.648-08:002011-07-25T10:09:34.648-08:00Oh, and I don't want to blame you, but for me,...Oh, and I don't want to blame you, but for me, you seem to be a bit biased in this question. That's right to me, because people have opinion about most of the things, but so far you have mostly been "neutral" in my opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-36766259549089916062011-07-25T07:19:35.338-08:002011-07-25T07:19:35.338-08:00Well, the thing I still don't understand is th...Well, the thing I still don't understand is that how come that the USA has the best scores at Fitch, Moody's and other rating agencies, because if we consider, your country is 8 days away from bankrupcy. You are bankrupt when you have to delay paying the burdens. Greece has just gone bankrupt technically (not admitted though) and they got the second worst score from one of these groups. I don't say the US should get the same score as Greece but the US is not among the best debtors for sure.<br /><br />I also don't understand why these institutes are so powerful. Greece has been among the best debtors according to them for a very long time, even when it became obvious that the country was in trouble.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-583259706727443782011-07-25T06:41:39.911-08:002011-07-25T06:41:39.911-08:00The "Debt Ceiling" made simple:
http://a...The "Debt Ceiling" made simple:<br />http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL31967_20100128.pdf<br />Page 18 shows budget numbers and transition since 2001.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com