January 21, 2012|Posted By Adam Sharp
I was flipping channels the other day, and came across Bill Maher’s HBO show. Hadn’t seen it in a while, so gave it a try. GOP politics was the topic de jour, and oh … was it horrifying. The panel was a who’s-who of despicable warmonger pundit/pols: Rob Reiner, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and David Frum. They were discussing politics and foreign policy… painful, to say the least.
Naturally, everyone was pretending Ron Paul doesn’t exist. Then Bill Maher did this, and redeemed his show:
Rob Reiner, after his near-stroke in reaction to Maher’s endorsement, says “You only like [Paul] because he’d let you smoke pot!”
Think about his wording there. Let you. Those sound like the words of a thoroughly-indoctrinated statist. Reiner and his preferred politicians know what’s best for you; all of us, it seems.
And I’ve heard similar sentiment all-too-often. Young voters only like Paul because of his drug policy. Well, they don’t hate the idea of ending 1 million marijuana arrests per year in the US. But the idea that it’s the driving issue is wishful thinking.
Mr. Reiner: it’s not his views on any single issue. What’s driving interest in Ron Paul’s campaign is the theme of personal liberty and freedom. People of all political backgrounds who are fed up with endless war are probably the most notable group.
Also, South Park was too kind to you:
January 20, 2012|Posted By Adam Sharp
Not all are right (yet, anyway). But many have come true, such as “The U.S. with Tony Blair as chief cheerleader, will attack Iraq.” Lots of insight on gold & currencies too:
January 10, 2012|Posted By Adam Sharp
January 9, 2012|Posted By Adam Sharp
I don’t believe GDP is nearly as important as most econ types do, but the chart below is interesting nonetheless.
When measured on a per capita basis, cumulative GDP growth since the start of the recession in ’08 is extremely disappointing. Especially when you consider all the measures which were supposedly designed to boost growth.
QE1, QE2, TARP, ZIRP, stimulus (think Solyndra & Fisker, not roads & bridges). Failure & wealth transfer have resulted.
Perhaps the most economically impactful “stimulus” enacted so far is the payroll tax cut. Social Security payroll tax deductions were temporarily reduced from 6.2% to 4.2% in 2011. Although there will be bickering, for now it seems like the tax cut will be extended indefinitely (ignore the unsustainable long-term nature of it all, if you can).
Some economists venture to guess that the payroll tax cut (2% less taxes on all wages/salaries below a certain threshold) will contribute 1-1.5% to annual GDP as long as it remains in place.
So picture the chart to the left, without a big chunk of the recent upturn. Now picture it if properly adjusted for inflation. It’s not a pretty picture.
Conclusion: any economist that says we’re not currently in a recession/depression is trying to sell you something.
Chart via WSJ’s Jason Lahart.
