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	<title>Comments on: Lucky Number Seven Hundred Billion</title>
	<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/</link>
	<description>A Peculiar, Yet Refreshing, Blog</description>
	<pubDate>Sun, 20 May 2012 11:22:22 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>By: bbbeard</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-73</link>
		<author>bbbeard</author>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:46:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-73</guid>
		<description>&lt;p&gt;ROFL at Krugman calling anyone else a crazy. But his point is well taken -- there are crazies on both sides of the aisle. But look on the bright side -- gridlock is good. I don't know about the comparison to a Banana Republic -- last time I bought pants there, they seemed pretty well-run. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Krugman, a notorious leftie, has never accepted that gridlock is the natural state of a well-balanced government. Like most lefties, present company excluded, he seems to believe (a) he knows what is right, and (II) therefore everyone else should do what he says. I've found that's a logical stance for professors, but not for politicians.&lt;/p&gt;
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		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>ROFL at Krugman calling anyone else a crazy. But his point is well taken &#8212; there are crazies on both sides of the aisle. But look on the bright side &#8212; gridlock is good. I don&#8217;t know about the comparison to a Banana Republic &#8212; last time I bought pants there, they seemed pretty well-run. </p>
<p>Krugman, a notorious leftie, has never accepted that gridlock is the natural state of a well-balanced government. Like most lefties, present company excluded, he seems to believe (a) he knows what is right, and (II) therefore everyone else should do what he says. I&#8217;ve found that&#8217;s a logical stance for professors, but not for politicians.</p>
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		<title>By: aurora_guy</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-71</link>
		<author>aurora_guy</author>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:41:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-71</guid>
		<description>Paul Krugman: "So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch. As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes."  

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/ok-we-are-a-banana-republic/ 

At this point, I oppose it, too.  Jeffrey Miron makes a good point about bankruptcy preferred over bailout for a number of reasons.  Government mismanagement is among the chief reasons things are getting a bit ugly.  

"[T]he current credit freeze is likely due to Wall Street's hope of a bailout; bankers will not sell their lousy assets for 20 cents on the dollar if the government might pay 30, 50, or 80 cents.

"The costs of the bailout, moreover, are almost certainly being understated. The administration's claim is that many mortgage assets are merely illiquid, not truly worthless, implying taxpayers will recoup much of their $700 billion.

