That Stupid Crank Friedman On The Euro

From the Archives: Mundell vs. Friedman on the euro | FP Comment | Financial Post: "Milton Friedman My difference with Bob reflects what [I see as a major problem]. Namely, the political consequences of a monetary area that is not conterminous with a political entity. This exemplifies my pessimism and his optimism about the euro. We agree that the euro has no historical precedent. I believe we also agree that its attainment was driven by political, not economic, considerations, by the belief that it would contribute to greater political integration — the much-heralded United States of Europe — that would in turn render impossible the kind of wars which Europe has suffered so much. If achieved, political integration would render the monetary and political areas coterminous, the historical norm.

Will the euro contribute to political unity? Only, I believe, if it is economically successful; otherwise, it is more likely to engender political strife than political unity. And here, I believe, is where Bob and I differ most. Ireland requires at the moment a very different monetary policy than, say, Spain or Portugal. A flexible exchange rate would enable each of them to have the appropriate monetary policy. With a unified currency, they cannot. The alternative adjustment mechanisms are changes in internal prices and wages, movement of people and of capital. These are severely limited by differences in culture and by extensive government regulations, differing from country to country.

If the residual flexibility is enough, or if the existence of the euro induces a major increase in flexibility, the euro will prosper. If not, as I fear is likely to be the case, over time, as the members of the euro experience a flow of asynchronous shocks, economic difficulties will emerge. Different governments will be subject to very different political pressures and these are bound to create political conflict, from which the European Central Bank cannot escape."

Mundell was the genius and Friedman was the stupid crank. Really?

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Libtard Devo: TB It Good

Occupier Devolution | Power Line: "If you have ever wondered what would happen in a society consisting entirely of liberals, the Occupier movement is providing the answer: devolution. It is almost impossible to keep up with the downward spiral, but here are some of the highlights of the last 24 hours:

* In Portland, an Occupier was arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail down the stairwell of a building.

* In London, employees of St. Paul’s Cathedral have had to clean up human waste left by Occupiers inside the cathedral. (What is it with the Occupiers and toilet issues?)

* In Portland, another drug overdose.

* In Vermont, a man was shot to death at the Occupy Burlington encampment.

* At Occupy San Diego, a citizen journalist was violently assaulted.

* In Atlanta, tuberculosis has broken out among the Occupiers."

Most of you have no idea where that title came from. Those that do might be chuckling though...

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The Truth Hurts (Part 5,592,593)

19 true things generals can't say in public about the Afghan war: A helpful primer - By Tom Ricks | The Best Defense: "My list of things to remember I can't say

Pakistan is now an enemy of the United States.

We don't know why we are here, what we are fighting for, or how to know if we are winning.

The strategy is to fight, talk, and build. But we're withdrawing the fighters, the Taliban won't talk, and the builders are corrupt. 

Karzai's family is especially corrupt.

We want President Karzai gone but we don't have a Pushtun successor handy.

But the problem isn't corruption, it is which corrupt people are getting the dollars. We have to help corruption be more fair.

Another thing we'll never stop here is the drug traffic, so the counternarcotics mission is probably a waste of time and resources that just alienates a swath of Afghans.

Making this a NATO mission hurt, not helped. Most NATO countries are just going through the motions in Afghanistan as the price necessary to keep the US in Europe

Yes, the exit deadline is killing us. ..."

H/T Ace.

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Thanks Barack

Al-Qaida affiliate chief tells Mauritanian site his group got Libyan weapons, as West fears - The Washington Post: "NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — A desert chief with al-Qaida’s North Africa branch has confirmed fears that his terror organization procured weapons from stockpiles left unguarded in Libya after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar was quoted by the private Mauritanian newspaper Nouakchott Infos and its online version Nouakchott Information Agency as saying that “it’s totally natural we benefited from Libyan arms in such conditions.”"

They couldn't have done it without you.

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The Mocking and Derision Begin

China mocks U.S. political model - Washington Times: "HONG KONG — Chinese political and business leaders are increasingly triumphant after two decades of rapid economic growth that lifted unprecedented millions of people out of poverty and turned the nation into an economic superpower, saying their success proves its political and economic system is superior to the Western model.

In extensive talks with a series of Chinese leaders, an oft-cited point of criticism is the gridlock and “dysfunction” they see in Washington. They say fawning by U.S. political leaders seeking re-election has created an “entitlement culture” where the public has grown dependent on government largesse. Now, with the United States facing monumental economic and debt problems, the political system has been unable to curb generous entitlement programs or counter the economic downturn."

