From Bloomberg:
Ahead of the Bell: US Home Sales
The National Association of Realtors reports on sales of existing homes in November. The report is scheduled to be released Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern.
SLIGHT DECLINE: Economists forecast that sales slipped 1.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.2 million last month, according to a survey by data firm FactSet. Purchases rose 1.5 percent to 5.26 million in October, the highest level since September 2013. That suggested sales were rebounding after struggling for most of this year.
Sales in October were 2.5 percent higher than 12 months earlier, the first time in 2014 that purchases topped their year-earlier level.
LUGGISH YEAR: Home sales slumped through much of 2014 after a three-year rally in the wake of the recession and the implosion of the housing market. Harsh winter weather crippled sales at the beginning of 2014, just as tight credit, rising home prices and essentially flat incomes increasingly limited the number of buyers who could afford a home.
The Realtors estimate that 4.94 million existing homes will be sold this year, down 3 percent from 5.09 million in 2013. Analysts say sales of roughly 5.5 million existing homes are common in a healthy real estate market.
BETTER SALES AHEAD?: There are signs that home sales may improve in 2015. Mortgage rates have fallen sharply in the past few weeks, which should make homes more affordable for many would-be buyers. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped this week to 3.8 percent, from 3.93 percent last week. That is the lowest level since May 2013.
…
Sales may also pick up as the housing market continues to heal from its boom and bust last decade. Real estate data provider Zillow said last week that the proportion of U.S. homeowners with mortgages who are “under water” — meaning they owe more than the house is worth — has fallen by almost half in the past two years.Rising prices and foreclosures have brought that figure down. As more homeowners gain equity in their homes, they are more likely to list their homes for sale, keeping home prices in check and spurring more sales.
Frist?
The NRA is not “flooding the country with guns”. People, of their own free will are going to stores and buying them. The NRA does not represent “the gun manufacurers” they represent individual members…..millions of them….who vote…. they don’t threaten legislators or politicians with their money or their muscle…they threatened to deliver one thing….votes.
Gun control advocates know this, and have launched an all our campaign to malign the NRA and fill the heads of naïve and uninformed people with the narrative that they represent the evil “gun manufacturers”. The do not, and are in fact the oldest, and still one of the most influential, civil rights organizations in the United States. They exist to train citizens in the safe use of firearms, and to protect the civil rights of the people of the United States.
The gun manufacturers do in fact have a organization that represents them…it is called the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Shooting_Sports_Foundation
It has little influence over Washington…and comparatively less money and members. You see, firearms are durable goods….people buy them and hand them down to their heirs after they pass away. You don’t use up your firearm, throw it away and buy another one in a few months. Under normal circumstances, the firearms business is not a terribly profitable business to be in.
“What is the harm in reducing the easy availability of military grade fire power in the civilian setting?”
Oh, and to answer your question…the harm is that it is exactly the reason the second amendment was written. It is so that civilians can be allowed to own the same type of rifle that a soldier can own. You do not have a second amendment right to protect yourself from burglars or to hunt ducks.
McDullard says:
December 21, 2014 at 9:21 pm
Happy #61…
Ok, a black criminal killed a black woman, a Chinese cop, and a hispanic cop, in NYC. A hispanic fugitive killed a white cop in Florida while avoiding arrest.
So, you see some major race war here and no guns issue at all? The NRA is flooding the country with guns; if some other country were to do the same to US, we’d consider that as a proxy war (like Afghanistan getting flooded with rifles and stinger missiles during 80′s). What is the harm in reducing the easy availability of military grade fire power in the civilian setting?
What exactly is “military grade firepower” anyway? Are you talking about automatic weapons? You know people can’t own automatic weapons, right? If you are talking about common semi-automatic rifles that look like they are out of your kids video games, realize that the way a rifle might look is very different from how a rifle might act. In this case the delineation is clear, automatic weapons are banned from civilian ownership.
If you are talking about semi-automatic guns (god, the name just strikes fear into your heart), realize that the repeating rifle was invented in the mid 1800s, as were the first revolvers (which could shoot just as fast as any modern day pistol). If you somehow think something has materially changed with regards to pistols in the last 100 years, you are wildly mistaken. Pretty much every gun, save a bolt-action rifle or a pump shotgun, has been semi-automatic for nearly forever.
The vast majority of “military grade firepower” now appears to be in the hands of the police, and it’s clear that this militarization has done nothing at all to protect us. In fact, I’d argue the opposite, in that it fosters a bastardized militaristic attitude in small town police departments, and that it drives a deeper wedge in community police relations.
If you somehow think something has materially changed with regards to pistols in the last 100 years, you are wildly mistaken.
In fact, the Taurus 9mm used by Brinsley to execute Liu and Ramos was essentially a copy of the Colt M1911, which first went into service in 1911, a whole 103 years ago.
So I still fail to see your “military grade firepower” argument, unless you were talking about the M1911, which was designed for the American military more than 100 years ago … so then I guess you are right.
“The vast majority of “military grade firepower” now appears to be in the hands of the police, and it’s clear that this militarization has done nothing at all to protect us. In fact, I’d argue the opposite, in that it fosters a bastardized militaristic attitude in small town police departments, and that it drives a deeper wedge in community police relations.”
I’d agree with that…and when Clot’s end of world comes…I doubt the average gun owning citizen is going to be able to defend themselves when the remnants of the local PD starts foraging for supplies….
4 – I think it was actually a copy of the Beretta 92.
Grim,
I was talking about the powerful handguns (having never been near to a gun, except one day in my undergrad training class — that too a clunky rifle). I was mixing up multiple things in my mind — the Newton shootings, tanks at Ferguson, and the image of the handgun from the weekend killer’s tweet (that gun image scared me more than it should).
Clearly, guns didn’t play a role in Garner’s case and even a low-end gun would have resulted in same outcomes in case of the NYPD cops and Michael Brown… Tamir Rice case was a brain freeze of the cops and even a small gun in cops’ hands would have resulted in the same sad outcome. So, my pitch for gun control was misplaced (at least in the current context). The tanks in Ferguson didn’t result in any deaths — though the indirect effect of heavy military equipment is the breakdown of the links between police and the local population.
