Name the Captain's New Sidekick!

Stopped in at Hill City, SD today. The great thing about the general Black Hill's area in late August is the vendors are trying to unload all their Sturgis crap they couldn't sell during the rally. Ergo something that was $50 (like a leather vest) is now $15.

Then I saw this little guy;







Now keep in mind, a fair amount of motorcycle riders don their motorcycles with a stuffed buffalo as kind of a "guardian angel" sort of thing to protect you from spills, crashes, teen age girls and their 30-40 something soccer moms yapping on their cell phones while obliviously driving their SUV in and out of three lanes of traffic.

The only question is what do we name this little shaver?

He is a FULLY DEVELOPED buffalo, he does have FOUR LEGS and a tail, they just seem like stumps. He's just a little small, that's all.

Any suggestions for the name?

Thank You Sidewinder77

Looked at my stats and said, "what in Hades is going on here?"


Many thanks to Sidewinder77 for posting to reddit.

This is a reminder that the Captain fully endorses his Lieutenants to forward, mention, e-mail, post to Reddit, etc., any of his articles, postings, books or papers. And even though Reddit is basically more or less a 20 something leftist site, any traffic is good traffic.

Plus, how else is the Captain going to attain Drudgereport-like status so he can sit on a beach and write far far away with Jennifer Aniston serving him Rumpleminze as we converse with each other;

Captain - "Dear, isn't it wonderful living off of my wise investments into Aussie dollars?"

Jennifer - "Yes, my sexy, libertarian stud muffin, it is. I just find your ability to predict and yet at the same time, enjoy the decline enamoring. Another shot of Rumpie?"

Captain - "Why yes my darling. Wait, isn't that the same bikini you wore last week? And how do you manage to walk in the sand with heels?"

Jennifer - "Oh, I practiced before you picked me up in your personal F-18 Super Hornet. I think I have it down. Can I pull out the 60" LCD screen, the surround sound stereo system onto the beach, rig it all up and throw Kelly's Heroes in the DVD for you?"

Captain - "Oh sure, what the heck."

My Tutoring Is Not SWPL

I like the reference to "SWPL" tutoring (warning, crass language, but good link)

When I taught college econ I also ran the tutoring lab for the college. I was not SWPL. I was blunt and direct alpha.

Of course that offended the soft, eggshell-strong sensibilities of the kiddies who "didn't like math" and "didn't need to know none of that stuff" because they were all going to become great chefs or travel agents or entertainers or poets.

This was of course when I still cared about educating the kiddies and improving their futures. Of course, after getting lectured by management for making tests too hard and not passing the 89 out of 92 students who plagiarized their term papers, I learned to give up on that and just shut up, pass them, incorporate Halo tournaments into the curriculum, collect a pay check and let real life teach the kids the real lessons for me in the future.

The good news is that today I do private tutoring, primarily MBA students who (laughably) think it will improve their chances of finding gainful employment. But it's much nicer to tutor adults who care about their education than 18 year old "adults" who are still effectively children.

Recession Medicine

HAR!!!

The Economic Lesson of the Day

I shall make this as short and simple as possible, because it really is that simple.

Labor force participation shows the percent of the population that CAN work, that actually DOES.

You will notice the dramatic increase after about 1968 which is 100% due (look it up, please dont' question me) to women entering the work force.

You will then see the dramatic decline since this latest recession began which is about 95% due to men leaving the workforce (look it up, please don't question me).

Ergo, I have this simple question to ask.

If more and more women entered the work force, this should then increase the economic growth of the country (which it did). If economic growth increased, then government revenues should have gone up (which it did). Thus, in theory, with "twice" the amount of the population working, yet no need to double infrastructure, double military spending, and other public goods, then government spending as a percent of our total output should DECREASE.

But it has not.

Matter of fact it has more than doubled.

Now, fellow junior, aspiring, deputy, official or otherwise economists I ask you the simple question...

why?

I know the answer, but the question is whether YOU know the answer.

And the answer is two fold.

It is also a very TRUE answer, which will make it an incredibly politically incorrect answer. But since we're in an economic crisis, methink the people are starting to realize the economic costs of being politically correct at the expense of being truthful and living in reality.

Answer away.

The Captain Predicts the US' Economic Future

As you know the Captain holds classes regularly on stock valuation and a basic introductory course on investing. And every once in a while, through the online discussion boards, a student or the Captain himself will write something that is Cappy Cap worthy. Ergo I present to you a quick prediction of what I believe will happen in the future;

Well, it is my humble opinion (and nobody can predict the markets) that inevitably the stock market will crash as Americans fail to generate the economic production that is necessary to provide the profits necessary to drive up stock prices.

I also believe, slowly, but surely, Americans and institutional investors will start to realize the huge bubble retirement programs have formed and when the baby boomers start drawing their money out of the market, this will cause a general downward pressure on prices.

I doubt the federal, let alone state and local governments, will ever balance their budgets and it will lead to an inevitable collapse of the dollar (which has more or less happened anyway) further crashing the stock market.

Gas will shoot up to $5 easy, and will cripple discretionary spending, but only for those who are lucky enough to be employed, the remaining 10% "officially" unemployed and the other 40% "underemployed" will just suffer in limbo in "working poor" status or "lower middle income" status.

China will get REALLY mad at US and will stop buying US treasuries, and not until we all have a "Come to Jesus Meeting" and we realize we can't just prop up stock prices let alone the economy with puppies and unicorn talk, will any of this get fixed.

Of course to convince 300 million Ameircans about the severity of our economic problems is laughably impossible, but I think when bread lines start to become longer than they were in Soviet Russia, people might have the time to ponder what economic events led us to this.

You and I will probbaly be very old, if not passed away by the time this economic epiphany hits the general population, but thankfully, in the end, I believe people will be watching less "Jersey Shore" and more "Fox Business" by this time. In the meantime, based on my numbers, the Dow Jones should really be trading at around 8,000.

But again, that's just my short 1-2 take on it.

He Will Never Be Ronald Reagan

What did I tell you about housing starts?

Trust me guys, you don't have to worry about the economy all of the sudden "exploding" and Obama winning a second term.

When Governments Replace Fathers and Men

This is the result.

Just for the record, and so all of you lefties and feminists out there know, the government will never be able to replace fathers or husbands.

Never.

And you will find that out regardless of how much Sex and the City you watch and how much Maureen Dowd you read and how much government money is funneled to you.

And sadly, you will find that out when it's too late and your chances at having a real husband and a real father and a real family are long gone.

