Wikipedia, that ever-evolving monument to human collaboration in the cause of global enlightenment, goes completely black today, Wednesday, Jan. 18. The blackout is a choice, and a brilliant one, made by founder Jimmy Wales in consultation with the whole Wikipedia community. It is a protest, a statement, a symbolic warning to the world of what can happen if governments attack the free flow of information.
[Read more...]Goldman to the Rescue!
November 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
More pieces are coming together. Day by day, the puzzle takes shape. Not a pretty picture.
An epic battle is taking place. Between the forces of…
…inflation and deflation
…growth and depression
…credit expansion and credit destruction
…centralization and de-centralization
[Read more...]Makers, Takers and the Transfer of Wealth
July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Paris is silent this morning. We were practically alone on the metro.
It is the day the French celebrate the founding of their republic.
“What are you doing for the 14th,” we asked a colleague yesterday.
“Nothing. I don’t celebrate it. It’s nothing to celebrate. I only recognize religious holidays. France would have been better off without the revolution. Besides, there are more religious holidays.”
[Read more...]Debunking the Myth of a Free Market Run Wild
May 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A question for you, Fellow Reckoner: Why do people so frequently demand more of the same poison to cure what ails them? Is it because they are stupid? Are they too busy with their workaday lives to notice the difference? Or are they being persistently lied to and indoctrinated?
Most likely, it’s a mixture of all three. Today, we address the third point.
[Read more...]The Unfortunate State of the Argentine Beef Industry
March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
“I thought this was a gas station,” huffed our Argentine friend with disgust. “I somehow forgot it was an Argentine gas station.”
Five gas trucks were parked out front of the YFP station just outside of Tucuman, where your editor and a group of friends were passing through last week on their way to Salta. Cars, vans and motorbikes of every description were queued up around the corner. The line wasn’t moving.
[Read more...]Obama on Auto-Defrosting Refrigerators
February 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I’m the guy who just last week managed to find a plumber who would increase the water pressure in my entire house, defying government controls and thereby causing all appliances to work better. It’s not surprising that this was necessary. Government regulations have made a mess of our daily lives. Whether it is banning effective products or mandating inferior functionality in our appliances and fixtures, government’s role here is indisputably to degrade our quality of life.
[Read more...]America is Losing Her Way
September 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A Brief Introduction from Eric Fry…
The last time I saw Daniel Loeb, I was riding in his private jet from Miami to New Jersey. Danny is a fascinating guy – a California surf rat turned New York hedge fund manager.
In other words, he's not your run-of-the-mill financial type. He came into the business through the backdoor and succeeded on the strength of his talents, wits and determination. He manages $3.4 billion in his hedge fund named Third Point Partners L.P. (For those folks who do not surf or who have never visited the beaches of Southern California, “Third Point? is the most distant of the three main surf breaks in Malibu).
[Read more...]Unwelcome Correction Mistaken for a Double-Dip Recession
June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Oh Bama…could this really be the end?
To be stuck inside this mobile, with the Memphis Blues again…
Bob Dylan, sort of
Who believes in the recovery now?
Robert Reich (former Labor Secretary under Bill Clinton):
The only reason the economy isnt in a double-dip recession already is because of three temporary boosts: the federal stimulus (of which 75 percent has been spent), near-zero interest rates (which cant continue much longer without igniting speculative bubbles), and replacements (consumers have had to replace worn-out cars and appliances, and businesses had to replace worn-down inventories). Oh, and, yes, all those Census workers (who will be out on their ears in a month or so).
[Read more...]
Blackout Wednesday: The Time Has Come
Wikipedia, that ever-evolving monument to human collaboration in the cause of global enlightenment, goes completely black today, Wednesday, Jan. 18. The blackout is a choice, and a brilliant one, made by founder Jimmy Wales in consultation with the whole Wikipedia community. It is a protest, a statement, a symbolic warning to the world of what can happen if governments attack the free flow of information.
[Read more...]