I've been blogging on the subject of austerity and why it is a bad idea right now for a long time. It's hard to explain in ten words or less.
Now economist Robert Pollin has provided a pretty digestible explanation. Complete with illuminating graphs.
Worth a read.
Everyone in the political class, both US and European, should read it.
And act on it.
Now, now, now!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Debt Ceiling: Economic Experts View
What do economic experts say about the debt ceiling? IGM recently polled a panel of economists.
The question: "Because all federal spending and taxes must be approved by both houses of Congress and the executive branch, a separate debt ceiling that has to be increased periodically creates unneeded uncertainty and can potentially lead to worse fiscal outcomes."
Eighty-four percent of the panel either agreed or strongly agreed. When the responses were weighted by economists' confidence in their responses, the outcome was ninety-seven percent.
In other words, economists overwhelmingly believe the debt ceiling makes no sense.
I agree.
The question: "Because all federal spending and taxes must be approved by both houses of Congress and the executive branch, a separate debt ceiling that has to be increased periodically creates unneeded uncertainty and can potentially lead to worse fiscal outcomes."
Eighty-four percent of the panel either agreed or strongly agreed. When the responses were weighted by economists' confidence in their responses, the outcome was ninety-seven percent.
In other words, economists overwhelmingly believe the debt ceiling makes no sense.
I agree.
Do We Want Outsiders Running The Town?
The question comes up because last Tuesday, with no advance notice and without including the change on the published agenda, Oriental's Town Board amended the Parks and Rec ordinance to allow non-residents to serve on the advisory committee. The amended ordinance also provided that the Town Board's liaison to the Parks and Rec Committee could vote in case of a tie. Previously, only the Tourism Board allowed non residents to serve.
You can read about the entire meeting here. Town Dock reported the Parks and Rec issue: "Parks & Rec Board and Residency
The Town Board approved appointing Pat Stockwell to the Town’s Parks and Recreation Board after changing that Board’s rules so that those who live out of Town can serve on the panel. The rules before this were that board members had to be residents or business owners in Oriental. Three of the five members will still have to be Oriental residents. Commissioner Barbara Venturi, the Board’s liaison to the Parks and Rec Board also asked that the rules change so that the liaison can cast a tie-breaking vote at Parks and Rec meetings. The Town Board approved that change as well."
I bring this up, because I have problems with the Town relying on advice of people who don't actually live here. I have heard rumblings in some quarters that we should not allow non-residents to serve on the Tourism Board. This change appears to go in the opposite direction and caught local citizens unprepared to consider and address the implications.
I know it is hard to recruit citizens to serve on advisory boards. We might want to make an effort to find out why this is so hard and what we can do about it before going outside the Town to find recruits.
I have reviewed North Carolina General Statutes and learned that we have the right to appoint non residents. Still, I think it is not good public policy.
I would prefer requiring appointees to all of our boards be qualified voters in municipal elections.
You can read about the entire meeting here. Town Dock reported the Parks and Rec issue: "Parks & Rec Board and Residency
The Town Board approved appointing Pat Stockwell to the Town’s Parks and Recreation Board after changing that Board’s rules so that those who live out of Town can serve on the panel. The rules before this were that board members had to be residents or business owners in Oriental. Three of the five members will still have to be Oriental residents. Commissioner Barbara Venturi, the Board’s liaison to the Parks and Rec Board also asked that the rules change so that the liaison can cast a tie-breaking vote at Parks and Rec meetings. The Town Board approved that change as well."
I bring this up, because I have problems with the Town relying on advice of people who don't actually live here. I have heard rumblings in some quarters that we should not allow non-residents to serve on the Tourism Board. This change appears to go in the opposite direction and caught local citizens unprepared to consider and address the implications.
I know it is hard to recruit citizens to serve on advisory boards. We might want to make an effort to find out why this is so hard and what we can do about it before going outside the Town to find recruits.
I have reviewed North Carolina General Statutes and learned that we have the right to appoint non residents. Still, I think it is not good public policy.
I would prefer requiring appointees to all of our boards be qualified voters in municipal elections.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Panama Canal Expansion
During a senate debate on the Panama Canal Treaty in 1978, United States Senator S. I. Hayakawa of California argued, "We should keep the Panama Canal. After all, we stole it fair and square."
One argument opponents of the treaty used was the claim that Panama would never be able to manage the canal effectively.
That was then. Now, under the auspices of Panama, a massive project to triple the cargo capacity of the original canal is halfway completed. It is scheduled to open in 2015.
The project is truly international. "The 16 lock gates," The Washington Post reports, "some weighing 4,000 tons, were designed by the Dutch and built by Italians. Beginning next month, they will be lifted onto a barge by Belgians and shipped by South Koreans to Panama in a project managed by the French."
The United States is almost nowhere to be seen. Which doesn't mean we will be unaffected. Ports on the US East Coast, including New York City, Baltimore, Norfolk and possibly Savannah and Miami are being modernized to handle the larger ship sizes allowed by the expansion.
The modernization may even improve mobility of the U.S. Navy. Since completion of the USS Essex class of aircraft carriers at the end of WWII, aircraft carriers have been too wide to transit the canal. This will no longer be a problem after adding new channels 180 feet wide.
The expanded canal is expected to open in April 2015, The original canal opened in 1914, a bit more than a century earlier.
One argument opponents of the treaty used was the claim that Panama would never be able to manage the canal effectively.
That was then. Now, under the auspices of Panama, a massive project to triple the cargo capacity of the original canal is halfway completed. It is scheduled to open in 2015.
The project is truly international. "The 16 lock gates," The Washington Post reports, "some weighing 4,000 tons, were designed by the Dutch and built by Italians. Beginning next month, they will be lifted onto a barge by Belgians and shipped by South Koreans to Panama in a project managed by the French."