We Elect the Worst of America to Lead It

In my super awesome piece "Why You Have Bad Government" I linked the cause of bad government to the fact that the people who typically go into government have the following traits;

1. They did not have to work for a living.

2. They did not care to work for a living.

3. Because of this they majored in worthless subjects.

4. Lacking any real world experience and only knowing how to spend their parent's money, their solution is simply to spend more of other people's money.

5. They are the epitome of greed because they put themselves first ahead of society in that they ultimately do not care whether they have the wisdom, experience and morality to lead. They just want a job to make themselves feel better about themselves. I have termed them "Crusaders" (which if you want to pour yourself a martini you can watch the whole seminar on Your Tube).

I proved this by creating a pie chart of the majors of the congressional members of the Minnesota house of representatives showing, at the time, most of these people are worthless and possess no real skills or experience that would be useful to the rest of society.

Now another piece just on the national level confirming what I, your Captain knew a long time ago.

All this behooves one simple question;

Will anybody ever realize the Captain's super-awesome economic genius, or do they need to wait until markets crash and societies collapse before they have the same epiphany?

Krugman Has Lost It

Honestly, and you people on the left have no idea why the economy isn't recovering;

Ignore That Deficit Behind the Curtain

It really is a daily fight against the amoral old timers in the established MSM. And as time goes on I have a growing and intensifying hatred for the people in the "fourth branch of government" who have not only failed to do their job, but purposely advance an agenda that is against the best interests of the people by misinforming them about the all-important issues of economics.

Today's latest example comes from CNBC where they manage to put a positive spin on a $1.28 trillion deficit. Which is of course like trying to put a positive spin on Ebola or Nirvana.

So once again, your Captain fires up his P-51, replete with drop tanks and ammo and takes off into the sky to shoot down this latest assault from the mercs that are on ZeroPrez's payroll.

Below are the deficits as a percentage of GDP for four countries. Australia, Norway, Greece and the US. Remember, we are told we are able to bail out Greece, we are no Greece, why Greece could never happen here. When in reality we are now officially running higher deficits than Greece. I simply threw in Norway and Australia to show you what an EVIL OIL rich country looks like and what a functioning western society SHOULD look like.

But, again, to quote Michael Savage,

"No, no, you don't want to hear about this. YOu want to hear about some guy who hits a ball over a fence."

Ergo, I present to you guys hitting a ball over a fence.

Yep, It's S&P's Fault

Just like Katrina was Bush's fault.

And how the Tea Party (which is advocating a balanced budget) is also to blame for our financial problems.

Methinks when the markets open me little dollar short positions should be doing just fine.

Jobs Creation in Illinois

I learned to charleston in Illinois. Met Mel Gibson when he was filming "Payback" there. Had my first Pot Belly sandwich. And it was the only time I spent 45 minutes looking for a parking space.

And that was about it.

However, in an effort to maintain something the majority of my lefter leaning counterparts simply refuse to (intellectual honesty), I will note that the chart's Y-axis is HEAVILY skewed to make the drop look way more dramatic than it actually is.

Such trickery is unneeded when using data and statistics to point to the merits of capitalism.

Your Daily Dose of Dalrock

As I have been in the middle of moving, unpacking and then off to western Wyoming for fossil hunting, I have been thankful to have other people write allowing me not to...err....allowing me the time to share relevant and timely pieces written by other highly talented writers.

Dalrock, as you know is one of them.

The reason I like linking to him is I don't have to add anything. I mean, I'm pretty lazy and all it takes is a copy paste and I'm done.

So for the lazy blogger I highly recommend another succinct and complete piece by Dalrock.

This particular piece calls for you to pour yourself a drink and enjoy watching those who brought about the decline suffer under it.

Epic Fail

So I'm out west, decided to stop in Casper enroute to Kemmerer which is reported to have fish fossils. And I happen upon a nice little funeral home;



Ah the west, no state income taxes, great fossils, and cheap gas, but some pretty interesting people.

Today's Word is Agorism

FSK with an insightful post in response to my theory on how to privatize governments.

Cry Baby Municipalities

I am so thoroughly enjoying the decline.

S&P finally decides to grow a spine, call them as they see them, and downgrades several municipalities and counties. And what does S&P run into????

A spoiled brat, entitlement mentality that can only be found in trust fund babies and the public sector.

But what is better than a perfectly grilled steak served to you by Jennifer Aniston is the reaction of these municipalities. They shoot the messenger and "fire" S&P.

So to all of you in LA, San Mateo and all the other municipalities that are nearly insolvent, permit me one simple question;

"How does "firing" S&P help fully fund your pensions?"

That decline is coming whether you idiots like it or not. And your arrogance and ignorance just makes it Hershey's syrup on the ice cream.

Won't Somebody PLEEEEASE Think of the Children!

I'm sure there's no consequence to this.

Hat tip (and analysis) to the always insightful Dalrock.

Where Is Futureman?

Remember "Futureman?"

Heck, remember Wall Street Week?

Here's How to Enjoy the Decline

You think I jest, but if you think about mortality, you will realize how important it is you enjoy the decline.

The Father Could Not Be Reached for Comment

All this mentions of mothers and grandmothers and yet no father. Spurious correlation I'm sure.

I'm So There

Galt's Gluch has become Galt Island.

And finally all those stupid evil rich people will leave this country and leave you all alone forever.

Privatizing Governments

If I remember my corporate history correctly, I believe it was the Walton brothers who approached Ben Franklin (the dime store chain, not the man) about their idea for what would soon become Wal-Mart. They were shot down and if I still remember correctly, they approached other stores and chains, only to be shot down again. Ultimately they had to head out on their own, and now I don't think I've seen a Ben Franklin store in over 20 years.

Dr. Seuss was rejected reportedly 27 times.

And the creators of Trivial Pursuit had to go to a different country to find backers for their game.

Of course we all come up with good ideas (or at least we'd like to think so), but it is an issue of finding somebody to financially back it into reality. And ironically, it's the most revolutionary ideas that are least likely to get backing simply because it disturbs the blissful ignorance of the status quo and forces people to think outside their comfy little box.

Enter the Captain's crazy idea.

It not only disturbs the status quo, it just blows it right up.

I came up with this idea about 6 years ago and have alluded to it in the past. I never came outright and said what it was because;

1. I didn't want the idea getting out
2. I was debating whether to actually pursue it.

I tinkered with it, toyed with it, and soon it just wouldn't go the frick away. I knew I would have to at least give it a shot otherwise it would just gnaw at me for the rest of my life. And so over the summer when I had some time, I pulled a ton of data, ran some charts, made some financial projections and put together a 20 page business plan.

The idea?

How to fully privatize governments.

