The p-word

Either way, it could be an unkind cut by Henry C.K. Liu

(panic) Nothing more exciting than a few thousand-word analysis of the state of the world economy, eh? (panic) This one, written by one of many analysts who predicted the subprime bust far in advance, is a bit dire. (panic) In that, it differs a bit from what I'm reading in the WSJ these days. (panic) But then, no one in their right mind writing - or editing - for the WSJ or major US media would ever publish such an alarmist perspective. (panic) Don't want to spark a panic.
Time will tell whether Liu's analysis is on point - following an interest rate cut on Tuesday, the Dow is now not very far off from its all-time high.

Even Veblen might be surprised

Small Collectors

"Encouraged by wealthy, art-loving parents, children are collecting Warhols and even Rembrandts. Kelly Crow on their kid-centered tastes, 'art allowances' and why auction paddles aren't toys."

Keep this article on hand, in case you ingest a toxic substance and need to vomit.

In the end, though, it's not all bad - where better to store something by Jeff Koons than in a kid's room next to crayons, finger paint, pens, pencils, craypas, sledgehammers, chainsaws, industrial-grade incinerators, etc.?

Interesting how not only have kids become articles of conspicuous consumption - I just heard the other day that the median income of a white couple with toddlers in Manhattan is a few hundred g's - but you gotta accessorize them too!

This is the world's most influential magazine

The Economist: The World’s Sleaziest Magazine by Mark Ames

"...The Economist's record is so appallingly deceitful that it would require a separate article, and scores of beta-blockers just to read through without suffering a 10-valve thrombo." This article does not examine The Economist's entire record - only its recent coverage of Putin.

The Economist was founded by one James Wilson, who instituted an export-driven public finance strategy for India during the first years of direct British rule. Which happened to coincide with famines that killed tens of millions of Indians (but which shouldn't be considered to be caused by 'capitalism' in the way that 'communism' is surely to blame for the famine deaths in Mao's China, wink wink). Ah but the Market moves in mysterious ways, and The Economist has been there to praise It, whether It be starving millions of Indians or Irish to death.

A bit late for an obituary

American Economy: R.I.P. by Paul Craig Roberts

Did you ever think the world would end before a former Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, a Contributing Editor of National Review or an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration made a comment about Karl Marx that did not compare him to Satan and/or Bozo the Clown? Well, Roberts was all three, and in this piece he actually gives Marx favorable (if brief) treatment - and yet still with us is the world, albeit crumbling apart.

And it's the best way to get free porn

The wiki way

This kind of masturbatory ode to the internet used to be really common back when tech stocks were soaring high as housing prices now... not so much anymore. But this is somewhat interesting; it suggests that the internet can radically reduce transaction costs (which I've seen estimated elsewhere as comprising 40% of economic activity!), which are the reason why enormous corporations arise in capitalism.

read it and find out

Welcome to Fleece U by Barbara Ehrenreich

"Our mission is to take feckless teenagers like you and turn them into full-fledged debtors."

Man, I'm lucky I left school before they started charging for the privilege of going into debt. ... but since debt is such a wonderful disciplining agent... damn it, I was jipped, I demand retroactive fees for being put into debt!

We won't cut and run, we'll bomb Iran?

Why Bush Can Get Away with Attacking Iran - When Wishful Thinking Replaces Resistance by Jean Bricmont

Just when you think you can rest easy in the knowledge that it would be impossible for Bush to attack Iran...

The author, Jean Bricmont, wrote a book criticizing postmodernism and the incomprehensible wreck it has made out of the Left. He gets a jab in this article too: "A large part of the academic left long ago gave up informing the general public about the real world in order to debate whether Capital is a Signifier or a Signified, or worry about their Bodies and their Selves..."

Speaking From Experience, Part II: Former CIA official expects war with Iran by Ken Silverstein

...and then this. Hopefully, this guy's experience in the CIA has left him unable to analyze anything with any degree of accuracy, but...