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2101 [lbo-talk] Once again, food prices -- rank: 1000

On Feb 9, 2011, at 1:13 PM, SA wrote: > Okay, so this is telling us that *commodity funds* received $60bn in net inflows. They used that money to buy commodities contracts, I'm assuming. That made them buyers. But who sold them the commodities contracts? Sellers, of course. So the net flow into commodities contracts was zero. So you're telling me that an inflow of $60b into commodity funds from buyers who weren't there before won't tend to drive prices higher? Really? Especially when the buye ...

Document Size:	5844
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 9 11:06:05 PST 2011

2102 [lbo-talk] Once again, food prices -- rank: 1000

On Feb 9, 2011, at 1:25 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > I have to correct something key in this thread: when a trade occurs, it is true that the buyer and the seller are exchanging an equal amount. But: in the moment just before the trade, there was a gap between what the "best bid" is willing to pay and the "best ask" was willing to accept. At the moment of the trade, one of them blinked. Either the buyer was willing to buy-up; or the seller was willing to sell-down. So whil ...

Document Size:	5144
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 9 10:44:55 PST 2011

2103 [lbo-talk] Once again, food prices -- rank: 1000

On Feb 9, 2011, at 12:24 PM, SA wrote: >> I don't get the idea that there aren't measurable net flows of money in and out of asset classes. > > I don't see how you could meaningfully measure that, even in principle. E.g.: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/01/18/uk-commodities-funds-flows-idUKLNE70H01520110118

Document Size:	4958
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 9 09:36:46 PST 2011

2104 [lbo-talk] Once again, food prices -- rank: 1000

On Feb 9, 2011, at 11:17 AM, SA wrote: > But this isn't a trivial point. The claim that for every buyer there's a seller is true. That's why explaining financial price movements by reference to "amounts of money" flowing into this or that asset can only be true in a metaphorical or shorthand sense. The real cause, of course, is that the price *at which* the amounts of money on both sides balance has gone up. I know, I know - everybody already knows this. But it means that financial ...

Document Size:	5742
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 9 08:25:47 PST 2011

2105 [lbo-talk] how the regime is winning in Egypt -- rank: 1000

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/ARTICLES/67351/joshua-stacher/egypts-democratic-mirage?page=show Egypt's Democratic Mirage How Cairo s Authoritarian Regime Is Adapting to Preserve Itself Despite the tenacity, optimism, and blood of the protesters massed in Tahrir Square, Egypt's democratic window has probably already closed. Contrary to the dominant media narrative, over the last ten days the Egyptian state has not experienced a regime breakdown. The protests have certainly rocked the system and h ...

Document Size:	6077
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 9 07:29:53 PST 2011

2106 [lbo-talk] Once again, food prices -- rank: 1000

On Feb 9, 2011, at 10:02 AM, Shane Mage wrote: > "All the money?" Doesn't every trade have two equal--and opposite--sides? Oh right. Markets can never go up or down because for every seller there's a buyer, and vice versa. Perfect balance!

Document Size:	4760
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 9 07:21:26 PST 2011

2107 [lbo-talk] Once again, food prices -- rank: 1000

On Feb 9, 2011, at 9:13 AM, Wojtek S wrote: > I am not an expert in this area, but your explanation blaming the > speculators does not sound very convincing. How on earth can a narrow group > of people manipulate the prices of products whose production and > distribution is so decentralized. Food is not oil or credit, for chrissake. There are real issues around food - on the supply side, climate change, and on the demand, increasing affluence in Asia - but as with a lot of things, ...

Document Size:	5424
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 9 06:41:03 PST 2011

2108 [lbo-talk] Sternberg article on Academically Adrift -- rank: 1000

On Feb 8, 2011, at 3:34 PM, Miles Jackson wrote: > Inside Higher Ed just published a good piece by Robert Sternberg on Academically Adrift: > > http://bit.ly/dPWLuV I'm guessing that a lot of people (including one rather vocal critic who's very unlikely to follow the link), won't like this part: Analytical thinking. The tests measure reasonably well analytical (or critical) thinking, somewhat narrowly defined. This kind of thinking is important in being able to analyze an argument, eval ...

Document Size:	6793
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 8 12:59:26 PST 2011

2109 [lbo-talk] Goodbye to the export of surplus capital? -- rank: 1000

On Feb 8, 2011, at 8:18 AM, Marv Gandall wrote: > I'd be curious to know from those who have made a careful study of Marx, what if anything he had to say about the 19th century market in agricultural futures? I've read pretty much everything Marx wrote about finance and I don't recall anything. But my memory ain't what it used to be. Also: options (on stocks) were traded in 17th century Amsterdam, so derivatives have a longer history even than ag futures. Doug

Document Size:	5156
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 8 10:06:20 PST 2011

2110 [lbo-talk] more DLC -- rank: 1000

On Feb 7, 2011, at 10:16 PM, Doug Henwood wrote: > Ben Smith has published a new story: > > > The end of the DLC era > > The outfit is on the verge of bankruptcy and is closing its doors, says its founder, Al From. > > Read More Oops, sorry, lost the link: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49041.html

Document Size:	4845
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Feb 7 19:23:45 PST 2011

2111 [lbo-talk] more DLC -- rank: 1000

Ben Smith has published a new story: The end of the DLC era The outfit is on the verge of bankruptcy and is closing its doors, says its founder, Al From. Read More

Document Size:	4586
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Feb 7 19:16:20 PST 2011

2112 [lbo-talk] Frank Wisner, Empire's Bagman by Vijay Prashad -- rank: 1000

On Feb 7, 2011, at 7:47 PM, Chuck Grimes wrote: > Vijay Prashad appear on today's Democracy Now He appeared on Saturday's Behind the News, and also talked about the Egyptian class structure. http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html#S110205

Document Size:	5037
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Feb 7 18:03:48 PST 2011

2113 [lbo-talk] DLC, RIP? -- rank: 1000

Wow, Mission Accomplished? POLITICO Breaking News ------------------------------------------------- The Democratic Leadership Council, the iconic centrist organization of the Clinton years, is out of money and could close its doors as soon as next week, a person familiar with the plans said. For more information... http://www.politico.com

Document Size:	4818
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Feb 7 13:38:38 PST 2011

2114 [lbo-talk] Goodbye to the export of surplus capital? -- rank: 1000

On Feb 7, 2011, at 2:43 PM, SA wrote: > On 2/7/2011 2:18 PM, Doug Henwood wrote: > >> Schumpeter in 1939: "It is one of the most characteristic features of the financial side of capitalist evolution so to mobilize all, even the longest, maturities as to make any commitment to a promise of future balances amenable to being in turn financed by any sort of funds and especially by funds available for short time, even overnight, only. This is not mere technique. This is part of the ...

Document Size:	5715
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Feb 7 11:54:27 PST 2011

2115 [lbo-talk] Goodbye to the export of surplus capital? -- rank: 1000

On Feb 7, 2011, at 2:12 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > Meh, not so good of a question. Deregegulation is almost always code for "let me cheat" ... and usually when granted it's because the rest of the sentence is "... and I'll help you out" This is true, but why did it get going in earnest in the mid- to late-1970s and not ten or twenty years earlier?

Document Size:	5053
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Feb 7 11:34:56 PST 2011