@PoliticaILine:
The top 4 hedge fund manager made more money than all the kindergarten teachers in America combined
@cjwerleman: The GOP definition of class warfare = a trick used by teachers and fast food workers to oppress hedge fund managers.
Give the cops the most powerful weapons available as far as I am concerned. As long as they are using them in defense of the constitution (as they promised when they took their oath), and in the defense of the innocent and our civil rights.
Hedge fund managers don’t pay taxes. The middle class does. The middle class are more pissed off and deliver more votes than all of the hedge fund managers combined.
anon (the good one) says:
December 22, 2014 at 8:29 am
@PoliticaILine:
The top 4 hedge fund manager made more money than all the kindergarten teachers in America combined
“In fact, the Taurus 9mm used by Brinsley to execute Liu and Ramos was essentially a copy of the Colt M1911, which first went into service in 1911, a whole 103 years ago.”
The picture of that gun scared me for some reason. After a while, I came across the news of some Queens guy getting stabbed in front of his apartment, and then looking back, my fear of all guns in the hands of civilians seems quite irrational.
An unusual amount of no new listings this holiday season. Nothing for sale.
I was talking about the powerful handguns
Not to dwell on ballistics, but Brinsley’s gun was a 9mm, which isn’t very powerful at all. He did however, shoot Ramos and Liu at nearly point blank, in the head, which would be lethal no matter what the caliber.
I assume your next argument should be that Brinsley should have never owned a gun at all. Which I might agree with, but realize this becomes a very slippery constitutional slope when you start to set criteria around who and who is not a responsible gun owner. This kind of discussion just isn’t going to be fruitful and is going to devolve into racial nonsense.
I have as many guns as I need, but not as many as I want.
Really need a Thompson, too. Could prolly do with a couple more Mossberg 500s- sawed-off, pistol grip- for the ladies in the house.
The only thing gun laws accomplish is preventing law-abiding people from having the same easy access to weapons that’s available to criminals and the insane.
I expect the left to attempt to completely distance themselves from Brinsley, but they can’t hide from the blood on their hands.
Already they are painting Brinsley to be a psychopath, and I suspect the anti-gun rhetoric to play a big role going forward as well. Has Sharpton already disavowed Brinsley? “He is not one of us”? “We would never incite violence” Right, let’s burn this bitch down.
The fact is, Brinsley clearly identified his motivation, and it was driven directly by the anti-police nonsense spewed from the mouths of the protesters and their leaders. I believe Brinsley’s actions were racial as well, he was looking for two white cops. He approached Liu and Ramos from the rear, after telling a couple of people on the corner to watch what he was about to do. From behind, I’m sure Liu and Ramos both looked pretty white.
Is this enough justice for you? The murders of Brown and Garner have their retribution? Isn’t this what they wanted all along? Perhaps it would have been sweeter if Brinsley killed Wilson too? Did you see all the copycat nonsense on social media? Do you know how many people are praising Brinsley’s actions?
All sides should be ashamed of this god damned nonsense, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear both sides wanted the conflict. Perhaps they all just don’t know how to live without it. Our very own middle east. The media, they love it, more sensationalism, more clicks, more sensationalism more deaths. Politicians? They are drooling over the benefits of politicizing the issue. I suspect guns aren’t the issue here, but the motivations and ideology of the parties involved.
Sharpton won’t have time…what with his new job and all….
http://nypost.com/2014/12/18/sharpton-to-have-say-over-how-sony-makes-movies/
I had to do a double take….no….this isn’t an article from the onion. It’s real. HOOO LLEEEEE SH1T.
Grim, it’s just a doomed society in its death throes.
Time to take my sed@tives now.
@PoliticaILine:
The top 4
hedge fund managerrap artists made more money than all the kindergarten teachers in America combinedHere is a real PSA:
Authorities say the northern New Jersey strip club that was used for filming of “The Sopranos” has been robbed of $30,000.
Lodi police say that two men with shotguns robbed Satin Dolls early Sunday morning. The men fled after the robbery.
The club stood in as Bada Bing on the HBO show.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police department’s detective division at 973-473-7600.
Inside job
That a guy who could perpetrate a fraud the likes of Tawana Brawley can become a respected national leader shows the depth of sickness in our culture.
Sharpton should at least get fat again and go back to the bad track suits. At least look like what he is…
I suspect it was Pascal who called for the meeting with Sharpton. Did she think she could parlay the situation into something positive by appealing or otherwise convincing Sharpton he should be on their side? The whole choice of Sharpton is curious, why him? There are dozens of more qualified individuals who would have been a better choice to carry on a rational discourse about the issues at Sony and how to move forward? Did she think she could parlay some kind of job offer to buy his support? That’s the only thing I could think of. Nobody from the academic community could be swayed in this manner, so I suspect so. If this was Pascal’s idea, the board should axe her immediately, she’s clearly an idiot and will drag the whole company down.
Does not shock me that a bunch of rich white liberal democrats from Hollywood could be racists.
So what kind of stipend is Sharpton getting for his new oversight role at Sony?
I know people here do better, but I filled up at $2.19/gallon yesterday….it was badas$
25 – tax this man…tax him immediately!
If the gas tax is going to go up, now’s the time to do it, maybe nobody notices.
“If this was Pascal’s idea, the board should axe her immediately, she’s clearly an idiot and will drag the whole company down.”
The board is a dopey as she is. No chance she gets canned.
http://www.sony.com/SCA/who-we-are/leadershipteam/overview.shtml
ChiFi [25];
I don’t do that well in MoCo, but I do save up to a quarter a gallon by buying in depressed neighborhoods. Difference between places like Dover and Franklin Lakes is surprising. When I was on LI, the difference between tony north shore towns like Manhasset and the Miracle Mile, and working-class south shore towns like Valley Stream was even more pronounced.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Sales of existing homes fell 6.1% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.93 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday. This is the weakest level in six months. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected the sales rate to decline to 5.18 million in November from an originally reported 5.26 million in October. November’s pace of sales was up 2.1% from a year earlier. The median sales price of used homes hit $205,300 in November, up 5.0% from the year-earlier period. November’s inventory was 2.09 million existing homes for sale, a 5.1 month supply at the current sales pace. The number of homes available for sale was up 2.0% from the year-earlier period.