It's actually quite a simple concept, but a revolutionary one because I believe I have found the optimal form of government, or at least the "next stage" of governmental evolution. An improvement upon democracy, or perhaps a better way of putting it, democracy on steroids.

Under this new concept, government would be inoculated against corruption, greed, theft, graft and all other ailments that have ailed democracies since they were created. Politicians would not be able to wield the power over the people like they do. Rich or influential people could not override the desires of the people (or perhaps shall I say, brainwash them with propaganda and mass media into voting against their own long term interests). And economic growth, to paraphrase Brad Pitt from Inglorious Basterds, "would be a-BOOMIN'!"

It also is about the only silver bullet that could genuinely save the US (and all of Europe for that matter) from the financial problems we face today and keep them going as a viable economic entites.

Oh, and it also wouldn't hurt that it would easily make me and any major investors the world's first trillionaires.

But you all of course know where this story is going.

As expected, after spending the better part of a week on research and drafting a proposal and after spending cumulatively another week trying to get investment banks or VC firms to take a look at the proposal, all I managed to do was waste two weeks of my summer at an opportunity cost of enjoying the decline. What was particularly irksome was not the fact investment banks, financiers of different sorts and VC's shot it down, it's that they just plain wouldn't return the damn phone call. That you could easily spend 20 minutes on the internet and one the phone trying to locate the right person to call and when you leave them a voice mail, they never call you back. And in the rare instance you actually got to talk to a real live investment banker they would dismiss it on frivolous grounds having nothing to do with the idea.

It's too much money to be raised.
It's too little money to be raised.
We're not in that industry.
We were in that industry, but not this time of year.
We might have interest, but now right now with this market.
We only do private placements.
We only do public placements.
It's Tuesday.
It's not Tuesday.
You're wearing blue socks and we have a policy against investing with blue sock wearing people.

I literally told only 2 people about the actual idea. One was an investment banker who was at least sporting enough to entertain the thought. And the other was Peter Theil's "Founders Fund" who actually requested an abbreviated 12 page Power Point presentation I put together. The rest of the time my idea was dismissed without them even hearing about the idea, and not ONE business proposal was sent out.

Naturally the curious person by now would want to know, "Well, what precisely was this great idea? How do you fully privatize a government and make trillions of dollars from doing so? Let alone, how do you make government "corruption-proof?"

And seeing how it is more or less impossible this idea will ever get financing, the next best thing would be to go public with it. Ergo, I am happy to announce the business plan's publication now available on Kindle.



Yes, I am charging for it, because I spent a lot of time on it and some of you will notice how the posts this summer have been more linkage than Cappy Originals (in part because of developing this business plan and also in part due to moving).

Regardless you can find it here for $5.64 (the reason for the odd price is I tried to price it at $3.99, but Kindle likes to add odd fees - will be tweaking the price in the meantime). Sorry, only available on Kindle, but for the price of a glass of beer you will be rewarded with infinitely more than $3.99/$5.64 worth of intellectual stimulation. And yes, no doubt there are going to be some of those endearing grammatical errors or typos that my English-nazi readers love pointing out.

In the meantime, enjoy the decline (which will probably be the title of the next book).

POST POST-Some of you have expressed interest of just mailing me $4 and me e-mailing you the MS Word Document, which is kosher too.

E-mail me at CAPTcapitalism (at) yahoo (dot) com, click on the Rumpleminze and make a donation to my paypal account. Or I can send you a safehouse address to mail $4 bucks to.

Property Taxes By County

I am kind of doubting the chart a little bit given Minneapolis and St. Paul fleecing their citizens, but here is the link.

All Bush's Fault

Morons.



But it's "Bush's fault" right?

Cutting Off the Flow

For all the monetarists out there who know prices of all items are simply a function of supply and demand, and who also know velocity is transitory, I found this chart interesting. For the first time since the series has been tracked, real estate loans have dropped. And not only have they dropped, they have dropped significantly.



Now I know there is a plethora of reasons why banks are reluctant to lend money. The economy, the housing bubble, new regulations effectively turning off the spigot, etc., but until that valve is turned on again, your housing prices won't recover.

Property Values Down, Property Taxes Up

A neato little chart that actually surprised me which shows property tax revenue for the state overtime. You would think with the collapse in property values, property taxes, which are BASED on property values would go down. Hoo ho ho! You foolish boy;



I knew Minneapolis would keep jacking up their property taxes, but I didn't know the state as a whole would too.

And people wonder why property values keep dropping.

No Capital Gains Without Profits

and no profits without economic growth.

I will say it again for the cheap seats. The Dow should be trading at around 8,000.

Vintage of Divorce

Much like some charts showing the "vintages" of the various "tranches" of MBS or CDO's and their varying rates of default, Dalrock has once again done his digging and come up with a similar chart, but for that of divorce. In other words depending on what rough era you were married, how quickly did it take to get divorced?



To this day I am amazed at how the 70's just continues to be the worst decade on so many different socio and economic fronts.

A lengthier and longer analysis by Dalrock located here.

Link to Dalrock repaired.

Socialists Wasting Their Summer

Silly democrats. You wasted your summer. You should have learned to enjoy the decline.

We'll There's Your Problem Right There

It often requires you to step back, pour yourself a double, go ride a motorcycle around, kiss a couple girls and watch some old school westerns and then revisit the problem in order for you to solve it or understand it. And one of the observations I've had as I've been out on long rides in the South Dakota Badlands is that our financial problems are caused by something that has been staring at us right in the face. Skim this little article here and see if you can see what I see.

What you SHOULD see (if you took Dr. Cappy's advice above and drove around after pouring yourself a double and kissing some girls and achieved a South Dakota epiphany) is governmental officials completely unaware they are stepping outside of their bounds. That they are putting themselves where they don't belong. And I'm not talking about forcing us to buy incandescent light bulbs, I'm talking they actually think it is government intervention that can affect stock prices when in reality the only thing that DOES affect stock prices is profits.

What kind of intrigues me is a guy like Bernanke should know this. Any economist, whether they are on the left or the right should at minimum have the intellectual honesty to know that tinkering with monetary policy is not going to have any kind of long term effect on stock prices. If anything it will hurt stock prices. Ergo what the heck is he thinking the central bank needs to take some kind of action? Since when is the fed chartered with the mandate to "increase stock prices?"

Stock prices will be, what they will be. They will be determined by profits of the underlying firms. Not whether the firm "goes green." Not whether they "celebrate diversity." And not whether the government does QE 46 and 1/2.

