The Housing Bubble

Here is your word for today MacBeth: Egalitarianism

Egalitarianism is a trend of thought in political philosophy. An egalitarian favors equality of some sort: People should get the same, or be treated the same, or be treated as equals, in some respect. Egalitarian doctrines tend to express the idea that all human persons are equal in fundamental worth or moral status. So far as the Western European and Anglo-American philosophical tradition is concerned, one significant source of this thought is the Christian notion that God loves all human souls equally. Egalitarianism is a protean doctrine, because there are several different types of equality, or ways in which people might be treated the same, that might be thought desirable. In modern democratic societies, the term “egalitarian” is often used to refer to a position that favors, for any of a wide array of reasons, a greater degree of equality of income and wealth across persons than currently exists.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/

Please note the relationship between Lockean Rights:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/egalitarianism/#3.1

Your word for the day is Pious.

No need for me to explain to others here what that means. Examples abound.

United States was exceptional because while we valued both liberty and equality, we valued liberty more. The French value equality more than liberty and thus never achieved with their revolution what we achieved with ours.

Beautifully stated, Dan.

Be sure to pass the idea along to today’s youth.

It’s vital we keep it alive.

“…we valued liberty more.”

A null and void concept for the Koch brothers.

American “liberty”is liberty to enslave others people like Koch brothers are trying to do by eliminating Unions in United States. They want Americans like in third world countries to work for $2 an hour… for them that is the proper equality for the slaves like us… Viv la GOP

It now has gotten to the point where the typical, 100 I.Q. Joe and Jill 6-pack know their freedoms are rapidly disappearing.

This is absurd: On what planet do Joe and Jill move the stock market?

United States was exceptional because while we valued both liberty and equality, we valued liberty more. The French value equality more than liberty and thus never achieved with their revolution what we achieved with ours.

Liberty for the 1%; cake for the 99%.

Cantankerous:

People do not need to know why something is happening to them to consciously experience it happening to them.

Later today, someone can stick a 357 in your face and without you’re knowing why they’re doing so, you know your life is on the line.

Same with Joe and Jill 6-pack today.

You need to be a little more non-biased in your reasoning process and your assumptions. You sell many people short.

People do not need to know why something is happening to them to consciously experience it happening to them.

Good point. For instance, right now I am consciously experiencing a group of posters who seem reluctant to admit that further political propaganda effort became irrelevant a couple of days ago.

As much as you and other university employees don’t like it, there will always be people who have different political views than one’s own.

My political view happens to tilt heavily in favor of The Constitution and rights for individuals rather than rights for groups.

The individual is always the smallest minority.

I know that irks you, but so be it.

Two dollars an hour would start looking pretty good if you were starving.

“…The French value equality more than liberty and thus never achieved with their revolution what we achieved with ours….”

What nonsense. The French eliminated their aristocracy. America enabled the formation of a new one that survives to this day. But over the vociferous objections of our latter-day Tories, we’re actively involved in dismantling it.

“The French eliminated their aristocracy. America enabled the formation of a new one that survives to this day. But over the vociferous objections of our latter-day Tories, we’re actively involved in dismantling it.”

Beautifully stated!

Here’s a “rights for the individual vs rights for the group” real life scenario. How would YOU deal with it?

John Galt One lives on a mountaintop and breeds Doberman Pinchers. They live in cages and bark constantly, echoing down the mountain and through the valley day and night, every day and all night. John Galt One is deaf and drunk. He don’t care….

John Galt Two lives on the mountaintop opposite and runs a monastery. The monks can’t hear themselves think, let alone chant. John Galt Two and his monks DO care. They care a lot. The barking makes them crazy. Their cumulative rage at being John Galts and accepting individual liberty, is at odds with their human desire to choke the living sheet out of John Galt One’s dog collection. One of the monks dies of apoplexy brought on by that rage.

Both John Galts are heavily armed. Twenty armed monks, twenty barking Dobermans. Who’s gonna win?

NOW do you see why we have regulations?

“Who’s gonna win?

NOW do you see why we have regulations?”

Isn’t the Coase Theorem supposed to obviate the need for regulations in your scenario? (You also seem to assume mutually-assured destruction won’t suffice to maintain the unstable peace.)

If memory serves, then the Coase approach does not require regulations, but does require assignment of enforceable property rights.

For instance, if the property right belonged to John Galt One to keep unmuzzled noisy dogs as pets, the burden would fall on John Galt Two to build a soundproof enclosure around his monastery.

If the property right to a noise-free environment belonged to John Galt Two, he could legally require John Galt One to muzzle or otherwise silence his dogs.

Relevant real world example: The Endangered Species Act transferred property rights from people whose activities resulted in decline of certain animal populations towards extinction to another group of people interested in preventing extinction of said populations. But since the real world is far more complicated than the two-player John Galt situation, regulations are needed to implement the provisions of the Endangered Species Act.

P.S. Last I heard, Coase was still alive and taking interviews:

Nobel Laureate: ‘I’ve Been Wrong So Often, I Don’t Find It Extraordinary At All’
by David Kestenbaum
May 08, 2012 3:00 PM

They’re on separate mountain tops they each own, remember? Two opposing fiefdoms if you will. You’re presupposing a society with laws and title rights to mediate their feud. That requires regulations; an imposition of the group will over the individual’s rights.

My point: our umbrage here is over where to draw the line in order to maintain a balance. Anarchy is nice in theory, but much harder to pull off in practice.

“They’re on separate mountain tops they each own, remember?”

The issue isn’t who owns the mountain tops, but rather who owns the property right to either create or prevent the externality (noisy dogs, in this case).

You miss my point.

but rather who owns the property right to either create or prevent the externality

It seems they both believe they own conflicting property rights. One has the right to create the noise; one has the right not to hear the noise.

Which is the valid one, as two conflicting property rights cannot exist?

“It seems they both believe they own conflicting property rights.”

And I repeat myself:

…the Coase approach does not require regulations, but does require assignment of enforceable property rights.

It also requires low transaction costs. And even Coase argued that it generally didn’t apply in the real world, because of that.

Progressive idiots on parade again today. Keep talking amongst yourselves.

“NOW do you see why we have regulations?”

Funny, I thought The Constitution provided protective tenets, along with the Bill of Rights’ regulations.

Why not say what you really believe, ahansen? That the individual is subservient to group approval and group action.

Sounds like a government-sponsored/forced version of the 1950s, but let’s ignore that, shall we?

Brass tacks: I believe in the republic form of democracy. You don’t. You want to cede other people’s freedoms to a greater power.

A hansen is nothing more than a communist masquerading as some kind of moderate liberal. She is an extreme statist and wants to shape the world to fit her twisted view. All the while living miles away from the carnage she promotes.

Oh, knock it off Beth. I go for months without a face-to-face (or even voice-to-voice) conversation. Other than maybe BlueSkye and Lost-in-Utah, I am probably the most autonomous individualist posting on this blog– and answerable to by far the fewest. And unlike those of you who give it (constant, tedious) lip service, I actually have the bona fides (and the woodpile) to prove it.

