The carbon trading scheme that passed the House and is making its way to the Senate is a new derivatives market set up at the behest of Goldman Sachs and other major Wall Street financial firms. Out of curiosity, how did the last financial derivatives market turn out? And yes, it is also a regressive tax, (Who do you think is hurt most by higher energy bills?).
Bill Clinton's archives
The Market For Global Warming: Green is the Color of Money
under: Energy, Game Theory, Individual v. Collective, Live and Learn, Taxes, Trust
Tags: Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, Archer Daniels Midlands, Bill Clinton, Cap-and-Trade, carbon credits, carbon emissions, Cato Institute, Constellation Energy, corporate welfare, Dan Carney, Dennis Kucinich, derivatives, Donald Miller, Enron, EPA, Fanjul family, George Bush, global warming, Goldman Sachs, government grants, hacked emails, healthcare reform, IBM, Ken Lay, Kevin Trenberth, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Kyoto Protocol, Mother Jones, net neutrality, oil companies, Paul Krugman, regressive tax, Science and Public Policy Institute, scientific dogma, scientists, Silver Spring Networks, sulphur dioxide emissions, T.J. Rodgers, tariffs, U.S. Department of Energy, universitites
A History of Government Spending: The Ridiculously Awesome Version
Like the title says:
under: Deficits, Live and Learn, Obama Says, Taxes, Treasury
Tags: bailouts, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, budget deficit, debt, Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Bush, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, government spending, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, New Deal, politicians, Richard Nixson, Ronald Reagan, stimulus package, Taxes
New York Times on Fannie Mae… in 1999 (Loose Lending was a Good Idea Back Then)
Here’s a very interesting article in the New York Times from 1999. Steven Holmes discusses how Fannie Mae was reducing its lending standards and increasing the issuance of subprime loans. This was a big cause in our current financial crisis, however, back then, everyone thought it was just dandy:
The Uselessness of Political Terminology: Part 2
As seen in Part 1, political terms, such as liberal, conservative or libertarian, are muddled enough. Unfortunately, political organizations, popular terms and ideologies have many of the same issues. The political parties in the United States have gone through whole sale shifts in political ideology. Republicans used to be the party of tariffs and protectionism, now they are avid free traders. Democrats were the party of slavery and Jim Crow, before becoming the party of Civil Rights and Affirmative Action.
under: Individual v. Collective, Live and Learn, Trust
Tags: ACLU, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Catholicism, Change, Christianity, civil rights, democracy, Democrats, equality, feminism, freedom, freedom fries, George Bush, Gnostic Christianity, Iraq War, Islam, Korean War, libertarianism, Mel Gibson, NRA, Patriot Act, political correctness, political terminology, Protestantism, Reformation, Republicans, Shiite, Sri Lanka, Sunni, Tamil Tigers, U.S. Constitution, Vatican II, Vietnam War
The Financial Crisis – Part 2: The Rest of the Story
Inflation was thus misinterpreted as wealth, leading American consumers to borrow more and more, especially against their overvalued homes. Total mortgage debt in the United States is now around 12.5 trillion, up from $1.5 trillion in 1980! Total household debt was around 50% of GDP in 1980 and is over 100% today. And the personal saving rate was around negative 1%, for most of the last decade.
under: Deficits, Dollar, Federal Reserve, Individual v. Collective, Live and Learn, Taxes, Treasury, Trust
Tags: 9-11, ACORN, adjustable rate mortgages, AIG, Alan Greenspan, Alphonso Jackson, Alt-A mortgages, American Dream, Andrew Cuomo, Barney Franks, Bill Clinton, Chris Dodd, Community Reinvestment Act, deregulation, dot-com bust, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve, financial crisis, fractional reserve banking, Frank Raines, Franklin Roosevelt, Freddie Mac, George Bush, Ginnie Mae, Great Depression, GSE, home ownership, inflation, M1, M3, Maxine Waters, mortgage backed securities, New Deal, Niall Ferguson, Peter Schiff, sub-prime mortgages, Tom Woods, Wall Street
A Status Quo You Can Believe In
…from what I have gathered, our current president believes we need to change a few things. Well, I agree with him. I thought President Bush was a disaster. Unfortunately, though, other than the ridiculous hero worship and cult of personality that Obama’s got going, it really doesn’t seem like much of anything is changing.
under: Deficits, Energy, Live and Learn, Obama Says, Taxes, Treasury, Trust
Tags: Afghanistan War, bailout, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Change, Climate Change, cult of personality, deficit, deregulation, dreams, financial crisis, George Bush, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Guantanamo Bay, Hillary Clinton, hope, Iraq War, Jewel vs. NSA, Joe Biden, John McCain, Medicare Part D, Michael Moynihan, Patriot Act, rendition, status quo, stimulus package, surge, TARP, Tim Geithner, wiretapping
Setting the Record Straight on George Bush’s Conservative “Free Market” Presidency
In eight years, Bill Clinton only increased the budget from 1.41 trillion to 1.86 trillion, a 32.2% increase which is notably not adjusted for inflation. As a percentage of GDP the budget fell from 21.4% to 18.5%. Under eight years of Bush the budget increased from 1.86 trillion to 3.11 trillion, an uncanny 66.8% increase.
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