patrick.net

is health sector "crony capitalism"?

Yes.

is the $800B/yr we flush away in "defense" "crony capitalism"?

Yes.
Bellingham Bill says

is big finance "crony capitalism"?

Yes.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?id=CP

Shit, half our economy if not more is "crony capitalism".

Only half??

96

Bellingham Bill 2013 Sep 27, 3:26pm

yeah, I totally missed another sector of course, telecommunications.

Cable, cell phone, that's "crony capitalism" too.

I'm feeling like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_of_Sinope here.

97

Bellingham Bill 2013 Sep 27, 3:30pm

wow I had no idea Cynicism lead to Stoicism.

that, actually, makes sense.

98

indigenous 2013 Sep 27, 3:34pm

I'm feeling like

You are no Diogenes, you and your ilk don't have the virtue to look.

99

Bellingham Bill 2013 Sep 27, 3:58pm

Wow, playing the man and not the ball.

Stay classy.

100

indigenous 2013 Sep 27, 4:21pm

Wow, playing the man and not the ball.

Stay classy

Actually playing the actions, a Diogenes trick

101 upisdown 2013 Sep 28, 12:28am

bob2356 says

Here's Rand Mcnally's driving directions from Egg Harbor township to Egg Harbor
City and then driving directions from Egg Harbor township to Little Egg Harbor
township

Just as I thought, and you just confirmed, a township is NOT an actual town, or even the name of a town.

Is it?

Most villages, towns, or even cities are located within a township whose name is different from the above. That does not change the name of the town.

bob2356 says

same town name in the same state?

And the leg-humping routine starts again. Do you really think that you could convince ANYBODY that a township is an actual town????

You're really are a pathetic individual. So to you, there's ??/who knows how many Egg Harbors in NJ, but to the rest of us sane and rational people, there's only one TOWN(notice the spelling?? And NO differentiating word to seperate the name from a like-named town???) named Egg Harbor in NJ, population 4497(per Rand McNally 2009) at exit 17W unless that number has been changed.

102

Bellingham Bill 2013 Sep 28, 2:54am

Abenomics might test this "inflation good" stuff.

If wages don't rise there, their inflation might come out of rents and land values.

Theoretically that should happen, but there's usually a gap between theory and reality, especially in economics.

103

freak80 2013 Sep 28, 3:19am

The CPI is bogus! It's a conspiracy, man!!

104 Meccos 2013 Sep 28, 4:34am

btw if anyone wants to see the original thread that I posted and was deleted by IWRONG and see IWRONG original post before he edited, just look at my comments...

so sad when you have to go so far as to delete peoples comments and edit yours....

105

freak80 2013 Sep 28, 4:40am

Some people see debate as a way to test ideas and discover truth. Such people understand that they "win" even if they "lose" the debate, since wrong/bad ideas were shown to be wrong/bad.

Other people see debate as a way to "create truth" by repeating an assertion endlessly, ignoring all contrary assertions and refutations. Such people are part of the "don't confuse me with facts, my mind is made up" crowd. That way of thinking seems especially prevalent on the far-right these days.

106 Meccos 2013 Sep 28, 4:42am

and other people choose to make false arguments just to win a debate and get mad when someone calls them out on it...

107

freak80 2013 Sep 28, 5:20am

We don't have hyperinflation. Or even bad inflation. Oil is still about $100. Natural gas prices have tanked. A loaf of bread is still about $2.50. A mcdonalds double-cheeseburger is still about $1.25. A typical McDonald's value meal is still about $6. A nice new car about $20-25k. Even the worst drought in recent history hasn't affected food prices that much. Where's the big inflation?

Sure, our third-world health care racket keeps getting more and more expensive, no doubt. But that's not the fault of the Fed.

108 mell 2013 Sep 28, 5:43am

We don't have hyperinflation.

Agreed.

Or even bad inflation

Disagreed. I'd give it a range anywhere between 3% (if you're lucky) and 10% (if you're unlucky), and even 3% p.a. is brutal AKA bad. A family with a combined income of 100K at 20 needs to have a combined income of 250K at 50 just to keep track with 3% p.a. inflation - let alone the need for building money for retirement. There are very few job categories that let you have the possibility (if you excel) of such a trajectory (luckily tech is one), but for most areas that sort of wage increase is simply not possible.

