(old found draft post) Hands off my 401k

Oct 25, 2008 @ 8:35
This must have been inspired by some Obama advisers who wanted to get rid of 401ks. Their plan was to force the same contributions and give Americans something like a 2% return off it. This would have effectively decreased the wealth of Americans as more money would need to be saved [...]

Anna Schwartz on the current economic mess (On the Bailout)

Wisdom from an old Monetarist:
The credit crunch, which is the recession’s actual cause, comes only from a lack of trust, argues Schwartz. Lenders aren’t lending because they don’t know who is solvent, and they can’t know who is solvent because portfolios remain full of mortgage-backed securities and other toxic assets.
To rekindle the credit market, the [...]

“…scientists in Australia have found a way to stop the body from attacking organ transplants…”

This is awesome news if it works out.
Now we just need to allow folks or estates to be compensated for Organ Donation to increase the supply/availability.

One Way Investment Banks looted their customer: The IPO Process

I am just capturing my comment at TDAXP:

One area in which Investment Bankers did great harm to the US Economy was in the area of handling IPOs.
Investment Bankers essentially used the process as a mean of looting wealth from the entrepreneurial firms going public for the benefit of the investment bank and some its choice [...]

Protectionism Rising?

I am troubled by the by the anti-free trade signals being made by USGOV toward Mexico as documented by TDAXP.
I think the default view of many Americans (maybe all humans) is that of protectionism. I think our brains evolved in a zero-sum economic world, and while we are still evolving this is still la hard [...]

Entrepanuerial Solutions to the Bailout (On the Baliout aka The Great Looting)

How about new banks?
Let Wal-Mart get into banking like they hinted at a few years ago. I could give a fuck if current bankers and their lackeys in congress are opposes. Wal-Mart would have a customer focus and would optimize.
Hey, I’d even let the US Postal Service get back into banking. Let them open a [...]

Out-of-the-Box thinking on Pension and Social Security reform

From that Instapundit guy:

But even much more modest progress–extending healthy middle age from 60 to, say, 80–would permit significant shifts in retirement ages and allow for a longevity dividend that could go a long way toward preventing the looming pension meltdown. Greater progress might make the problem go away entirely. So perhaps it would make [...]

Listen to this: “Bad Bank” from This American Life…

…here. It is not just from This American Life, but from the folks associated with Planet Money (and their Podcast).
Part of “On the Bailout”.

Anybody read anything from Bobbit recently on the “Market-State”?

I have not been able to find anything too recent (post financial meltdown) from him on the Market-State concept. I should dig up my state notes and post them. I wasn’t sold on the Market-State model and have some alternatives that are (or may be) evolving.

Washington Math Sucks: $30,000 (On the Bailout)

$275 Billion / 9 million = $30,000 (rounded down)
I am a sucker. Partially I rent becuase I didn’t buy becuase I didn’t want to buy into a bubble.
$30k is essentially being given to those that bought houses they couldn’t afford with the money taken from those who did not behave that way.
WTF is going on [...]

The PurpleStimulus or Let Banks Fail…but fast and other goodies (“On The Bailout” Series)

This started out as a comment at TDAXP [1].
Here is what the USAGOV should do (not what they plan to do [2]) – and it should be done quickly and without mercy:
1) Have Bank regulators set the appropriate capitalization level for the bank
2) Assuming level not met, declare bank insolvent.
3) Wipe the shareholders (common and [...]

“Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce”

I have been running through all of the old Ted Talks via my iPod. It was a joy to hear this one again: “Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce”.
Here is the video version from youtube:

Creative Destruction Example in Milwaukee

The local Schwartz’s bookseller chain just died (it couldn’t compete with B&N in the fleshspace, or Amazon.com in cyberspace), but its 800-CEO-READ:

At a time when independent, bricks-and-mortar general bookstores all over are closing, 800-CEO-READ is an independent that’s thriving. With just 15 employees and 3,000 square feet in a renovated office building in the Third [...]

