Take On Me

The original version:

And the Family Guy version: 

Happy Saturnalia!

The beloved editor of the Prophecy Podcast Blog, Pam Dewey, wrote an interesting article on Christmas, click here for a pdf of it. 

Here is an interesting sermon on Christmas by the pastor of the church I attend. 

Dixie Chicks Revisited

I thought with the current Duck mania that a brief revisit of the Dixie Chick controversy might be in order. I did not remember what they actually said, so I went to Wikipedia:

During a London concert ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Maines said, "we don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States [George W. Bush] is from Texas". The positive reaction to this statement from the British audience contrasted with the boycotts that ensued in the U.S., where the band was assaulted by talk-show conservatives, while their albums were discarded in public protest. 

Looking back on this I find the whole controversy unintentionally humorous. I think that many conservatives would now agree with the Dixie Chicks, at least based on the small sample of my Facebook friends. 

I am completely and totally in agreement with the Dixie Chicks on this. I would even go farther, I am embarrassed that he was ever President! 

While this style of music is not to my personal taste, I thought a Dixie Chicks song was just what we needed in this new duck filled world. 

Since rumor has it that Phil, the main quacker, is apparently now back, can we start buying Dixie Chick albums? I hope so.

The Cantillon Effect

Since Richard Cantillon has been dead for centuries, the observation he made has entered into the basic economic assumptions that are used by almost everyone. His observation bears his name. 

Yes, the Elites are Drunk on the Wine of the Printing Press.Since Richard Cantillon has been dead for centuries, the observation he made has entered into the basic economic assumptions that are used by almost everyone. His observation bears his name.

In Essai, Richard Cantillon provided an advanced version of John Locke's quantity theory of money, focusing on relative inflation and the velocity of money. Cantillon suggested that inflation occurs gradually and that the new supply of money has a localised effect on inflation, effectively originating the concept of non-neutral money. Furthermore, he posited that the original recipients of new money enjoy higher standards of living at the expense of later recipients. The concept of relative inflation, or a disproportionate rise in prices among different goods in an economy, is now known as the Cantillon Effect.

So if the government is increasing the amount of money in circulation, it helps those who get it first. If the Fed prints money by buying mortgages, the money goes directly to the banks and props up real estate prices. In addition it flows directly to the wealthy--the well connected wealthy. If you want to know why the printing presses keep printing ask yourself that famous Latin phrase cui bono--"who benefits." Or as the Watergate investigators kept saying--"follow the money."

There is an interesting proposal by Australian economist Steven Keen that this process be reversed. His proposal is to give a trillion or two directly to the people. Keen blogs at Debt Deflation. His catch is that the money must be spent on debt reduction. This would be trickle up economics. It would be no more harmful than the current procedure to give the money to the banks, and since this would reduce debt, and we have a debt-based economy, this could be mildly deflationary.

I feel reluctant to endorse this proposal as it seems like curing a hangover with a morning pick-me-up. However things are so messed up that a proposal like this may be the best way out. I would combine it with a budget freeze and medical reform. Then the US could work its way gradually out of the mess it is in.

Of course the chance of such a program being implemented is close to zero. Because of the unlikelihood of any meaningful reform, I think I will blog less about economics. As I have already done with my political posts, I will reduce my economic posts greatly as they are mostly an exercise in futility.

Instead I will blog more about diet and exercise, and religion. While the failure rate for people changing their lifestyle is about 95%, at least it is not 99.9% as it is in politics and economics. I think I will find this much more satisfying and productive.

Watch this space.

The NSA Is Coming To Town