You nailed it. Last thing I need is to be paying high property taxes and some kid from Paterson ends up in my daughter’s school because of vouchers. I’m sorry, I don’t want my daughter to have anything to do with Paterson. I want her to be afraid of that place. I’m just being honest.
Haha, so you are content with subjugating the poor smart kid to getting eaten alive by the locals in Paterson because he actually likes school? A proper voucher system would allow schools to choose their out of town applicants. You on the other hand, are hell bent on keeping those poor kids in a no win situation. Me personally, I would welcome any kid that has a strong desire to learn into my classroom. Typical NIMBY garbage.
I have a dream that some day excellent school teachers will make much more money than mediocre ones, and bad teachers will routinely be fired. Like real life in the marketplace for other skilled white collar professionals.
Ragnar. Doesn’t happen. Excellent school teachers get hired on day 1 and start at the minimum salary. They never get a chance to renegotiate their salary unless they leave for someplace else. Meanwhile, teachers who routinely get fired renegotiate every 2/3 years each time they are fired and find some place new. They end being paid much more.
@PoliticaILine:
The top 4 hedge fund manager made more money than all the kindergarten teachers in America combined.
And deservedly so. Teaching kindergarten is a joke. Only a dumb progressive would think that paying a babysitter like a brain surgeon makes sense.
28 – That leadership team is awfully white.
Good price Chifi. It’s 2.19 (credit too) at my Union Citgo so I am actually paying $2.08.
A proper voucher system would allow schools to choose their out of town applicants. You on the other hand, are hell bent on keeping those poor kids in a no win situation.
Is the fear than Caleb gets to come to Ridgewood to learn? Or is the fear that there will be no more room for Brooklyn and Quinn, and that they’ll need to go to Fair Lawn, which is more aligned with their capabilities? When mommy and daddy can’t buy their way into the best school district, that’s going to create some waves.
And I have no idea which is the boy or the girl in the Brooklyn/Quinn arrangement.
Re: weapons and caliber.. My cousin was shot twice in a botched drug deal robbery back in the day in the Bronx. 22 caliber, first shot went through his arm broke the bone and the second shot nailed him right between the eyes. Luckiest man alive that day. His thick Irish skull saved his life as the second bullet bounced off and left him with a dent.
He is a successful exec in New Zealand now, had to go all the way to the other side of the planet to get clean and find himself.
#37..based on my Glee watching..both girls!
Grim [34];
One Indian; two Japanese; and one women at each of three levels (1 of 4; 1 of 9; 1 of 8) — the word “token” comes to mind.
But its all good now because Sony just paid off Sharpton.
http://nypost.com/2014/12/18/sharpton-to-have-say-over-how-sony-makes-movies/
Wonder if any less well off liberal will name their kid Queens.
The new Annie movie commercials make me want to puke.
“Teaching kindergarten is a joke”
I respectfully and strongly disagree. Maybe you had a bad experience with a particular Kindergarten teacher? My son was lucky I guess and we got a great teacher in one of the public schools.
Libturd in Union says:
December 22, 2014 at 10:19 am
@PoliticaILine:
The top 4 hedge fund manager made more money than all the kindergarten teachers in America combined.
And deservedly so. Teaching kindergarten is a joke. Only a dumb progressive would think that paying a babysitter like a brain surgeon makes sense.
Juice [38];
Not that I wish it had been different for your cousin, but his story reminds me of one of the “Rules for a Gunfight“:
Quvenzhané? Oy vey!
Toxic. You nailed it. We got a teacher making 6 figures who had hung it up a long time ago. When I mentioned differentiated learning (code word for my son already knows how to read and do basic math), she had never heard of it. There were no computers, though the other classes were using them. There’s nothing like watching your kid come home bored off of his ass as the five or so kids whose stay at home moms didn’t believe in the structure of daycare learned shapes and colors. We moved to Glen Ridge the following summer. By the way, we brought the issue up with the school principal who we liked a lot, but Montclair is anti-tracking, so it went nowhere. Hence my complete hatred of the teachers union. We voted with our feet. And are immensely happy for doing so.
A lot of our old friends faulted us for moving to Glen Ridge as it lacks the diversity of Montclair. I would argue that it lacks the racism that is so prominent in Montclair.
Moose – I was sent to pick him up at the hospital.I was 18 at the time, Dad told me to bring two strong friends and escort him to his apt to pick up clothing as he was going to be on a flight the next day to rehab with family in Ireland. We were told not to make any other stops and to force him if we had to. My cousin was upset did not want to leave his “life” in the Bronx getting high and playing his guitar, back then he would actually walk around like a buskers strumming for spare change in the Bronx of all places. Funny how things turn out for some people if you can get out of the hood.
“Funny how things turn out for some people if you can get out of the hood.”
Poor Bebo.
I think K and pre-K teachers are very important and valuable. Which is why I paid Montessori teachers out of my own pocket to teach my kid in a manner vastly superior to what government teachers offer.
If there was a private school like this in NJ, I’d happily pay for this kind of education for my child: http://www.vandammeacademy.com/index.php
The teachers making minimum wage at my son’s daycare (working for citizenship for the most part) were much better educators than his kindergarten teacher with 40 years teaching experience. Many of them have Masters degrees too. Sad really.
A lot of our old friends faulted us for moving to Glen Ridge as it lacks the diversity of Montclair.
What diversity? Clifton is more diverse than Montclair, both racially and economically. You aren’t diverse just because you say you are. Montclair has more in common with Sony than with NJ.
I agree with you Grim. I loved it in Clifton. Still like to shop there when I can.
The Sony execs would live in “Upper” Montclair……
@SenSanders:
25 hedge fund managers made more than 24 billion, enough to pay the salaries of 425,000 public school teachers.