I also understand that for an individual to survive, there must be as least occasional reciprocity to the group– even if that group is just a vegetable garden. If you care to buy off that subservience by paying taxes, consider it fee-for-service. That’s what I do.

Thank you for being a literate and reasoned voice for the loyal opposition. I really appreciate your original voice here.

-a

Nick-
You’re a cowardly twit with an undisciplined mind who adds nothing useful to the conversation. Consider yourself Joshua Treed. I strongly urge you to reciprocate.

Sorry lady, the rest of the readers will see my posts as long as Ben allows them. You just don’t like viewpoints that differ from your own. Go ahead and Joshua Tree, I consider that an honor.

Hansen-

I started to wrote a lengthy response, hit the wrong button and lost it into the ether.

Let’s talk more about this later. It may take a few days of cross-banter.

You puzzle me and you piss me off. The reverse probably also is true. So be it. However, since neither of us really gets the other, we’ll have to rectify it lest others here will lose interest in our divergent genius - LOL.

“Progressive idiots on parade again today. Keep talking amongst yourselves.”

Keep nursing your grudge and making off-topic posts (just kidding!).

“(And yes, Obama is your guy, even if you voted for Johnson. If the California race was close, you would have voted Obama all the way. Don’t pretend otherwise as you’re fooling no one).”

I was trying to fool no one by pointing out a bunch of moronic neocon posts whenever they showed up here.

But I suppose fools are, by definition, easily fooled.

“I was trying to fool no one by pointing out a bunch of moronic neocon posts whenever they showed up here.”

A red-letter moment! We agree in our intent. I dislike neocons as well.

Neocons run rampant through all of Washington, not just the GOP corridors.

Hence:

Obama = Bush
Bush = Obama

“But I suppose fools are, by definition, easily fooled.”

How else could we be turning out so many progressive/statist automatons from the university system?

What exactly is a “progressive”? I’m hoping nickpapageorgio can explain, as he uses the term in his every post.

“Progressive” seems like a great label to apply to anyone whose views disagree with your own bigoted view of the world, as there seems to be widespread confusion on what the word means.

July 12, 2010
Americans Unsure About “Progressive” Political Label
More than twice as many say label does not describe them as say it does
by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup polling reveals widespread public uncertainty about the “progressive” political label — a label recently embraced by no less than Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. While Kagan described her political views as “generally progressive” during her Senate confirmation hearings, fewer than half of Americans can say whether “progressive” does (12%) or does not (31%) describe their own views. The majority (54%) are unsure.
…

What I am eagerly looking forward to is the day the LDS church openly accepts gays, as many other churches have already done.

“Change comes gradually, but it does come. (See: gay rights, demographic shifts, smoking bans.) Some are the result of policy, some evolve naturally. The trick is managing it without inciting civil war.”

You know what ahansen, you and your ilk are a threat to liberty. Everything I have been saying about progressive/communist infiltrators is wrapped up int that one comment. I find it sickening and I will work until my dying breath to defeat your movement.

And I’m looking to news articles about black churches courting white, small-government conservatives!

Bring it on, brotha!

What I am eagerly looking forward to is the day the LDS church openly accepts gays, as many other churches have already done.

That’s going to totally depend on the definition of “accepts”. Marriage is the sticking point.

“You know what ahansen, you and your ilk are a threat to liberty.”

Primary tactic of a propagandist: Accuse those who disagree with your primary tactic of exercising it.

‘That’s going to totally depend on the definition of “accepts”.’

I was kind of thinking back to the prophet’s revelation on blacks a few decades back…

Yes. Once someone is in full fellowship and can hold the priesthood, they can marry in the temple. Homosexuals can already hold the priesthood if they are celibate, but I can’t see them every being allowed to marry someone in the temple who is not of the opposite sex. The entire church doctrine is built around marriage being between a man and a woman. I don’t think one sets the precedent for the other.

I am bitter today, my posts were rolling. I think I got it all out of my system, but I meant every word. Time to chill and go back to real life, I doubt I will be changing any hearts and minds here. Have a nice evening.

“I think I got it all out of my system, but I meant every word.”

Have a spiritual Sunday!

How about P/Es going below eight?

That’d be nice.

At those levels, I’d buy in regardless of how ugly the future prospects look.

“At those levels, I’d buy in regardless of how ugly the future prospects look.”

Ugly future prospects is what drives P/Es to go below eight.

Precisely.

Which is why I’m baffled at where the markets have been for the past three years.

Future prospects aren’t looking so great, but they haven’t been since 2007.

“Ugly future prospects is what drives P/Es to go below eight.”

Are you suggesting the presence or absence of intervention doesn’t matter to whether markets bottom out?

“Future prospects aren’t looking so great, but they haven’t been since 2007.”

Some may recall the U.S. stock market trying to find a bottom in March 2009, at which point the Fed invoked quantitative easing in response.

Assuming market participants have some semblance of rationality, they have been conditioned to believe the Fed will intervene to prevent the stock market from bottoming out. Unless the Fed changes its policy regime to prop up the market whenever it drops towards fundamental valuation levels, the kind of bottoming out some posters are suggesting might eventually happen, won’t happen.

“In the short term the stock market is a voting machine. In the long term it is a weighing machine.”

Or words that go something like that, according to Benjamin Graham.

If you can get enough people to “vote” for a stock then you can generate some interesting prices. (Look at what such voting did for the price of real estate.)

If you can get an entire population conditioned to vote for the entire stock market then the entire stock market can generate some interesting prices (again, look at what happened to real estate prices.)

And such voting works until it doesn’t - just as with everything else that has its price pumped up due to its specualtive nature. And when it stops working then the voting falls off and the weighing picks up.

Prime -

“Which is why I’m baffled at where the markets have been for the past three years.

Future prospects aren’t looking so great, but they haven’t been since 2007.”

Presently, future outlook has nothing to do with it. The debasement of the dollar and the printing press do.

Of course, it’ll end badly. Less badly for us if we’re first or if we can manage to stick other countries with our decreptitude. The latter may cause a war, however.

Sounds like mis-placed priorities….

Sounds like mis-placed priorities…. ??

Coming to a country near you.

No healthcare for unemployed Greeks

AS the head of Greece’s largest oncology department, Dr Kostas Syrigos thought he had seen everything. But nothing prepared him for Elena, an unemployed woman who had been diagnosed with breast cancer a year before she came to him.

By that time, her cancer had grown to the size of an orange and broken through the skin, leaving a wound that she was draining with paper napkins.

“When we saw her we were speechless,” said Dr Syrigos, the chief of oncology at Sotiria General Hospital in central Athens. “Everyone was crying. Things like that are described in textbooks, but you never see them because, until now, anybody who got sick in this country could always get help.”

Read more: No healthcare for unemployed Greeks - Columnist - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/no-healthcare-for-unemployed-greeks-1.162619#ixzz2Bpx6oFfR

“Sounds like mis-placed priorities….”

…now about all that wealth owned by those who write the laws and regulate them…

Coming to a country near you ??