Regardless, the point is not necessarily this one particular instance of stupidity on the part of the federal reserve chairman. If you look at the entire effort politicians (primarily on the left) have resorted to, to get this economy going again, they are operating from the erroneous premise that somehow government can do something to help get the economy going again. Which is like saying a lamprey can do something to get a fish healthy again. Of course it will fail because the only thing the government can "do" is get out of the way and let the private sector grow again. However, what I'm seeing more and more is an ingrained psychology of government wonks and politicians that is something akin to women in my dance classes when they first start out. They think they can "do" something. Initiate some kind of action. "Help." When in reality "helping" or "doing something" is antithetical to the role women need to play in dancing which is the follower. Once the woman "does something to help" she unknowingly destroys the dance. But when the women realize how they have to follow (and men finally get the gall to lead which is nearly an impossible task sometimes), the dance works beautifully.

However, I highly doubt Obama and his ilk are going to realize they follow the people and not order them around.

On a side note, I think this old post of mine will come in handy given the general collapsing of or stock market and economy today.

In the meantime, you all know what to do today!

Escape From Minnesota

Or at least from Minneapolis.

Is There Anything More Beautiful Than Reality?

To quote Joe Hollenbeck from "The Last Boy Scout,"

"The truth is a beautiful thing...two." (I'll be surprised if anybody can place that in the context of the movie).

Regardless, I do thoroughly enjoy watching reality start to pierce through the rose-colored glasses of everybody who is of the mentality, "oh, the market will come back."



Post - post - it just keeps getting better.

POST POST POST - Who grew a pair over at S&P???

Unemployment Rate for Those with College Degrees

Anybody else just savor the irony of the college youth who came out in droves for Obama?

The Captain is Moving

Your beloved Captain got a job in a no-income-tax state. More on that later.

But the funny thing about moving is all the old stuff you rediscovered when deciding what to take with you and what to through away. Namely, you unpack the boxes you boxed up the past 3, 4, 7 times you've moved and never unpacked them to see what you have.

I have old notebooks from college, old tax returns, but one precious item I found (and summarily thought I had lost) was a signed copy of the book "St. Mudd."

The book wasn't signed by Steve Thayer, the author, but rather "Jackie Rocket" the premiere dominatrix in the Twin Cities at the time. She got it as a gift for me over a decade ago.

"Captain, you are a different type of gangster and saint." it read.

Of course at the time I was dating her I literally didn't know she was the premiere dominatrix in the Twin Cities at the time, but that is a different story as well.

Regardless I strongly recommend the book St. Mudd. It is one of the few books I've read and it is even one of the fewer books I liked.

Besides, what else are you going to do but enjoy the decline?

"Efficient" My Ass

I don't believe most people know about the concept of markets being "efficient." Usually you run into this concept when you are a studious junior in college and maybe one of your academian professors decides to actually impart some genuine wisdom instead of just teaching from the book to explain the concept to you.

Regardless, the idea of "efficiency" in markets is that when information is released into the public do markets (such as the NYSE, NASDAQ, AME etc) incorporate that information and translate it into either increase or decreasing prices.

For the past 10 years, I've been amazed how the "brilliant Ivy League geniuses" over at "Goldman Sachs" and "Morgan Stanley" and "Lehman Brothers" have been unable or perhaps reluctant to take BLATANTLY OBVIOUS DATA AND INFORMATION THAT THE US IS SCREWED and still make "strong buy" or "buy" recommendations."

No, never mind the 800 pound gorilla in the room known as medicare and social security. Never mind most American children want to major in sociology or women's studies or art history and will never produce an ounce of genuine economic production. Oh, no. Let's just keep on believing in the empirically-disproved "American dream" and invest billions in "hope and change."

Of course, reality inevitably hits the market and FORCES it to be efficient. But I ask a simple question.

Do you idiots over on the east coast just drink the purple kool-aid and swallow schtick whole?

I mean how did the market NOT tank until this day?

What was special about today?

I mean, you all were truly ignorant about the severe economic and debt crises the US faced? I'm amazed the DJIA even made it past 10,000, let alone 12,000 in the past 5 years. Did you Ivy League losers NOT pay attention to the plethora of economic data that is available on the internet for free? or have you so become corrupted by nepotism, cronyism, your parents money and rent seeking you actually thought a society and economic entity based on "self esteem" and "grrrrrl power" and "diversity" and "going green" could produce genuine economic production and profits that you could make such a foolish recommendation?

Well, reality is hitting you Harvard graduate morons upside the head now. And there's nothing you can do about it.

But, of course, there is always hope and change.

I mean, your president is a Harvard graduate, right?

So at least we have the smartest and bestest leading this country, right?

Because we all know Harvard produces the "best."

Right?

I mean Bush and Obama.

What a great track record.

Hi-freaking-larious

The always guffaw-inducing Dalrock.

What He Said

I think this is the first person (aside from myself) to point out it's what you MAJOR IN, not whether you have a degree.

Those Stupid Numbers and Facts

Hurting our sensibilities and all.

Getting in the way of our puppies and ice cream ideology!

A Day in the Life of a San Franciscan

Light up a cigar and be thankful you don't;

1. live in San Francisco.
2. live in California
3. live in a major metro area

Poor Colonel

How to REALLY Close the Wage Gap

This will help these girls close the wage gap infinitely more than any "graduate program" in the liberal arts. I'm amazed a public education institution though offered such a thing.

Naming a Bridge After a Degenerate

HAR!

Just like Jim Morrison, his music just wasn't that good. And also like Jim Morrison, you had to be high or drunk to like it. And how did both of those guys end up? Hmmm...another similarity.

Suffering Again Enjoying the Decline

This is Harney's Peak in the background. I had hiked it earlier and then noticed some storm clouds off in the distance. Was very glad I decided to high tail it out of there as the storm engulfed the peak.

Jim Beam, Cusano Cigar and a 1940's Motel

I originally was going to take pictures, but then it dawned on me I don't want to ruin it with digital precision and am going to let you imagine it.

I am currently sitting outside in my fold-out chair at my dirt cheap motel in a very small town nestled within the Black Hills of South Dakota. A place none of you will find. It's 78 degrees, about 2130 and the red neon lights just came on casting a very nice hue over the dilapidated trucks in the parking lot. The old man who runs the joint just came out and lit up a cigarette himself.

I am currently puffing on an M1 Cusano Torpedo Cut cigar with a flask of Jim Beam. I have no cell phone reception. Nobody can get in contact with me. I no longer suffer from the jilt or jolt of my cell phone vibrating or ringing, thereby making it my master of a Pavlovian dog-like response to some request or another. My only concerns for tomorrow is to determine which mountain I'm going to climb OR, if it's particularly hot which swimming hole I shall visit OR if it's particularly cool, which portion of the Badlands I shall hike straight through.