How much more could we pay new teachers in NJ if we fired all the prinicpals, assistant principals, and superintendents?
Ha Ha Ha … Trick Question … Nobody gets fired in NJ schools.
@BillMoyersHQ:
Not much difference between the first gilded age and today, but people then fought back hard against #inequality
@SenSanders:
25 hedge fund managers made more than 24 billion, enough to pay the salaries of 425,000 public school teachers.
Or better yet, full time salaries of over 1.4 million burger flippers.
And that $56,470 average teachers salary obviously does not include benefits, which cost twice as much in the public sector compared with their cost in the private sector.
Anon,
You’re patently annoying.
The “lack” of economic mobility is largely a myth.
However, what is not a myth is that in order to have an economic system that allows for significant upward mobility, you must also accept the potential for equal downward mobility.
So while you can achieve success, and move significantly upward, just because you are at the top, doesn’t mean your kids will be, or that you will be tomorrow.
Diversity is stupid.
This can be applied to any field or career. There are good ones and there are bad ones. Having a 100% efficient workforce in any field is a pipe dream. Just look at a high school. Some students will be the overachievers, some will be above avg, some will be avg, some will be below avg, and some will be worthless. Now apply that to any career or occupation in society.
Think of some of these people that get paid millions and make huge blunders. A ceo that takes down a company or a madoff scamming the industry. A doctor working as prescription pusher or one that totally screwed up a surgery. It applies to each and every occupation in our society.
Libturd in Union says:
December 22, 2014 at 11:11 am
The teachers making minimum wage at my son’s daycare (working for citizenship for the most part) were much better educators than his kindergarten teacher with 40 years teaching experience. Many of them have Masters degrees too. Sad really.
“Still, facts and experience are seldom decisive in economics. Maybe Washington’s doctors are right. There are always confounding influences. Logic matters too. And illogic hurts. Keynesian ideas are also ebbing from policy as sensible people understand how much topsy-turvy magical thinking they require.”
“In Keynesian models, government spending stimulates even if totally wasted. Pay people to dig ditches and fill them up again. By Keynesian logic, fraud is good; thieves have notoriously high marginal propensities to consume. That’s a hard sell, so stimulus is routinely dressed in “infrastructure” clothes. Clever. How can anyone who hit a pothole complain about infrastructure spending?
But people feel they’ve been had when they discover that the economics is about wasted spending, and infrastructure was a veneer to get the bill passed. And they smell a rat when they hear economic arguments shaded for partisan politics.”
OPINION
An Autopsy for the Keynesians
We were warned that the 2013 sequester meant a recession. Instead, unemployment came down faster than expected.
FRED HARPER
By JOHN H. COCHRANE
Dec. 21, 2014 6:42 p.m. ET
This year the tide changed in the economy. Growth seems finally to be returning. The tide also changed in economic ideas. The brief resurgence of traditional Keynesian ideas is washing away from the world of economic policy.
No government is remotely likely to spend trillions of dollars or euros in the name of “stimulus,” financed by blowout borrowing. The euro is intact: Even the Greeks and Italians, after six years of advice that their problems can be solved with one more devaluation and inflation, are sticking with the euro and addressing—however slowly—structural “supply” problems instead.
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne wrote in these pages Dec. 14 that Keynesians wanting more spending and more borrowing “were wrong in the recovery, and they are wrong now.” The land of John Maynard Keynes and Adam Smith is going with Smith.
Why? In part, because even in economics, you can’t be wrong too many times in a row.
Keynesians told us that once interest rates got stuck at or near zero, economies would fall into a deflationary spiral. Deflation would lower demand, causing more deflation, and so on.
It never happened. Zero interest rates and low inflation turn out to be quite a stable state, even in Japan. Yes, Japan is growing more slowly than one might wish, but with 3.5% unemployment and no deflationary spiral, it’s hard to blame slow growth on lack of “demand.”
Our first big stimulus fell flat, leaving Keynesians to argue that the recession would have been worse otherwise. George Washington’s doctors probably argued that if they hadn’t bled him, he would have died faster.
With the 2013 sequester, Keynesians warned that reduced spending and the end of 99-week unemployment benefits would drive the economy back to recession. Instead, unemployment came down faster than expected, and growth returned, albeit modestly. The story is similar in the U.K.
These are only the latest failures. Keynesians forecast depression with the end of World War II spending. The U.S. got a boom. The Phillips curve failed to understand inflation in the 1970s and its quick end in the 1980s, and disappeared in our recession as unemployment soared with steady inflation.
Still, facts and experience are seldom decisive in economics. Maybe Washington’s doctors are right. There are always confounding influences. Logic matters too. And illogic hurts. Keynesian ideas are also ebbing from policy as sensible people understand how much topsy-turvy magical thinking they require.
Hurricanes are good, rising oil prices are good, and ATMs are bad, we were advised: Destroying capital, lower productivity and costly oil will raise inflation and occasion government spending, which will stimulate output. Though Japan’s tsunami and oil shock gave it neither inflation nor stimulus, worriers are warning that the current oil price decline, a boon in the past, will kick off the dreaded deflationary spiral this time.
I suspect policy makers heard this, and said to themselves “That’s how you think the world works? Really?” And stopped listening to such policy advice.
Keynesians tell us not to worry about huge debts, or to default or inflate them away (but please, call it “restructuring” or “repairing balance sheets”). Even the Obama administration has ignored that advice, promising long-run solutions to the debt problem from day one. Europeans have centuries of memories of what happens to governments that don’t pay debts, or who need to borrow for a new emergency but have stiffed their creditors once too often. More debt? Nein danke!
In Keynesian models, government spending stimulates even if totally wasted. Pay people to dig ditches and fill them up again. By Keynesian logic, fraud is good; thieves have notoriously high marginal propensities to consume. That’s a hard sell, so stimulus is routinely dressed in “infrastructure” clothes. Clever. How can anyone who hit a pothole complain about infrastructure spending?
But people feel they’ve been had when they discover that the economics is about wasted spending, and infrastructure was a veneer to get the bill passed. And they smell a rat when they hear economic arguments shaded for partisan politics.
