Did you know that in the 1930s raisin producers had to give a portion of their harvest to the government with the feds deciding what portion of the crop every producer had to turn over and what price they would get?
Neither did I.
Did you know that program is still in place today, 80 some odd years later?
Neither did I.
Did you know that in the 2002-2003 season (more…)
I would call that a good job by the industry.
Without more detail, I’d call trust breaker a pretty good guy.
Economics and history books I grew up with call them robber barons.
…check out the wisdom of politicians and regulators evidenced before the last crisis.
(cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
Read The Housing Bubble and the Limits of Human Knowledge , by Alex Pollock.
The fallacy in play today is that the regulators who didn’t see our current financial crisis coming (or helped facilitate it) are now wise & bright enough that they will be able to detect any future crisis far enough in advance to prevent them. It’s quite obvious that is the operating concept driving laws and regulations for several years now.
John Cochrane makes this point in his article Limited clairvoyance: (more…)
(cross-post from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
Here’s the on-air confessional interview as it should have happened. Or perhaps it is an animated educational cartoon. You can decide for yourself:
Bernanke to Oprah: ‘I’ve Been Doping for Years’.
This cartoon gives a superb explanation in 12 minutes of a major factor about how we got into our current economic mess.
The format is an imaginary interview with the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, Ben Bernanke, as he confesses to long-term doping of the economy.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=orh64vypKwU]
(Cross-post from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
There was a big on-air confessional a while back. Something about bicycles. Here’s another interview that got overshadowed by that big one. Or perhaps it is an educational cartoon. I’m not sure.
Bernanke to Oprah: ‘I’ve Been Doping for Years’.
This cartoon gives a superb explanation in 12 minutes of a major factor about how we got into our current economic mess.
The format is an imaginary interview with the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, Ben Bernanke, as he confesses to long-term doping of the economy.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=orh64vypKwU]
Just in time for the Oscars….
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Glenn Reynolds explains The Hollywood Tax Story They Won’t Tell at the Oscars.
He points out that about $1.5 billion, yes billion, goes to the movie industry as credits, exemptions, grants, and fee waivers to bring movie production to a certain state or city.
With 45 states in the game, all that does is move some amount of spending from one high-bidding place to a higher-bidding place.
The amounts tend to be less than the subsidies: (more…)
(Cross-post from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
If you thought zero documentation and 120% loans were good for the economy, you will love capital appreciation bonds.
Here’s the deal – what are schools and local governments in California to do once they have run out of cash to pay even the interest on bonds, can’t cover the principal on the cost of new buildings, and face huge voter resistance to any increase in spending? What to do when you just want to keep spending?
How about issuing capital appreciation bonds. That allows the government agency to keep spending whatever they want.
You can borrow money, make no payments for 20 years, compound the interest into principal, and burden the adult children of current students with the huge payments.
I have two posts on my other blog, Outrun Change, discussing the $8.5 billion settlement between 10 big banks and the regulators. The settlement is for harm caused by the banks during foreclosures arising after the financial crisis of 2008-2009.