tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post5208151850534241474..comments2024-02-28T22:03:57.237-05:00Comments on The Automatic Earth: January 2 2009: How to cut a shrinking pieIlargihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09698428009501267664noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-38303604943847798242009-01-05T10:14:00.000-05:002009-01-05T10:14:00.000-05:00of course I have no plasma screen tv either, but t...of course I have no plasma screen tv either, but that is beside the point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-4149437531181337242009-01-04T01:52:00.000-05:002009-01-04T01:52:00.000-05:00Ilargi @ 7:31These are harsh words. I admit myself...Ilargi @ 7:31<BR/><BR/>These are harsh words. I admit myself to being frequently at a loss of intelligence when compared with the wisdom and learning of others. I represent the problem, of course.<BR/><BR/>Having spent the past decade learning nothing is as I had been raised to believe it is, including the hopelessness and misery has nearly maddened me. Yes, MAD! And underneath that anger, I Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-35638617835536589722009-01-03T15:48:00.000-05:002009-01-03T15:48:00.000-05:00Anonymous said......may I suggest that you invest ...Anonymous said...<BR/><I>...may I suggest that you invest some toward a grammar and spelling checker?</I><BR/><BR/>For the record, Ilargi's native language is not English. Coupled with the probability that his posts are not proof-read by a third party, I don't think you can fault spelling and grammar.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-85536359268847526582009-01-03T12:52:00.000-05:002009-01-03T12:52:00.000-05:00Mugabe, nothing like intelligent and reasoned disa...Mugabe, nothing like intelligent and reasoned disagreement to jack up the level of the discussion, thanks.<BR/><BR/>Since I am steadfastly uncertain on all such issues, I appreciate seeing higher level disagreements here, they bring out nothing that is not positive in my opinion, and suggest other ways of perceiving these issues.<BR/><BR/>Reading your and our host's responses however makes me Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-78307485635639002752009-01-03T12:33:00.000-05:002009-01-03T12:33:00.000-05:00Mugabe,They are trying desperately to inflate and ...Mugabe,<BR/><BR/>They are trying desperately to inflate and it isn't working. It isn't a choice open to them under current circumstances. Much of the world is heading at full speed into the liquidity trap, as the Japanese did after 1989.<BR/><BR/><I>The initial effect of debt monetization is to lower interest rates. The Fed buys up bonds, increasing demand for bonds and lowering their yield. Stoneleighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15099878430757036461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-74762820179027504972009-01-03T12:16:00.000-05:002009-01-03T12:16:00.000-05:00Kenneth,While it's possible to flood oil onto the ...Kenneth,<BR/><BR/>While it's possible to flood oil onto the market from the SPR this would be absolutely senseless during the current recsession driven surplus of oil. If the claims of Simmons et al. are correct then the world has passed Peak Oil almost simultaneously with the financial crisis (funny that...). If correct then the world will never exceed recent rates of production no matter what "Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-84316269754287333202009-01-03T12:11:00.000-05:002009-01-03T12:11:00.000-05:00@ Mugabe RE: "By one simple economic storyline, de...@ Mugabe RE: "By one simple economic storyline, debt monetization is actually required to keep interest rates down when the government is borrowing heavily. So I don't understand your argument there."<BR/><BR/>My 1.6 cents: I think there needs to be a distinction drawn between keeping interest rates down AND creating an economic regime in which falling interest rates continue to line the pockets Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-83614912466635411342009-01-03T12:02:00.000-05:002009-01-03T12:02:00.000-05:00Roberto said, "Wow. So- like, for instance- the pe...Roberto said, "Wow. So- like, for instance- the people who built the Pyramids - they weren't seeing anything in the long term?"