Additionally I have not listened to talk radio for about the past 3 weeks and am blissfully unaware of the debt and deficit problems I have tacitly paid attention to when I do decide to visit the Drudge Report. Though I have noticed on my sidebar plug-ins my dollar-short positions against the NOrwegian Kroner and the Canadian dollar are doing quite well - thank you Barry.

I did download some Tom Leykis so I could listen to something while I was driving my motorcycle around the Black Hills today, but otherwise right now I hear nothing but crickets and the occasional motorcycle or car driving by on the only paved road in town. I think I will drink myself my flask of Jim Beam and retire watching the history channel or the military channel.

If there is a way to enjoy the decline. This is it. Not trying, not working, and living as cheaply as possible on the minimum amount of labor you forfeited to the labor market/government-taxing machine. In the meantime I authorize all junior, deputy, aspiring, official or otherwise economists to pour themselves a hefty pour of whatever they got and make a long-range toast (wherever you may be in the Capposphere).

Enjoy the decline!

Pathetic

1.4% RGDP and last quarter revised down to .4%.

You Keynesian morons.

My Generation

This woman is my age.

I have no children.

She has two generations.

Enjoy the decline!

Hippies Don't Help Economic Growth

I was at the post office the other day. In front of me was a younger-looking grandmother sending off what seemed to be a book and a National Geographic issue. It was a small post office, but it wouldn't have mattered because this woman was quite insistent on speaking loud enough for everybody to hear.

"Yes, I'm sending these to my grandchildren! That's me on the front of the National Geographic when I was in South America! I'm also in this book! It's the first book written by and about the Peace Corps."

Naturally my eyes rolled. Not because in front of me was an aged hippie who can only point to something she did 50 years ago as the pinnacle of the acheivements in her life, but because who else but Peace Corps hippies would think their grandchildren want a lame book written by hippies and a dated National Geographic from 1964?

Of course I couldn't pass this up, so I inquired,

"Where were you in the Peace Corps?"

"Ecuador. Have you been there?"

"No, no, haven't been there."

"Well how do you know about it?" (which I found to be a funny question because it's not like you had to have been to Ecuador to know it exists)

"I'm an economist, I follow the Correa administration."

And with that exchange, that's all I needed. I found the country she and the other hippies were at in 1964. So off the Captain went to the Cappy Cap Cave, fired up his ole Cappy Cap Computer and went to work looking up Ecuador's economic history.

And in a few short minutes of superawesome economic research, I found the presence of hippies do not help economic growth. Of course most people know that, I just wanted to confirm that it wasn't by some miracle they actually did make a difference this time.

Notice when hippies were introduced to the Ecuadorian environment, nothing happened for about a solid decade thereafter. It wasn't until EEEEVIIIILLLLLL oil was discovered in 1973/1974 did its economy actually start growing.

Ever since then Ecuador's economic performance can largely be explained by oil. When oil prices tanked in the late 80's, so too did its economy. And even with a largely leftist president implementing largely leftist policies, the economy is still booming today because of the price of EEEEEVILLLLL oil.

This behooves the question then;

"What the heck did the hippies go for there in the first place?"

And another follow up question;

"Why do we keep sending hippies overseas if they don't achieve anything?"

Oh, what innocently foolish questions.

You see young, aspiring, junior, deputy and otherwise economists, Peace Corp, Ameri-Corp, UN, UNICEF, IMF and whatever other aid/humanitarian types out there do not go to these countries to help these poor countries out. They go there simply for themselves. If you look at the statistics globalization and economics is what gets countries out of poverty just as oil got Ecuador out of absolute poverty. Not this lady and her ilk helping build a well in some remote village of the Ooki Booki tribe. They go there, first and foremost, so they can feel good about themselves. Whether they actually bring about tangible results is inconsequential, because deep down inside they really don't care.

Now, while you may think I'm being harsh, especially for criticizing an old woman for sending her grandchildren a book she helped write and a magazine with her and her hippie friends, think about that.

Would YOU as a grandparent send your GRANDCHILDREN a book you wrote, let alone articles about YOU and on topics they could not care less about? It tells you all you need to know about the woman's psychology.

Can you imagine what a fun Christmas that would be at the Captain's household?

Grandchildren - "GRANDPA CAPPY! GRANDPA CAPPY!"

Old Cappy Cap - "Well hello grandchildren!"

Grandchildren - "What did you get us for Christmas!?"

Old Cappy Cap - "Well, I brought you a copy of my book, Behind the Housing Crash and an article written about me from 2007!"

Grandchildren - "Awww poop. That's not a real present."

Old Cappy Cap - "Shut up, you ungrateful brats! You will read it and like it! Where's the Rumpleminze?"

And of course, that's the point. This woman, just as she did back in 1964, is doing the same thing today. She's sending these poor grandkids a boring book not for their sake, but for herself.

But perhaps I could explain a little better with a quote from a previous post.

"The fact that the "house" in figure 2 still looks like garbage 7 years later just goes to show that sociology majors just like in the first world can't fix anything in the third world either."

I say just never grant a hippie with enough credit or skill to actually fix anything.

"Brat Ban"

Something tells me this would not have been an issue in the 1950's.

Some Guys Get All the Luck

I leave Minnesota and this lucky guy finds a rattlesnake.

Recession Medicine

Because the recession is over.

The True Damage of Crusaders

Here's a perfect example;



The audio is poor, so here is the quote;

“Nearly every day without fail…men stream to these [mining] operations looking for work in Walker County. They can’t pay their mortgage. They can’t pay their car note. They can’t feed their families. They don’t have health insurance. And as I stand here today, I just…you know…what’s the use? I got a permit to open up an underground coal mine that would employ probably 125 people. They’d be paid wages from $50,000 to $150,000 a year. We would consume probably $50 million to $60 million in consumables a year, putting more men to work. And my only idea today is to go home. What’s the use? I see these guys—I see them with tears in their eyes—looking for work. And if there’s so much opposition to these guys making a living, I feel like there’s no need in me putting out the effort to provide work for them. So…basically what I’ve decided is not to open the mine. I’m just quitting. Thank you.”

Remember, it's more important that the crusader at the Sierra Club or the soccer mom who is bored and wants to launch a safety campaign against pollution or the college kid protester who needs to protest something, it's more important THEY feel good about themselves than that the rest of us have jobs, careers, and a future.

$1.18 Trillion of Worthless Paper

Because what? A generation of Justin Beiber sociology majors is going to produce the wealth required to pay these guys back?

I'm just glad the debt crisis is finally starting to pay nice dividends on my foreign currency plays. Though I do feel sorry for the Chinese for investing so heavily into US assets.

