Tag: collapse

economics

Inflation looms

The bond market does not tell us what the smart money people think inflation will be. It tells us what those among the smart money people who do not expect very high levels of inflation think inflation will be.

In addition to an on budget deficit of ten percent or so, there is also a much larger off budget deficit, in the form of an ever growing pile of government guarantees, which there is no will to restrain. Put the two deficits together, crisis looms.

Trees do not grow to the sky. That which cannot continue, must stop

economics

Securitization

From the point of view of oligarchs and crony capitalists, the crisis is not that a lot loans were made to no hablo English wetbacks. The crisis is that people are rejecting securitization of debt. The Obama regime’s capitalism smashing measures are intended not to destroy capitalism, nor to install socialism, but to restore securitization of debt. This is socialism for the financiers, not for the proles:  Crony socialism, crony …

war

Iran tells it like it is:

In his April 15, 2009 speech, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told America: We say to you that you yourselves know that you are today in a position of weakness. Your hands are empty, and you can no longer promote your affairs from a position of strength. … with the grace of God, and thanks to Iran’s national unity, the recommendations of Supreme Leader, and the following of his [path], nearly …

economics

The crisis explained

I have been seeing a lot of references to “a speculative bubble” Nope. They were not speculating. The crisis consisted of people, mostly members of protected minorities with nothing to lose, buying houses they could not afford with borrowed money in the expectation that they would go up, and if they went down, it was the bank’s problem. So the people who bought houses were taking no risk, since mostly …

economics

The crisis has barely begun

“Naked capitalism” explains what has happened, and observes that the Bush-Obama policies caused it, are causing it, and are likely to cause a lot more of it. Government guarantees will be abused – and the broader the guarantees, and more chaotic the situation the more they will be abused.  The solution is that existing guarantees must be reduced, and existing government initiatives curtailed or at least allowed to expire.   Extensive …

economics

The lesson of Japan’s failure

Ten years ago, Japan had a banking crisis very like the one we just had.  It was discovered that financiers and big businessmen had blown staggering sums of money, whereupon the government massively intervened to keep those that had screwed up from losing their jobs. The Japanese economy has been stagnant ever since, even though, or perhaps because, the government has poured huge amounts of “stimulus” over the economy, so …

economics

Explanations of the oil price rise

My explanation for high oil prices is the collapse of oil states. Arnold Kling argues that instead the problem is that investors fear the collapse of advanced states, so are reluctant to take their money. My explanation is that oil states are increasingly short of the competence to pump oil, the ability to provide security to people pumping oil, and the credibility to make deals with people who are competent …

war

Europe is falling

Observe in this video the British police are as frightened and weak before Muslims, as the British police are terrifying and dominating over Britishers in other videos.  The British state is as contemptible to its enemies as it is terrifying to its subjects. The fear and weakness we see in this video, we also saw when the Iranians over ran the British in the Persian gulf, and when the British …