I’ll comment that no comments means consensus. You know, I always regretted New Zealand’s move into decimal currency. I’m old enough to have actually enjoyed the mathematical challenges of pounds, shillings and pence as a child. Now, that was brain food!

Sorry to be late to this very important topic. Thank you David for casting light upon the reprehensible tactics of the Obama administration with respect to education in general and the plight of teachers in particular. And Romney just gave an equally scurrilous speech to say that teachers don’t represent children – (apparently he does).

I would like to call attention to a previous comment I made on another thread that on a previous night Charlie Rose interviewed a remarkable lady educator/historian in his last segment. I haven’t seen any other comments on the interview but she was worth listening to. Over the Memorial weekend if you don’t have anything to do, clever folk who can track these things down should do so.

I had another chance to listen in the next day, discovering her name is Diana Ravitch and she teaches at NYU, has written a book entitled something like “The death and life of the American Public School System”. Would be well worth a Book Salon, to my mind. (Oh, and to those who are a bit sceptical about Charlie Rose interviews – he did this one because she was the mother of a friend, reluctantly at best.)

Morning all good folks – don’t mean to startle you, but here I am again at the almost end of my Easter season (it ends at Pentecost but Ascension means we’re nearly there.) It has been an extraordinary beautiful season, but the fire winds are up and roaring already. Fortunately most of our mountains burned last year – fortunately (sigh).

Contrabutionwise, I’m determined to look on the positive side of the 1% shenanigans David reports above. And I do think Angela has had in mind all along shedding Eurozone wannabees in much the same fashion the banks are shedding homeowners. She knows what she is trying to do. Thing is, when Germany reunited, this is what they did – shore up the needy segment to become one country. Not gonna happen on the scale of a United Europe.

And here’s the biggie, folks. We gotta ourselves shed the trappings of slavery. Look into your own hearts (and minds). Can you (as you must needs do) shed your credit cards? I know – some activities can only happen by means of one, but maybe then foreswear such activities? Wow, how subversive can you get.

I now, after a few zaps of my checks at various retail stores, curtail my visits to those stores. If I wanted my checks to be treated as credit cards I would have – a credit card. For those things which are unavailable any other place, I now make sure I have cash. If they won’t take cash in future, I won’t shop there.

This is like banging pots, folks. Cut up your credit cards. They only serve the 1%. You are a slave in part if you don’t do it. (Try it, you’ll breathe deeper!)

This could well be the last gasp.

Seems to me this is prime boycott territory. I know, folk can’t boycott if they are desperate for homes, but the parallel economy may just get a boost from folk who simply don’t want to live in Potterville. We got out of stocks; we can get out of peonage to Goldman Sachs. All it takes is some Occupy angels to show us the way, but I think we can figure it out by now. Habitat for humanity just took on a whole new meaning.

I wonder if they’ll dare to show that movie again this Christmas?

I would have agreed with you maybe a month ago, BearCountry, that they don’t care so they’re not bothering to hide the stuff. But with austerity imploding in Europe for all the world to take note, and with Occupy not going away because there is no away to go to, I think it’s getting to be not fun for the elite, especially when Luther in the form of a vitalized public comes right to their door and hammers upon it. This may seem to be a futile gesture from an emasculated public, but I don’t think so. I think the knock on the door (even if they don’t seem to be home) echoes for these folk in minds and hearts and shakes them to the very core. This is not supposed to happen. This is what they fear, being found out.

And they are being found out. Not only that, but we are figuring out ways to do without them. Just think about it. They can’t do without us. We can do without them. Not by violence, just by staying away, which is what we do after we knock and there is no reply. We go our way.

Luther did.

Given that the fear factor is a premium quantity in the political agenda to put power in the hands of the government to surveil and apprehend which are clearly un Constitutional, is the benefit of increased surveillance what it purports to be. (You probably address this in your book – apologies for not having read it.

Weren’t we as a community immediately safer once the dastardly happenings of 9/11 took place, and even in the midst of them as the brave folk in Pennsylvania showed? Even if nothing had been done to change the security measures in place, would not there have been a huge uptick in alertness on the part of the public, on the part of all involved in the airport security of the time?

There will always be risk, as you point out. And sometimes, less is more.

Totally agree, thatvisionthing. My definition of ‘productive’ includes the health of the planet and all living things on it – I was simply playing on the word economically speaking.

I think they are learning, BeachPopulist. Look, wow, we made it across the pond!

robspierre ended his first post with the following:

“…a power that is so afraid of any opposition that it needs catch-all “antiterrorism” powers to feel less fearful has, historically speaking, not got much time left…” which you followed with a question about hard and soft landings, DW. Both made me think of what Naomi Klein had to say about shock doctrine tactics not working so well once a population has experienced them. For instance, in light of the happenings in Chicago as reported here, aren’t we more inclined now to think of the events as entrapment than we would have been as the last century ended (those of us who are,like me, not great thinkers I mean.) This is a kind of learning process in which we like the germs we be develop a certain immunity. We are not as gullible as we useter be.

This means that every revolution has some familiar aspects and some that are entirely new. More like a spiral than simply a coming around to the same point.

DW, have you heard or read Gar Alperovitz? He speaks about the changes which are already happening as far as a progressive consciousness is concerned – Occupy is one part but just one part really. I can’t replicate his arguments but I was struck by a very positive matter of fact quality to his examples. One of the elements of change, to my mind, will be that the system as is is unsustainable. And when, for instance, the Soviets collapsed, they did so pretty quickly and without world nuclear winter. We are not the Russians, assuredly; it will be different here. But still, I’m hopeful.

Thank you, Professor Krugman, for responding. With great respect, I simply do not buy it. The presidency is such an enormous responsibility that it behooves any well-educated aspirer to listen to all sides – that was what distinguished great presidencies of the past, from Washington on, and Obama was modelling himself literally on Lincoln. Yet, he ignored the arguments which elected him once in office and surrounded himself, as you say, with folk who advised only one way to ‘do business.’ That’s not presidential in my book, and in my book he doesn’t deserve a second term.

From the perspective of those to whom your book is dedicated, it has really been an enormous disappointment and betrayal. And if competency is the issue this has been a very expensive education for one unprepared executive leader.

But thank you enormously for writing and teaching sound economics in a time of ignorance and greed, and thank you for sharing this forum with us. What we all want is the same outcome, a peaceful and productive world.