<BR/><BR/>We'll never know exactly what the Egyptians were thinking, but since the archaeological consensus is that they were building tombs, it certainly looks like the thinking was about the present and the divine future of their king. <BR/><BR/>Religion throws Houyhnhnmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09236795954524237481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-1775152583281156702009-01-03T11:46:00.000-05:002009-01-03T11:46:00.000-05:00Stoneleigh --The initial effect of deb t monetizat...Stoneleigh --<BR/><BR/>The initial effect of deb t monetization is to lower interest rates. The Fed buys up bonds, increasing demand for bonds and lowering their yield. Interest rates go down. By one simple economic storyline, debt monetization is actually required to keep interest rates down when the government is borrowing heavily. So I don't understand your argument there.<BR/><BR/>After aAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-29093415266392721802009-01-03T11:37:00.000-05:002009-01-03T11:37:00.000-05:00"Why do people kill their children's future...?Sim..."Why do people kill their children's future...?<BR/><BR/>Simple, I think. They know not what they do.<BR/><BR/>Our society does not teach anything about personal responsibility. We have been taught to think as victims so that we will vote for "leaders" who will punish the opressors for us.tickmeisterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16326756666072357726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-89133261884367911812009-01-03T11:33:00.000-05:002009-01-03T11:33:00.000-05:00Mugabe (formerly anonymous) writes persuasively ab...Mugabe (formerly anonymous) writes persuasively about how massive government spending in the US may soon lead to a new asset bubble, suggesting that people forego cash and consider re-entering hard assets to protect against future inflation. However, what he describes sounds a lot like what was attempted in Japan after the bubble burst in that country in the late 1980s, where the results have notAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-88326959137625580742009-01-03T11:28:00.000-05:002009-01-03T11:28:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Submit your advicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01867890217907128363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-89707876736901275632009-01-03T11:22:00.000-05:002009-01-03T11:22:00.000-05:00"Roberto said...Ilargi: "People cannot see nor fee...<I>"Roberto said...<BR/>Ilargi: "People cannot see nor feel long term, no more than goldfish can; they just tell themselves they can. "<BR/><BR/>Wow. So- like, for instance- the people who built the Pyramids - they weren't seeing anything in the long term?"</I><BR/><BR/>Thanks for making my case. No, the pyramid builders had no clue you could visit their work 1000's of years later. They may have Ilargihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09698428009501267664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-74107061480901482532009-01-03T11:10:00.000-05:002009-01-03T11:10:00.000-05:00Roberto, I too wondered about Ilargi's comment abo...Roberto, I too wondered about Ilargi's comment about feeling in the future. Using myself as speciman I can intend, commit to being in specific ways in other than now time frames. However the experience of emotion requires a living body form in now, in this moment. Unless one learns to time travel with an attached body, all feeling in experienced in this moment, then the next...etc. Always in scandiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07924260428840006237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-35346257889810074602009-01-03T10:50:00.000-05:002009-01-03T10:50:00.000-05:00Anon saidYou probably noticed that the rulebook we...Anon said<BR/><I><BR/>You probably noticed that the rulebook went out the window in dealing with the current crisis. Principles, procedures, law – no one has time for those; the current crisis demands “extra-ordinary” measures. So anything goes. A policy is not out of bounds just because it would have previously been considered “unsound.” Don’t underestimate the power of “quantitative easing” akaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-76035962712399123602009-01-03T10:48:00.000-05:002009-01-03T10:48:00.000-05:00Ilargi: "People cannot see nor feel long term, no ...Ilargi: "People cannot see nor feel long term, no more than goldfish can; they just tell themselves they can. "<BR/><BR/>Wow. So- like, for instance- the people who built the Pyramids - they weren't seeing anything in the long term? <BR/><BR/>You are so totally mistaken here, it makes me wonder. I agree with Greenpa that many cannot- but manifestly- some do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-28907465784293135802009-01-03T10:46:00.000-05:002009-01-03T10:46:00.000-05:00Mugabe,There are practical limits to monetization ...Mugabe,<BR/><BR/>There are practical limits to monetization imposed by the bond market. Excessive 'printing' (debt monetization) would be rewarded by double digit interest rates at would be the equivalent of hitting the 'emergency stop' button on the economy. This would initiate a gargantuan wave of defaults, which would be highly deflationary. While we still operate under the international debt Stoneleighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15099878430757036461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-50148296894016948362009-01-03T10:22:00.000-05:002009-01-03T10:22:00.000-05:00Stoneleigh,Exactly!I was somewhat sure his name wa...Stoneleigh,<BR/><BR/>Exactly!