“There was a rock band in the 1960s, whose name I have forgotten, whose lyrics demanded an immediate end to money. Maybe that’s something to think about.”

I hope you are being facetious.

I have read Wray’s Primer. It is mostly babble dressed up in fancy language to justify Keynesian ponzi economics. The past decade has been the most Keynesian in world history with the housing bubble, among other things, the result of massive monetary stimulus through credit (i.e. money) creation. Let’s see how the situation looks in 5 years. The 2010′s will dwarf the 2000′s in this regard. I pity the young people. They are looking at a bleak, bleak future.

I do understand it. It would be the equivalent of me finding a pile of dog crap, putting a $100,000 price sticker on it, then using it as collateral for a bank loan.

So what is your point ? The ludicrous essence of MMT is that wealth can be produced by printing/digitally creating money. That is why the asinine trillion dollar coin idea was laughed off the political stage.

Re: Trillion Dollar Coin

Do you people really think wealth can be created, and debt be reduced, by assigning an arbitrary value to a hunk of metal ? Such a coin would only have value if it was accepted as payment which I don’t think the Chinese, Japanese, or our oil suppliers in Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East would do. The mere attempt of such a ridiculous move would destroy the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency which would mean the US would actually have to provide something in return for all the stuff we buy from the rest of the world, other than worthless pieces of paper with George Washington’s picture on them or their digital equivalent. Unreal ! Keynesian/Krugmanian nuttery at its’ extreme.

Does anyone have a link to a site that explains the requirements/options/costs of the new insurance plans or do we have to wait until the exchanges are established before we find out what we are getting and at what cost ? Are existing plans going to still be available or do all health insurance companies have to switch to the exchanges ?

A major cause of the financial crisis was the intermingled derivatives exposure of the FDIC insured commercial banks. That is why the AIG bailout occurred, which was a backdoor bailout of the banks. Would the derivatives activities of the banks been prevented by Glass-Steagall ? I would think so, at least on the sell side.

“Another Study Shows Payroll Tax Cut Expiration Damaging to the Economy”

So be it. It’s time to do what is right and not merely kick the can to temporarily inflate the economic statistics. While we’re at it, let the Obama tax cuts expire and sequestration take affect. Get real people. We can’t live on borrowed money forever nor can we print our way to prosperity. Let the Ponzi pop.

To exempt retail “investors” (vs traders) the tax could be limited to positions opened and closed within the same day (i.e. day trades). Retail brokerages such as TD Ameritrade, ETrade, etc. already keep track of what they call “pattern day traders” to regulate margin availability so there would be not much administrative change required. Regardless, the tax would not be much more than the existing SEC fee charged on the sell side on all transactions.

Why would anyone be surprised that representatives of the 1% would want to perpetuate the Ponzi status quo that they benefit from. We’re not headed for the fiscal cliff, we are already over it. Americans are so stupid and self-absorbed they think that since we haven’t hit the ground yet they must be flying. Bring on the tax increases and sequestration. This is not the problem, but rather, the solution to the problem. Only in a Keynesian fantasy world can one live beyond their means indefinitely. Even J.M. Keynes know that and would be disgusted the way his theories have been corrupted by the current crop of crackpot economists.

A little off topic for this thread but an excellent video describing how the rich have gotten richer during the last decade. Should be mandatory
viewing in every college economics class.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-12/bears-explain-how-rich-get-richer

The best long term situation for the people of Europe would be for the European Union to dissolve. It particularly amazes me how Eastern Europeans who had the boot of the Soviet Union on their necks for 50 years would voluntarily replace that boot with the boot of the successor organization, the EU. Centralization of power always means the destruction of sovereignty and freedom. Hopefully the current economic “crisis” will force the Europeans to wake up to this fact.

Yep, lots of money to be made. The true motivation behind most wars and a significant motivation behind all wars.

Has the source of the Syrian shelling of Turkey actually been identified ? Did the shelling come from Syrian government forces or from Syrian “insurgents” ?

David:
It is one thing to dismiss the theory the BLS is deliberately distorting data. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, I have no idea. I’m surprised, though, after all the lies/distortions from the Fed and Treasury during the past few years you have personally documented on this blog that you would be so trusting. It is another thing to claim that the BLS has “amassed significant credibility”. Anyone who thinks the data from the BLS reflects economic reality obviously does not look at the massive revisions made every January for the prior year. These belie the idea of the accuracy of the monthly reports. It is true the financial markets do use these reports. They need to have some basis for the HFT platforms to move prices. I know of no business people who adjust their operations on generalized macro data. They use the most accurate and relevant data available to them, which is their own.

The current fucked up mess in the economy is a direct result of the Fed’s cheap, easy money policies of the past 15 years. The dot-com bubble and crash, housing bubble and crash, and current stock market bubble and future crash are all attributable to these policies. They have contributed to a “live beyond your means, fuck the future” attitude. Yet some people think the policies that created the mess can fix it. It is absolutely amazing to me. In particular, the idea that inflation (real inflation, not the bogus 2% used by the Fed) can cure unemployment is absolutely farcical. Now I know how Alice felt in Wonderland.

Exactly. Schumer’s donors will be very well rewarded.

This is terrible news for the economy. I have yet to read or hear anyone explain how the Fed taking mortgage bonds off the hands of financial institutions will help the job market. This merely provides these institutions with more money with which to speculate in the stock and commodity markets. Corporate profit margins are deteriorating. If the input costs of corporations continue to increase (as Bernanke has just guaranteed they will) said corporations will look to offset these increased costs. From where do you think this offset will come ? Payroll. At the same time living expenses for people will continue to rise. The Fed’s game here is to create the illusion of improvement by inflating the equity market and nominal GDP. When the unemployment rate next September is at 12% (and the Dow is at 20,000) do you think Bernanke will admit his mistake or will he increase the heroin dosage to $80 billion per month ? What happens when the Fed runs out of MBS to buy ? Will Bernanke ever admit his crackpot theories are wrong ?

I would like those who say “no crimes have been committed” explain why Bernie Madoff is in prison and Jon Corzine is not. Both embezzled money from client accounts for personal use. The only difference is Corzine is a “made man”, as the Mafia would say. Even under Bush some of the fraudsters and thieves at Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, etc. were prosecuted and are still in prison. But, they were not part of the Wall Street-Washington axis of evil.