Reading news about Paul Krugman! (0.00 / 0)

He sure has "An interesting morning"!
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.c...

Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter

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by: Gray @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 07:11:43 AM CDT

Yeah, congrats to Krugman (0.00 / 0)

I wonder what's taking so long for Paulson to get moving. He has said that there's going to be nationalization of some sort but he has been short on the details.

Does he have to wait for the next institution(s) to go belly up? Is he stalling because he really doesn't want to go this route? Is he waiting for an institution to take the bait -- maybe the CEOs of the next to go are still at the spa getting their chakras balanced?

Meanwhile the Europeans are moving in concert, something which many speculated would be terribly difficult to achieve given the number and variety of countries involved.

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by: Matt H @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 07:41:07 AM CDT

They're trying to save Morgan Stanley (0.00 / 0)

Mitsubishi's attempt to buy part of Morgan just went through with the fed's guarantee, on better terms than the first offer.

My mom and her retirement account are going to be very happy.

The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself. (Proverbs 11:25)

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by: kovie @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 07:55:06 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Maybe that's what we're going to see (0.00 / 0)

Rather than just flat-out nationalizations will get tweeners like this -- old school globalized masters-of-the-universe style mergers with 'socialist gummint' back up.  

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by: Matt H @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 08:07:03 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

yup (4.00 / 2)

there's a difference in reasons for nationalization when it's done to seize assets from the rich and give them to the poor (socialism) and when it's done to save the market from its own adherents (capitalism).  If it's more or less permanent, it's state capitalism, if it's temporary, it's just governement intervention to save the market - the same way it always has.

Ain't no market without the 'socialist gummint' :)  This is why it's so galling to read people talking about "Socialism" these days - as if the government of the Bush Administration is a goverenment of the people.

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by: dr anonymous @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 08:43:29 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

We've had our disagreements on the bailout (4.00 / 1)

But I love this quote:

Ain't no market without the 'socialist gummint' :)  

What libertarians/free marketers fail to understand is that you've got to set and enforce the rules of the game in an understandable, transparent manner in order to have and maintain a properly functioning free market in the first place. Even cage matches have rules.

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by: Matt H @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 09:39:09 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

yup :) (4.00 / 1)

tragic that the people who ideologically have problems with or outright despise the inequalities capitalism are the ones who have to point it out these days to the people who like it.  And not coincidental, I think.

but if we go down the "what free market fundamentalists / civil libertarians fail to understand" route, we might be here all day :)  

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by: dr anonymous @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 09:47:43 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

And in case anyone's wondering... (4.00 / 1)

October 13, 2008, 7:50 am
Paul Krugman Wins Economics Nobel
By Catherine Rampell

Paul Krugman, a professor at Princeton University and an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science on Monday.

"It's been an extremely weird day, but weird in a positive way," Mr. Krugman said in an interview on his way to a meeting for the Group of Thirty, an international body from the public and private sectors that discusses international economics.

Mr. Krugman received the award for his work on international trade and economic geography. In particular, the prize committee lauded his work for "having shown the effects of economies of scale on trade patterns and on the location of economic activity." He has developed models that explain observed patterns of trade between countries, as well as what goods are produced where and why. Traditional trade theory assumes that countries are different and will exchange different kinds of goods with each other; Mr. Krugman's theories have explained why worldwide trade is dominated by a few countries that are similar to each other, and why some countries might import the same kinds of goods that it exports.

The past few weeks have been surreal.

And congratulations to Krugman.

The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself. (Proverbs 11:25)

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by: kovie @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 07:51:36 AM CDT

Over at the WSJ, the smearing has already begun in comments. (4.00 / 2)

As if those Wall Street losers know anything about economy! And I guess this line of thought went into the deliberations of the Committee: Sure, there are some pundits who have created fancier theories, but they were all wrong on the bubble! Krugman is the most important and prominent one of those who have been right. And he's a Neo Keynesian, not a Supply Sider, so honoring him would sent the right signals. Really, not a totally surpising decision once you start taking the credit crisis into the picture.

Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter

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by: Gray @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 08:25:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

the Pentagon backs up the truck (0.00 / 0)

The dollars are flooding out and why should Wall Street get it all- the Pentagon hauls out the buckets to catch the rivers of cash.

Pentagon officials have prepared a new estimate for defense spending that is $450 billion more over the next five years than previously announced figures.

Demand cash first, come up with a reason later, that works every time in Washington. Like the Beatles said- don't ask us what we want it for, if you don't want to pay some more.

"What is clear is that these additional funds that the Pentagon wants to include in their budget and their five year plan are way beyond the fiscal guidance that OMB gave the department of defense earlier this year," one former official explained.

Moreover, the new numbers are not aligned with any long-term strategic or budgetary rationale that might allow OMB or Congress to judge their wisdom or their impact on the nation's worsening economic situation, the official said.

"The idea that the Pentagon Comptroller's office wanted these additional funds has been fairly well known," the former official said. "But there is little out there to give anybody the understanding of why."

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmsp...

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by: T Maysle @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 09:09:56 AM CDT

All about heading off DOD budget cuts (0.00 / 0)

Everyone expects an Obama administration to cut back military spending in favor of domestic economic programs (translation: switch from welfare for Southern states to welfare for other parts of the country).

This is all about the DOD raising their budget figures in advance of Obama moving them down.

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by: Taylor @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 11:17:31 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Bail out way bigger than $700 Billion (0.00 / 0)

a very good post overviews the deficit, the bail out and the fed printing money.

When $700 Billion is Chump Change

What is not well known is how many nations are on the verge of bankruptcy.  Goes into some details.

Congrats Krugman, he's finally cracking on international trade and how it is not always a win-win depending on a series of factors.

NoSlaves.com  


The Economic Populist

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by: Robert Oak @ Mon Oct 13, 2008 at 13:35:38 PM CDT