Stimulus advocates: Can you bring yourselves to say that the Keystone XL pipeline, LNG export terminals, nuclear power plants and dams are infrastructure? Can you bring yourselves to mention that the Environmental Protection Agency makes it nearly impossible to build anything in the U.S.? How can you assure us that infrastructure does not mean “crony boondoggle,” or high-speed trains to nowhere?
Now you like roads and bridges. Where were you during decades of opposition to every new road on grounds that they only encouraged suburban “sprawl”? If you repeat in your textbooks how defense spending saved the economy in World War II, why do you support defense cutbacks today? Why is “infrastructure” spending abstract or anecdotal, not a plan for actual, valuable, concrete projects that someone might object to?
Keynesians tell us that “sticky wages” are the big underlying economic problem. But why do they just repeat this story to justify inflation and stimulus? Why do they not advocate policies to undo minimum wages, labor laws, occupational licenses and other regulations that make wages stickier?
Inequality was fashionable this year. But no government in the foreseeable future is going to enact punitive wealth taxes. Europe’s first stab at “austerity” tried big taxes on the wealthy, meaning on those likely to invest, start businesses or hire people. Burned once, Europe is moving in the opposite direction. Magical thinking—that, contrary to centuries of experience, massive taxation and government control of incomes will lead to growth, prosperity and social peace—is moving back to the salons.
Yes, there is plenty wrong and plenty to worry about. Growth is too slow, and not enough people are working. Even supporters acknowledge that Dodd-Frank and ObamaCare are a mess. Too many people on the bottom are stuck in terrible education, jobless poverty, and a dysfunctional criminal justice system. But the policy world has abandoned the notion that we can solve our problems with blowout borrowing, wasted spending, inflation, default and high taxes. The policy world is facing the tough tradeoffs that centuries of experience have taught us, not wishing them away.
Mr. Cochrane is a professor of finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.
grim- 62 in moderation
@BillMoyersHQ:
“Once upon a time the GOP stood for Grand Old Party; now it stands for Guardians of Privilege”
– Bill Moyers
“The framers debated the meaning of corruption at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and Americans have been arguing about it ever since. Today, gifts to politicians that were once called graft or bribes are called contributions. The Supreme Court has granted corporations the rights our founders reserved for people, and told those corporations they can give just about anything they want to elect politicians favorable to their interests. Diamond and gold snuff boxes are as outmoded as the king’s powdered wig. Now we’re talking cash — millions upon millions of dollars. Quadrupled, quintupled and then some – and it’s not considered corruption.
Consider the new report from the watchdog Sunlight Foundation: From 2007 to 2012, the two hundred most politically active corporations in the United States spent almost $6 billion for lobbying and campaign contributions. And they received more than $4 trillion in US government contracts and other forms of assistance. That’s $760 for every dollar spent on influence, a stunning return on investment.”
“Consider the new report from the watchdog Sunlight Foundation: From 2007 to 2012, the two hundred most politically active corporations in the United States spent almost $6 billion for lobbying and campaign contributions. And they received more than $4 trillion in US government contracts and other forms of assistance. That’s $760 for every dollar spent on influence, a stunning return on investment.”
No sh1t Sherlock. Yet you echo your money grubbing Democrat criminals here daily like a parrot with OCD.
I propose that as soon as we are done shooting all the politicians, we shoot all the lobbyists.
ChiFi,
The problem with government jobs created in the name of stimulus is that they are wholly unnecessary and disgustingly costly. In many cases, they are temporary as well.
It’ll be funny to shoot the NRA lobbyists.
69 – All the same, if you’d like we can shoot them before we shoot the teacher lobby.
Q to the board…… ABLE Act passed last week….I focused on it because of impact to 529 plans…..however, it appears to supplant the need for a SNT…..do you agree? Was that the intention?
https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/647
70 – If I recall correctly, the order of operations doesn’t matter when subtracting.
72 – Actually, the teacher lobby (NEA) spends more annually buying politicians than the NRA, so perhaps they should be first.
Another useless school ranking list.
https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-school-districts/best-overall/s/new-jersey/?source=utm_medium%3Dsocial&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=RankingsList&utm_term=RLP&utm_medium=social
At least hedge fund managers can get fired by their clients. Ever try to get a replacement for an under performing teacher?
65 –
More propaganda. The McCutcheon v FEC and Citizens United v FEC were the correct decisions. Donation limits to single candidates are still in place. Now you can donate to as many people you want. Liberals should be happy about this, but this was more of them trying to muzzle groups like the NRA. I said it before, their power lies in their membership. They have millions of members.
Other civil rights groups should rejoice. If as many people join their ranks, they would have the same freedoms.
BREAKING: We Can Conclusively Confirm North Korea Was Not Behind #Sony Hack
http://gotnews.com/breaking-can-conclusively-confirm-north-korea-not-behind-sony-hack/
If you watched the video up on the NY Post after the cops in Bed-Stuy were murdered the locals at the Tompkins projects were actually cheering at the sight of the dead cops. I suspect that neighborhood is going downhill big time.
Here is my take on this issue. If things are run at max efficiency in the economy, more than half of the population doesn’t work. So it’s fine to say that a job is useless, that is was only created for the sake of giving someone the ability to participate in the economy, but what do you do with the people that will be unable to find work. If everyone worked at peak efficiency, there would almost be no work left for anyone to do. Some people have to try and drag out their work or they will be sent home early and lose out on pay. This is a reality for many people. So what will you do with the masses that don’t have the opportunity to find work? The only person who like peak efficiency is the owner of the company, the ceo, or the stock holders. They make out in these situations and rightfully support it. What do you tell the person that only has 25 hrs of work this week because he worked too fast and now won’t be able to make the rent payment?