Well this is certainly a RTWT.

Let me see if I've got this right. First they and foreign commies of every stripe do all they can covertly to fuel and foster the lunatic OWS/bama culture that is the world epitome of entitlement. And then they point out how disastrous this is and agree with the Tea Party about how disastrous OWS/bama world is?

Perfect.

Of course, if we actually still had the Republic instead of the lunatic filled democracy the Chinese (ironically rightly) criticize -- and that they helped all they could to tear down -- perhaps things might be a bit different, no?

“A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy? A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.”

It was not kept, was it?

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Coulter Stalks the Real Predator

Ann Coulter - November 9, 2011 - DAVID AXELROD'S PATTERN OF SEXUAL MISBEHAVIOR: "Herman Cain has spent his life living and working all over the country -- Indiana, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington, D.C. -- but never in Chicago.

So it's curious that all the sexual harassment allegations against Cain emanate from Chicago: home of the Daley machine and Obama consigliere David Axelrod.

Suspicions had already fallen on Sheila O'Grady, who is close with David Axelrod and went straight from being former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley's chief of staff to president of the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), as being the person who dug up Herman Cain's personnel records from the National Restaurant Association (NRA).

The Daley-controlled IRA works hand-in-glove with the NRA. And strangely enough, Cain's short, three-year tenure at the NRA is evidently the only period in his decades-long career during which he's alleged to have been a sexual predator. "

Click and RTWT. Your jaw will need surgery after slamming into the floor though...

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Occupying the Occupied

Crowder OCCUPIES WALLSTREET!! - YouTube: "Crowder OCCUPIES WALLSTREET!!"

Crowder is a hoot!

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Alerting Ayman

Ace of Spades HQ: "There was no lengthy battle. The entire operation took only 90 seconds (before Bin Laden died) and 12 bullets. From the sidebar link to The Telegraph:

The men who killed the al-Qaeda chief have decided to speak out because they are tired of their "shabby treatment" by politicians who claim they were on a "kill mission".
They insisted there was no lengthy gun-fight in the compound and claimed they would have captured Bin Laden if he had surrendered, The Sunday Times in the UK reports (behind a paywall). . . .

He said the men were angry with President Barack Obama for announcing Bin Laden’s death on TV just hours after they completed the mission on May 1.

"There isn't a politician in the world who could resist trying to take credit for getting Bin Laden but it devalued the 'intel' and gave time for every other Al-Qaeda leader to scurry to another bolthole," he said.

"The men who did this and their valorous act deserve better. It's a pretty shabby way to treat these guys.""

O Duce that is. Alerting Ayman. Give me a better theory.

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Too Socialist For The Chinese

Instapundit » Blog Archive » EUROPE: TOO SOCIALIST FOR THE CHINESE: Also last night, the chairman of the supervisory board of…: "EUROPE: TOO SOCIALIST FOR THE CHINESE:

Also last night, the chairman of the supervisory board of China Investment Corporation, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, put further distance between China and the eurozone bail-out, saying that Europe’s bloated welfare state meant that people did not work hard enough.

“I think if you look at the troubles which happened in European countries, this is purely because of the accumulated troubles of their worn out welfare societies,” Jin Liqun said in an interview with Al Jazeera television. “I think the labour laws are outdated – the labour laws induce sloth, indolence rather than hard working. The incentive system is totally out of whack.”

Eurozone leaders had been hoping that China would use some of its trade surplus to back the bail-out fund.

I couldn’t say it better myself.

UPDATE: Malaysian reader Daniel Riveong sends the link to the original interview. He blogged about it here.

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 10:31 pm"

Why bother with parody when reality trumps all?

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For Once, I Believe Him

Instapundit » Blog Archive » OBAMA DENIES MEETINGS WITH EXTRATERRESTRIALS. I believe him. Nobody looking for intelligent life w…: "OBAMA DENIES MEETINGS WITH EXTRATERRESTRIALS. I believe him. Nobody looking for intelligent life would visit this White House.

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 11:53 pm"

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Good God

Instapundit » Blog Archive » #OCCUPYFAIL: “Let it sink in: Their protests now need rape shelters. This is actually happening. An…: "#OCCUPYFAIL: “Let it sink in: Their protests now need rape shelters. This is actually happening. And New York City lets it go on. . . . This can’t be repeated enough: With a few exceptions, foremost among them the New York Post, the coverage of OWS protests compared to the coverage of tea-party protests is the worst media double standard in recent history. Nothing compares, because nothing else involves this much distortion on both ends of the coverage.”