109

freak80 2013 Sep 28, 6:17am

Where do you get the figure of 3% to 10%? 3% isn't too bad...if I'm not mistaken, 3% is the fed's target rate. 10% is very bad.

One must use a "basket of goods" to measure overall inflation since the price of a single commodity can fluctuate wildly.

Example: beef has gone up quite a bit. Other meats have not.

110 mell 2013 Sep 28, 6:22am

https://www.aier.org/article/7557-epi-reflects-basic-economic-change

Where do you get the figure of 3% to 10%? 3% isn't too bad...if I'm not mistaken, 3% is the fed's target rate. 10% is very bad.

My own calculations and and the EPI:

I think the Fed's target rate is 2%, but I am not sure. I'd say that's not bad if most incomes rise more or less in lockstep, but personally I'd prefer 0.5%-1% max. and even period of similarly small deflation are fine.

111

freak80 2013 Sep 28, 7:21am

Mell,

There's no question that oil prices have skyrocketed in the last 10 years. And yes, that's hurt everyone. And the price has been volatile...both supply and demand are very inelastic. Thank you, China & India. That's not the fault of the federal reserve, right?

That's why I don't buy the whole "fed is causing serious inflation right now" idea.

Sure, the whole business of "printing money" seems shady to me, as it probably does to most regular people. After all, if you or I were to print money, we'd go to jail. Nonetheless, the facts don't support the claim that the fed is causing serious inflation now.

112

freak80 2013 Sep 28, 11:10am

No one is claiming there has been no inflation since 1912. That's a straw man.

Peter Schiff was obviously wrong. There has been no collapse of the dollar or hyperinflation. Even if inflation were at 10% (it isn't), that's hardly a "collapse" or "hyperinflation."

Do I hate the tbtf banks? Absolutely. They should have been broken up and/or nationalized, with CEOs forced to give up their positions and bonuses. An "epic fail" should not be rewarded.

But that doesn't mean we're headed for doomsday. Peter Schiff was wrong, and anyone who put their 401k into gold and silver fearing Armageddon is possibly sitting on a very painful loss.

113 upisdown 2013 Sep 28, 2:02pm

It's funny how you are such an "expert" in a area you don't live in...
amazing...

LOL, so just HOW MANY Egg Harbors are there then in NJ??
Not LITTLE Egg Harbor, not Great egg Harbor, Not some variation of an Egg Harbor Township.............................................JUST EGG HARBOR??

And while you're at it, feel free to expound upon your claim that"huge sections of the county don't have nat gas nearby", and WHY.

114 upisdown 2013 Sep 28, 2:16pm

Hmmm, it's probably a brain fart on your part, but as a FYI, you were having
the Egg Harbor fight with Bob, Not me....

He(you) somehow had the need to give some BS geography lesson, and when I responded to his nonsensical shit, you respond. Ah, how cute, and weird.

And yet you haven't explained at all your claims of the lack of nat gas. availiblity/access, have you? And no, I'm not surprised either.

Are you afraid that you'll totally embarrass yourself because none of the facts to support your assertions aren't readily available from wikipedia? I think that's THE major reason for your vagueness and constant attempts to change the subject, and then the ensuing routine of splitting hairs or arguing endlessly about how wet water is. But you're a computer geek and apparently believe that the internet will somehow make you smarter, or at least provide the info to fill in the numerous gaps of facts and real world knowledge that you lack.

115 upisdown 2013 Sep 28, 2:19pm

Hmmm... maybe because I can see the big white propane tanks on their
yards..... I think that's a dead give-away that there's no natural gas going to
the house...

Just like I thought, no reasonable answer. Shit, you're too f-n lazy to even make a lame-ass one up.

116 upisdown 2013 Sep 28, 2:41pm

Wow, delusional much??? Bob was schooling you on local Egg Harbor geography,
not me.... It's nice that your such the local expert on this area of NJ... (or
you just think so)....

LOL, schooling? More like a circle-jerk of pointless, and useless info that made him actually look dumber, than smarter.

And yet after my response to him, you reply.