Like I said….Misplaced priorities….

scdave-

What matters more to you personally - healthcare or freedom?

Individuals acting freely, or individuals living longer yet with restricted freedom?

Take your pick. Increasingly, your choice is limited to one or the other. But not both.

A while back, I’d said rather live 60 years in freedom than 80 years in servitude. Caused consternation among various posters here.

Which do you opt for?

I believe that this is what SF Bay Area is driving at (could be wrong, if so, Area can correct me).

You are on a roll this morning

Take your pick. Increasingly, your choice is limited to one or the other. But not both ??

Hmmmm….Why not both ???

On Health Care;

I see it as a right not a privilege…Its really that simple for me…The only real problem I have with universal health care is people who make no effort in maintaining decent health be it diet or exercise…

On Freedom;

Well, I guess I just don’t see the correlation between the two…Maybe you or others can enlighten me…

As far as loss of freedom, well sure but its due to a intrusive federal & state government…

A while back, I’d said rather live 60 years in freedom than 80 years in servitude ??

What if it was 16 years instead of 60 because of no health care..??

Faster Pussycat, Sell Sell, you are talking Paul Krugman’s Nobel prize winning thesis. The half life of an unemployed Silicon Valley techie is about 12 hours. It’s about the only thing honest I’ve ever seen out of Krugman. He’s since become a political hack. Sad. He sacrificed his integrity for a meal ticket.

scdave see Greece. Health care is a right in Greece. Ironically they don’t get health care any longer.

scdave -

Hopefully, one day I can “enlighten” you.

Not because you’re evil or stupid or any other such thing, but because you kick @ss. I’ve developed quite a liking for you lately even though we disagree on how to get to that social libertarianism/fiscal conversativism we both say we seek.

SF Bay Area:

Over the past few years, Krugman has mostly been espousing the textbook economics that you learn if you take an undergraduate macroeconomics course at a college with a good economics department. And the events of the past few years have proven his brand of economics to be mostly correct.

MightyMike, “The road to serfdom” will set you free.

“Ironically they don’t get health care any longer.”

In Greece or the US, the unemployed don’t get health care. In either country, if you can pay for it, you do.

I plan too, so far so good.

This is why people are reluctant to hire land whales.

I worked at a place that had a bunch of old fat guys on the payroll, and the insurance was eating them alive (the company, not the old fat guys).

It’s more complicated than that.

You have defensive testing, in which doctors will test for a whole bunch of illnesses that isn’t clinically necessary just to avoid getting sued.

You have doctors salaries keep up with inflation, but the rest of the population’s salaries going down.

You have CEOs making way more than their employees. In other developed countries, the average may bee 4-6 times their employees. It’s horrible greed.

You have insurance companies only wanting to insure healthy people, and try to kick sick people off when they have already paid. The middle man, if you will, is a huge issue. Especially since it’s for profit.

You have places like nursing homes that receive a hefty amount of money from the government (medicare/medicaid), yet they are allowed to be for profit.

You have non profit hospitals who are really for profits and horribly corrupt.

You have rampant fraud.

You have people using their specialists as their pcps. You also have a huge shortage of primary care physicians, and people unwilling to see that preventative medicine should be routine.

You have additives, refined flours, trans fats, sugars, and food stuffs galore. That will make a lot of people gain weight even with exercise.

You have people who can afford insurance that think they are entitled to consume all the healthcare they can/want. This is a lot of people’s objections to a single payer system. They don’t want to have to “wait” to see the doctor. They want it NOW, because THEY matter the most.

And, even with all of that in mind, a lot of healthcare is good for the population as a whole. One thing that comes to mind is in order for vaccines to work, the majority of the population has to get them. Now, I’m not saying “free” (single payer) healthcare is THE solution, but it would probably be a step up from what we have. I do know that in other countries, they weigh the pros and cons of a treatment more than here. Quality of life would be more important than just life itself. For example, you might *gasp* let a 90 year old woman who is bedridden die when she codes for the 4th time. After all, medicine does not cheat death, it only prolongs it.

CC-

If you don’t go to UCLA and get your DPH, it will be a crime against our society, and I will personally be very disappointed in you.

Well, thank you for that suggestion! I’ve actually never thought of that, but just looked into it. This seems like a perfect way to combine my dream of being an MD and my advocate nature!

Approach it through the epidemiology and biostat program. If you’re serious, let me know.

I had a side arm (and a knife and my two guard dogs, for that matter) at the time I was attacked, (while I was working, as it turns out) and my (private payer) Blue Cross insurance policy had been in effect for thirty+ years.

After rescuing myself and getting myself off the mountain to the emergency transport my ample taxes pay for (and my ER doc sister provides for free) I called upon my contractual arrangement with my insurance company — to whom I pay premiums — to fulfill their end of the bargain and put me back together. My uncovered medical care was donated by friends (thank you, HBB) and physicians. Then I “rehabilitated” myself, at home. In my spare time.

Why do you just blow thought-chunks out of your arse, nicky? Don’t you know how foolish you sound?

It will be interesting to hear what you have to say about “taking responsibility” after your legs have been smashed to glue in a head-on with a big rig some day. I’m sure you could have avoided it by staying off the highway. You DO carry health insurance don’t you?

I’ll take my lumps and stumps and just use my arms to beat down the commies

“Try carrying a gun or bear spray next time and you wouldn’t have racked up those expensive hospital and rehabilitation bills.”

Are you vying for the prize for the most cold-hearted comment on the HBB?

Also the most ignorant? Read the book.

No, I figure if you put yourself out there in the public eye, you have to expect that people may want to know what you did to protect yourself in the wilderness. I don’t like when tragedy strikes another human being if that is what you are asking.

Are you vying for the prize for the most cold-hearted comment on the HBB?

That one got my vote alright.

Boooooo, nick.

“What does the reference look like for a wikipedia page?”

Wiki-up just about any subject you can think of and at the end of the wiki response will be a section loaded with references.

Wiki-up just about any subject you can think of and at the end of the wiki response will be a section loaded with references.

I love wiki too…

…but you totally missed my point.

My point is that the content of any given page changes over time. Some of them change frequently.

Whatever quote one lifted from a wiki page might not still be there by the time someone goes to the page to have a look at the reference.

The printed-on-paper word is static, and will still say what it did when you referenced it. The online word is dynamic, and may well not say in the future what it used to back when you referenced it.

Make sense?

It’s called “do you own work”. Track your own area…. bish.

Did you miss the memo that the McCarthy era ended fifty years ago?

Good night, and good luck!

Is it unfair to describe Paul Ryan as a latter-day Eugene McCarthy?

The McCarthy era should have run its full course.

Here is a link to the youtube video my friend put up of the Louisiana State Republican Convention, you can hear his voice in there saying “Make Way!” He’s a doctor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDO84QN84Ms

SF:

You’re also not counting other taxes. Sales tax takes another 6-9% out of your number. RE tax is very variable, but in the 250K+ crowd, you’re probably looking at 10-20K in RE tax a year.