“County Executive Scott Walker and other county officials hope to reap significant savings by issuing the pension debt at about 6% and investing the earnings at 8%” (Fixing Milwaukee)

What idiocy!
So who will get fucked on the most on this?
1) The taxpayers who stick around  and will have to pony up in increased taxes and reduced services to cover this action which is sure to fail?
…or…
2) The larger pool of creditors, retirees, and taxpayers when the county declares bankruptcy in 10 [...]

“Stimulunacy” – (On The Bailout Series)

Sigh.
While the various interest groups disagree over what the hundreds of billions should be spent on, they all buy into the superstition that government spending boosts “demand”. In fact, it does no such thing. A year from now, when the “stimulus” has disappeared without a trace and unemployment is higher than it is now, economists [...]

The US case for radical energy use efficiency and for switching to alternative energy sources

I have been looking to blog on this for sometime, but it came out in a comment at TDAXP:
The best case for the US to move to radical energy use efficiency and to switch a lot more to alternative energy (while sharing or selling the techniques and technology to the rest of the world to [...]

The Folly of Keynesian/Stimulus Thinking or David Manley is My New Hero (on the Bailout #33)

Here is what David Manley, my new Economic Hero, wrote in a comment on ManSizedTarget:
My foolproof ten point plan to end the recession:
1) Boost infrastructure spending and reduce the cost of consumer goods by building a 6-lane highway across the Pacific Ocean to China
2) Lower the interest rate to negative 101% – people will be [...]

GM Death Wish

Found on Instapundit:

VOLT ENGINE PLANT ON HOLD: “Word is that GM has shut down construction because it doesn’t have the cash to pay for steel structural members.” Ouch.
At The Truth About Cars link:
The new Flint, Michigan engine plant slated to build the ICE for the Chevrolet Volt has been put into deep freeze. AP (via [...]

These “industries” are need of entrepreneurs with radical innovations

Just a few stray thoughts…
Housing – 30% of income for Housing? Jeez.
Personal Transportation – Where is my $5k car?
K12 Education – Too much money, too little results, little customization, wasted human and material capital. There has to be better ways.
Post-K12 Education – Cost are out of control, benefits are overstated. There has to be better [...]

The “I am too Lazy/Busy to post” Open Thread & Linkspasm

I have been both too busy at work to post or read much and also too tired/lazy in the evenings to post, so here are a bunch of issues that might interesting. I will make updates in the comments.
I will engage in comments here and elsewhere, but I most likely won’t post much if anything [...]

The Folly Of USGOV Stimulus packages and Keynesian Economic Theory: (On the Bailout, Part 31)

Stimuluses (Stimuli?)  don’t work from an economics PoV.
As blogged here, it may sounds good…
An economist named John Maynard Keynes argued that the economy could be boosted if the government borrowed money and spent it. According to this Keynesian approach, this new spending would put money in people’s pockets, and the recipients of the funds would [...]

Interesting “Inflation” discussion…

…at Reason.
This definition of Inflation sound right to me:

Inflation is an increase in the money supply without a corresponding increase in actual produced wealth.
…because this means average price levels will be higher.

“The Credit Card Bailout” and the failure of Business/USGOV Leaders (On the Bailout, Part 30)

TDAXP covers it all:
What is disturbing about our President, and our even worse Congress, is that we are throwing good money after bad in a way that is not only wasteful, but also foolish.
The purpose of the credit card bailout is obviously to increase spending. The credit card bailout does so by socializing the losses [...]

Stimulus Package: “spending in the range of $500 billion to $700 billion”

Jeez.
I predict every Democrat special interest will come out for their payoff handout.
Most of this spending will crowd out other spending and investment. Capital Investors will be more likely to sit out given the uncertainty of USGOV actions.
I laugh (sadly) when I hear politician talk about the jobs they will create. These will not be [...]

Public Policy Guidance on “Too Big To Fail” (On the Bailout, Part 28)

Note for Public Policy going forward:
If a business enterprise (public, private or GSE) is or becomes Too Big To Fail, then it needs to be broken apart into smaller components.
If this can’t be done under current anti-trust legislation, then new legislation is needed to support this – perhaps in a mostly pre-canned way.