<BR/><BR/>I was somewhat sure his name was John and that he was well known, but the rest just faded away...<BR/><BR/>Thank you,<BR/>FrançoisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-49495528559116402022009-01-03T10:13:00.000-05:002009-01-03T10:13:00.000-05:00Dive INTO the wave, dude!It's smoother that way......Dive INTO the wave, dude!<BR/>It's smoother that way...John Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12123174297818737132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-4283764148198582862009-01-03T10:02:00.000-05:002009-01-03T10:02:00.000-05:00Hi! Mugabe (formerly anon) That creates a big shor...Hi! Mugabe (formerly anon) <BR/><BR/><I>That creates a big short-term decision point for everyone (even if we agree that we are all screwed in the long run). </I><BR/><BR/>You have certainly looked at the tea leaves and are seeing other options that could unfold.<BR/><BR/>Stick around ... nobody wants to be blindsided ... again.<BR/>jalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-5605588506665344952009-01-03T09:38:00.000-05:002009-01-03T09:38:00.000-05:00François,I think you mean this quote from John Stu...François,<BR/><BR/>I think you mean this quote from John Stuart Mill:<BR/><BR/>"Panics do not destroy capital; they merely reveal the extent to which it has been previously destroyed by its betrayal into hopelessly unproductive works."Stoneleighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15099878430757036461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-64128395851888367172009-01-03T09:16:00.000-05:002009-01-03T09:16:00.000-05:00I have no illusions that the "purity of my little ...I have no illusions that the "purity of my little farm" and sharing of sweet potatoes will save the world. I didn't come here to start a "doomstead" (wonderful word and I think just coined here). I was born here and I returned because it is home, and because I never had any use for the typical suburban pile of plastic the so many crave. I take no pleasure in the fact that most folks are tickmeisterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16326756666072357726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-49139348605342491952009-01-03T08:01:00.000-05:002009-01-03T08:01:00.000-05:00Regarding ways to cope, the advice I have been off...Regarding ways to cope, the advice I have been offering since 2006, The ELP Plan, Economize; Localize Produce:<BR/><BR/>http://graphoilogy.blogspot.com/2007/04/elp-plan-economize-localize-produce.html<BR/><BR/>As noted in the article, my outlook was for deflationary trends in auto, housing & finance, with inflationary trends in food & energy prices. <BR/><BR/>I am surprised by the westexashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13648669299354997219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-33452901063666068812009-01-03T06:38:00.000-05:002009-01-03T06:38:00.000-05:00In the NYTimes piece "Governors Seek $1 Trillion i...In the NYTimes piece "Governors Seek $1 Trillion in Federal Aid Over 2 Years" (which will undoubtedly make tomorrow's debt rattle), Mr. Pres.-in-waiting Obama "warned that as a nation, Americans cannot just 'keep on printing money.'" Oh ... I stand corrected.<BR/><BR/>NJ Gov. Jon Corzine (former Wall Streeter) counters that: "the $1 trillion figure was comparatively small as a portion of the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921988708619968880.post-89871870852992144682009-01-03T06:35:00.000-05:002009-01-03T06:35:00.000-05:00Hello,I am hoping that people here can help in fin...Hello,<BR/><BR/>I am hoping that people here can help in finding a quote.<BR/><BR/>An economist wrote (in few words) that in a credit crunch, by the time troubles appear, the losses are already realised.<BR/><BR/>I cannot remember his name, except that I think he is well known.<BR/><BR/>Il seems to me that Ilargi has mentioned this quote and I hope someone here can help.<BR/><BR/>Thank you,<BR/>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com