Libturd in Union says:
December 22, 2014 at 11:48 am
ChiFi,
The problem with government jobs created in the name of stimulus is that they are wholly unnecessary and disgustingly costly. In many cases, they are temporary as well.
http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/07/can-economic-growth-last/
Recognizing the need to ultimately transition to a non-growth economy, I am personally disconcerted by the fact that we lack a tested economic system based on steady-state conditions. I would like to take a conservative, low-risk approach to the future and smartly place ourselves on a sustainable trajectory. There are well-developed steady-state economic models, pioneered by Herman Daly and others. There are even stepwise plans to transition our economy into a steady-state. But not one of those steps will be taken if people (who elect politicians) do not crave this result. The only way people will crave this result is if they understand (or experience) the impossibility of continued growth and the consequences of not acting soon enough. I hope we can collectively be smart enough to make this transition. – See more at: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/07/can-economic-growth-last/#sthash.dk8yIosy.dpuf
What do you tell the person that only has 25 hrs of work this week because he worked too fast and now won’t be able to make the rent payment?
I would tell them to hold on a little longer because wage inflation is coming.
Passion Fruit.
The owner of such a company likes growth as well. Especially when his/her compensation is tied to stock performance. Growth traditionally came from scale which required additional labor. Of course that was before this new group of progressives started energizing their dumb base of sheep into thinking that the market needs manipulation. All of a sudden, it became OK for Apple to claim their sub-headquarters are in Ireland. ACA encourages employers to either drop their health insurance or make more full timers part timers. The list of dumb policy is endless.
“I would tell them to hold on a little longer because wage inflation is coming.”
Nice!
Anon’s new name is [b]Quvenzhané.[/b]
Quvenzhané.
RIP Joe C0cker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xJWxPE8G2c
Pumpkin [79];
What do you tell the person that only has 25 hrs of work this week because he worked too fast and now won’t be able to make the rent payment?
What world are you living in? The productive person isn’t denied hours because they are too productive. If they were really productive, the owner would give them MORE work, not less, because the owner is getting more per hour out of the productive worker than the others.
The guy only get 25 hours a week because of Obamacare, you dolt.
Moose [88],
Almost every one of his posts make me laugh out loud. His satire is mostly entertaining.
@EconomicPolicy:
The minimum wage would be over $18 had it risen along with productivity.
“When the calendar flips to 2015 in two weeks, 20 states will increase their minimum wage, raising the pay of approximately 4.4 million workers.
Eleven states, along with the District of Columbia, approved voter referenda or passed legislation to increase their minimum hourly pay rates.
Those states include Republican-leaning South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Alaska.
In the other locations, the increases were routine since the state rate is indexed for inflation.”
@FortuneMagazine:
Wage Watch:
Workers in 20 states to get a raise in 2015
By Todd Richmond
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — A white Milwaukee police officer who was fired after he fatally shot a mentally ill black man in April won’t face criminal charges, the county’s top prosecutor said Monday.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said Christopher Manney won’t be charged because he shot Dontre Hamilton in self-defense. Manney is at least the third white police officer to not be charged in the past month after a confrontation that led to a black man’s death.
“This was a tragic incident for the Hamilton family and for the community,” Chisholm said in a statement. “But, based on all the evidence and analysis presented in this report, I come to the conclusion that Officer Manney’s use of force in this incident was justified self-defense and that defense cannot be reasonably overcome to establish a basis to charge Officer Manney with a crime.”
^^^A multi-part question that was brought up a while ago (which I assume is different in every state), what offenses require a grand jury indictment, what offenses can be brought just by the prosecutor, what offenses can be brought just by a cop, when is a prosecutor required to convene a grand jury and not just dismiss on his own… etc etc
I think K and pre-K teachers are very important and valuable. Which is why I paid Montessori teachers out of my own pocket to teach my kid in a manner vastly superior to what government teachers offer.
If there was a private school like this in NJ, I’d happily pay for this kind of education for my child: http://www.vandammeacademy.com/index.php
Yeah, but the effectiveness ends around 1st grade. Private school education in New Jersey is a pretty big joke.
You have never worked an hourly job or worked for a boss trying to nickel and dime you, huh? Trust me, you don’t get rewarded for being more productive, you get sent home early. Then you question why you worked so hard and so fast, now that you are short money for that week. You lived the good life your entire life, huh?
Anon E. Moose says:
December 22, 2014 at 2:41 pm
Pumpkin [79];
What do you tell the person that only has 25 hrs of work this week because he worked too fast and now won’t be able to make the rent payment?
What world are you living in? The productive person isn’t denied hours because they are too productive. If they were really productive, the owner would give them MORE work, not less, because the owner is getting more per hour out of the productive worker than the others.
The guy only get 25 hours a week because of Obamacare, you dolt.
Exactly. All the gains of productivity go to the top. Not much incentive for people to bust their butt at hourly jobs anymore. Move up if you work hard….not many people left that believe that pipe dream anymore.
Lib and moose, workers are more productive than ever and what do they have to show for it? What does the owner have to show for it?
anon (the good one) says:
December 22, 2014 at 2:57 pm
@EconomicPolicy:
The minimum wage would be over $18 had it risen along with productivity.
They make out in these situations and rightfully support it. What do you tell the person that only has 25 hrs of work this week because he worked too fast and now won’t be able to make the rent payment?
You tell them to suck it up. Just like those poor kids from Paterson that would want an education. You tell them that the 100k jobs are only for the children actually born in Ridgewood.
Sure the policy sucks. Take all the policy and regulation away and guess what? You will still have problems. It’s the nature of the beast. It’s human nature that some will try to cut corners and manipulate whatever system they participate in. This is why communism can never work, someone will always try to cut a corner or take more for themselves.
Libturd in Union says:
December 22, 2014 at 1:58 pm
Passion Fruit.
The owner of such a company likes growth as well. Especially when his/her compensation is tied to stock performance. Growth traditionally came from scale which required additional labor. Of course that was before this new group of progressives started energizing their dumb base of sheep into thinking that the market needs manipulation. All of a sudden, it became OK for Apple to claim their sub-headquarters are in Ireland. ACA encourages employers to either drop their health insurance or make more full timers part timers. The list of dumb policy is endless.
True story. How many 100k jobs would go to a Mexican from the ghetto if they did all the right things in terms of education. The world is built on connections, unfortunately getto kids don’t have the connections that are needed with your degree to get a good job. They have great connections when it comes to the underground economy.
