tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post8729399279917663039..comments2023-10-24T01:46:47.151-07:00Comments on CynicusEconomicus: Monetization of Government Debt Continued in the UKUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-32863630165653352032009-08-25T17:08:30.677-07:002009-08-25T17:08:30.677-07:00http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/08/21/study....http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/08/21/study.demonstrates.how.we.support.our.false.beliefs<br /><br />No real surprises in there, but here's a study on how we maintain our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence.<br /><br /><b>Study demonstrates how we support our false beliefs</b><br /><br /><i>..."Our data shows substantial support for a cognitive theory known as 'motivated reasoning,' which suggests that rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe.<br /><br />"In fact," he says, "for the most part people completely ignore contrary information.<br /><br />"The study demonstrates voters' ability to develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information," he explains...<br /><br />...We form emotional attachments that get wrapped up in our personal identity and sense of morality, irrespective of the facts of the matter...<br /><br />...So voters' ability to develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information, whether we think that is good or bad for democratic practice, does at least demonstrate an impressive form of creativity."</i>Lemmingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-91131840820878274372009-08-25T14:18:53.911-07:002009-08-25T14:18:53.911-07:00Apparently the British Dental Association is predi...Apparently the British Dental Association is predicting a recovery as the number of Veneers is almost at 1994 levels. We're saved!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-23647301453629778752009-08-24T14:15:54.041-07:002009-08-24T14:15:54.041-07:00Lemming:
Well, if we have won the ashes, then we ...Lemming:<br /><br />Well, if we have won the ashes, then we know that it is all going to turn out ok....looks like I need to revise my view on the UK economy...<br /><br />All we need now is a rugby world cup win, and we will be back on the economic leader board..Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983165364072918091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-90937826709935260862009-08-24T07:20:20.118-07:002009-08-24T07:20:20.118-07:00Mark
You're going to have to re-think your e...Mark <br /><br />You're going to have to re-think your entire idea of how the economy works. From a headline article in today's Guardian entitled <br /><br /><b>"Surge in business confidence means UK recession 'at an end'"</b><br /><br /><i>A record surge in confidence among business professionals indicates Britain's recession is at an end, according to research...<br /><br />Coupled with euphoria after England captured the Ashes last night, the news fuelled gains on the London stockmarket this morning...</i><br /><br />On no occasion over the last two years of reading your blog have I ever seen you refer to national sporting results as being a critical factor in the economy. I really think you need to pull your socks up on this one.<br /><br />http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/aug/24/uk-recession-over-survey-suggestsLemmingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-7092899408987016562009-08-22T14:18:10.183-07:002009-08-22T14:18:10.183-07:00Hi Cynicus,
Death to Bubble Addicts here. I'v...Hi Cynicus,<br /><br />Death to Bubble Addicts here. I've been busy trading the bull market so haven't had time to follow your outstanding blog. I hope you are well!!<br /><br />Looks the double-dip is being set up to hit in 2010. The debt-junkies are being kept afloat on cheap money but the piper has to be paid.<br /><br />The Bears are coming out on Sterling and reckon it will really plunge once the Tories win, say four weeks after vistory. "Buy the rumour sell the fact". It is probably the expectation of a Tory victory that is giving confidence to traders. I have little confidence in the Tories. Cameron and Osborne come across as lightweights. They are always behind the curve and scared to voice a strong opinion. I think they lack intellectual confidence.<br /><br />Take care<br /><br />DtBAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-80218811328633236782009-08-22T11:01:23.481-07:002009-08-22T11:01:23.481-07:00I remain depressed by the inability of the people ...I remain depressed by the inability of the people around me to see just how grim everything is getting. Frequently people say: "See, you've been worried all this time and yet the recession is over!" <br /><br />My brother said: "There isn't a recession. It's fake. Everybody has loads of work. Your worried about nothing." I despair, really. <br /><br />Even now, even with some commentators finally coming around to the true state of things, people presume all is well. <br /><br />Recovery has "apparently" begun. We'll be "back to normal" by the end of the year. This "short" recession was a mountain being made out of a molehill. That's what people keep telling me ... so it MUST be true then.Steve Tierneyhttp://www.blog.stevetierney.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-21970573801086040462009-08-22T01:02:52.893-07:002009-08-22T01:02:52.893-07:00Lord Keynes