How does one say, "Enjoy the Decline?" in Cantonese?

As Mayor of Scenic, South Dakota, I Promise

No property taxes. Only, one sole sales tax on every transaction within the city limits

People will be allowed to smoke in private establishments if that private establishment allows it.

All forms of commerce, both admirable and shameful would be allowed.

People will be allowed to carry any gun, any time, anywhere, knowing full well if they try any nazi-jerk Norwegian schtick that moron carried out, people will be shooting back.

Whiskey is served 24-7, bars and commercial ventures are allowed to do what they want, when they want, and frankly it's none of the local government's business what yours is.

I'd make a GREAT mayor of Scenic, SD.

Where Are the EPL Stars Now?

I love it. Wish Dalrock would inform me of these more regularly.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

It's all good and fun and games telling other people what to do, until you have to deal with the ideology you espouse.

Regulatory Costs to Housing

Reminds me of how there is a progressively larger and larger group of contractors that will NOT do business in Minneapolis because of the over-burdensome regulation and fees. I'd be curious to see how much these costs vary based on the municipality they're in.

And Yet Somehow...

the world continues to rotate.

What irks me is how this took the top spot on Drudge in light of the tragedy in Norway.

Purposely Log-Jamming the Economy

Along the same lines of my previous post about whether it was ignorance or evil on the part of the democrats to destroy the country, another report from "Ebo" (evil big oil!)

"Compared to historical trends, pending exploration plans are up by nearly 90%, approvals are down by 85% ,and the approval process has slowed from an average of 36 to 131 days."

But hey, at least we stuck it to Big Oil! Right!? And that's what our 9th grade school teacher told us was important. Fighting the system and sticking it to the man.

Enjoy the decline

"Don't Ever Hit Your Mother With a Shovel"

On a Butch Cassidy and Sundance related note;



For those of you interested, I was intending to visit the actual Hole in the Wall where Butch Cassidy and the Hole in the Wall Gang hung out. Just requires a 4x4 vehicle. Which is not at my disposal right now.

"Those Stupid Red Neck Hicks"

Nowhere near as intelligent or enlightened as us coastal and metropolitan folk!

Captain Capitalism's Great Hippie Hole Adventure

The Hippie Hole is a swimming hole in arguably the most remote region of the Black Hills. I ran out of time last year to find it and decided today that with a bum right leg I should manage to find it and do a little swimming.

According to teh interwebz I could just "drive right up to the parking area" and in a "short 15 minute hike" manage to get there.

They didn't tell me that the dirt road you have to travel is nearly impossible for compact cars, let alone normal ones. And they didn't tell me that the "short 15 minute hike" is more or less scaling a cliff down at about a 70 degree angle. Despite my right leg being shot, I was able to hike the 2 miles into the parking lot and hobble my way down the cliff and find the Hippie Hole

It's a really neat and REMOTE place. More or less a natural damn fed by a 30 foot waterfall. You can climb up a little higher and take about a 40 foot dive, but nothing like the 100 foot cliff jumping you can do in St. Croix, WI. If it weren't for all the poison Ivy I'd consider camping there. Below are a couple pictures and a video.






And on a related note; "Hell, the fall alone will probably kill ya!"

How Could This Happen in Norway?

Hey, liberals, one of you explain to me how this could happen in the most placating, pacifist, socialist utopia you all claim to be the pinnacle of socio-economics?

This is what happens when you no longer let men be men, try to feminize them and make them women, punish and criminalize male behavior, betray your own men for the pursuit of feminism and lofty marxist and pacifist goals and replacing men with the state, and then try to placate your enemies by embracing diversity at all costs

Oh, and on a side note, HOW COULD THERE BE SHOOTINGS IN NORWAY? Guns are banned!

Obviously a mistake the media made. Must have been a clubbing or a spearing. Because you know, guns are outlawed in Norway.

Enjoy the Norwegian decline!

POST POST - As, despite claims of various Islamic groups to take responsibility for this attack which prompted me to this post, evidence is showing it is a crazed-nut-job Norwegian national who is to blame for these attacks. I offer a full rescindication of this post and will leave this post up as intellectual honesty and evidence I am wrong every once in a while. Let me know when my leftist counterparts offer something similar or if the main stream media does such a thing.

See how simple that was MSM? You see, when you're wrong, you ADMIT IT. Unlike this.

Rollerskating Will Save the Housing Market

Ed over at The Deets sent this to me. It's an NPR MP3 of a woman out west who kept on building despite the housing crash. The story of the housing crash is behind us, but mercy, it is such a display of idiocy.

For 99 cents this lady could have saved her entire construction company.

The Captain's Crusade for Snakeskin Boots

OK, Cappy Cappites. I need your help.

Here's the story.

As you know my exploits and adventures have me coming into contacts with rattlesnakes on a regular basis. They are actually cowardly creatures and unless provoked will scurry away from you, rarely biting you.

However, it dawned on me how cool would it be to own a pair of rattlesnake boots? And not just a pair of snakeskin boots, but made from snakes I actually captured myself.

So the ole Captain goes out on teh interwebz and searches for snake skin boot manufacturers. He can only find retailers. He goes to a local skin/hide store in Custer, SD and asks the guy there WITH SNAKE SKINS AND RATTLESNAKE BELTS and even he doesn't know where to send me. I call taxidermists, shoe repair people, all the way from Wisconsin to Wyoming.

Nothing.

It's like NOBODY makes snakeskin boots, even the retailers don't know who ultimately manufactures them.

DOES ANYBODY OUT THERE KNOW A TAXIDERMIST OR A BOOT MAKER OR A SHOE REPAIR GUY WILLING TO ACCEPT PAYMENT TO TAKE SNAKE HIDES AND MAKE THEM INTO BOOTS?

Swear to the patron saint this would not have been a problem in the 1940's.

On an interesting side note. Not to go "Zuckerberg" on you guys or anything.

We Don't Need No Stinking Jobs!

From my evil handlers in the evil Big Oil industry.

This brings up a question I'm sure many of you are asking.

Is the current administration just blissfully ignorant of economics or are they purposely doing this because they hate capitalism and America?

I'm increasingly finding myself believing option #2, fully acknowledging the "conspiracy theory" stigma that would be attached to me.

The Gap Continues to Close

Official report from the Fed. Since I'm on vacation, anybody want to read it and tell me if they mention engineering degrees and the disproportionality of this recession on male-dominated industries?

Cicero Peak

This is from the top of Cicero Peak. The temperature drop was about10-15 degrees in the short 2,000 altitude climb so it was actually pleasant up top.