Ben says:
December 22, 2014 at 5:07 pm
They make out in these situations and rightfully support it. What do you tell the person that only has 25 hrs of work this week because he worked too fast and now won’t be able to make the rent payment?
You tell them to suck it up. Just like those poor kids from Paterson that would want an education. You tell them that the 100k jobs are only for the children actually born in Ridgewood.
Connections? Puleaze. Most jobs are won and lost by education, decent interviewing skills, and hard work. Master these and you will likely survive. Possibly thrive.
(99) Connections. B.S. My brother and I lived our first few years in Newark. We didn’t even speak English until entering kindergarten. Who gave us the connections?
You can’t make connections if you don’t reach out. Reaching out is a personal skill. Our parents and diaspora never told us that reaching out was a bad thing.
Connections are the difference between really choice jobs and professional level jobs where you have to bust your butt to make the money. If you want to make over 500k per year it really helps if you have “connections”. If that Mexican kid from the ghetto can get results he will get a good paying job…but it won’t be as good or as easy as the son of a guy who belongs to the same club as a partner. That is just fact.
What does wage inflation have to do with an idiot completing 40 hrs of work in 25 hrs, only to get sent home early. If he was working a salary or if he was paid the extra hours, it would make sense. If you are hurting yourself by working faster, why would you do it?
Fast Eddie says:
December 22, 2014 at 1:56 pm
What do you tell the person that only has 25 hrs of work this week because he worked too fast and now won’t be able to make the rent payment?
I would tell them to hold on a little longer because wage inflation is coming.
Efficiency is good…balance will be reached eventually…humanity should not need to work so hard. It will get to where it needs to be, the wealthy aren’t truly that stupid everyone understands the need for employment. I look forward to european style work weeks, if it wasn’t for the third world(mainly china and india) wages and workers would have far more value. It is very hard to compete with impossibly cheap.
Had it mirrored inflation, it would be $4.25 today.
anon (the good one) says:
December 22, 2014 at 2:57 pm
@EconomicPolicy:
The minimum wage would be over $18 had it risen along with productivity.
Exactly. Anyone saying different have either experienced an abnormality in the market, or are just lying to themselves.
jcer says:
December 22, 2014 at 5:20 pm
Connections are the difference between really choice jobs and professional level jobs where you have to bust your butt to make the money. If you want to make over 500k per year it really helps if you have “connections”. If that Mexican kid from the ghetto can get results he will get a good paying job…but it won’t be as good or as easy as the son of a guy who belongs to the same club as a partner. That is just fact.
Exactly what I have been stressing. You only have one life and it goes by quick. If we are the supreme species on this planet, why are we working so hard? I too, can’t wait till we reach a healthy balance and actually concentrate on enjoying life as opposed to making a buck. European work weeks can’t come soon enough. Now if the damn chineese and Indians could stop racing to the bottom, this world would be a much better place for everyone. Eventually we will get to a point where this madness will come to an end.
jcer says:
December 22, 2014 at 5:24 pm
Efficiency is good…balance will be reached eventually…humanity should not need to work so hard. It will get to where it needs to be, the wealthy aren’t truly that stupid everyone understands the need for employment. I look forward to european style work weeks, if it wasn’t for the third world(mainly china and india) wages and workers would have far more value. It is very hard to compete with impossibly cheap.
I just wanted to add one more thing that I think you are missing. The owner doesn’t have unlimited customers. Just because the worker works faster, it doesn’t mean there will be more work lined up for him to do.
Anon E. Moose says:
December 22, 2014 at 2:41 pm
Pumpkin [79];
What do you tell the person that only has 25 hrs of work this week because he worked too fast and now won’t be able to make the rent payment?
What world are you living in? The productive person isn’t denied hours because they are too productive. If they were really productive, the owner would give them MORE work, not less, because the owner is getting more per hour out of the productive worker than the others.
The guy only get 25 hours a week because of Obamacare, you dolt.
Jcer commented on this. Wanted to hear more opinions on this. A lot of intelligent minds on this board and I’m curious to how everyone feels about this issue.
The Great Pumpkin says:
December 22, 2014 at 1:52 pm
Recognizing the need to ultimately transition to a non-growth economy, I am personally disconcerted by the fact that we lack a tested economic system based on steady-state conditions. I would like to take a conservative, low-risk approach to the future and smartly place ourselves on a sustainable trajectory. There are well-developed steady-state economic models, pioneered by Herman Daly and others. There are even stepwise plans to transition our economy into a steady-state. But not one of those steps will be taken if people (who elect politicians) do not crave this result. The only way people will crave this result is if they understand (or experience) the impossibility of continued growth and the consequences of not acting soon enough. I hope we can collectively be smart enough to make this transition. – See more at: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/07/can-economic-growth-last/#sthash.dk8yIosy.dpuf
109- you have to figure we are hitting peak population soon. This issue should be going mainstream in the not so distant future.
@UNICEF:
“19.9% of children – some 15m – live in poverty in USA” J. Stiglitz on #inequality and the American child
You don’t have to figure that. The complete opposite is happening. When a nation industrialized, generally healthcare improves and the infant death rate decreases. Population then decreases.
The Great Pumpkin says:
December 22, 2014 at 5:43 pm
109- you have to figure we are hitting peak population soon. This issue should be going mainstream in the not so distant future.
My opinion is that no one read it, because you don’t post coherently. We are tired of scrolling past your mental diarea to read everyone else’s posts.
The Great Pumpkin says:
December 22, 2014 at 5:41 pm
Jcer commented on this. Wanted to hear more opinions on this. A lot of intelligent minds on this board and I’m curious to how everyone feels about this issue.
kudos to Hackensack police for getting it right:
http://www.northjersey.com/mobile/news/hackensack-police-make-it-a-merry-parking-day-1.1174392
Steady state models are incredibly interesting. If you believe in peak economy, will be necessary moving forward. The single largest issue is that the global equity market simply doesn’t function in a steady state environment, and the transition to one will decimate the economy..