I didn't know that CE had explici...Lord Keynes<br /><br />I didn't know that CE had explicitly blamed global food shortages on the doubling of the global labour force, but the article you refer to does stress that "depeasantization" is a factor. It includes the following sentence:<br /><br /><i>People are pushed off the land at an accelerating pace as farmers and the general population become more integrated into world markets... </i><br /><br />The way I read CE's argument is that any artificial distortion of free market mechanisms will ultimately result in a reduction in the efficiency of all aspects of the economy, including food production. Many of the factors cited in the article could be as a result of a sudden increase in the global workforce (which happened because of 'artificial' political policies).Lemmingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-51163959436421235872009-08-21T17:23:22.563-07:002009-08-21T17:23:22.563-07:00Reasons for the Commodity Price Spike in Food of 2...<b>Reasons for the Commodity Price Spike in Food of 2008</b><br /><br />Here is an in-depth analysis of the commodity price spike in food of 2008:<br /><br />http://www.monthlyreview.org/090701magdoff-tokar.php<br /><br />It offers a better explanation for the food price spike than Cynicus' theory about the doubling of labour "combined with capital, technology and access to the world market."Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-68026216939874340182009-08-21T05:51:01.477-07:002009-08-21T05:51:01.477-07:00Matt:
Of course, no problem. I am flattered that ...Matt:<br /><br />Of course, no problem. I am flattered that you might consider this. Use the material as you wish!<br /><br />CE.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983165364072918091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-32945060986961046852009-08-21T05:31:44.048-07:002009-08-21T05:31:44.048-07:00CE
I have been lurking for some time as I'v...CE<br /><br /> I have been lurking for some time as I've been up to my ears in directing Shakespeare's Timon of Athens at a professional fringe venue in London.<br /><br />Timon centres aroud the life of a man very similar to your 18th century aristocrat who lavishes spending on his friends only to find it's all built on a sea of debt he has ignored. When those same friends deny him any help he leaves Athens and turns misanthrope using gold he then finds to sow destruction in Athens.<br /><br />As you'll have gathered it's brilliantly relevant...! <br /><br />Reason for the post was to request your permission to use one of your blog posts in the programme. <br /><br />No worries if for any reason you'd rather not but would be great if you could. <br /><br />The play is on at the Barons Court Theatre, London. Sep 1st - 12th.<br /><br />Keep up to good work!<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />Matt<br /><br />matt_beresford@hotmail.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-27698006848537000342009-08-20T16:17:10.958-07:002009-08-20T16:17:10.958-07:00CE
I posted the following comment in yesterdays Ti...CE<br />I posted the following comment in yesterdays Times. It seemed to cause a worried reaction. Reading this blog it seems you think we could actually end up down the Zambezi.<br /><br />steve potts wrote: <br />Between 1979 and 1990 the Zimbabwe Government propagated a whole range of new economic policies, including a minimum wage.<br />Between 1979 and 1990 total spending on healthcare trebled. Expenditure on public-sector employment rose by 60%, and on the civil service by 12% per annum. Central government expenditure increased its share from 32.5 percent of GDP in 1979 to 44.6% in 1989. Interest rates were artificially capped.<br />This in turn generated a chronic budget deficit and a rapid increase in public debt. Private investment was crowded out by shortages of credit stemming from the fiscal deficit - all of which created a last resort - QE<br /><br />Fast forward 18years - things in Britain sound eerily familiar.