tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post215037247162686756..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: The City and The StreetSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-71688722191709731632013-02-21T16:09:08.539-05:002013-02-21T16:09:08.539-05:00I just started getting the NYRB. Looks even more c...I just started getting the NYRB. Looks even more crass than the LRB. I use the LRB to start fires.HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-75152662026258993492013-02-21T16:05:51.317-05:002013-02-21T16:05:51.317-05:00The "life of the mind" attracts both idi...The "life of the mind" attracts both idiots and the idiot children of the rich like Barzun. Regression to the mean I guess. Why don't the "productive" banksters have a voice as loud as the bien pesants? They only need to be heard by people who count.HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-12179993246833778912013-02-19T23:00:38.362-05:002013-02-19T23:00:38.362-05:00No the govt doesn't cause all economic disaste...No the govt doesn't cause all economic disasters, it didn't cause the dot com bust, for instance, but the fed'l govt did cause the house boom and bust in the US, no matter what NYC bien pensant NYRB readers and writers think. NYC bien pensants don't need a financial crisis to think that banksters suck, they always think that. Per Europeans, I guess I should have said more j_mctnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-80280793677041462502013-02-19T18:08:06.963-05:002013-02-19T18:08:06.963-05:00Venting? "That just expands the idiotic regul...Venting? "That just expands the idiotic regulation that caused the disaster in the first <br />place!" Is government to blame in all economic disasters? "...which really cannot survive any contact with actual Europeans" Hear, hear! But the US is still an outlier politically, and Americans are FAT. Fat people cannot be taken seriously.HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-30381360115190236152013-02-19T17:44:58.757-05:002013-02-19T17:44:58.757-05:00Per the article, the NYRB has been putting out art...Per the article, the NYRB has been putting out articles like that since it's existed. In addition the the 'Wall Street guys are so crass' angle it also has references to the supposed cultural sophistication of Europeans, which really cannot survive any contact with actual Europeans. One could take that article, change some particular references, and it would be a close match to some j_mctnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-50710530753228308622013-02-17T17:22:10.230-05:002013-02-17T17:22:10.230-05:00Russ Roberts invited Cathy O'Neil (of mathbabe...Russ Roberts invited Cathy O'Neil (of mathbabe.org ) to EconTalk. Makes for interesting listening: <br /><br />http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/cathy_oneil_on.htmlSethTSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-12765665346214978912013-02-17T15:16:06.366-05:002013-02-17T15:16:06.366-05:00Yes, I agree that tax obligations give the USD val...Yes, I agree that tax obligations give the USD value, and the Fed/Treasury controls net supply. However, endogenous horizontal credit expansion through banking is important to consider as well.<br /><br /><br />Secondly, do you really think that people will respond to inflation by consuming instead of saving? I feel it is more likely that they will seek alternative savings, and then only if the Tertius Lydgatenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-82993551056859009782013-02-16T17:43:47.223-05:002013-02-16T17:43:47.223-05:00Yes, federal taxes could be eliminated or made neg...Yes, federal taxes could be eliminated or made negative (stimulus!). What do you think gives value to USD?Tertius Lydgatenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-49556526894733943662013-02-16T10:51:25.497-05:002013-02-16T10:51:25.497-05:00Low interest rates: I think low rates WILL have s...Low interest rates: I think low rates WILL have substantial costs in the future. Banks benefit when the fed is actively cutting rates - so the 2008 actions really helped them. But sustained low interest rates (i.e. below the rate of inflation) like we have now are, I suspect, better thought of as part of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_repression" rel="nofollow">financial LondonYoungnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-56237557374012833422013-02-16T10:49:08.999-05:002013-02-16T10:49:08.999-05:00Cool, let's use those dollars and take tax rat...Cool, let's use those dollars and take tax rates to zero ;-)LondonYoungnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-77187109723535692412013-02-16T10:26:02.296-05:002013-02-16T10:26:02.296-05:00The Treasury has an infinite supply of dollars. Ma...The Treasury has an infinite supply of dollars. Making a profit for the Treasury is nonsensical.Tertius Lydgatenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-86871740421496624362013-02-16T10:02:06.649-05:002013-02-16T10:02:06.649-05:00The contrast between the financial and auto indust...The contrast between the financial and auto industry bailouts is interesting. It seems clear (based on my limited economic knowledge) that one was a liquidity crisis (the banks) while the other was the collapse of an unsustainable business model (the auto companies, in particular their pension funding and health care costs compared to what they can afford and remain competitive). I have some Richard Seiternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-13423821938323425482013-02-16T09:59:16.898-05:002013-02-16T09:59:16.898-05:00"...the bankers were unjustly enriched (which..."...the bankers were unjustly enriched (which of course they were..." But they can't be blamed. Doing what's right and good is an abstraction. The concrete reality is "Will I be working with my kind of people?" and "What are my peers making?" What is more unambiguously value producing than machining? But would you want to work with machinists? And so the HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-39210587807233572822013-02-15T17:42:04.703-05:002013-02-15T17:42:04.703-05:00Relevant note: in the U.S. it is observed, now an...Relevant note: in the U.S. it is observed, now and then, that the bailouts of the financial system turned a profit for the "taxpayer" and it was only bailing out the auto industry that lost money. However in Europe it is a very different story. European banks, left and right, are still wards of the state and countries like Ireland are drowning in debt incurred to finance their LondonYoungnoreply@blogger.com