Not him, YOU. Like I said before, weird.

And you still haven't backed up any of your claims about availability/access of nat gas.
You have no idea at all do you, and your constant evasion of the issue confirms it, just like I thought.

And now you deleted your post, how pathetic.

117 upisdown 2013 Sep 28, 2:47pm

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=mSh

Here, I'll help you since you REALLY have problems understanding written
words.... Maybe going back to 2nd grade and using pictures will help you...

The computer geek can paste pictures and put captions on them, but can't explain or back up his BS claims. Shocker. LOL.

And apparently delete any embarrassing posts too. Loser.

At least you know that you know nothing about the claims that you made and you are at least smart enough to not let yourself get cornered by posting anything that is easily refuted, and embarrassing for you. I'll give you that much.

118

Bellingham Bill 2013 Sep 28, 3:27pm

indigenous says

even if you tax the 1% at 100%

blue is after-tax corporate profits

red is the annual federal deficit

just sayin'

119

Bellingham Bill 2013 Sep 28, 3:30pm

http://skift.com/2013/08/07/the-radical-26-year-transformation-of-shanghai-captured-in-2-photos/#1

Nonetheless, the facts don't support the claim that the fed is causing serious inflation now

They're preventing serious deflation, which is the same thing to people sitting on shitloads of money.

120

Bellingham Bill 2013 Sep 28, 3:33pm

StillLooking says

Copper is way the hell higher. Copper was sitting well under a dollar in the 1990s

http://skift.com/2013/08/07/the-radical-26-year-transformation-of-shanghai-captured-in-2-photos/#2

121

smaulgld 2013 Sep 28, 6:12pm

Mell,

There's no question that oil prices have skyrocketed in the last 10 years. And yes, that's hurt everyone. And the price has been volatile...both supply and demand are very inelastic. Thank you, China & India. That's not the fault of the federal reserve, right?

That's why I don't buy the whole "fed is causing serious inflation right now" idea.

Sure, the whole business of "printing money" seems shady to me, as it probably does to most regular people. After all, if you or I were to print money, we'd go to jail. Nonetheless, the facts don't support the claim that the fed is causing serious inflation now.

The Fed is causing inflation in the classical sense as defined as an increase in the supply of money and credit.
Without the fed's intervention with three trillion of Qe we would have already had a massive deflationary depression as companies failed, demand dropped and unemployment rose. During this period the economy would have restructured as mal investment would have been liquidated and entities would have been allowed to fail.

The fed is fighting valiantly against deflation as they are trying to create 2pct price inflation by stimulating demand in an economy where naturally without Qe it would be lower

By

122

smaulgld 2013 Sep 28, 6:16pm

upisdown says

And while you're at it, feel free to expound upon your claim that"huge sections of the county don't have nat gas nearby", and WHY,

Hmmm... maybe because I can see the big white propane tanks on their yards..... I think that's a dead give-away that there's no natural gas going to the house...

But, I could just be guessing....

freak80 says

Nonetheless, the facts don't support the claim that the fed is causing serious inflation now

They're preventing serious deflation, which is the same thing to people sitting on shitloads of money.

Correct bob
See my duplicative post below

123 theoakman 2013 Sep 28, 11:42pm

upisdown says

You're really are a pathetic individual. So to you, there's ??/who knows how many Egg Harbors in NJ, but to the rest of us sane and rational people, there's only one TOWN

Egg Harbor and Little Egg Harbor are completely different towns. In fact, there's probably 3 or 4 towns in between the two.

This goes on a lot in NJ. There is Freehold and Upper Freehold, both separated by Millstone.

There is North Brunswick, South Brunswick, East Brunswick, and New Brunswick. All completely different towns that border each other.

And yes, a lot of people in those areas have no natural gas line into their home. It's not uncommon for the main part of town to have water, sewer and natural gas lines while the outskirts and older roads have septic, well, and no gas line. Some of them still have oil heat while others get Natural Gas delivery.

124 mell 2013 Sep 29, 1:57am

indigenous says

Your graph indicates about 18% profit. Notice it skyrockets since uncle ben et al have been baling out the mutts that should be on their ass.

Bingo!

125 theoakman 2013 Sep 29, 9:39am