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-83410456179101375442009-08-20T04:31:21.361-07:002009-08-20T04:31:21.361-07:00Could this be part of an attempt to increase the r...Could this be part of an attempt to increase the real money supply by stealth?<br /><br />BBC Business: 'More £5 notes for cash machines'<br /><br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8211720.stmThe Bellmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-40109030068716038312009-08-20T04:07:15.807-07:002009-08-20T04:07:15.807-07:00Question: Why aren't wealthy people and instit...Question: Why aren't wealthy people and institutions with £GB assets screaming about QE? QE is taking purchasing power away from existing holders of £GB, and pouring it into the Treasury and into rebuilding the banks' balance sheets, so those with big £GB assets should be objecting. Are they so scared of asset price deflation that they're prepared to accept a stealth tax on their assets as the lesser of two evils?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-18752641886374491652009-08-20T04:05:06.426-07:002009-08-20T04:05:06.426-07:00Be afraid, be very afraid.Be afraid, be very afraid.Demetriushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17198549581667363991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-86067240707413546872009-08-20T02:08:50.608-07:002009-08-20T02:08:50.608-07:00Good post, the official propaganda about the money...Good post, the official propaganda about the money printing is slowly being exposed to the light of truth. The fact that inflation has stood still despite being predicted to drop shows that something is wrong with their story.<br /><br />As Guido points out here <br /><br />http://order-order.com/2009/08/19/double-digit-inflation-is-a-black-swan/<br /><br />The BOE may be talking up deflation, but has its pension fund in inflation protected securities.<br /><br />This really inspires confidence in their judgement.<br /><br />Lefty FeepAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-65555874118069455372009-08-19T20:25:44.731-07:002009-08-19T20:25:44.731-07:00Tiberius:
By coincidence, I took a look at your b...Tiberius:<br /><br />By coincidence, I took a look at your blog today after your first comment, and was surprised to see no new posting. <br /><br />I can quite understand your sense of disbelief. On a personal level, I kept hoping that someone, somewhere, somehow would reverse this course. As I mentioned in this post, I hoped for 'green shoots' of sanity in the Bank of England, but this latest news has crushed such illusions. I had thought that maybe, just maybe, the Bank would have enough sense to call time.....<br /><br />I have always been at the gloomy end of the commentators, but never imagined this scenario, that policy could be this catastrophic. It is moving in a direction so wrong-headed that the outcome is now beyond my imagination. <br /><br />Like you, I share a sense of disbelief....Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983165364072918091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-26693193673428573212009-08-19T19:34:14.579-07:002009-08-19T19:34:14.579-07:00PS. You may also like this - another fellow cynic!...PS. You may also like <a href="http://dailyreckoning.com/learn-to-love-the-depression/" rel="nofollow">this</a> - another fellow cynic!Tiberiushttp://tiberiusleodis.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-47566923636104542242009-08-19T19:13:33.078-07:002009-08-19T19:13:33.078-07:00Cynicus,
No problem - I figured you'd have be...Cynicus,<br /><br />No problem - I figured you'd have been quick on this! ;)<br /><br />My own blog is on a temporary hiatus as I find myself in such utter disbelief at the situation this country finds itself in that I am unable to adequately express it. Glad to see you're fighting through though!<br /><br />You think the government is "bankrupt in terms of ideas"? How about this one:<br /><a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/swineflu/2595214/Plans-drawn-up-for-mass-swine-flu-graves.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=Swine+Flu" rel="nofollow"><br /><br />PLANS for mass graves have been drawn up to cope with a second wave of swine flu this Autumn.<br /><br />The chilling proposals are spelled out in a Home Office document discussed at a meeting of Whitehall officials and council leaders last month. </a><br /><br />Perhaps they've found their 'exit strategy' after all!<br /><br />T.Tiberiushttp://tiberiusleodis.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7820485130017459619.post-35831270465983700092009-08-19T18:10:47.664-07:002009-08-19T18:10:47.664-07:00Tiberius:
Many thanks for the link on my last pos...Tiberius:<br /><br />Many thanks for the link on my last post.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983165364072918091noreply@blogger.com