Dude, where's the Dharma?

Let's Fold Vegas

2011-11-17T15:22:00.003-05:00

If US cities were poker hands, America's invisible hand would have folded Las Vegas long ago for there is nothing capitalist about gambling. Aside from being an anti-capitalist theme park (about which, more later), Vegas, as it is affectionately known, competes with Southern California, wherein a large portion of US fruits and vegetables are grown, for Lake Mead's water. Me, I'd take food

The Price of Bank Immortality?

2011-09-06T19:36:00.002-04:00

ZURICH, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland is set to partially meet a U.S. ultimatum and deliver an estimate of the amount of assets held by U.S. residents in secret accounts at Swiss banks, possibly up to $30 billion, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Citing unnamed sources, the TagesAnzeiger reported that Switzerland would hand over on Tuesday details that the FINMA financial markets regulator has

Why is the Invisible Hand in My Pocket While China Grows Unchecked?

2011-08-11T10:49:00.001-04:00

Gold Soars. Stock Markets Tank. US Debt Downgraded. China Calls for End to Dollar Dominance. Riots in London. Devotees of Rapture Theory are likely wondering why they got left behind during the Tribulation. More worldly, modern persons, who eschew eschatology might nonetheless be worrying about TEOTWAWKI (which is, ironically enough, the same thing). Devotees of Cyclical

Them's Fighting Words

2011-08-07T10:29:00.004-04:00

As the war of public words between the US and China escalates, the old adage- When you owe the bank $1Mil, you owe the bank. When you owe the bank $10Bil, they owe you - springs to mind, with a nasty twist. Chillingly, both parties are nuclear armed with significant standing armies. Following S&P's downgrade of US debt China's Xinhua news offers the following wise economic advice: China, the

A New (and most interesting) Blog

2011-08-04T20:35:00.003-04:00

NewPopulationBomb by historian Jack Goldstone whose Revolution and Rebellion in the Modern World was an enlightening read. Today's post, La Grande Revolution, Encore is quite pertinent for modern America. To wit: Is there a lesson here for today, or is this ancient history? In fact, the parallels are remarkable. Just as today, the elites in the US are confusing their self-interest with

When is a Non-Default a Default?

2011-08-03T12:32:00.006-04:00

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.' 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.' The US Government, according to most press reports, has, by virtue of a last minute- a

Can You Fake....a Capitalism?

2011-06-23T14:26:00.004-04:00

We don't have a precise read on why this slower pace of growth is persisting. Ben Bernanke Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is confused. Interest rates are low, liquidity is flowing freely and equity prices are up between 15-20% year-on-year. Why then, Bernanke wonders, isn't the US economy growing as a capitalist economy should grow under such conditions? Perhaps the US is just faking a

Judicial Variations on Rape

2011-05-17T14:06:00.002-04:00

rape (v.) late 14c., "seize prey, take by force," from Anglo-Fr. raper "to seize, abduct," a legal term, probably from L. rapere "seize, carry off by force, abduct" (see rapid). Latin rapere was used for "sexual violation," but only very rarely; the usual Latin word being stuprum, lit. "disgrace." Sense of "sexual violation or ravishing of a woman" first recorded in English as a noun,

The Market Whisperer

2011-05-03T17:14:00.001-04:00

Admittedly, it took more than a Cesar Millan "tsst" to stop Silver (and Gold and Oil) in its tracks. Raising the margin requirements (details of which are most ably covered by Jesse at his Café Américain), killing Osam bin Laden, and continuing to promise an end to debt monetization helped, especially given the context- a highly leveraged market apparently overloaded with new longs. Of

An Interesting Read on US Involvement in Libya

2011-05-02T16:52:00.000-04:00

The Libyan War, American Power and the Decline of the Petrodollar System Being a lazy man, I'm always pleased to discover someone else has done the heavy lifting of ideas I should have fleshed out in my own arguments. The article linked above provides context- and as Peter Dale Scott is both a better scholar and writer than I, in much better form- to the views in my post on Osama bin Laden.

Panetta, Petraeus, Osama?

2011-05-02T01:53:00.001-04:00

Timing, they say, is everything. Less than a week ago, Leon Panetta was replaced as CIA Director by Gen. Petraeus, and nominated as Secretary of Defense. Today, the world learns of Osama bin Laden's death. What other changes are in the offing?

