Please Don't Emulate Us

Seems our British counterparts are running eerily similar fiscal balances to us here in the US.



Alas, it seems Blair and Bush wish to accomplish what Reagan did;

Cut taxes to make those who work and contribute happy, while boosting social spending to glean leftists and lazies from the left.

Of course, the gamble they take is that the tax cuts will pay for the increased spending by having the economy grow fiercely, thereby increasing the tax base, and thus increasing nominal tax revenues.

This does work, but the problem is the government spends even more money that what the tax cuts brought in in added government revenue, resulting in deficits, accumulating into debt.

But to the savvy politician, debt is no concern, because you can always rely on a young and ignorant generation to spread their butt cheeks, blissfully unaware of the future financial raping they're about to get in the future.

Hopefully, you will have retired from politics or passed away by that time, effectively pulling off the perfect crime.

A Damn Good Article

No, I mean that.

It's like when a guy friend of yours comes up to you and says, "Dude, Captain Capitalism, I met this TOTALLY HOT BABE! You got to meet her."

And then you meet her and she is nothing really attractive.

No, this article REALLY is a hot babe.

Must read.

Do it.

Now!

Reading is manditory.

There will be ramifications for your failure to read.

Fat Americans

Critique our lefter leaning European socialists as I may, but I will admit one thing;

They're in better shape than us.

Heck, most of the world is in better shape than us.

I go to the gas station only to see some fat sow with an arm-load of candy and junk food in her hands drop more on fattening foods (and cigarettes and lottery tickets) than she did on gas.

And their male counterparts, sitting their with their beer in their hands, watching football, don't redeem the men either.

Sad, because you'd think one of the finer pleasures in life is being physically attractive to somebody so you can have wild crazy hot greasy monkey sex.

(From The Economist's The World in 2006, get a freaking subscription already)

Perhaps eating is more enjoyable than sex...though I've yet to have a Chipotle fajita that is that good.

They Should Do This with Most Major Cities

And isn't it nice of The Economist to allow you to read this for free?

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6888761

Well, He's Just an Old Coot

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/05/news/newsmakers/buffett_050606/index.htm?cnn=yes

The Canucks Are Coming!

Normally when you think of Canada, you think of inferior baseball teams, inferior hockey teams, great snipers, Conan O'Brien, "Strange Brew" and...umm....Brad.

But it seems the Canadians are kicking their southern neighbor's ass in one regard; trade.

Not that I have seen much statistics on the Canadian consumer, but I'd surmise they are a bit more fiscally responsible than their southern American counterparts. That and with the run up in commodity prices, their western provinces have (high time) been kicking the eastern provinces' asses.

They are also kicking the US' ass in trade and it is reflected in our exchange rate.

And I can only surmise what would happen when they manage to get that oil out of their sands there for under $90/ barrel.

Regardless, fishermen and hockey players may give way to future oil barrons and currency raiders, eh?

(future oil barrons?)

(Currency raiders at the gates?)

Represent Tasmania!

Sweet! Just got representation in Tasmania!

Oddly, I have no representation in Russia. That is odd. What kind of blog gets representation in Tasmania, but not Russia? Why do the Russians hate me so? What have I done to them? Will have to write about Putin or ballet or something.

Well There's a Shocker

Wait, wait wait. Lemme see if I get this right.

The one country that doesn't treat their women like cattle,

The one country that has a full fledged functional democracy,

The one country that hasn't mixed Islam with government,

The one country with the technical capability of fighting 3 multiple front wars,

The one country that without oil is still able to manage an GDP per Capita of over $15,000

And the one country that hasn't tendered men to chicken out on life and go bomb some infidels because it's a short cut to heaven

THAT'S ISRAEL?????
How can that be!!???

You know what it is!!!?? It's those damn Jews! That's what it is!

You're right, it IS those damn Jews. Because it certainly isn't Islam that's kickin' economic ass and offering a reason to live and enjoy life (although I will make a tentative exception for Indonesia).

Remember to Join Us!

Tomorrow, Saturday for THE ECONOMICS SUPPER CLUB!

AM 1500

1-3PM Central Standard Time

And for those of you stuck near a computer and are out of state and just need that good economics loving' feel free to listen online;

http://www.am1500.com/subpages/streamsupport.htm

1-877-615-1500

Up on tap will be the stupidity of public sector architecture and my recent acquisition of the World in Figures Pocketbook 2006!!!!

What hilarity will ensue???

Find out when you tune into THE ECONOMICS SUPPER CLUB!

Would it Kill the Public Sector to Try????

OK, so one major issue I have that delves into environmental economics is the negative externalities I must suffer because various local, federal and state governments insist on implementing some kind of affirmative action program when it comes to architects. For it seems it must be a requirement that they go find some schlepp, with absolutely no artistic or architectural talent about them, to design the most god awful looking heaps of crap that inevitably only become eye sores in our skyline.

I view it no differently than I do graffiti. It's absolutely painful to look at. But at least with graffiti all it costs me is tax payer money to clean it up. When it comes to these buildings we're talking billions of dollars of money pissed away AND IT NEVER GOES AWAY.

