FedEx Graphics Team Deserves a Raise
This is pretty sweet. Did you know that there is an arrow buried in the FedEx logo?
Once you spot it, it is incredibly obvious, but I had never noticed it before. And why do movie previews give me a sudden urge to buy Coca Cola products?
(Incidentally, the factoid comes from this presentation on some gimmicky debt reduction program that my dad asked me to investigate. My verdict was that it “works” the way Weight Watchers does: by keeping you on a program with an outsider monitoring your progress. But the advice it contains is of the very naive, “If you prepay your mortgage then you are keeping money instead of giving it to the bank” variety.)
Glenn Beck Makes a Good Point
Glenn Beck was arguing with a caller today about whether the Big Three should get a bailout. He asked the caller if he believed in capitalism, and the guy said, “Yes but…” and Glenn said something like, “No, there is no but. Character only matters when your back is against the wall. It’s easy for your kid to say no to drugs when he’s home with you; it’s only tough when he’s with his friends. The only time it matters whether you believe in capitalism is when we’re on the ropes, like we are right now.”
Of course, Beck’s views on foreign trade are nutty–he tells us it’s important to buy American cars, in order to keep the money in our economy–but still, good stuff for a radio talk show host.
Tutte le balle sul capitalismo ready for Christmas!
Regnery mailed me two copies of the Best Economics Book ever, in Italian. It even has a Presentazione all’edizione italiana di Robert P. Murphy. (The “Are you a capitalist pig?” quiz is referred to as Test in the Table of Contents.)
I had totally forgotten about this, but once I saw it I remembered writing the Presentazione a couple of months ago. I think I made a reference to fascism, but I definitely did not include my thoughts on Mussolini and reincarnation.
Illinois Governor Arrested for Trying to Sell Obama’s Vacant Seat
This story is incredible. (It seems EPJ has more details than the CNBC story.) This episode reminds us all that the feds run the show. You have to suspect that if they decide to wiretap a governor, they will eventually accumulate some really damning phone calls. (Even if not criminal, certainly politically embarrassing.) In any event, it seems the Illinois governor got caught pretty red-handed, unless the wiretaps are complete fabrications.
UPDATE: The theory on LRC is that the motivation for the arrest was Governor Blagojevich’s stand against Bank of America. Incidentally, based just on the details from the Bloomberg story, I side with the critics of Blagojevich; a governor shouldn’t be pressuring banks to extend lines of credit to anybody. On the other hand, it is also spooky if the way this was all “resolved” is that Blagojevich gets arrested for corruption charges.
Krugman Talks Sense (though ungrammatically)
I can’t believe it; Krugman is against a bailout for the Big Three and says such a transfer would merely be a short-term solution reflecting a lack of willingness to accept the failure of a large industry. (HT2 Pepe) But look at this:
Nobel economics prize winner Paul Krugman said Sunday that the beleaguered U.S. auto industry will likely disappear.
“It will do so because of the geographical forces that me and my colleagues have discussed,” the Princeton University professor and New York Times columnist told reporters in Stockholm. “It is no longer sustained by the current economy.”
Am I just hypercritical of the guy, or are those two sentences absolutely horrid?
I Provoke a Response in Forbes on Green Recovery
Google Alerts just, well, alerted me to this Forbes’ piece that ran on December 2. The authors are responding to my op ed on “Green Recovery.” Here’s a good excerpt of their counterattack:
Unfortunately, the emphasis of Murphy’s article was on the “illusionary” nature of a “green recovery.” The fact is, the economic and environmental benefits of a green recovery are visible now, and we have barely scratched the surface of its potential.
After further review, the play stands, notwithstanding their use of the phrase “The fact is.” If they had said, “At the end of the day,” things might have been different.
David Henderson Provides Some Perspective on Job Losses
Duh, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this. Talk about confirmation bias (since I have been so gloomy):
On CNBC this morning, the talking heads pitched the new job loss figures in the most negative way. They focused on the fact that the 533,000 jobs lost (according to payroll data) were the highest in years, but they compared this absolute number with data going back to the 1970s and earlier. What’s missing? The fact that the economy has close to a record number of people in the labor force. In 1974, for example, when there were high monthly job losses during the 1973-75 recession, the labor force was 92 million. Today it is 155 million, or 68 percent bigger. I don’t have the monthly data handy, but I’m willing to bet that the 533K job loss is not close to the monthly percentage job losses in at least three of the months during the 1981-82 recession.
Although Henderson makes a great point, I agree with the people who argue that the official unemployment figures are more bogus now than they were back in the 1970s or ’80s. So yes, the absolute job losses aren’t as significant as the percentage figures, but those numbers aren’t apples to apples because of changes in how they compute unemployment. (And surprise surprise, the change in method leads to lower numbers!)
Murphy on Pete Kaliner Radio Show, Talking PIG to Capitalism
This interview (mp3) actually aired the Sunday before Thanksgiving, but what with my traveling I forgot to post it… Great for postponing whatever project you are supposed to be working on today.
Recent Comments