If you are a businessman, how would you like to operate in a country with 10,000 different kinds of banknotes?
Sounds pretty chaotic, doesn't it? How would you know which banknotes were issued by sound banks and which were not?
That's what we had in the United States in 1860. Samuel P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War, brought some order to that system.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Oriental Town Charter Loose Ends
At the end of the Oriental Town Board meeting/press conference last Friday, Commissioner Venturi announced that she had asked town employee Lori Wagoner to compile the 1899 town charter and all amendments.
It's a really good idea to have and to publish on the town web site an annotated charter. The annotations should include not only the two amendments (November 4, 1993 by referendum and 1997 by ordinance), but also all changes dictated by changes to state law and annexations not listed in Section 2 of the 1899 charter.
This won't be a simple task. A cursory perusal suggests that, in addition to the repeal of sections 3 and 7 by referendum, Sections 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 14 have been amended or replaced in whole or in part by subsequent changes to North Carolina law. It would be helpful to the public for these changes to be annotated on a public copy of the charter.
I propose the board of commissioners appoint a citizens committee empowered to contact the state legislative library, the Secretary of State's office and the School of Government to develop an accurate annotation.
It's a really good idea to have and to publish on the town web site an annotated charter. The annotations should include not only the two amendments (November 4, 1993 by referendum and 1997 by ordinance), but also all changes dictated by changes to state law and annexations not listed in Section 2 of the 1899 charter.
This won't be a simple task. A cursory perusal suggests that, in addition to the repeal of sections 3 and 7 by referendum, Sections 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 14 have been amended or replaced in whole or in part by subsequent changes to North Carolina law. It would be helpful to the public for these changes to be annotated on a public copy of the charter.
I propose the board of commissioners appoint a citizens committee empowered to contact the state legislative library, the Secretary of State's office and the School of Government to develop an accurate annotation.
Job Squeeze
I keep hearing it said that "government jobs aren't real jobs," that in fact, some assert, government jobs squeeze out private sector employment and actually hurt the economy.
Really?
If people who live in Eastern North Carolina really believe that, they should petition their representatives and senators to close down the Marine Bases at Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune, the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base at Goldsboro, the Army Base at Fort Bragg, state funded institutions such as ECU, and on and on. In Raleigh, the legislature's new budget has cut the funding for the capitol police in half. Can't we do more?
One of the mysteries of political discourse is the ability of participants to hold conflicting views at the same time and actually act on them. This requires a skill at intellectual compartmentalization that I never acquired.
By the way, those who serve in our military actually hold government jobs. When they walk into Wal-Mart or Target, their money looks like anyone else's. Their checking and savings deposits have the same economic effect on their community as anyone else's. And if they lose their jobs through a reduction in force, it contracts the economy just as much as if they had been working for General Motors or Google.
We hear a lot about the GDP. What actually goes into the GDP? GDP equals private consumption and investment, plus net exports, plus gov’t spending. It's as simple as that. Reduce government spending without increasing private consumption and investment, and the economy will contract.
The reason private consumption isn't increasing is that people have no money. The reason companies aren't investing in increased production capacity is that they have ample excess capacity already and can't see a near term increase in customers.
This is elementary business plan stuff. Businessmen (unless they have grown soft in the head) make business decisions based on reality, not on whether the president or members of Congress have hurt their feelings.
Economist Jared Bernstein has a good question and answer posting on his blog today.
In today's circumstances, any reduction in federal spending can only contract the economy. To be sure, some reductions would be worse than others, but right now any reduction will be bad.
As we await news from Washington on increasing the debt limit, I have my fingers crossed that the outcome will be merely very bad (reducing spending when we really need a stimulus) rather than disastrous (going into default).
Really?
If people who live in Eastern North Carolina really believe that, they should petition their representatives and senators to close down the Marine Bases at Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune, the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base at Goldsboro, the Army Base at Fort Bragg, state funded institutions such as ECU, and on and on. In Raleigh, the legislature's new budget has cut the funding for the capitol police in half. Can't we do more?
One of the mysteries of political discourse is the ability of participants to hold conflicting views at the same time and actually act on them. This requires a skill at intellectual compartmentalization that I never acquired.
By the way, those who serve in our military actually hold government jobs. When they walk into Wal-Mart or Target, their money looks like anyone else's. Their checking and savings deposits have the same economic effect on their community as anyone else's. And if they lose their jobs through a reduction in force, it contracts the economy just as much as if they had been working for General Motors or Google.
We hear a lot about the GDP. What actually goes into the GDP? GDP equals private consumption and investment, plus net exports, plus gov’t spending. It's as simple as that. Reduce government spending without increasing private consumption and investment, and the economy will contract.
The reason private consumption isn't increasing is that people have no money. The reason companies aren't investing in increased production capacity is that they have ample excess capacity already and can't see a near term increase in customers.
This is elementary business plan stuff. Businessmen (unless they have grown soft in the head) make business decisions based on reality, not on whether the president or members of Congress have hurt their feelings.
Economist Jared Bernstein has a good question and answer posting on his blog today.
In today's circumstances, any reduction in federal spending can only contract the economy. To be sure, some reductions would be worse than others, but right now any reduction will be bad.