UPDATE: A roundup.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Rampaging Occupiers Attack 78-Year-Old Woman."

Well, what title would you give this kind of lunacy?

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And Not Just Nut-Jobs, But Nuts With No Jobs

Instapundit » Blog Archive » I GUESS THEY REALLY ARE TAKING TAHRIR SQUARE AS THEIR MODEL: Female Reporter Harassed at #Occupy Pr…: "I GUESS THEY REALLY ARE TAKING TAHRIR SQUARE AS THEIR MODEL: Female Reporter Harassed at #Occupy Protest. “I actually don’t feel safe going back to those protests. . . . I actually did not feel comfortable, because at one point there were a whole group of men surrounding me saying, ‘F—Michelle Fields.’ And I went to a police officer and I told him that I felt these people were harassing me. And the police officer said he’d take care of it, but it never ended.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 10:52 am"

And why no jobs you ask? I think that should be self evident, shouldn't it? You're telling me you would hire people that behave like this?

Case closed.

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Steyn On Anarchists For Statism

Roger’s Rules » Quote of the Day (on Occupy Wall Street): "From Mark Steyn, writing about the Occupy [Fill in the Blank] at NRO:

At first glance, an alliance of anarchists and government might appear to be somewhat paradoxical. But the formal convergence in Oakland makes explicit the movement’s aims: They’re anarchists for statism, wild free-spirited youth demanding more and more total government control of every aspect of life — just so long as it respects the fundamental human right to sloth.

“Anarchists for statism.” It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? It used to be that anarchists were anti-government. But out new, improved anarchists, most of then privileged beneficiaries of an economic system they pretend to loathe, are positively Whitmanian in their embrace of contradiction. (“Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes . . . “)

It is hardly surprising that this fragile compact yields an unusual harvest. “What’s happening in Oakland, ” Steyn writes, where the city authorities have actually urged people “to collborate” with the protestors,

is a logical exercise in class solidarity: The government class enthusiastically backing the breakdown of civil order is making common cause with the leisured varsity class, the thuggish union class, and the criminal class in order to stick it to what’s left of the beleaguered productive class. It’s a grand alliance of all those societal interests that wish to enjoy in perpetuity a lifestyle they are not willing to earn. Only the criminal class is reasonably upfront about this. "

And it ends with Rudy Giuliani asking the nut-jobs: "How about you occupy a job?" Heh.

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Nothing To See Here, Move Along Now...

Instapundit » Blog Archive » CORZINE CONFLICT? Corzine’s regulator, a former Goldman colleague, gave NJ Dems $10k as Corzine ran…: "CORZINE CONFLICT? Corzine’s regulator, a former Goldman colleague, gave NJ Dems $10k as Corzine ran for governor. “Gary Gensler, the regulator overseeing the investigation of Jon Corzine’s collapsed securities firm, built close ties to Corzine as they rose through the ranks of Goldman Sachs. Later, they collaborated on Capitol Hill to pass an anti-corporate fraud law. When Corzine ran for New Jersey governor, Gensler gave $10,000 to the state Democratic Party, which was trying to get Corzine elected. Now, Gensler, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is leading an inquiry into how hundreds of millions vanished last week from client accounts at Corzine’s firm, MF Global.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 11:20 pm"

Some people believe that regulation is the answer to whatever the problem is. They would be morons. And I'm being polite.

Look over right at the sidebar's "RUNNER-UP QUOTE OF THE HOLOCENE".

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But O Duce Had Nothing To Do With It

ACORN Officials Scramble, Firing Workers And Shredding Documents, After Exposed As Players Behind Occupy Wall Street Protests | Fox News: "Officials with the revamped ACORN office in New York -- operating as New York Communities for Change -- have fired staff, shredded reams of documents and told workers to blame disgruntled ex-employees for leaking information in an effort to explain away a FoxNews.com report last week on the group’s involvement in Occupy Wall Street protests, according to sources.

NYCC also is installing surveillance cameras and recording devices at its Brooklyn offices, removing or packing away supplies bearing the name ACORN and handing out photos of Fox News staff with a stern warning not to talk to the media, the sources said.

“They’re doing serious damage control right now,” said an NYCC source."

Good God. The country has become a herd of brainwashed morons for letting O Duce constantly skate on criminal bullsh*t like this.

