tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post2589185714421084961..comments2023-12-20T04:18:41.617-06:00Comments on The Hunting of the Snark: The House Always WinsSusan of Texashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-50369327283466618742011-12-08T03:39:57.756-06:002011-12-08T03:39:57.756-06:00God dammit. I hate when pundits do this.
"We...God dammit. I hate when pundits do this.<br /><br />"We have to do this awful thing to poor people, because the alternative would be worse for everybody"<br /><br />No, it won't be worse for everybody; it'll be worse <i>for you</i>, and <i>the people you shill for</i>. <br /><br />The poor are already getting shat on. If you're unemployed, you can't lose the jobs you don't have. You can't lose the benefits you've already forfeited. The parade of horribles McPinksalt warns might come is already marching down the street. It's already happening. And will continue to happen, since more bailouts will be used to justify even more cutbacks.<br /><br />It's just so fucking offensive, using concern for the poor to justify pissing in their faces. I can't even . . . It's everywhere, too. The Economist (which big surprise McAntoinette worked for) is famous for clamoring for Europe to liberalize their internal labor markets, and always throws in "it'll help the working man" as a justification. "We'd like to import a whole mess of Romanians to do your job for a tenth of the wage because we care about your well-being." <br /><br />Christ. Sometimes I feel like there's a galactic civilization somewhere that knows all about us and chooses not to make contact out of disgust. Sometimes I hope there's one. I don't know which is worse.Benhttp://noompa.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-4464311740863372011-12-07T22:18:27.115-06:002011-12-07T22:18:27.115-06:00Given all the hedging, the it's-not-clear-to-m...Given all the hedging, the it's-not-clear-to-me-thats, and the willful ignorance of date, I'd have to amend the shorter.<br /><br />Shorter Megan McArdle: Just you think about some bad things that could happen to you personally.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-18311010309293767922011-12-07T21:51:04.906-06:002011-12-07T21:51:04.906-06:00"Now, perhaps you think that Iceland proves t..."Now, perhaps you think that Iceland proves that default works. But I think that even the serious proponents of this idea recognize that this is a contested notion which is far from bulletproof."<br /><br />Maybe not bulletproof, but <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/they-have-made-a-desert-and-called-it-adjustment/" rel="nofollow">certainly healthier than the walking wounded</a>.<br /><br />But why would we let facts interfere?<br /><br />"Ireland might be doing better now if they'd just told the bank creditors go go get stuffed. They also might be in much worse shape. We don't have a whole lot of data points here."<br /><br />Let's go to <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/irish-pfizer-smiling/" rel="nofollow">the pictures</a>. Oops, still worse off than Iceland. Not to mention that 14% unemployment rate. Headline, not the deeper details.<br /><br />But it could be worse, because McMegan doesn't "have a whole lot of data points."<br /><br />"In the case of the current eurodeal, it seems to me that announcing that debtors are getting haircuts on their Italian or Spanish sovereign debt--or even failing to convincingly close off that possibility--would create the very outcome that they're trying to prevent: an all-out run on a bond market that is too big to save..."<br /><br />If bond market participants are too stupid to know their bonds aren't worth par, they shouldn't be in the bond market in the first place. Oh, wait, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GSPG10YR:IND" rel="nofollow">they do know that</a>. (Higher yield than in August = lower price now.) I guess Bloomberg's generic yields are just too difficult for a Senior Business and Economics Editor to understand.<br /><br />"...and a follow-on collapse of banks that have bought too much Italian or Spanish debt."<br /><br />Uh, that would be <a href="http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2011/10/19040/" rel="nofollow">the German banks that got subsidized by the Merkel Reich to the tune of 5% of the country's GDP</a>—more than the U.S. "stimulus," more even than China's Massive Infusion of Cash that has them worried they've caused Too Much Growth. (Such problems.)<br /><br />You might wonder why the Germans thought they needed to recapitalize their banks. After all, there wasn't a property bubble in Germany, the way there was in Spain and Ireland, nor do they have a tradition of tax evasion among the Very Rich, the way Greece and Italy do. And certainly Germans a Very Prudent People, especially in their Lending Practices; they tell us so every day.<br /><br />Surely they weren't recapitalizing because German banks hold too much Greece, Italian, Spanish, and Irish debt that will have to take a haircut. There must be a better reason...Ken Houghtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01440837287933536370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-67583343861128139372011-12-07T20:51:44.249-06:002011-12-07T20:51:44.249-06:00We can agree at?
Srsly, that's what she wrote...We can agree at?<br /><br />Srsly, that's what she wrote?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-88099299647937608582011-12-07T19:22:39.010-06:002011-12-07T19:22:39.010-06:00I am shocked (shocked!) that she came to that conc...I am shocked (shocked!) that she came to that conclusion. Especially after such a careful and considered analysis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-11978720385741756282011-12-07T14:38:04.926-06:002011-12-07T14:38:04.926-06:00...it's certainly not obvious (to me) that mak...<i>...it's certainly not obvious (to me) that making the creditors eat their losses is the safest and best options.</i><br /><br />ArgleBargle is a truly dumb person who learned a lot of big words (female Newt), but it ought to be clear to even her that illegality & villainy are supposed to be punished,not rewarded. <br /><br /><i>But even stipulating that it is, you can certainly see why the governments in question are frightened of the immediate consequences...</i><br /><br />Among other things, our politicians are unable to think "long term", as are our corporations. The next election/next quarter's profits is as far as they care to visualize.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03176801494652946278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-10068153698806564302011-12-07T10:38:55.934-06:002011-12-07T10:38:55.934-06:00The confusion between sovereign debt, which is gov...The confusion between sovereign debt, which is governmental obligations, and bank bailouts is overwhelming.Downpuppyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2222630007427380394.post-57824197187230652122011-12-07T10:07:15.763-06:002011-12-07T10:07:15.763-06:00Moral hazard, like taxes, is for the little people...<i>Moral hazard, like taxes, is for the little people.</i><br /><br />That's that both our political parties say, as well as <a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/12/obama-road-tests-hopey-changey-big-lie-2-0-hell-reincarnate-as-teddy-roosevelt-if-you-are-dumb-enough-to-be-fooled-twice.html" rel="nofollow">our President</a>.<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.com