Potpourri
==> Silas Barta wants to keep Steve Landsburg honest on disaster economics. (Incidentally Bryan Caplan recently asked his readers to see if they ever find themselves objecting to unfair arguments used against “the other side,” and say what you will about Silas and me, but we often do just that. However, in both cases that I can think of, our noble behavior is indistinguishable from “attacking Steve Landsburg whenever possible.” So we need more data.)
==> This might be stale by now, but I did (two weeks ago) respond to the Center for American Progress on their blueprint for America’s energy future.
==> This reporter at FOX is on to something here: There is a growing push to evaluate the tax code in terms of its climate change implications. Hmm I don’t think that sounds promising.
==> The fate of the American way of life rests in the hands of Grover Norquist and yours truly.
==> Bob Wenzel talks about Bernanke’s game plan regarding inflation targeting.
==> Some poor soul has compiled a list of my various YouTube appearances. (This is much broader than what I personally upload on my channel.)
==> Yikes! This is really old, but before the election The American Conservative ran a symposium of views on voting, including a blurb from me.
==> I’m not sure if this link will work because I’m seeing it as a Free Trial, but anyway in Barron’s Online I review Peter Schiff’s latest book The Real Crash. I was very favorable.
==> On Halloween night I spent an hour on Adam Kokesh’s show. (Warning: He uses salty language and describes adult situations. Viewer discretion is advised.) At least click and watch the opening gag in the first minute. I’m basically the Will Ferrell of economics at this point.
==> I don’t even remember how I stumbled across this old post, but FYI Nick Rowe is as nuts as Scott Sumner.
” I want everyone to stay home on principle, because it delegitimizes this crooked system.” R. Murphy, American Conservative.
Pithy. Powerful. Awesome Bob. Can I take back my peanut gallery sniping last week?
Haha, CFA.
People stay home for lots of reasons. Bob needs direct action. He should push for voters to spoil their ballot, not sit home indistinguishable from apathetic non-voters. That’s why Ghandi had protest marches, not protest stay-at-homes.
Ghandi was assassinated.
Curses foiled again!
Thanks for the link!
Could my next entry on the broken-windows issue be near completion? Only if I’ve spilled ink on my carpet, motivating me to work! 😉
Really nice post Silas!
@ Nick Rowe (if you read this),
Since it obviously wasn’t enough what the ECB overpaid so far, I am sure I can supply lots of assets the ECB might want to heavily overpay for. I would sacrifice myself for the greater good and would take the burden of getting more than my assets actually are worth!
I really do have deep respect for Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan etc.. for how generous they are in doing the same altruistic service for the American people, while ironically they are called names like “evil fat cats” by the public and even Obama… How ungrateful.
So how can I become a supplier (Primary Dealer) to the ECB, do I have to know someone? I guarantee I can charge more than anyone else!
In all honesty (and without any sarcasm) don’t you think this invites for massive corruption, special favors etc? Do you really think this would rescue the economies and get them back on track? Therefore from your point of view making bad behavior beneficial and sanctions it finally?
Or is this still bad on net, but it is just a collateral damage (or depending on the viewpoint “collateral benefit”) and wouldn’t it then make more sense for you in arguing that in such cases the central bank should rather buy on the primary than the secondary market, therefor shutting down this practice at least on the bond market?
Always fun to read Bob’s post!
skylien:
first best: scrap the whole Euro. (Well maybe jump in a time machine and stop it ever starting would be better still).
second best: something like NGDP targeting and buying on primary market, or something like that.
distant third best: doing something daft like in my post.
even more distant fourth best: whatever the hell it is they are doing now.
Totally off-topic: Bob: I think one of you Austrian guys should write a book with the title: “5,000 years of shells”. I’ve just had great fun wasting a couple of hours Googling “shell money”. It’s fascinating. Did you know that the Chinese symbol for “money” is a cowrie shell? That shells were used in (at least) 4 continents for millenia as money? They seem to have been much more common than any other form of money.
I was going to use it as a blog post title, but decided against it, because I am so cr*p at history. But it’s far too good a title to waste. Can somebody else *please* use it!
So the Flintstones were way ahead of their time!
Nick, shells sound like hard money to me, so I approve.
Will you accept them as payment for your Great Depression online class?
Thanks for the clarification. So then I guess you do not worry much about central bank independence? I am not sure if interest on government bonds can play a meaningful role if the Central Bank can always resort to buy on the primary market under “certain” circumstances.
(BTW: I do not believe that CBs are really independent now either, though that is definitely a different level of independence than allowing them to buy on the primary market which really is direct financing of state expenditures)