Once you hit the top marginal rates in a high tax state (CA, NJ, etc), you are likely looking at something like 30% of your income is actually yours, the other 70% is paid on taxes. And yet, people still cry for higher taxes on the “rich”. There’s just not that much more there to take.

Now, if you live in a low tax state, and you’re truly rich (10M+ investment capital), yes, you could pay a VERY low tax rate. Assuming you only bought muni-bonds, you could, in fact, be paying close to 0 in income taxes. Thing is, people crying for higher taxes on the “rich” never talk about that level of income (where almost all of the gains are capital or dividends), they are talking about high-income (W2 or self-employment) folks that are already paying, at a minimum, at least 50% of their income to taxes. 250K income sounds like “the rich” and, some of those people may someday in fact be rich, but, to class them with the Warren Buffets and finance wizards on Wall St is disingenuous.

Thing is, there’s not enough Buffets and Wall St wizards to make a dent in the tax burden. Even if you take everything above 1M at 100%, it’s still not enough because there aren’t enough taxpayers at that level.

To give an order of reference, taxes are by far my biggest expense every year; more than 2X what I pay for my house. More than I pay for my house, 2 cars, and all my vacations and holidays every year. More than all my other recurring bills combined. And yet, according to many, still not enough.

And yet my Silicon Valley based employer is hiring like crazy at the Santa Clara campus, while hiring at the campus in “low tax” Colorado campus is much more subdued.

I’ve talked with my Santa Clara colleagues and they have expressed in clear terms that they are NOT interested in moving to “cow town” Denver.

Overtaxed, you are talking my book. Unfortunately when I bring this up suddenly the “tax the rich” supporters suddenly lose the ability to do math. It’s like a acute form of autism. I don’t know why…

Colorado, er - I can tell you why many high tech workers don’t move to Colorado. At least for many people I know. I don’t even know if I should post this publicly. But here it goes. In Silicon Valley most of the workers in high tech are from Asia. When they complain to me about the high cost of living here and the high taxes I often bring up the option of moving to Colorado and expanding there. In response they conjure up and image from the movie “Deliverance.” A look of abject horror and fear comes over their faces which turn pale and their eye dilate. They actually think you guys are a bunch of red neck hill billies that are going to gang rape them. I’m not making this up! I get the same reaction over and over. Asian high tech workers stay in Silicon Valley because it is safe (in their mind).

and they have expressed in clear terms that they are NOT interested in moving to ??

To anywhere else pretty much…

Asian high tech workers stay in Silicon Valley because it is safe (in their mind) ??

It is also a mirror image…When they look in their children’s classroom, across the street or down the hall at work they see people that look like them…

Well I see more and more moving to places like Texas and Oregon. I guess they’ve got a critical mass in those places at this point. But the “heartland” of America - not so much.

SF Bay Area:

No, the United States is not ready for a constitutional republic. That much is apparent.

Modern people don’t have the guts. Or the fortitude.

They talk about “priorities” as if freedom isn’t even on the radar screen.

The Idea, however, will live on. It will survive, largely underground, largely unnoticed.

One day it will flourish, but not likely here and not likely in our lifetimes.

” They actually think you guys are a bunch of red neck hill billies that are going to gang rape them.”

You should take them down to Bakersfield for a weekend. I think there are more rednecks in the central valley then there are in texas.

I often bring up the option of moving to Colorado and expanding there. In response they conjure up and image from the movie “Deliverance.” A look of abject horror and fear comes over their faces which turn pale and their eye dilate.

This may be an emotional reaction but let’s look at the facts.

The fact is if you are a good technologist in Silly Valley, you’ll get a job in no time. It’s a network effect. All the techies are there because all the techies are there.

Whereas in Denver or Boston or Salt Lake City or Madison, you have fewer choices of employers. You simply don’t have your pick and could very well land up in a bad situation.

The same goes for financiers in NYC, London, Tokyo v/s say, Paris, Milan or Chicago. The latter are provincial in the narrow sense of the employment opportunities. You are giving up all future opportunity.

It’s not as irrational as you think. Plus, you always can move to cow-town at a later date.

MacBeth for for president 2016!

Faster Pussycat, Sell Sell, you are talking Paul Krugman’s Nobel prize winning thesis. The half life of an unemployed Silicon Valley techie is about 12 hours.

You posted in the wrong thread. Stuff happens.

Bully to Krugman for actually getting something right.

Optionality gives you, well, a lot of options.

You can’t be an actor in Boston and hope to make Hollywood. You can’t be a financier in Manila or New Delhi or Paris or St. Petersburg.

It simply doesn’t matter what the good qualities of Paris or Boston or St. Petersburg are!

Network effects rule supreme in certain industries.

“Network effects rule supreme in certain industries.”

Music is another of those industries.

Music is another of those industries.

Yep, agreed.

Juilliard is Juilliard.

You have Mannes not quite three stops away on the 1 train (about 7 mins) but it ain’t no Juilliard.

Those 7 mins make all the difference in your career. There’s no point to going to Mannes, in my opinion.

“There’s no point to going to Mannes, in my opinion.”

Do their graduates get work? Perhaps it is a good school to go to if you are not going to make it as a soloist, but still want to work as a musician.

Do their graduates get work?

Ummm, no! Maybe the best ones if they accept a job in Oklahoma.

So no.

Look, I love music as much as you do. Possibly more than you do since I don’t have to make a living off of it. The supply has been more than than a demand for about four straight decades.

I just feel sorry for them all but not that sorry.

The standards have never been higher. I was at Juilliard to hear the kids play at the Elliott Carter centenary. They not only could play it effortlessly but they had the “idiom” down cold!

These are 22-year olds who can play like demi-gods.

However, there’s no future for them. That’s economics.

It’s just sad.

“Look, I love music as much as you do. Possibly more than you do since I don’t have to make a living off of it.”

I have to correct you there. I don’t have to make a living off it, either — I structured my life years ago to make sure of that. And needless to say, I don’t play as well as Gil Shaham. I continue to play, despite painful self-awareness of my shortcomings.

If I didn’t love music so much, I would have quit playing years ago.

In response they conjure up and image from the movie “Deliverance.” A look of abject horror and fear comes over their faces which turn pale and their eye dilate. They actually think you guys are a bunch of red neck hill billies that are going to gang rape them

I have an anecdote that fits that to a tee. Some years ago an Asian female colleague came over for a biz trip from SoCal. At the hotel where she checked in (in Loveland) there were some other guys checking in wearing cowboy hats. She nearly crapped a brick.

I later told her that had anyone tied to hurt her, that those guys in the cowboy hats would have come to her rescue in the flash of a eye.

Let’s talk offline - you’d be shocked how different music afficionados and music performers actualy are (even if the afficionados are performers themselves.)

There’s a shocking (but not in retrospect) difference.

cba DOT fed DOT ihg AT gmail

Like the difference between sound engineers and audiophiles?

Carl - Please amplify. I am, and have been both. Am I schizo? -

Huh huh…”amplify”…I get it.