In one of the photos you can see South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska. Some people claim you can see North Dakota, but I highly doubt that.

I strongly recommend hiking and mountain climbing in the Black Hills simply because you can actually climb a "mountain" within a day and not have to worry about altitude sickness or freezing temperatures.

Cicero Peak

Today I will climb Cicero Peak which is either the 2nd or 3rd highest peak in the Southern Black Hills. It's supposed to be in the 100's today, but the benefit of mountain climbing is the higher you go, the cooler it gets, thus giving you incentive to hike really fast, nay, sprint up the mountain.

Oh, sure, some people, typically of the female persuasion, will lecture you about hiking in the heat or using Rumpleminze as a disinfectant, but these concerns about "heat stroke" or "exhaustion" or "heart attacks" or "mountain lions" are largely overstated and can easily be dismissed. If for any other reason if you keep yourself adequately hydrated with Phillips Vodka before the hike you should be perfectly fine.

I shall take photos and load them up here when I get back.

In the meantime, you crazy kids enjoy the decline!

Non-Traditional Economic Statistics

You can read all the headline statistics you want, and if you REALLY want to be told what you want to hear, you can always listen to Barack Obama talk about job growth and the economy. But there are some eccentric or "anecdotal" statistics that are unconventional in the world of economics, but have the ability to predict the economy nonetheless.

For example to accurately gauge economic growth in China and not the dubious "official GDP" statistics the Chinese government publishes, some economists look at electrical consumption. Alan Greenspan liked to look at railroad tie replacement rates. And there are others that escape my mind. But two come to mind here in the good ole USA that I've kind of unofficially kept track of;

Dance class enrollments and Harley ridership in the Black Hills.

I have been teaching ballroom dance for the past 14 years. This includes the booming 90's, the subsequent stock market crash, the booming housing bubble and the subsequent great recession. Enrollments followed correspondingly. I had standing room only (which all dance classes are HAR!!!!) at the peak of the Dotcom bubble. The 2000 recession hit, BLAMO! Enrollments dropped about 60%. The recovered and exceeded previously levels as attendees used home equity lines to finance SUV's, trips to Europe and ballroom dance classes. The housing market collapsed and BLAMO! Enrollments dropped 90% from their highs.

Of course with the economy in full recovery according to the left, you would think enrollments would have recovered. However, a full 3 years after the housing crisis, they keep going down. Below is a guestimate chart.


Then there is the ridership in the Black Hills. Sturgis is coming up and this is the third year I've placed myself in the Black Hills for the better part of 2 months in my effort to enjoy the decline. My hotel is in a small mountain town and there are three statistics I've anecdotally noticed.

1. The number of motorcycles on the road are about 1/2 of what they were last year around this time. I noticed this because I can actually drive the speed limit and not be burdened by some slow driving Harley noob who carted his motorcycle, let alone a traffic jam of them. YOu can actually make it through the "Needles" highway in under 1/2 hour. Usually takes an hour.

2. The caliber of clientele at the hotel I'm staying at is no longer out of state, middle to upper middle class folk. It's locals who are using the hotel as temporary living quarters as they've been kicked out of their homes or are returning from jail. I am now officially in the minority of boarders in that I have NEVER been to jail. The majority of boarders have. Drugs have been found on the premises. Deals are now made in the parking lot. And I find it a beneficial practice to clean my guns in front of my hotel room on the patio so everybody sees them.

3. Talking with the various proprietors of the three bars in town (which I have now established rapports with), I find out sales and foot traffic are down about 40%.

The whole point of this potpourri of economic statistics you'll not find in college textbooks?

The economy isn't recovering, and not only is it not recovering, I believe it's high time for a double dip.

Whatever the headline figures may read, other "down to Earth" measures of commerce and economic activity are down. Sure, ballroom dance classes are a luxury good which has a high elasticity with disposable income. And of course you could claim gas prices are hurting tourism, but if the economy was recovering, even stagnant, these statistics would remain consistent from 2010. For 2011, they're continuing their decline.

Naturally I would like to see a booming economy, alas my economic spidey senses and plain common sense know that just is not going to happen any time soon.

In the meantime, you all may as well enjoy the decline until 2012, at which point there MAY be a reason to work hard and try once again. But we shall see.

Corporate Infidelity

Arguably the single largest threat to freedom in the world is the "harmonization" of tax rates. Of course politicians like to use euphemisms so the ignorant masses can continue on watching their Lady Gaga or the latest professional sports competition, but trust me it is a threat. The reason why is if tax rates are "harmonized" then there is no incentive for business, investment or labor to go to one country versus another. And if tax rates are moved in conjunction with one another, then the governments essentially form an OPEC-like cartel ensuring that labor and capital are more or less trapped at their home country. Since there is no advantage to moving investment and labor to one place or another, governments (if working together) and implement whatever policies they want on their people because "where you going to go? Every place is the same."

Of course this is very boring economics stuff that is no where near as exciting as watching "The View" or "Glee." So, as is a principle of mine in economics, I like to simplify things so people can understand.

Thank God for Canada.



The above comic strip was drawn by Chris Foleen, one of the respondents to my request for a political cartoonist. You WILL visit his site.

Hippie Economics

Damn hippies.

More on the Ninja 250

I've received some questions and comments about my motorcycle and trip out here to South Dakota that it warranted a separate post unto itself so I shall be bullet-pointy to address some of the questions/comments;

• The Ninja 250 is a small motorcycle. Matter of fact I think it's about the smallest motorcycle you can get and still drive on the interstate. It is the LAMEST motorcycle in all of Sturgis, but she got there (see picture below).
• The mileage is GREAT, unless you are driving at speeds in excess of about 70 miles per hour. I usually get around 60-62MPG if I'm driving in the city, this includes interstate speeds in the city which are around 60-65MPH. However, once you go above 70 or 75 MPH, the fuel efficiency TANKS. This is noticeable when you go from Minnesota into South Dakota and the speed limit goes from 70MPH to 75MPH. In just that 5-10MPH difference my fuel efficiency drops from about 55-58MPG to 38MPG. I had to switch to the reserve tank as I approach Wall, SD and cut the speed down to maximize my fuel efficiency. YOu do NOT want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere South Dakota with no gas.
  
• There are many routes to take for motorcycle rides, but "The Needles" is perhaps the best. It follows the spine of the Black Hills up to Sylvan Lake (you can look all these things up on image searches to see the beauty). In one day we hit The Needles, Sylvan Lake, Hill City, Deadwood, Sturgis and the Vanocker Canyon.
  