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Ineptocracy

Instapundit » Blog Archive » WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Comprehensive EuroFail. “Having spent months warning readers about the in…: "WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Comprehensive EuroFail. “Having spent months warning readers about the incompetence of Europe’s political leadership and the incoherence of its institutional structures, I thought I had seen the worst. But for even this hardened and cynical observer who has had years of watching European ineptitude the last 24 hours have been a revelation: the Europeans are totally at sea. . . . Europe’s institutions cannot cope. Decades of building intricate rules and complicated institutions have failed to create an institutional architecture than can resolve basic disputes.”

They have mastered the art of ineptocracy, which brings with it the inevitable fruit. We, alas, have eagerly been following in their footsteps, especially over the past two or three years.

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 10:56 am"

Perfect. Welcome to the West's version of the Tinfoil Apocalypse. Remember WWI and WWII? What do you suppose is next?

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Your Tax Dollars Electing O Duce

Solyndra Execs Leave With Cash. Yours. | Power Line: "At The Corner, Andrew Stiles notes a report from Green Technology that Solyndra’s executives substantial bonuses shortly before their company declared bankruptcy, having run out of your money. The taxpayers likely will be stuck with a $530 million bill. Here is where some of it went:

Karen Alter, senior vice president of marketing, received two $55,000 bonuses on April 15 and July 8 of this year, on top of her $250,000 annual salary.

If it weren’t our money, this would almost be funny: how can you award someone in charge of marketing $110,000 in bonuses when the company wasn’t making enough sales to stay out of bankruptcy? Ms. Alter’s recent political contributions, according to Open Secrets:

* Barack Obama, $2,300.
* David Sanders (D), $1,000.
* Alan Khazei (D), $3,000."

Why don't we just stop the charade and have the Bernanke just direct deposit whatever O Duce thinks he needs for his campaign. It would be incomparably more honest.

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Whiplash

UK Preparing to Join In Attack On Iran? | Power Line: "The Guardian assures us that President Obama would really prefer not to attack Iran prior to next year’s election:

They made clear that Barack Obama, has no wish to embark on a new and provocative military venture before next November’s presidential election. But they warned the calculations could change because of mounting anxiety over intelligence gathered by western agencies, and the more belligerent posture that Iran appears to have been taking.

Times certainly have changed since 2008. One of the West’s most left-wing newspapers reports that President Obama is planning a pre-emptive attack on a Middle Eastern country, and, rather than being critical of such a strike, the paper merely wishes to run interference against any suspicion that it may be politically motivated. It’s enough to give you whiplash."

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Infighting

Instapundit » Blog Archive » NEW CLASS INFIGHTING: “Lower Elites” vs. “Upper Elites,” cont’d: NYC arrest records: Many Occupy W…: "NEW CLASS INFIGHTING: “Lower Elites” vs. “Upper Elites,” cont’d: NYC arrest records: Many Occupy Wall Street protesters live in luxury. “Among addresses for which information is available, single-family homes listed on those police intake forms have a median value of $305,000 — a far higher number than the $185,400 median value of owner-occupied housing units in the United States. Some of the homes where ‘Occupy’ arrestees reside, viewed through Google Maps and the Multiple Listing Service real estate database, are the definition of opulence.”

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 8:59 am"

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Richard Feynman Is Resting Peacefully Tonight

- Bishop Hill blog - Scientific heresy: "Experts are worse at forecasting the future than non-experts.

Philip Tetlock did the definitive experiment. He gathered a sample of 284 experts – political scientists, economists and journalists – and harvested 27,450 different specific judgments from them about the future then waited to see if they came true. The results were terrible. The experts were no better than “a dart-throwing chimpanzee”.

Here’s what the Club of Rome said on the rear cover of the massive best-seller Limits to Growth in 1972*:

“Will this be the world that your grandchildren will thank you for? A world where industrial production has sunk to zero. Where population has suffered a catastrophic decline. Where the air, sea and land are polluted beyond redemption. Where civilization is a distant memory. This is the world that the computer forecasts.”

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts", said Richard Feynman.

Lesson 6. Never rely on the consensus of experts about the future. Experts are worth listening to about the past, but not the future. Futurology is pseudoscience.

Using these six lessons, I am now going to plunge into an issue on which almost all the experts are not only confident they can predict the future, but absolutely certain their opponents are pseudoscientists. It is an issue on which I am now a heretic. I think the establishment view is infested with pseudoscience. The issue is climate change."

Wow. Run, don't walk to RTWT. Then make sure your friends read it.

And may Michael Crichton now rest peacefully also. Not to mention that the living should finally be respected like Svensmark and Kirkby.

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