Search LBO-Talk Archives

2746 [lbo-talk] support WBAI, and BtN, please -- rank: 1000

On Oct 13, 2010, at 1:31 PM, shrill.polemic wrote: > Done and done - thanks for the hours of great radio, Doug. Thanks a million. I feel torn about this, because WBAI's so shaky. But it's all a bit last-ditch now...

Document Size:	4799
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Oct 13 10:39:44 PDT 2010

2747 [lbo-talk] support WBAI, and BtN, please -- rank: 1000

<http://lbo-news.com/2010/10/13/support- behind-the-news -on-wbai really/> Support Behind the News on WBAI really! WBAI is in the midst of a crucial fundraising marathon now, running through most of this month. The station is in very bad shape financially, and unless we raise a bundle in the coming weeks, there could be dire consequences. And the interim program director has made some noises about bringing in some big names in the 5 6 PM slot. That s my slot, at least on Thursdays, and ...

Document Size:	5693
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Oct 13 09:11:22 PDT 2010

2748 [lbo-talk] Rêve Générale -- rank: 1000

On Oct 13, 2010, at 10:08 AM, SA quoted: > "Rêve Générale" Oh, those French! But at least they back up their charming discourse with some serious action. Here, we've got about 40 people deploying puppets. Doug

Document Size:	4837
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Oct 13 07:23:46 PDT 2010

2749 [lbo-talk] what government spending? -- rank: 1000

On Oct 12, 2010, at 2:59 PM, Wojtek S wrote: > Transfers, such as social security, are a > direct benefit to households, so they would not constitute "government > waste" by any stretch of imagination, as the right wing trolls try to > argue. You can cite stats til you're blue in the face and you're not going to change a single mind on this, I'm afraid. Doug

Document Size:	5052
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 12 12:13:34 PDT 2010

2750 [lbo-talk] In Re: spending as a percentage of GDP ... -- rank: 1000

On Oct 12, 2010, at 2:29 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > It's only a question of what you mean by "way up" -- and what you think the response to saying that should be. Nominal spending rose almost 30% between the end of 2007 and the 2nd quarter of 2010, a time when nominal GDP is up 2%. I think a rise of nearly a third when the economy's been flat counts as "way up." You can argue that it should have been bigger - I'd argue that it should have been bigger but mostly better - but ...

Document Size:	5295
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 12 11:42:47 PDT 2010

2751 [lbo-talk] what government spending? -- rank: 1000

On Oct 12, 2010, at 2:19 PM, Wojtek S wrote: > How did you get 42%? 5/14=.357 which is close to what Krugman > reports. Governmetn current expenditures are in table 3.16 (currently > unavailable, but I downloaded it some time ago). GDP, including > government consumption expenditure is table 1.1.15. Transfers do not count as part of GDP, since they're not an exchange of money for good or service, but it's disingenuous not to take account of them when measuring government spending. ...

Document Size:	5286
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 12 11:38:19 PDT 2010

2752 [lbo-talk] In Re: spending as a percentage of GDP ... -- rank: 1000

On Oct 12, 2010, at 1:49 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > Don't forget that Krugman is of the camp that Federal spending as a percentage of GDP is *below* where it "should" be right now; he's comfortable with it all the way up to what some people call the "line of death" -- 90% or so. I'm fine with that too, but there's no denying that federal spending is way up and revenues are down.

Document Size:	5109
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 12 11:11:41 PDT 2010

2753 [lbo-talk] spending as a percentage of GDP ... -- rank: 1000

On Oct 12, 2010, at 1:35 PM, James Heartfield wrote: > So it's only another thousand billion then, or an increase of 25 per cent, so that's alright. I really don't get where you're going with this. You think the U.S. should follow the Cameron way and cut spending savagely? Doug

Document Size:	4896
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 12 10:50:07 PDT 2010

2754 [lbo-talk] In Re: spending as a percentage of GDP ... -- rank: 1000

On Oct 12, 2010, at 1:02 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > Krugman making the same point today: I was a little mystified by his point. The federal share of GDP is up 5 percentage points over the last three years - 1 point consumption and almost 4 points transfers. Investment is up just 0.2 point, which is stupid. But 5 points is a lot. Revenue over the same period is down more than 2 points. Much of the decline in revenue and rise in transfers is the result of the recession, but still, these are big ...

Document Size:	5222
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 12 10:38:31 PDT 2010

2755 [lbo-talk] what government spending? -- rank: 1000

On Oct 12, 2010, at 11:28 AM, Wojtek S wrote: > According to BEA data > http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Selected=Y > table 1.1.5 > government (fed, state & local) consumption expenditures and > investment in 2009 were $2.9 trillion which is about 20% of GDP. > > What I find particularly annoying is that finding believable numbers > on the internet takes about 5 minutes (it actually took me 40 seconds, > but I already know where to look for them ...

Document Size:	6403
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Oct 12 09:55:34 PDT 2010

2756 [lbo-talk] revealed: Obama really really is a socialist, really -- rank: 1000

On Oct 11, 2010, at 10:50 AM, Wojtek S wrote: > First, polls do not measure public opinion, but manipulate it. Some do, some don't. They can constrain the realm of the possible, and tell people what to think (if not think about), as they say in the pub opin biz, but honest detailed ones can also reveal things about what people think. And what most people think is very contradictory. It's completely unsystematic, based on hearsay and instinct and fantasy. Doug

Document Size:	5266
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Oct 11 07:57:14 PDT 2010

2757 [lbo-talk] Gentrification shock -- rank: 1000

On Oct 10, 2010, at 6:41 PM, Chuck Munson wrote: > Arlington looks like it is going through hyper-boom times while the > rest of the country is headed towards third world conditions. Between the beginning of the recession in December 2007 and the trough in employment in December 2009, the U.S. lost about 6% of its jobs (about 8.4 million). Washington DC gained 0.3%. Not a boom, at all but they sure avoided the bust. Doug

Document Size:	4917
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Oct 10 15:53:47 PDT 2010

2758 [lbo-talk] modern art -- rank: 1000

[via The Awl] http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/Provocative_Berlusconi_soap_goes_on_show_.html Provocative Berlusconi soap goes on show A bar of soap allegedly made of fat removed from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has gone on show in Zurich. It is part of an exhibition at the Migros museum of contemporary art, whose news release explains that the fat was removed when Berlusconi underwent liposuction at a clinic in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino in 2004. An employee of the ...

Document Size:	5398
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Oct 10 12:49:46 PDT 2010

2759 [lbo-talk] Yves Klein: Foreclosure Fraud and the million missingnotes -- rank: 1000

So who's been getting all the mortgage payments? If the legal claims are not clear, what about the money flow? Doug

Document Size:	4942
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Oct 10 09:20:49 PDT 2010

2760 [lbo-talk] They're printing another trillion.... -- rank: 1000

On Oct 9, 2010, at 11:00 AM, 123hop at comcast.net wrote: > It's not the printing that's the problem, it's what the fabricated money will be used for that's the problem. > > They will not be using it to create jobs, fix roads, etc. As a friend of mine recently put it, the bourgeoisie has decided that they want capital-friendly monetary stimulus, and not more working-class-friendly fiscal stimulus. Doug

Document Size:	5150
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sun Oct 10 09:10:15 PDT 2010