In the 5 October 2009 issue of The New Yorker, John Cassidy gives in Rational Irrationality-The real reason that capitalism is so crash-prone a nice behavioral finance analysis of what went wrong with our financial system.
Watch this video and see if you wonder the same thing I do.
I wonder if Bing Perrine tried to buy insurance before he collapsed.
Warning: Conspiracy Theories Gone Wild!!
Here is a video sent to me by bravenewfilms.org.
I thought this might be interesting to follow if a little conspiratorial. I noticed a link on YouTube under the video that said it was in answer to the following videos:
The Swine Flu Lie — What They Aren’t Telling You (Pt. 1)
The Swine Flu Lie — What They Aren’t Telling You (Pt. 2)
If this isn’t enough to shake your confidence in Senator Sanders and bravenewfilms.com, I don’t know what is.
I received the following video in the email.
Follow this link to the New York Times report. The report is best summed up by the following paragraph from the story:
In a provocative new study, a pair of Nobel prize-winning economists, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, urge the adoption of new assessment tools that incorporate a broader concern for human welfare than just economic growth.
This story resonates with what I recently read in the book The Economic Naturalist’s Field Guide: Common Sense Principles for Troubled Times by Robert H. Frank.
One of the points that he made was that the recent tax cuts for the wealthy may have increased their income, but did not necessarily make them any better off (happier). He cites the case of the 10 million dollar birthday party. The parent was trying to give the child a memorable birthday party. Before the bubble in wealthy people’s income, a 500 thousand dollar birthday party might have been enough to do the trick.
It is just a case of too many dollars chasing too few goods in a particular sector of the economy. Like any bubble, it makes the price higher, but you don’t get any more value for your money. The same is true of the housing bubble.
When the Republicans try to stimulate a part of the economy that is already overheated as they are wont to do, it just raises the prices in that segment without producing any lasting benefit.
As one whose mother died from the effects of breast cancer, I feel obligated to post this on my web site.
Follow this link to see the article on Huffington Post.
Below is the video of Jon Stewart
Follow this link to see this item as reported on Huffington Post.
Must See Hilarious George Bush Bloopers!
On 9 August 2009, Tim Harford wrote The Economist’s Guide to Happiness in London’s TimesOnline.
Note: This link is (very, very) distantly related to my 20 September 2009 pointer to Michael Sandel’s PBS series on Justice. [I hope some of you saw the first Sandel show.]
In this video Hollywood speaks out to help insurance companies.