Yes you are :-). But I don’t think sound engineers can ever be real audiophiles because they can see behind the curtain.

The fact is if you are a good technologist in Silly Valley, you’ll get a job in no time. It’s a network effect. All the techies are there because all the techies are there.”

That is correct. Plus with so many jobs around it’s harder for your employer to screw you over but maybe thats saying the same thing.

They don’t like guns either

Obama put Simpson Bowles in the circular file bin the day he received it. The man has absolutely not interest in balancing the budget for the good of the country long term.

Yup. We’ll see if he has changed in very short order.

Ho won without saying he would change anything. The people do not want any changes.

@Blue Skye…cool. Let’s raise $80 Billion in tax revenue, and run NEARLY $1T in deficits as far as the eye can see.

I’m sure we’ll get to $1T pretty quickly once the rest of the world decides to charge us higher interest rate for our worthless paper.

The people do not want any changes.

Sure they do: more bread and more circuses.

“Most people who I know over $250k (myself included) would gladly pay more if it meant that it helped put the country and it’s deficit/debt on the right track.”

You are a lying out of your a$$. I bet you shelter your income with the best of them, just like the rest of the master political race.

LOL. I paid 28.5% of my AGI to the Feds, and 9.3% to the state of CA.

If I’m sheltering my income, I’m doing a terrible job.

joesmith, some of us are bringing up the point that the money won’t be spent by the current administration on your priorities. I should say that just because the political realities are what they are doesn’t mean you don’t have a valid and noble point. We should separate the two things not to dismiss what you are saying out of hand. Americans have a long history of stepping up to the plate when the time comes. So keep pushing your ideas - get them out there. Maybe political realities will change - some day…

SF Bay area. There are plenty of high tech consultants in Silicon Valley and Southern California whose W2 shows low income yet they get paid an extra $1400 per week in cash. It is legal no matter what the communist shyster on the east coast fabricates. And this is what keeps these people hopping from gig to gig in California. If not for that, they would be in Seattle, Austin, San Antonio, Nashua, Tampa, Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston, or whatever.

In a few weeks my client will change and the new client is either still in my part of L.A. or in the O.C.

“they get paid an extra $1400 per week in cash”

Per diem? I hope you have kept receipts to back that up. As deep a hole as the state of California is in, they may find it fruitful to audit techies.

(P.S. Denver a cow town? It’s the biggest city I’ve lived in, and the first place I ever saw what are now called “hipsters.” You want cow town, try Laramie.)

Heh heh…that’s true. Both places have their good and bad, but if I could make the same money either place I’d choose Laramie.

I just realized…that’s how they can get rid of it. And THEN let rates rise.

Sorry, my mistake. I will immediately start posting about O’s death camps and his Muslim status to offset this bout of logical reasoning.

Unless you also pay tithing to your church.

“We had a recent candidate for president for who proposed exactly this.”

Reference, please? (Oh, I forgot: Propagandists never use references…)

This bolsters my point. The idea that realtors push is that MID –> helps middle class families avoid housing –> makes communities stronger (and other BS reasons).

Obviously there is no reason someone can’t be a good citizen and raise children well in a rental house situation.

High tax states in general, yes, you’re correct. But in FL, without a state income tax, very few people would get over the std deduction without the MID. It would take a house that costs ~700K to get over the married/joint STD deduction. So, someone who has an income >250K. A very small slice of the population, for sure.

However, in CA, that’s not the case, you guys have a high income and property tax rate, so, I’d guess that houses in the 300-400K range would start to push into 10K+ in total taxes.

… 10k is more than half what the houses would rent for.

Yes, you do, but it is also deductible.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Sales-Tax-Deduction-Calculator

The current state of affairs with property tax being deductible is “consistent”; it lines up with the rest of the tax code.

The MID is the strange bird. Either all interest should be deductible (which, frankly, is probably the right answer; it was the case at one time, and is currently the case for business) or none should be (which is the likely answer at some point in the future and the MID is really the only carve out for individuals for this type of deduction).

However, this does cause some odd things to happen. If business can continue to deduct interest (which is very likely) but individuals cannot deduct mortgage interest, in many cases, it will make sense to sell your house to a corporation that you control and then rent it back to yourself. The rich will certainly (and probably already are) do this, which, in essence, will just make this deduction disappear for the HENRY class (high earner, not rich yet).

Yes, you do, but it is also deductible.

Did you read the first line of the page that you sent? Sales tax is only deductible if you don’t deduct income tax, and vice-versa.

In other words, it is effectively NOT deductible for most citizens, by a long shot.

The deduction for Sales tax must be re-approved by Congress before the end of they year or it expires.

I get it Rental Watch but Simpson/Boles does not solve our problem…

IMO, we will get a complete re-write of the Federal Tax Code in the next two-three years…Figuring out how to collect appropriate taxes on the cash underground economy is critically important…

“Figuring out how to collect appropriate taxes on the cash underground economy is critically important…”

Perhaps Colorado has recently broken some ground there?

One of the key problems for/of New Yorkers appears to be they thought themselves insulated.

I hope they’re realizing their own hands - and those of their neighbors - are the most dependable and immediate hands in existence. None are better.

Take pride also in one’s own capabilities. In addition to one’s own accomplishments.

The value of learning that you always had it in ya….wow. It’d be great if that was the takeaway from Sandy.

Anyone that watches the news of hurricanes striking Florida know that there are shortages of everything as panic buying becomes a mania.

Yes i was surprised at how easy it was to flood them…

But then if the tunnel was plugged that water would have been a lot higher in tribeca and could have even flooded an even wider area….so maybe it was a blessing in disguise for lots of people who live around there.

“Evidently, NYC is completely full of morons.”

Anyone who saw the movie The Day After Tomorrow should realize that NYC is vulnerable to flooding.

Posted: 6:00 a.m. Friday, Nov. 9, 2012

South Florida foreclosure discounts shrinking

By Kimberly Miller

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Buying a South Florida foreclosure isn’t the slam dunk steal it once was, according to a new report that found shrinking discounts on distressed properties.

Homebuyers in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade counties could expect only a 2.9 percent savings in September on the purchase of a foreclosed home compared to if the same house was sold at a non-distressed price, said analysts at the real estate analysis firm Zillow.

That discount is down from 6.8 percent during the same time last year and a whopping 22.7 percent lower than the savings experienced in August 2008 — the peak foreclosure month in South Florida, according to Zillow.

The report, scheduled for release this morning, found the nationwide foreclosure discount in September was 7.7 percent, down from 9 percent last year and 23.7 percent in August 2009.

General silicon valley;

I see bifurcated market….Many area’s are $500. per square foot +…..Drive 20 miles and its $250….Drive 40 miles and its $150….80 miles its $100.

Inventory is at historic lows in the $500. per foot area’s and in these particular area’s are at or likely above the 2007 peak…

And don’t even get me started on the really pricy area’s…Its $1000. per foot and up in those locations…

And I expect them to remain there for as far as the bailouts can see.

So even less incentive to buy a house then!

