Follow this link to an article on Minyanville by John Mauldin. The article describes how the current deficits may be building instability into our economic system.  I have been aware of this possibility from the beginning, but believe that future economic policies can mitigate the problem.  I have been assuming that President Obama is aware of all of this.  I only hope that enough of the congress people are aware of the danger and will not put roadblocks in the way of the President.

The article is intriguing to me because it uses ideas from chaos theory.  I have read several books recently that discuss the topic of chaos theory and how it relates to the real world.

There is still enough of the skeptic in me to ask whether or not the author has any underlying reason to believe that he is applying chaos theory to the economy correctly.  It is easy to use the latest buzz words to come up with impressive theories, but it doesn’t necessarily make those theories correct.

So I take this article as supplying an idea that may or may not prove to be predictive of what may happen if we do not takes steps to minimize the instability.  Further reading is warranted to see if there is confirmation or, more importantly, refutation of these ideas.

Follow this link to a story about recent findings of small planets in the universe.

Our improving technology is starting to allow us to see small, earth-like planets that we previously could not detect.

I am not sure whether the humor in the piece enhances or detracts from the actual science discussed in the article.

Follow this link to Paul Krugman’s Op Ed piece in the New York Times.

He makes the case for doing more to stimulate the economy.

My gut feel has been to let Obama’s stimulus package do its job.  A one month increase in the number of jobs lost may not be significant.  However, I don’t crunch the numbers as the experts do.  They may very well be right that more needs to be done.

In this video, Jon Stewart explains why I am proud to be a Democrat.

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.