After Osama

2011-05-01T23:26:00.019-04:00

Osama bin Laden, according to CNN, has been killed in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan and his body has been recovered. Almost a decade ago, bin Laden, in hopes of, according to some reports, inspiring a jihad and bleeding US financial strength, inter alia, directed the attacks on the Twin Towers and Washington D.C. Now, only his ghost remains. The jihad he hoped to inspire has thus

S&P Downgrade: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

2011-04-19T15:07:00.001-04:00

In boom times, credit rating agencies, like S&P, are thought to have the foresight of the Fates- figures of Greek (et al.) Mythology who spun, measured, and cut the threads of life. As boom turns to bust, these credit rating agencies fall into the trap of spinning too much thread which is only measured and cut after credit death occurs. After getting caught looking in the

Social Security as an Interest Rate Swap

2011-02-17T21:00:00.004-05:00

If you think of just the interest rate aspects of Social Security as a swap, those who depend on benefits are receiving fixed at 0% mind you (guaranteed interest income from non-existent bonds) and paying floating (COLA) which is rising. Oddly enough, this hasn't been a disastrous trade (I've heard of far worse swaps) over the past few years as the floating rate was near (and sometimes

US Budget: Entitlement Funding Inflection Points

2011-02-15T21:28:00.006-05:00

Within a decade there will no longer be additional surplus funds to be used to purchase US bonds which will have to then be sold on the open market. Call it peak SS Trust Funds, although peak trust might be even more apt. Captive Bidding at the auction: How Bond Vigilantism was swamped A few years ago, I shared my concerns about Social Security and other entitlement program funding (see

The Lost Secrets of the Federal Reserve

2011-02-14T18:00:00.002-05:00

I have a very esoteric mind....if I could just remember where I put it. A. Burns The problem with esoteric institutions, from the Priests of Ancient Egypt to today's Federal Reserve is the difficulty in retaining the well-hidden secrets these institutions are built upon. The more successfully esoteric the institution, the greater the risk "essential"- a claim deserving of vigorous debate,

JPM Begins to Believe (in Gold) ...about time, eh?

2011-02-08T12:43:00.005-05:00

Trinity (seeing Neo turn to face an Agent): What's he doing? Morpheus: He's beginning to believe. Today's Wall St. Journal reports, JPMorgan will accept Gold as a type of collateral: Gold hasn't reinvented itself as a currency yet. But it is getting closer. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM - News) said it will allow clients to use the metal as collateral in some transactions. For

An Email Assertion: Austrianism is Dead

2011-02-07T20:52:00.001-05:00

In a recent email debate I wrote the following, which I thought some might find interesting: I remain somewhat puzzled at the notion of an Austrian resurgence as, in my view, Austrianism is dead. When modern nation-states were emerging in Europe in the 19th Century the views of Menger had a chance to make policy differences. Once the welfare state promoters won WWII Austrianism

HuffPo's 30 Pieces of Silver?

2011-02-07T13:28:00.002-05:00

"The love of money" goes the old saying, "is the root of all evil." I didn't even finish reading the news headline on AOL's purchase of The Huffington Post before the old adage popped into my head. Confused? Allow me to explain. HuffPo's readers can likely recall Ms. Huffington's MoveYourMoney project- an attempt to shift the flow of funds away from big banks and towards smaller

John von Neumann: Playing for Keeps

2010-11-17T13:05:00.004-05:00

It should be noted that children at play are not playing about; their games should be seen as their most serious-minded activity. Michel de Montaigne According to Lewis Straus, one of the original five Atomic Energy Commissioners, when John von Neumann, eminent mathematician and co-author of Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (available at Archive.org), lay dying of cancer in 1956-7, “

US Bonds: Waiting for the First Rat

2010-11-10T14:01:00.003-05:00

US 10yr Notes have had a tough few days with yields rising some 15bp. Irish Bond traders might be wondering, if a few days yield rise of 15bp can be described as “tough” what word would one choose to describe government debt trading in Ireland lately. Yields on Irish 10yr government debt rose by more than 60bp today, making the total yield gain since May more than 400bp. I think “crisis” seems

Do We Need Another World War?

2010-11-09T14:42:00.002-05:00

Ask the average guy on the street if we need another world war and he might respond with, “We need another world war like I need a hole in the head.” Yet, there are medical conditions which can be solved by holes in the head, such as cranial swelling, i.e. when your brain gets too big for your skull. War, according to Carl von Clausewitz, is merely the continuation of politics by other means.

Are We There Yet?

2010-11-07T15:02:00.000-05:00