If prices aren’t going up, the houses are still deteriorating. Sounds like future discounts to me.

No price changes, no interest rate changes. Why not just
wait and see what the future brings?

Cute p1mping, BTW. Very cute.

Watch those discounts go back up if Florida ever starts to get rid of the distressed inventory with any speed…they are still at over 20% of all their mortgages being non-current.

4x normal.

@scdave, I think the last I checked, per Zillow, Mountain View was above the peak…remarkable…

I think the last I checked, per Zillow, Mountain View was above the peak…remarkable…

And yet the rent in Mountain View, CA that my sister pays in a prime part of the town is lower than ever in the last 7 years.

Facts are an inconvenient thing, no?

A, guarda sorella …

And yet the rent in Mountain View, CA that my sister pays in a prime part of the town is lower than ever in the last 7 years.

In other words, rents and prices still appear to be de-coupled, in a manner that fundamentals would not suggest should be the case, now six years after the bubble started to pop.

Sure. And your point would be?

My sister should take all her disposable income that can be used on everything from investment to frivolous trips to Italy and dump it into a depreciating asset?

Sounds like a lovely plan.

“And yet the rent in Mountain View, CA that my sister pays in a prime part of the town is lower than ever in the last 7 years.”

Damn facts!

“My sister should take all her disposable income that can be used on everything from investment to frivolous trips to Italy and dump it into a depreciating asset?”

Housing pimps seem to assume there is an army of folks with buckets of money and boxes of stupid who are willing to throw away their lifestyles for the privilege of owning overpriced crap shacks.

The fact that the Fed and FedGov have to prop up housing demand in every which way, to prevent the market from bottoming out, shows you how wrong the housing pimps are.

Sure. And your point would be?

My point would be only that this bubble is still freaking CRAZY!

I’m definitely not one to advocate that ANYONE buy a house when the market is still insane. Far from it, FPSS—you should know me better than that.

Just expressing my amazement; it is remarkable…

Far from it, FPSS—you should know me better than that.

Trust but verify.

Trust but verify.

LOL! That’s fair.

Aren’t rents overall in Mountain View above peak?

I know a person who works for an apartment owner in Mountain View (NOT a sample size of one). They control something like 10,000 apartment units throughout the Bay Area, including a number in Mountain View.

They are raising rents like crazy…in many cases by double digits.

Sorry to rain on everyone’s parade, but rents are indeed rising in Mountain View…scdave, care to chime in?

Just because someone paid that for it doesn’t mean that reflects its true worth.

You do realize that price is not the same as value, right?

To paraphrase Graham (via Buffett), “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

For intrinsic value, I’d still stick to rents and incomes.

“You do realize that price is not the same as value, right?”

You do realize until houses stop going under contract for obscene prices there is still a bubble, right?

“UBS just fired 10,000 people”

“The town of Stamford, CT is pretty much dependent on them.”

Evidently the town of Greenwich which is right next door is not.

Evidently the town of Greenwich which is right next door is not.

Firstly, Greenwich is not right next door. Greenwich isn’t even on the express stop except for rush-hour (which is a courtesy to the plutocrats.)

Clearly, you’ve never been to either. It’s a bit like the difference between Compton and Beverly Hills (perhaps not quite that dramatic!)

And no, Greenwich is much more tied to NYC than to some scrappy Swiss bank. Anybody here knows that.

So what exactly are you pumping and p1mping?

I’d pay $50/sqft for your wife but then it would be as much as a house, wouldn’t it?

Faster is right downtown Stamford had a lot of very luxury condozes built just so the UBS workers could walk to work since they are open 24/7/365 tons of lights on at 1am as you pass by on I-95..

“Firstly, Greenwich is not right next door.”

Stamford Map - Map of Stamford, CT - Yahoo! Travel
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-map-474847-map_of_stamford_ct-i - 46k

“I’d pay $50/sqft for your wife”

Ooooh

You ever been to either Stamford or Greenwich?

I didn’t see a picture of your porky either. Stick that on the Maps so we can get get a square footage estimate!

Hey keyboard tomato eating tough guy, feeling really safe behind that screen hurling insults out about someone wife today are we?

“You ever been to either Stamford or Greenwich?”

Yep grew up 2 doors down from that house I just told you about in Old Greenwich, Mom still lives there. Graduated from Greenwich High in 1978. Starting left tackle, got a full ride football sholarship. We played Westhill (of Stamford), Stamford High and Stamford Catholic (now Trinity Catholic) every year. Stamford coach got fired my senior year for biting a chicken`s head off in front of his team during his pre-game speech and telling his players “that`s what I want you to do to Greenwich” we kicked their @ss, but they were spirited in the first half.

I should be getting back up to see Mom pretty soon, when I do I was going to try to hook up with RAL, maybe you could come too and you can tell me “I didn’t see a picture of your porky either. Stick that on the Maps so we can get get a square footage estimate!”

Geography

Greenwich Town Hal lAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 67.2 square miles (174 km2), of which 47.8 square miles (124 km2) is land and 19.4 square miles (50 km2), or 28.88%, is water. In terms of area, Greenwich is twice the size of Manhattan. The town is bordered to the west and north by Westchester County, New York, to the east by the city of Stamford, and to the south by Long Island Sound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich,_Connecticut - 191k -

So why not buy a zillion houses in Greenwich, Stamford and Old Greenwich (ain’t no Greenwich kids - it’s for the po’ people!)

Knock yourself out. Go all levered. Borrow a ton of money.

Nobody cares, ducks!

So why exactly you are p1mping houses in Greenwich?

Hey dipsh#t

I am not “p1mping” anything, I think it`s nuts. I think the prices in Greenwich are nuts, I think the prices in Stamford are nuts and I think the the prices in SE Florida are nuts. I think that the PTB keeping all these prices where they are is nuts.

I replied to your original “Yeah, it’s coming fast.” and I was pointing out that it isn`t. There seem to be very powerful forces keeping house prices up (next door to me in Jupiter Fl. and next door to my Mom in Old Greenwich Ct.) and I don`t think these powerful forces are going to let house prices drop anytime soon.

From this I was met with…..

“Just because someone paid that for it doesn’t mean that reflects its true worth.”

“Firstly, Greenwich is not right next door. Greenwich isn’t even on the express stop except for rush-hour (which is a courtesy to the plutocrats.)”

“Clearly, you’ve never been to either. It’s a bit like the difference between Compton and Beverly Hills (perhaps not quite that dramatic!)”

“I didn’t see a picture of your porky either. Stick that on the Maps so we can get get a square footage estimate!”

“So why not buy a zillion houses in Greenwich, Stamford and Old Greenwich (ain’t no Greenwich kids - it’s for the po’ people!)”

100 Skyview Dr
Stamford, CT 06902 $689,000 5 Bd 3 Ba 2,610 Sq Ft
Single Family Home Brokered by: WILLIAM RAVEIS REAL ESTATE - STAMFORD Save Listing

nuts

But you sir none the less are a tomato noodle.

