Monthly Archives: July 2009
Big labor’s little secret
Thirteen of the bigger plans operated for the Teamsters have, together, a mere 59.3% of reserves necessary to cover obligations. Or consider that 26 pension funds at the food workers union, the UFCW, are at 58.7%. Seven locals at the … Continue reading
Whatever happened to profit?
There is a bit of a flap brewing in the beltway about public aid to ‘career’ colleges because one supposes they are making a profit. The fact that career colleges appear to graduate more than 6 times as many student … Continue reading
What do words really mean?
Q: How many surrealists does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: Two. One to hold the giraffe and the other to fill the bathtub with brightly colored machine tools. In our Alice in Wonderland world of ‘new … Continue reading
It isn’t this bad, yet…
Lest you wonder how deep a financial hole our government is digging for us, see earlier post “the start of something BIG” by clicking on the link above. Feel free to leave a comment.
Our ‘Scold in Chief’
It is no secret to readers of these pages that I oppose most of President Obama’s political initiatives. My views on the rights of man match those of our founders, empowering the individual and drastically limiting central government. I believe … Continue reading
How old is this recession?
Many self proclaimed experts or even media designated experts will tell you that this recession we are in is two years old. The classic definition of recession is two or more quarters of negative GDP. The first negative quarter was … Continue reading
The elephant in the canoe
Just in case anyone was wondering how JP Morgan made all those recently announced profits that so excited Wall Street. No comment on their derivative exposures. Note CDS are reduced to somewhat manageable levels thanks to TARP. One wonders what … Continue reading
“Experts” Tell Congress to Lay Off the Fed
More than 250 prominent economists warned that critics of the Federal Reserve are putting “the independence of U.S. monetary policy…at risk,” and they urged Congress to back off lest it undermine the Fed’s ability to manage the economy and thwart … Continue reading
Start of something BIG
Another graphic worth a thousand words. First time in history. Can we really add cap n trade, healthcare, and stimulus 3 on top of this? You know the answer.