The United States is almost nowhere to be seen. Which doesn't mean we will be unaffected. Ports on the US East Coast, including New York City, Baltimore, Norfolk and possibly Savannah and Miami are being modernized to handle the larger ship sizes allowed by the expansion.
The modernization may even improve mobility of the U.S. Navy. Since completion of the USS Essex class of aircraft carriers at the end of WWII, aircraft carriers have been too wide to transit the canal. This will no longer be a problem after adding new channels 180 feet wide.
The expanded canal is expected to open in April 2015, The original canal opened in 1914, a bit more than a century earlier.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Ways To Learn
"There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by
reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee
on the electric fence for themselves."
Will Rogers
I put the climate change deniers in the third category. And also the sea level rise deniers.
Will Rogers
I put the climate change deniers in the third category. And also the sea level rise deniers.
Scratch The Platinum Coin Idea
“Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that
the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum
coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit,” a spokesman for the US Treasury said today.
No detailed explanation was provided.
Economist Tim Duy explains, in essence, that the reason is not that the scheme wouldn't work - the reason not to do it is that it would.
Duy explains: "Bottom Line: The platinum coin idea was ultimately doomed to failure because neither the Federal Reserve nor the Treasury could allow for even the remote possibility it might be successful. Its success would not just alter the political dynamic by removing the the debt ceiling as a threat. The success of a platinum coin would fundamentally alter the conventional wisdom about the proper separation of fiscal and monetary policy and the need to control the debt immediately."
The explanation is a little complicated, but Duy spells it out here. In essence, when interest rates are at zero and the monetary authority can't make them any lower and the economy persistently stagnates, there is NO DIFFERENCE between money and debt. And there is no reason to feel any urgency about reducing debt right NOW, NOW, NOW.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
No detailed explanation was provided.
Economist Tim Duy explains, in essence, that the reason is not that the scheme wouldn't work - the reason not to do it is that it would.
Duy explains: "Bottom Line: The platinum coin idea was ultimately doomed to failure because neither the Federal Reserve nor the Treasury could allow for even the remote possibility it might be successful. Its success would not just alter the political dynamic by removing the the debt ceiling as a threat. The success of a platinum coin would fundamentally alter the conventional wisdom about the proper separation of fiscal and monetary policy and the need to control the debt immediately."
The explanation is a little complicated, but Duy spells it out here. In essence, when interest rates are at zero and the monetary authority can't make them any lower and the economy persistently stagnates, there is NO DIFFERENCE between money and debt. And there is no reason to feel any urgency about reducing debt right NOW, NOW, NOW.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Long Live The Hogettes!
The Hogettes have retired! Long Live the Hogettes.
It has been three decades. Thirty years ago the Washington Redskins' front line was christened "The Hogs," in honor of their blue-collar dedication to effective blocking, getting their snouts down in the mud if necessary.
ESPN's web site reports, "The group of male fans who have cheered on the Washington Redskins for three decades while wearing dresses, floppy hats and pig snouts announced Friday that the group is retiring."
The whole story is here on the Hogettes' web site.
To put the story in perspective, when the Hogettes were organized, there was no web and no web sites.
For that matter, hardly a fan is now alive who remembers that famous day and year.
Mile 181: Fourth Anniversary
I just noticed that today, January 11, 2013, is the fourth anniversary of my first post on Mile 181.
In January, 2009, I was beginning my second year as a Town commissioner.
I had by then been accused of conspiring in secret with other commissioners to modify town ordinances, most notably the noise ordinance. In fact, I had been scrupulous in discussing any public issue with other commissioners one at a time, rather than with two or more. The open meetings act plainly precluded negotiating with enough other commissioners to constitute a majority. So I didn't do that.
It occurred to me that nothing in the Open Meetings Act prevented me from making my positions on issues known to the public at large. I decided that a blog might be a good way to do that.
I started my blog in January, 2009. Here is my first post, explaining my take on the noise problem and my approach to solving it.
In the end, the Board of Commissioners passed a noise ordinance containing a measurable, objective standard. I would have liked it to be a bit more stringent, but when doing the people's business, you have to persuade a majority of the governing body to vote your way. Sometimes that requires more trimming of sails than one might prefer, but compromise is the price of success and the greatest challenge.
I make no apologies for the ordinance.
The ordinance is probably the main reason I wasn't reelected.
I note that subsequent Boards of Commissioners haven't repealed the ordinance.
I also note that I now have occasional readers on every continent.
In January, 2009, I was beginning my second year as a Town commissioner.
I had by then been accused of conspiring in secret with other commissioners to modify town ordinances, most notably the noise ordinance. In fact, I had been scrupulous in discussing any public issue with other commissioners one at a time, rather than with two or more. The open meetings act plainly precluded negotiating with enough other commissioners to constitute a majority. So I didn't do that.
It occurred to me that nothing in the Open Meetings Act prevented me from making my positions on issues known to the public at large. I decided that a blog might be a good way to do that.
I started my blog in January, 2009. Here is my first post, explaining my take on the noise problem and my approach to solving it.
In the end, the Board of Commissioners passed a noise ordinance containing a measurable, objective standard. I would have liked it to be a bit more stringent, but when doing the people's business, you have to persuade a majority of the governing body to vote your way. Sometimes that requires more trimming of sails than one might prefer, but compromise is the price of success and the greatest challenge.
I make no apologies for the ordinance.
The ordinance is probably the main reason I wasn't reelected.
I note that subsequent Boards of Commissioners haven't repealed the ordinance.
I also note that I now have occasional readers on every continent.
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