Now, I am not absolutely 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure the new Guthrie theater that is under construction has received some tax payer money to be built. And with my newly acquired digital camera I decided to take a picture of it to show you just what how much "talent" and "brilliance" the architect of this "cutting edge and state of the art" theater put into it.


Now, I know, you in the "art" community will no doubt contend this is GENIUS! That I am just a foolish rube who cannot appreciate the complicated design of appreciate the theory that went into this over blown lego.

I'll just tell you what the truth is;

"Minimalist art" is just another word for "Your daddy's rich, and you ain't got no talent, so to spare your feelings, people who feel sorry for you, or are untalented losers such as yourselves will buy your crap."

Sorry, that's just what it is.

Now go and do society a favor and flip burgers or something.

Next up will be the Walker Art Center. But that is for another time.

Can You Spot the Problem?

I know they're getting butchered down there, but let me know if you can spot the problem that's constantly running in the background and is a catalyst for all that plagues Africa.

Speaking of Labor Productivity

I must be on some French kick.

Whenst speaking about various traits and factors that contribute to economic growth and the production of wealth, inevitably the argument goes something like this about the French;

"Their men may be pansies.

75% of their students may expect/wish to have a government job.

They may not realize Poles or Czechs can do just a good of a job as they can for a mere fraction of the cost and without the whining.

And they may never put the two words "defend" and "Paris" together.

But shucks howdy their labor productivity beats most."

It's kind of the silver lining in the cloud.

"We may work only 20 hours a week.

A full 30% of our abled bodied people sit on their asses.

And what people do work it is largely in the public sector, thusly our labors are largely wasted.

But we're efficient!"

Well good for you.

Or perhaps not.

For while I had some handy dandy charts a couple years old showing various measures of labor productivity, and those figures showed the French did indeed produce more per hour (although what use is it if you're only working 3 hours a day?), when I pulled the most recent figures from the OECD and indexed them, it seems that the French are, well....um...kind of doing like they do in the Tour de France;

Falling behind.
Not that the US itself has been doing any major ass kicking like the likes of Korea or Ireland, but since about the late 90's the French just can't seem to squeeze out that extra production per hour like most other countries.

And I can't wait to see what's happend to labor productivity in 2006 with those protests and all.

Yeah, That's Going to Attract Investment

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/9153845/detail.html

Good to see Detroit will remain the sh!thole that it's always been.

Volatility Versus Growth

I had a theory that countries that experience more volatile or erratic economic growth probably do so because the government doesn't intervene or try to regulate the ebbs and flows of the economy. Smoothing out what would otherwise be the US rollercoaster ride so that weak-stomached European socialists can be sure their bottle of milk is there everyday...sure it may cost 40 Euros, but the bottle of milk is there. Meanwhile their riskier US counterparts are willing to risk it that their milk may not be there tomorrow or the day after in the gamble and hope that the farmers may have restructured their operations to deliver that same bottle of milk for only $2.

So what I did was run a correlation between the OECD member countries' average economic growth and the standard deviation in that growth to see if more volatile economic growth coincided with high average economic growth;

And what do you know, I'm right once again.

It seems that if the government steps aside, lets people make decisions (good or bad) for themselves, the people will inevitably make the right choices. It also suggests that if markets are allowed to be volatile, yes, there may be a rollercoaster, but those markets are allowed to adjust quicker. That capital and resources are allocated more efficiently, and thus losses caused by mistakes are cut short and profitable ventures and industries are allowed to be chased and exploited with the utmost of efficiency...meanwhile the French still pay 50 Euro's for a bottle of milk.

Of course, thus far all I've proved is that economies that are more volatile have on average higher economic growth rates. This says nothing about how much the government intervenes in those countries. Thusly I ran another correlation, this time with government expenditures as a percent of GDP versus the volatility of that country's economic growth.

Again confirming what I have suspected.

Alas it seems that if you want to get the big economic thrills you have to stomach the big roller coaster rides. Too bad our European counterparts are stuck on the little kiddie rides.

Ahh, French Standards of Living

A mere fraction of the US'

Always has been, always will be.

And do my economic spidey senses detect a slight downward trend?

(FYI, this was calculated by French GDP per Capita divided by US GDP per Capita)

Ahh, the French Work Ethic

Been meaning to get some more originally researched charts.

Now that tax season has abated and I'm not broadcasting everyday this week, I can get back to my old self.

And what better way than slamming on the French?!

Bartiromo Can Move My Markets Anytime

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12583997/

You Mean the World is Not Ending????

Wow, I'm still here.

And my Jimmy John's sub was made like it should have been.

And the roads are flowing.

Electricity is still ample.

The banks are open.

Chaos has not ensued.

Guess you immigrants, illegal or legal, really aren't that vital are you?

Represent!

So it seems Captain Capitalism has gone global, minus a presence in Greenland, Antarctica, and Africa...

Or in others words, I've effectively gone global anywhere it matters since the above mentioned areas have no economy to speak of.

Regardless, this was a pretty cool add-in, might want to imbed the code into your web site see where you're getting hits.

More Oil

Sorry for being so sparse with the posts. Just busy as hell.