"If these assets are worth something, however, private parties should want to buy them, and they would do so if the owners would accept fair market value. Far more likely is that current owners have brushed under the rug how little their assets are worth."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Paul Krugman: &#8220;So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch. As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes.&#8221;  </p>
<p><a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/ok-we-are-a-banana-republic/" rel="nofollow">http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/ok-we-are-a-banana-republic/</a> </p>
<p>At this point, I oppose it, too.  Jeffrey Miron makes a good point about bankruptcy preferred over bailout for a number of reasons.  Government mismanagement is among the chief reasons things are getting a bit ugly.  </p>
<p>&#8220;[T]he current credit freeze is likely due to Wall Street&#8217;s hope of a bailout; bankers will not sell their lousy assets for 20 cents on the dollar if the government might pay 30, 50, or 80 cents.</p>
<p>&#8220;The costs of the bailout, moreover, are almost certainly being understated. The administration&#8217;s claim is that many mortgage assets are merely illiquid, not truly worthless, implying taxpayers will recoup much of their $700 billion.</p>
<p>&#8220;If these assets are worth something, however, private parties should want to buy them, and they would do so if the owners would accept fair market value. Far more likely is that current owners have brushed under the rug how little their assets are worth.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/" rel="nofollow">http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/</a></p>
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		<title>By: bbbeard</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-70</link>
		<author>bbbeard</author>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:56:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-70</guid>
		<description>Well, I've become a hard-liner on statistical questions. Which is to say, as I've matured, I've gained the footing to dispute the 'frequentist' interpretations of probability and stick to the rigorous analysis. Which is why I &lt;i&gt;probably&lt;/i&gt; ;-) wouldn't have fit in on Wall Street (though I considered it back when I was taking graduate courses in economics ~ca. Y2K). I would have spent my days warning people that applying statistical techniques and the Ito calculus to stock movements is unrigorous. MBAs don't want to hear that from their highly-paid technical consultants.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well, I&#8217;ve become a hard-liner on statistical questions. Which is to say, as I&#8217;ve matured, I&#8217;ve gained the footing to dispute the &#8216;frequentist&#8217; interpretations of probability and stick to the rigorous analysis. Which is why I <i>probably</i> <img src='http://blog.bbbeard.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' /> wouldn&#8217;t have fit in on Wall Street (though I considered it back when I was taking graduate courses in economics ~ca. Y2K). I would have spent my days warning people that applying statistical techniques and the Ito calculus to stock movements is unrigorous. MBAs don&#8217;t want to hear that from their highly-paid technical consultants.</p>
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		<title>By: lukemeister</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-69</link>
		<author>lukemeister</author>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:17:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-69</guid>
		<description>It's all the fault of those dastardly &lt;a href="http://ksjtracker.mit.edu/?p=7533" rel="nofollow"&gt;MIT physics grads&lt;/a&gt;.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s all the fault of those dastardly <a href="http://ksjtracker.mit.edu/?p=7533" rel="nofollow">MIT physics grads</a>.</p>
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		<title>By: bbbeard</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-67</link>
		<author>bbbeard</author>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:18:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-67</guid>
		<description>Well, FWIW -- which isn't much -- I'll go on record as officially opposing the bailout, at least in the form it is being reported on Sunday night, 28 Sept 08. I reminds of the adage that no man's property is safe when the legislature is in session.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well, FWIW &#8212; which isn&#8217;t much &#8212; I&#8217;ll go on record as officially opposing the bailout, at least in the form it is being reported on Sunday night, 28 Sept 08. I reminds of the adage that no man&#8217;s property is safe when the legislature is in session.</p>
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		<title>By: aurora_guy</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-57</link>
		<author>aurora_guy</author>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:06:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-57</guid>
		<description>The Wikipedia entry as quoted makes sense.  The warning signs are clear from his Dept of Treasury bio: Dartmouth English major/football player. Codewords for just "player" in Hanover.  He was a Pentagon and White House staffer in the Nixon administration after he got this MBA at Harvard.  Oh, boy.  He didn't exactly agree to a pay cut when he came back to government.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Wikipedia entry as quoted makes sense.  The warning signs are clear from his Dept of Treasury bio: Dartmouth English major/football player. Codewords for just &#8220;player&#8221; in Hanover.  He was a Pentagon and White House staffer in the Nixon administration after he got this MBA at Harvard.  Oh, boy.  He didn&#8217;t exactly agree to a pay cut when he came back to government.</p>
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		<title>By: lukemeister</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-55</link>
		<author>lukemeister</author>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:28:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-55</guid>
		<description>Wikipedia says "Paulson received his Bachelor of Arts in Advanced Kleptomania from Dartmouth College in 1968." These Ivy elitists really are ruining this country.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Wikipedia says &#8220;Paulson received his Bachelor of Arts in Advanced Kleptomania from Dartmouth College in 1968.&#8221; These Ivy elitists really are ruining this country.</p>
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		<title>By: bbbeard</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-54</link>
		<author>bbbeard</author>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:19:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-54</guid>
		<description>My immediate reactions to last week's turmoil: (a) Gee, I remember The Crash of 1987. Don't they? Maybe I'm an out-of-touch nearly-Ivy, but I don't remember the bread lines and the 35% unemployment.... (b) I remember the S&#038;L crisis. [Not to be confused with the SNL crisis... it took them years to recover from the departure of Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey....] Remember the bread lines and the... oh, never mind. (c) I wish I had some loose change, because now is the time to buy some stocks, (d) Why are the folks who got massive campaign contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae still in charge of sorting this out?, (e) Our Treasury Secretary's name is Paulson? Who knew? (f) Gee, immediate action by Washington? Something really must be wrong. (g) Never mind, the Dems are stonewalling. Back to business as usual.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My immediate reactions to last week&#8217;s turmoil: (a) Gee, I remember The Crash of 1987. Don&#8217;t they? Maybe I&#8217;m an out-of-touch nearly-Ivy, but I don&#8217;t remember the bread lines and the 35% unemployment&#8230;. (b) I remember the S&#038;L crisis. [Not to be confused with the SNL crisis&#8230; it took them years to recover from the departure of Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey&#8230;.] Remember the bread lines and the&#8230; oh, never mind. (c) I wish I had some loose change, because now is the time to buy some stocks, (d) Why are the folks who got massive campaign contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae still in charge of sorting this out?, (e) Our Treasury Secretary&#8217;s name is Paulson? Who knew? (f) Gee, immediate action by Washington? Something really must be wrong. (g) Never mind, the Dems are stonewalling. Back to business as usual.</p>
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		<title>By: lukemeister</title>
		<link>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-53</link>
		<author>lukemeister</author>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:34:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://blog.bbbeard.com/2008/09/21/lucky-number-seven-hundred-billion/#comment-53</guid>
		<description>It looks like the Paulson plan won't fly in its current form. This needs to be done in a transparent way.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It looks like the Paulson plan won&#8217;t fly in its current form. This needs to be done in a transparent way.</p>
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