• Repair of the Ninja 250 is easy, if not great. It's very simply designed and easy to access by taking off the fairings. I've been able to replace chains, change oil, replace water pumps, replace gas tanks, replace cables, change the fuel filter and clean the carbeurator, none of which takes more than an hour unless you run into a stubborn bolt. With the basic tools and parts you can pretty much do any kind of roadside maintenance and not break down. Most of which will fit into a smallish backpack (and wreak havoc on your back).
• Yes your back will be in immense pain if you drive a crotch rocket 660 miles in one day.
• Yes, girls do like motorcycles, even little puny ones like the one I have. I suggest spending the money on a fuel efficient motorcycle and accommodating safety gear instead of making your next 6 months worth of 401k contributions. Your return is higher and it's more fun than the "Mid-Cap Value Index Fund." No woman in the history of women said to a guy, "Oooo! You invested in the Mid-Cap Value Index Fund!" and conversely, "Ewwww! Yuck, gross! You have a motorcycle!"
  
• If any of you Cappy Cappites are out this direction, please shoot the Ole Captain an e-mail. He's always up for motorcycle riding, fossil hunting, mountain climbing, agate hunting or gun shooting. All of which are still legal in South Dakota.

Hallelujah!

I remember teaching dance class one time. Couple walks in with their kids about 3 and 5. Kids are running around, talking, making noise, annoying the other students. I finally break down and say, "Dude, you gotta do something with your kids."

So what do the brilliant parents do?

They put the toddlers ON THEIR HEADS/SHOULDERS like a chicken fight in a pool and try to dance with each other. For those of you unfamiliar with the world of ballroom dancing you need the use of your hands to dance with your partner, so these kids are essentially unsecured holding on to the heads of their parents who try (and fail) to do basic turns because they are effectively too tall with their children on top of them.

The guy who I asked to get his kids under control of course filed a complaint, but apparently people are fighting back.

Escaped Just in Time

The government shutdown and the general encroachment of the public sector on the private sector in Minnesota is certainly one reason I advocate escaping Minnesota. However, it is things like this, which are increasing in frequency, that provide additional incentive to escape Minnesota or at least move out of Nuevo Detroit (aka Minneapolis).

In the meantime your Captain has just embarked on day #3 of his great South Dakotan adventure. Day #1 was a 10 mile hike through the Black Hills, Day #2 was a 300 mile motorcycle ride through the Black Hills. Day #3 will entail another 10 mile hike through the agate-rich prairies. 2 M1 Cusano cigars have been smoked and copious amounts of booze have been consumed. Watching the news from back "home" just makes this trip that much more enjoyable.

Enjoy the decline!

It's Called "Capital Flight"

Someday, you'll all learn the term.

Enjoy the decline!

250 to Sturgis

It is now time for the Captain to take his Ninja 250 and drive it the 600 odd miles to Sturgis. Stops along the way will include the metropolis of Windom, the city center known as Adrian and who can forget the cultural mecca of Murdo?!

Posting will be infrequent as it is hard to blog on a motorcycle.

Wish me luck and that I do not hit any deer or moose-raccoons.

Cpt.

No Kiddin'. South Korea?

I could have sworn they kind of appreciated us for kind of making it so they kind of didn't have to kind of suffer under the worst communist regime to ever exist. Maybe we should just let Kim Jong Il unify the peninsula.

The M1 Money Multiplier

Your Captain is a monetarist and (admittedly) has in his mental mind a simple model or "concept" of what role money plays in an economy. Ultimately money does not matter in that it is the amount of "stuff" we produce in a nation that determines its wealth. Sure, tinkering with the money supply can have an effect on the economy, largely a negative one, by distorting prices, triggering a misallocation of resources, and sending us into a recession. But if the government were to just keep the money supply in line with RGDP growth, inflation should be 0% (which brings up a question the Captain has had for a while "Why doesn't the Fed just aim for 0% inflation?").

But if you want to believe in Keynesianism and Santa Claus and the Boogeyman, you can study "multiplier effects."



I find the chart interesting on two accounts. One, the general decline in the M1 money multiplier (suggesting electronic payments are taking over physical cash transactions) and two the cliff during this last recession. It is here I believe is one of the reasons why the stimulus package has failed and is a vital flaw in Keynesian economics. When you mortgage the future of the country to the point of insolvency, people tend to close up their wallets. Therefore the more you "prime the pump" at the expense of mortgaging the future, the more people tighten their wallets in fear of worse economic times ahead, negating any effects of the stimulus.

Ultimately though what this teaches us is that Keynesian intervention (or any government intervention) into an economy is simply social engineering. As the US has aged, it's gone from a people telling the government what they want it to do (for better or worse) to a government telling the people what they are going to do (for worse). It won't be until the people who head up the government realize they do not control the $14 trillion beast that is the US economy.

The MBA Bubble Continues

I think we need to call MBA's "Norman Dyke Degrees."

All the education, none of the experience.

Enjoy the decline!

"Plink!"

I love charts.

Happy 4th of July

It's a classic;

Send Off the Captain Right

Your Captain, as he does every year, is about to embark on his 2 month western vacation wherein he hops on his motorcycle and simply "ventures forth." This year's vacation will include the regular fossil hunting, mountain climbing, agate finding, buffalo dodging, camping, Texas Hold 'Em-ing, tornado-chasing and gun shooting. But he will also attempt to make it to Kemmerer, WY in an attempt to find a fish fossil (which is one of the few he does not have).

He will of course have a laptop with him and will be dispensing his super awesome economic genius, but if you want to help the Captain pay for the incredible amount o' gas he is going to consume (despite being on a motorcycle) as well as give him a thank you for the sage-advice on economics he's already given you may do so by clicking on any of the links in the side bar.

Of particular note is the now-nearly free Kindle version of his book and his online class, both of which you will get more than your money's worth. You can also donate to the Captain's Pay Pal account, in which case you will get nothing in return, but then you can lord over him about how he had to take charity from you and he will forever owe part of his future success to you.

All proceeds go to the Captain's "Gas and Rumpleminze Fund" which keeps him and his motorcycle fueled.

Failed at Tornado Chasing

But a buddy of mine got one heck of a photo of a sunset reflecting on the remnants of the storms that rolled through;

"Stocks Gain After "STRONG" Industrial Report"

So the PMI comes out higher than expected.

The Dow Jones shoots up 100 points.

"Hurray! The economy is finally recovering!"

That is until you do the job the media is supposed to be doing and put it in context. I circled the increase from 53.5 to the "strong" 55.3 between May and June.


I added the additional "POW!" to make it look like the old Batman TV show to give it more of an effect.

Filed under - "The Cancer is Spreading Less Slowly"

An Argument to Increase the Voting Age to 30