As we await news from Washington on increasing the debt limit, I have my fingers crossed that the outcome will be merely very bad (reducing spending when we really need a stimulus) rather than disastrous (going into default).
Friday, July 15, 2011
Excitement in The Town of Oriental
The day began with an 8:30 public meeting of the Board of Commissioners at Town Hall. The meeting was originally called to discuss the board's hiring of a police officer.
There was no quorum, and it turned out there was no need for one. Mayor Sage explained that, after discussing the town's charter and subsequent amendments with the town attorney and with the North Carolina School of Government, it turns out that, under North Carolina law, hiring the police officer(s) is the job of the town manager rather than the board of commissioners.
Then the Pamlico County Board of Elections met at 10:00 to review candidate filings for November's municipal elections. Three municipalities - Arapahoe, Grantsboro and Vandemere did not have as many candidates file as there are openings for elected office. The board of elections decided to exercise the option to extend the filing period by five days for those three towns.
Just before the filing period closed, Ms. Jennifer Roe of Oriental filed to run for mayor of Oriental. There are now three mayoral candidates in Oriental: incumbent mayor Bill Sage, candidate Katy Pugh and incumbent commissioner Jennifer Roe.
There was no quorum, and it turned out there was no need for one. Mayor Sage explained that, after discussing the town's charter and subsequent amendments with the town attorney and with the North Carolina School of Government, it turns out that, under North Carolina law, hiring the police officer(s) is the job of the town manager rather than the board of commissioners.
Then the Pamlico County Board of Elections met at 10:00 to review candidate filings for November's municipal elections. Three municipalities - Arapahoe, Grantsboro and Vandemere did not have as many candidates file as there are openings for elected office. The board of elections decided to exercise the option to extend the filing period by five days for those three towns.
Just before the filing period closed, Ms. Jennifer Roe of Oriental filed to run for mayor of Oriental. There are now three mayoral candidates in Oriental: incumbent mayor Bill Sage, candidate Katy Pugh and incumbent commissioner Jennifer Roe.
Debt Ceiling
We wouldn't be talking about the debt ceiling if President Clinton's budgeting policies had continued. There would be no debt.
Publicly held debt of the United States right now is about 63% of GDP. Most US households would be happy if their debt, including mortgage, car loan, etc. were no more than 63% of annual income.
If the US defaults on its obligations, and you owe any money to anyone, you can expect your payments to increase, because one or more of your payments is likely pegged to US T-bills. This will drag our economy down even more.
Last week a columnist for the News and Observer wrote in glowing terms about the US economy of 1834. If that's where we are going, believe me - you won't like it. Where are you going to stable your horses?
Publicly held debt of the United States right now is about 63% of GDP. Most US households would be happy if their debt, including mortgage, car loan, etc. were no more than 63% of annual income.
If the US defaults on its obligations, and you owe any money to anyone, you can expect your payments to increase, because one or more of your payments is likely pegged to US T-bills. This will drag our economy down even more.
Last week a columnist for the News and Observer wrote in glowing terms about the US economy of 1834. If that's where we are going, believe me - you won't like it. Where are you going to stable your horses?
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Bastille Day
Happy Bastille Day!
Historian David McCullough puts our ties with France in perspective in today's New York Times.
He gets one thing wrong, though. What we call "French fries," (originally "frenched fries" for the way they were sliced or "frenched") are actually Belgian. Belgians become very agitated when pommes de terre frites are ascribed to France. You can read all about it in Asterix and Obelisk cartoons.
Historian David McCullough puts our ties with France in perspective in today's New York Times.
He gets one thing wrong, though. What we call "French fries," (originally "frenched fries" for the way they were sliced or "frenched") are actually Belgian. Belgians become very agitated when pommes de terre frites are ascribed to France. You can read all about it in Asterix and Obelisk cartoons.
Remember The Preamble?
When I was in high school, one of the things students were expected to do was to remember and recite the preamble to the Constitution of the United States.
Remember it? It goes like this:
Preamble
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
So how come so many conservative commentators rail against the "welfare state?" Our aspiration that the federal government promote the general welfare is embedded in our most fundamental document.
We can certainly debate how best to accomplish all the actions listed in the preamble, but so long as our Constitution defines who we are, we cannot deny the legitimacy of any of them.
Do students memorize such things any more? Or take them seriously?
Remember it? It goes like this:
Preamble
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
So how come so many conservative commentators rail against the "welfare state?" Our aspiration that the federal government promote the general welfare is embedded in our most fundamental document.
We can certainly debate how best to accomplish all the actions listed in the preamble, but so long as our Constitution defines who we are, we cannot deny the legitimacy of any of them.
Do students memorize such things any more? Or take them seriously?
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Economic Recovery Manque [Translation: Missing]
In both economics and politics, the key questions are: "who benefits?" and "who pays?"
For two years now, statistics show the nations' Gross Domestic Product is growing, but people who work for a living don't see the benefit. So what's happening - is the GDP disappearing into a black hole?
Economist Jared Bernstein has tracked it down. Here is where it went.
Very interesting graphic:
For two years now, statistics show the nations' Gross Domestic Product is growing, but people who work for a living don't see the benefit. So what's happening - is the GDP disappearing into a black hole?
Economist Jared Bernstein has tracked it down. Here is where it went.
Very interesting graphic:
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