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Snippet-o'-the-week:

Practice all things in moderation. Especially moderation.


February 2010
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January 28, 2010

The Battle of the Speeches

Great editorial by Art Carden, assistant professor of economics and business at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn..

Two giants took to the stage, or podium, yesterday. Both were visionary, but came from diametrically opposing positions on how delivery should take place.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/28/obama-steve-jobs-speeches-opinions-contributors-art-carden_print.html


Posted by khiggins at 05:23 PM

Very illuminating article in the WSJ that most peope, whether for or against the path to Health Care "reform" that we're tracking down, will find educational.

The subtext is conservative, of course: "It was foolish of President Obama to think he could reform 16% of the nation's economy."

However, this is a worthy read, even if you dismiss the subtext and simply focus on the facts. It will help you understand why the bill ended up over 1000 pages and give you some insight into the difference between grand ideas that are good in theory, and the implementation of those ideas (and ideals) in an impossibly complex system that is insinuated into almost every aspect of our economy and our lives.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704094304575029331665110908.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_BelowLEFTSecond


Posted by khiggins at 11:02 AM

January 25, 2010

Can Common-Sense Economics Found a New Party?

I've certainly made no secret of my appreciation for the intellect and insights of Bill Frezza, a partner at Adams Capital Management, an early-stage venture capital firm and online columnist. In his latest column, Bill asks some common sense questions. Unfortunately, common sense remains in short supply.

Here's an excerpt:
"What foul bit of sophistry convinced Americans that it is not only proper but a civic duty to vote for the lesser of two evils? Isn't that a perfect recipe for perpetuating evil? What else can explain the fact that we have surrendered giant swaths of our economy to Congressmen that are rated less trustworthy than used car salesmen?

Why do we stand up like trained monkeys and cheer when politicians lie to us about the "change" they are going to deliver when experience tells us that as soon as they obtain power it's business as usual?

Just because the pendulum started swinging again does that mean the clowns who govern us have learned anything? How long can we let the entrenched parties play musical chairs before Washington turns us all into indentured servants? How many months a year do you work for Uncle Sam?"

Read the entire column, here:
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2010/01/25/can_common-sense_economics_create_a_new_party_97606.html


Posted by khiggins at 06:53 AM

January 22, 2010

I love the way Peggy Noonan thinks, and writes. She was speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, but resonates often with my centrist independence:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703699204575017503811443526.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_BelowLEFTSecond


Posted by khiggins at 10:59 AM

September 14, 2009

The White House Council of Economic Advisers said Thursday the $787 billion stimulus plan kept one million people working who would otherwise not have had jobs.

http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/09/14/saving_one_million_jobs_at_787000_per_job_97404.html

The White House Council of Economic Advisers is lead by three presidential appointees. Currently, these are Christina Romer, Austan Goolsbee, and Cecilia Rouse.

According to their biographies on the Council web site, these people have never held jobs outside of academia. Their positions at Princeton, Berkeley, and the University of Chicago were protected by lifetime tenure. Unemployment, to them, is a theory that cannot become a personal reality. What in their backgrounds makes them experts on the subject of job creation?


Posted by khiggins at 06:28 AM

September 8, 2009

The good news? Our National Debt, as a percentage of GDP, has been a LOT higher than it is now. The bad news? Congress is likely to fix that...

http://www.american.com/archive/2009/september/debt-be-not-proud-the-sorry-tale-of-america2019s-out-of-control-spending


Posted by khiggins at 06:07 AM

August 28, 2009

Facebook has a strange magic created by overemphasizing the tertiary characters in the story of your life. That then sometimes leads to wishing you were a better writer.


Posted by khiggins at 05:37 AM