In fairness Jethro….. and I believe you clearly understand this, Fairfield and in particular, the 95 corridor up to Rowayton is a suburb on NYC. I figure its Westchester East. I spent 4 years on a project in that hellish town Stamford. I couldn’t have done it one more day. Not one. Never again.

Anyways, the CT NPR report last week was an eye opener. It’s heading down in CT proper in a big way.

“I think that the PTB keeping all these prices where they are is nuts.”

Isn’t it a shame that political vitriol crowded out meaningful discussions on issues like this during campaign season?

Yes, I continue to rent very happily.

+1.

“Opera LP’s and CD’s”

I doubt the opportunity to use LP’s and CD’s will survive into a period when you need a gun to personally survive.

I think the irony was lost on EVEN you.

They’re wasting so much time on the the theoretical possibility when such things may be necessary (assuming it even happens which it won’t!) that they have lost all focus on enjoying the present.

I think I’ll go spin some Tristan and eat some fine bread, cheese and wine.

Maybe I’ll need a gun to enjoy myself. LOL

Aah, apocalpytic-behavior. So uniquely American (just like multiple jobs!)

Maybe I’ll need a gun to enjoy myself. LOL

Apparently there is a sizable share of the U.S. population which gets its jollies by shooting firearms.

Not that there is anything wrong with that…

Apparently there is a sizable share of the U.S. population which gets its jollies by shooting firearms.

Thelonious Monk’s firearms are doing a perfectly good job at the moment!

I suppose I need to defend myself from the zombies.

Life. What a concept.

It’s a banquet and yet most want to starve to death. I suppose that’s a plan too.

Aah, apocalpytic-behavior. So uniquely American (just like multiple jobs!)

LOL!!!! Awesome.

“Life. What a concept.

It’s a banquet and yet most want to starve to death.”

On that note, I will mentally prepare myself to cook a delicious omelet.

“…multiple jobs…”

I prefer to think of it as ‘labor market portfolio diversification.’

And I note that this is a natural consequence of Fed policies to prop up asset prices at levels where U.S. labor market income is insufficient to pay.

I genuinely want to do this but I’m going to go on the record and state that I absolutely absolutely loathe the video format of education.

I’m a reasonably smart guy and one of the advantages of a book is that one can speed and slow down at the drop of a pin. I can skip over obvious stuff and rewind less than obvious stuff 40 times and there’s nobody to tell me otherwise.

Plus, most of these online lectures are aimed at average people with average brains. They are sooooooooooooooo unbelieavably slow.

Just state the salient points and move on, fer’ cryin’ out loud! You can do that in less than 10 minutes globally but of course, there’s no money in that.

“I absolutely absolutely loathe the video format of education.”

Yet other posts suggest you believe this is the future direction of education…

And BTW, I believe video education is not only loathsome, but also inferior, and I’m actually not talking my book here…

Yet other posts suggest you believe this is the future direction of education…

Wrong.

There are alternatives. They are still being born.

I grant you that they are still half-baked (and unbelievably horrible) but that’s not the same as being “not possible”.

We’re not there yet. It’s gonna be rough but we shall get there.

I agree. Video and podcasts seem terribly old-school compared to…print.

Who’d a thunk.

I have to confess to feeling like a primary beneficiary of the Kindle revolution, as dead tree books have never been cheaper…

Today, however, slavery no longer is racially motivated.

slavery was never racially motivated. slavery is extreme class warfare that is profit motivated. but the truth is that slavery is only about 10% as profitable as hiring someone for what they’re willing to work for.

white have enslaved whites. blacks have enslaved blacks. slavery has nothing to do with race or racism. people do make the association, but it is a false one.

lincoln was a racist that hated slavery. but do you know why he hated it? because he thought it was unfair to whites who couldn’t afford slaves. that’s why he opposed slavery, not because he was trying to save black. he freed blacks during the war because he hoped they would fight against the south, which they did. slavery was reaching critical mass and probably would have been banned before the war actually ended, if the war would never have started. as a matter of fact, whites arrested the first captains of slave ships that arrived in north america. but one can always count on tyranny to pop up where freedom isn’t enforced.

sorry about the ’s’ key sticking on occasion on my computer. i should have proof read before posting.

also, the end of my post may be confusing. slave captains were arrested when america was more free and valued freedom. the arrests stopped after we became more accepting of tyranny.

Slavery is never profitable long-term.

Nor is servitude.

That is nothing new.

What IS new is that the enough people have forgotten that (or never learned it), with servitude now being de rigeur.

Polly gets mad at me when I talk about the importance of the psychology of the masses, but here it is once again.

For many years, the government has been expanding at a furious pace.

Now, The People just gave tacit approval of that expansion, whereas they used to complaion bitterly about it.

Enter the Great Government Bubble and the mania soon to follow.

Slavery is never profitable long-term.

very true when compared with traditional labor. efficiency would have been a more accurate word to use than profit. slave labor is very inefficient.

Now, The People just gave tacit approval of that expansion

voter fraud was rampant. many counties in penn., ohio and florida had much higher ‘turnout’ than 100% of the voter registration. the story is evolving but MSM is working furiously to hide it.

We’ll have to discuss the global history of slavery at some point. It’s one of the most interesting topics I’ve ever studied. When you consider not that many centuries ago the bulk of the world’s population were either slaves or surfs it is no wonder that many people today are so perplexed by the prospect of freedom.

When you consider not that many centuries ago the bulk of the world’s population were either slaves or surfs it is no wonder that many people today are so perplexed by the prospect of freedom.

true, they are also perplexed that freedom needs the rule of law to exist. not the rule of men, but the rule of law. law that protects your rights and property.

for example, idiots often say that somolia is a free market. since they don’t know what a free market is, they can make such inane comments. somolia is in anarchy, not freedom. anarchy is the breakdown of tyranny.

When you consider not that many centuries ago the bulk of the world’s population were either slaves or surfs

Cowabunga!

But the real question is, can serfs surf?

Enter the Great Government Bubble…

I am frankly amazed that anyone with the smarts to find their way onto this blog is nonetheless blithely oblivious to the fiscal cliff and its ramifications.

I am frankly amazed that anyone with the smarts to find their way onto this blog is nonetheless blithely oblivious to the fiscal cliff and its ramifications.

The last couple of times the cliff rolled around, it looked mostly like political theater. Do you really believe that it will be different this time around?

Well, the world is chock full of surprises, ain’t it!?

You so resent anything I have to say. It’s quite telling.

Regarding the fiscal cliff, who’s to say that the government will suffer? Yeah, I know that’s popular opinion (”shared” suffering and all that clap-trap), but nothing has even taken place yet.

You speak as if you know the facts about what has yet to occur.

Knock yourself out, Swami Prof.

You so resent anything I have to say.

you aren’t alone. liberals resent just about anything any conservative says.

“Do you really believe that it will be different this time around?”

I really believe a true day of reckoning lies in store which will not look like political theater.

But so far, extend-and-pretend has worked just fine. Maybe it can continue forever!

“liberals resent just about anything any conservative says.”