“Connections? Puleaze. Most jobs are won and lost by education, decent interviewing skills, and hard work. Master these and you will likely survive. Possibly thrive
Finally a second Essex statement that I agree with. And it only took like eight years.
If we want to really discuss inequality, perhaps we should broaden our focus a bit.
This? From a global trading partner? This is a disgrace to all humanity.
Maids Deemed Too Pure to Touch Toilets Hinder ‘Clean India’ Push
At about 9:00 a.m. each day, Sudha Devi walks up to a gated house in India’s capital, removes her shoes and heads inside. She’s under strict orders: Don’t touch anything but the toilet.
Immediately after Devi’s done cleaning, a housekeeper of a higher social rank scrubs down the entire house. As a member of the Dalit caste once known as “untouchables,” Devi is used to handling messes other Indian maids won’t go near. While those housekeepers earn about $100 (6,300 rupees) a month, Devi makes about 10 rupees per toilet.
“Because of my caste, everyone leaves the dirtiest work to me,” Devi said while walking door-to-door in Safdarjung Enclave, an area less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the president’s house. “Most of those jobs include cleaning up after other people and doing work everyone else refuses to do.”
…
Families staying in the same place for more than two generations are unlikely to practice different trades and therefore do not show a significant increase in monthly household income, according to a Duke University survey in February 2013. Among 1,481 households surveyed in the slums of Bengaluru, India’s third-largest city formerly known as Bangalore, the average income increased less than 900 rupees over four generations.
While it’d be a “huge achievement” if Modi inspired India’s upper classes to get out and sweep the streets, it’ll be harder to change social attitudes, Krishna said.
“‘Dirty jobs are to be done by dirty people’ is a thought still very much ingrained in the Indian hierarchy,” Krishna said in a phone interview from Durham, North Carolina.
You were ignorant of this until now? Sorry, I don’t believe it. I thought you work outsourcing/offshoring jobs to there.
I’ve known about it (and worse) since 1988.
Me? No. I’m putting the discussions about US poverty in a global light.
Caste existed long before I ever did.
India is home to the largest percentage of poor in the world. Poor despite aspirations, these people have zero upward mobility. Doomed is optimistic.
And what does the U.S. say or do about this? Nothing.
It took me many years and hard effort, but I’m making a lot of money now, and I had amongst the fewest connections. So many people have told me over the years “it’s who you know…” But even those kinds of people eventually need people like me who can deliver the goods. Maybe I had to work twice as hard and wait longer to progress as someone coming out of an Ivy with loads of connections, but I’ve also seen plenty of such characters fail over the years.
That’s exactly what I meant. We are hitting peak population, it’s about to decrease. With decreasing population, how do you maintain growth in economic terms?
I’m assuming, you thought I meant peak population in some dooms day sort of terms, where we will not have enough resources. I’m stating that the world’s population is going to get a lot smaller by the end of this century. I read somewhere between 2026-2040 the world population will peak, but who knows, it’s all based on projections.
Toxic Crayons says:
December 22, 2014 at 7:09 pm
You don’t have to figure that. The complete opposite is happening. When a nation industrialized, generally healthcare improves and the infant death rate decreases. Population then decreases.
The Great Pumpkin says:
December 22, 2014 at 5:43 pm
109- you have to figure we are hitting peak population soon. This issue should be going mainstream in the not so distant future.
That’s why I’m bringing this up. Negative or linear growth is scary stuff. How do we make the transition?
grim says:
December 22, 2014 at 8:29 pm
Steady state models are incredibly interesting. If you believe in peak economy, will be necessary moving forward. The single largest issue is that the global equity market simply doesn’t function in a steady state environment, and the transition to one will decimate the economy..
Pumpkin people will continue to screw. We are nowhere near peak population or steady state anything. If you want to see the future go visit the third world they are already living it. Get used to riding the bus.
Pray for fusion power and some kind of battery system to replace the energy density of hydrocarbons. All other talk is just a waste of time.
Rags – you are still middle class until you have at least 8 figures in an account. Even then you are a piker. Get used to it, we are all dying middle class if we are lucky.
That whole caste things sucks. I have hired a few Desi and they all seem damaged in the self respect aspect where the would play the caste game here in the USA.I have gone off on a few of them, they don’t like being called out either and I’d usually say go kick the fcking coconut on your own dime. Boy do they get pissed. At least they can’t do much about it because they are all mommas boys unlike their cousins to the east who would try and lop my head off if given the chance.
Grim, I posted something about how f’ed up India was about the bad mix of caste and class. I think with time it will slowly get better, at least in the kids born and brought up here. Fortunately, with problems like caste, once the change happens, it picks up speed rapidly.
It has so many dimensions: some sense of identity (can be channeled into a positive quest for becoming a better person) , a means to demand some privilege (I don’t think anyone even tries such stuff here), a means to stereotype the people one doesn’t like (people will always find some attribute or another), but the worst is when it is used to knowingly or unknowingly offend friends and family (folks that do it end up losing the most).
India is so far behind in even being aware of major social issues — things like divorce are only recently being considered as normal things; issues like gay marriage are so far off the radar. Fortunately, the cultures are all getting homogenized, which I believe is good in some ways.
You are prob right, but most industrialized nations are heading towards negative growth rate. Will that continue, who knows?
Agree….energy is the major problem. I really don’t know if there is an answer out there, but I’ll pray for fusion power or some disruptive technology.
Juice Box says:
December 23, 2014 at 1:08 am
Pumpkin people will continue to screw. We are nowhere near peak population or steady state anything. If you want to see the future go visit the third world they are already living it. Get used to riding the bus.
Pray for fusion power and some kind of battery system to replace the energy density of hydrocarbons. All other talk is just a waste of time.
The adoption of steady state economic practices requires businessmen of a much higher level of intelligence than the nitwit Punkinhead.
Wow. Did I just see Punkinhead looking to fusion as an energy solution?
NJ Magical Thinking Report
Just keep Lateef from Paterson out of Punkinhead’s kids’ classroom, though.
It is a truth of human nature that pestering the village idiot is deeply satisfying.