Dogs are animals of integrity. We have much to learn from them.
Year: 2009
Vulcan XH558 and Red Arrows, Dawlish, Devon, England, August 20th 2009
A few weeks ago, a Post featured the Avro Vulcan, a Cold War nuclear bomber returned to flying condition. Well here it is again, with friends.
Dawlish is a lovely, typical sea-side town in the county of Devon in the SW of England. It is less than 15 miles away from Totnes in Devon which, for many years, was my local town.
The weather in Dawlish can be delightful – sometimes!
But the setting is perfect for an air show.
Inflation, deflation, economic crisis and so on, getting to the bottom of meanings.
Inflation – Part two
Part One was published on the 23rd.
Paul responds
Sherry,
My first realisation is that I don’t really understand what “money growth” really means. In fact I am little uncertain about money, as a concept!
Are we talking ‘growth’ as in more and more money being lent to the US Treasury Department from the [ever increasing] sale of US Treasury Bonds?
If the sale of these Bonds is to banks or institutions outside the US then there is a flow of money coming into the US via the Treasury Department that then comes into the economy via various Government programmes. Is that correct?
But this is money lent to the US. That means that in order for the US to pay it back (plus interest) there has to be the expectation of taxation income in the future sufficient to meet these debts. As my Pension advisor said, “More credit also means more debt.”
Inflation, deflation, economic crisis and so on, getting to the bottom of meanings.
The background.
Not so long ago there was an exchange between me and Dr Sherry Jarrell about the meaning of inflation. Dr Jarrell is, in every meaning of the words, a qualified economist so when I had the courage/stupidity/ignorance to query her views I could not have been more surprised to receive this:
You won’t reveal a lack of understanding of economics — there are co-existing opposing points of view on the topic – that’s why it made for an interesting discussion! (My italics)
This got me thinking. If your author, who is reasonably well-read about many things especially protecting what little wealth he has, can miss such a fundamental point, then there must be a huge number of other people who, likewise, miss the point and, even more important, don’t even realise it!
Over the last few weeks Dr Jarrell has not only found time to debate with me, she, too, has realised that a more rigorous exploration of what many economic and financial terms mean has real value for readers of this Blog as well her own Blog.
Therefore I am delighted to welcome Sherry Jarrell to the team of authors.
These essays will attempt to distil clarity out of a number of basic economic ideas, starting with inflation. That seems to be a worry widely ‘predicted’ in the general media as well as elsewhere.
The essay is in the form of a debate format, albeit virtually. We hope it is both informative and educational. Please let us know by leaving a comment!
Inflation.
Edward Luce in the Financial Times reflects on Obama’s miserable August
Who would ever be a leading politician? It must be a hell of a job.
Edward Luce has a fascinating and, well, touching, commentary in yesterday’s (21st) Financial Times.
Whatever one’s political leanings it’s difficult not to get a feeling for the toughness of the job of leading the Nation.
The quote? Attributed to Mario Cuomo, the former Governor of New York. And Edward Luce is the Washington Bureau chief of the Financial Times. A graduate of Oxford University (politics, philosophy and economics) he is no stranger to the world of politics as his father was the British conservative politician Richard Luce, a noble Lord no less.
By Paul Handover
Being healthier seems too obvious!
Not being either a US Citizen or even a resident takes away my right to contribute an opinion. The matter is entirely a domestic one for those living in the USA.
But my life-long Californian buddy, Dan, recently sent me an article published in the Wall Street Journal on the 12th August. The article was written by John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods Market Inc. so this isn’t an impartial perspective. (And see an important foot-note at the end of this Post)
But the last part of the article is good common sense, as you can read:
Imaginative versions of the film Downfall
My son, who is a commercial pilot flying with a company that have a number of Boeing 787s on order, sent me a YouTube clip that is a re-subtitled version of the film Downfall. That film, by the way, is an excellent portrayal of the
last days of Hitler in 1945 and well recommended.
Anyway, it appears that the art of substitution is alive and well because a YouTube search reveals film clips of Hitler learning about Michael Jackson’s death, Hitler being banned from playing XBox Live, Hitler loves his waffles and more.
This particular clip is about Hitler learning of delays in the delivery of the Boeing 787. It’s funny (but does include some minor vulgarity).
The amino acid glycine is found on a comet.
There’s a fascinating article on Reuters, published on the 18th. It is that scientists have finally proved that an amino
acid found on a comet is extraterrestrial in origin and, therefore, supports the theory that life came to Planet Earth from the stars.
Microscopic traces of glycine were discovered in a sample of particles retrieved from the tail of comet Wild 2 by the NASA spacecraft Stardust deep in the solar system some 242 million miles (390 million km) from Earth, in January 2004.
Samples of gas and dust collected on a small dish lined with a super-fluffy material called aerogel were returned to Earth two years later in a canister that detached from the spacecraft and landed by parachute in the Utah desert.
There’s a fuller and more scientific description of the NASA Stardust spacecraft mission here. That site is well worth a visit if you are in the slightest way interested in space.
Stardust completed its 2.88 billion mile round-trip journey to a comet and back, bringing comet and interstellar dust particles back to Earth on January 15, 2006.
So when you next look into the eyes of your loved one,
and see starlight there,
it may not be entirely a romantic notion!
By Paul Handover
Freedom and justice needs active participation.
Let me start with an extract from the Henrik Hudson School District Library Media Centre:
Perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders, victims: we can be clear about three of these categories. The bystander, however, is the fulcrum. If there are enough notable exceptions, then protest reaches a critical mass. We don’t usually think of history as being shaped by silence, but, as English philosopher Edmund Burke said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’ (My source for this is here.)
So what has prompted this Post?
Conflicting views about the economic outlook
Here are two extracts:
The first from Prof. Nouriel Roubini in his RGE Monitor of today’s date:
A number of economic and financial variables have exhibited signs of improvement recently even if macro indicators are still mixed. The pace of economic deterioration has slowed significantly, and after four quarters of severe contraction in economic activity, RGE Monitor now forecasts that the U.S. will display positive real GDP growth in the second half of 2009. As discussed below, however, that does not mean that the recession in the U.S. is already over, as many analysts have argued. Indeed, all the variables used by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) to date recessionary periods will continue to contract or display sub-par growth. However, RGE Monitor now anticipates that policy measures and other factors will boost real GDP growth, albeit in a temporary manner, in the second half of 2009. Yet the shape of the recovery (will it be V, U or W?) and other challenges will influence the U.S. economic outlook going forward. According to RGE Monitor, growth will remain well below potential in 2010, while the shape of the recovery will be closer to a U.
The second is from David Rosenberg in yesterday’s Breakfast with Dave:
A glimpse into the soul of a Nation
My view is that this Blog should be (much) less about the lives of the Blog authors and more about the world we live in within the self-imposed theme of the Blog; integrity.
However, what happened at 405 West Congress in Tucson, Arizona, last Friday morning is an exception to the rule.
405 West Congress is the address of the Courthouse in Tucson.
So what brings 50 people, family and friends to a court house in Tucson on a Friday morning in August?
The swearing-in of a group of people to be US Citizens or more properly described as the Order of Admission to Citizenship; the actual process of becoming a US Citizen, other than having been born in the Nation.
It gave me an amazing insight into the generosity of the United States of America and, indeed, of all other free countries in the world that welcome incomers.
Let me explain.
Learning from Dogs 