Though I don’t qualify as a liberal, I am frankly savoring the bitterness on display by conservative extremists who post here.

Keep up the entertainment, boyz!

Though I don’t qualify as a liberal, I am frankly savoring the bitterness on display by conservative extremists who post here.

define “conservative extremist”

…define “conservative extremist”…

Not necessary — it’s self-evident.

Dumb as a bag of hammers. History is NOT predictive. Global information and knowledge doubles ever few years which makes it near impossible to even set up the prerequisites to repeat any significant event or period in the past. Every economic bubble is different. At some point in a complete digital money world we could have a virtual debt bubble or a virtual ID extortion racket bubble. Psychology would be a better area of research as it applies to our modern world economies.

Your answer lies in your own post.

Are you saying that all history is not predictive?

Including behavioral history? No, apparently that is not what you’re saying.

This is so interesting…just a few days ago, Polly dismissed my musings about mass psychology/sociology as only so much nonsense (due to the absence of the always decisive FACTS); here, I’m being harrassed for not espousing that very same point of view.

Perhaps you ought to argue the point with Polly. She seems to believe psychology/sociology as so much rot.

History is predictive to various extent depending on your premise and basis of comparison.

All that aside, the important thing to note is that as a society, we still haven’t shaken off our manic behavior, which I believe started about 1995.

We just decided to put the candy-crapping unicorn costume on a different entity (this time, government itself) rather than torch the costume.

All that aside, the important thing to note is that as a society, we still haven’t shaken off our manic behavior, which I believe started about 1995.

And the reason for that is that we have been sheltered from the pain of reality, by the loving hand of the Fed.

The 30’s generation never repeated their manic errors, because they got to experience the real results.

All that aside, the important thing to note is that as a society, we still haven’t shaken off our manic behavior, which I believe started about 1995.

It started as something real, at least out here in Colorado. The internet revolution, and the storage needed to handle it, was real. But like any major new thing, we overdid it and the bubble popped. Where things went wrong is that we didn’t want to deal with the consequences of that and it’s been bubbles all the way down ever since.

Cities does not equate to state, and you have made no argument as to why it should happen in this fiscal year as opposed to, say, 10 fiscal years later.

Boring. NEXT.

Dan, can you explain Japan’s debt, GDP and Yen value relationship using your clairvoyant powers? By your logic Japan collapsed years ago and nobody noticed.

It seems to me that debt has many virtual qualities that be manipulated so in the real world it’s power is, in part physiological only. In ancient times there used to be something called a debt Jubilee. You make a loan X for Y period. If you don’t collect all of X before Y ends then you made what was called ‘a loss’. Things worked fine until the Hebrews appropriated the exponential function and called it compounding interest and applied it only to the Gentiles. Thankfully we have evolved where many Gentiles now enjoy this form of income redistribution too.

“Cities does not equate to state.”

Correct.

Note, too, that states does not equate to federal.

Boring? Perhaps. But remember that on your next tour of New York City and New Jersey.

But remember that on your next tour of New York City and New Jersey.

What on earth are you talking about or implying?

I live in NYC.

I know you live in NYC. It’s why I threw the comment out there.

I’m surprised you don’t know what I was getting at. Usually, you’re quite quick at such things. Guess I didn’t phrase things well enough.

You’re correct in stating that a handful of bankrupt cities in California mean little at the state level.

Same could be said about New York and New Jersey on a national level (my point). No sh*t, right? I agree.

That said, why should anyone view NYC (including New Yorkers) as something more than it is? Truth be told, the city could slide off into the Atlantic and the rest of the country would carry on as usual economically after maybe a year of stress and recession (much like how Calif. might if Los Angeles slid into the Pacific - your point).

Short- and long-term effects are increasingly negigible the further away one gets from the damage (also obvious). Why act as if they’re not?

I bring this up now because:

(1) it’s amazing the extent to which Mid- and North-Atlantic residents suffer from delusions of grandeur - a very bad and debilitating place to be in times of localized crisis, and,

(2) I’m fixated on constitutional republic ideals today. It’s my default philosophical location. Want to converse with me, you’ll have to learn to deal with that on occasion.

Timelines please!

General arguments are all well and good (and I buy this one) but as I keep saying, it can easily keep on truckin’ for two decades.

The only thing that kept the state going was the bubble in media stocks which is over, this is the year, particularly if we go over the fiscal cliff.

The only thing that kept the state going was the bubble in media stocks which is over, this is the year, particularly if we go over the fiscal cliff.

And you know this because?

You have personal connections to the minds of all speculators in existence?

Hey, I LOVE NEW YORK.

Out here we went over the fiscal escarpment years ago. Life goes on.

Lip, I love how in Arizona the voters defeated a proposition that would have made a temporary sales tax hike a permanent sales tax, yet in Taxifornia the majority are wolves and voted for higher sales taxes. They voted for higher income taxes on the more successful people and higher capital gains taxes.

Arizona’s capital gains tax will fall from 4.5 percent to 3.4% by 2016. California’s retroactive tax goes above 11% from 10%. The spread between Arizona and California will therefore change from 5.5% to around 7%. Of course a California investor in stocks can simply move to the east shore of Tahoe and enjoy 18 to 21.3 long term (5 year) tax rates on gains.

Arizona also eased up on corporate taxes.

This time of year in Arizona is festive. Temperatures at the top of the day in the upper 50s to low 60s some days, maybe a little warmer. It helps my sanity that we elected Jeff Flake to the U.S. Senate, although I voted for libertarian Marc Victor, who garnered an impressive 5%.

Arizona is not infected with the socialist disease yet.

Arizona’s capital gains tax will fall from 4.5 percent to 3.4% by 2016. California’s retroactive tax goes above 11% from 10%.”

Could be why many retired CA public workers move with their pensions to AZ ?

hmmmmmmmmm

I guess we’ll have to just wait and see what the actual proposal ends up looking like. but if they let the Bush tax cuts expire, as they previously proposed doing (see below) after one additional year (for those earning under $250K), and immediately (for those earning $250K), it would increase taxes on everyone earning over about $30K after the second year.

The devil is in the details, obviously; several possible proposals have been bandied about, but I don’t recall seeing one that actually proposed a new marginal bracket starting at $250K, which is what joe seemed to be assuming.

(emphasis mine)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303343404577516313033019898.html

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama proposed a one-year extension of Bush-era tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year but would let them rise for wealthier Americans, a move that both shifts the election debate to tax rates and sets the table for a showdown with Republicans in Congress.

I rarely follow this stuff in nascence. I follow it up in execution.

My global plans rarely matter what either fecal aggregate does and even that seldom matters!

You could argue that I have the luxury to do so or you could just equally logically argue that I have arranged it that it may be so.

Taxes are an input into the system not an output. Only output matters. I would rarely respond to them in a marginal context. I only focus on maximizing the output.

So ol’-fashioned. And I’m not even late-thirties.

Speaking a kindness from the heart is never incorrect, politically or otherwise. Thank you for making my day, unk.

You are really wiping up my mess today