There was talk about renaming the Krugman thread for this purpose, but that seems to be going nowhere. Besides which, I feel the Krugman thread should be left to discuss Krugman while this thread can be used for more general economic discussion.
Discuss:
- The merits of competing theories.
- The role of the government in managing the economy.
- The causes of and solutions to our current economic woes.
- Comparisons between the economic systems of different countries.
- Theoretical and existing alternatives to our current market system.
edited 17th Dec '12 10:58:52 AM by Topazan
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
So Syriza won the Greek elections, possibly enough to have a one-party majority, though the fix isn't in on that one yet.
I can almost feel the austerity scolds in the German CDU and other nests of the Very Serious People seething from half a world away.
HGW XX/7
Good.
Schild und Schwert der Partei
I can't wait to read tomorrow's Neue Zürcher Zeitung. For those not familiar with Swiss newspapers, it's the de facto FDP party newspaper and very VSP-ish.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Well, this seems to indicate that a terrible idea, if taken to a big enough extreme, will be shunned. I'm hoping austerity doesn't stand a chance in hell here.
I'm not following
Lost in Space
Bonsai is observing that the election of Syriza is a direct rejection by Greek voters of the austerity policies that have been imposed within the Eurozone, and he hopes (as do most of us) that it will inspire similar rejections in other nations.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Austerity, which is extreme cost-cutting in order to save money, screwed up Greece so badly that it's resulting in a political party being all about opposing austerity. And the party won big. Showing you can't do an idea that bad too long before people completely turn against it.
And yeah, I do hope it inspires similar rejection of cutting things people need in order to live.
edited 25th Jan '15 12:07:39 PM by BonsaiForest
HGW XX/7
Reading the Guardian report, this jumped out at me:
Hmm.
This could mean a number of things. Some of them are not good.
Still, let's give Tsipras time. Hopefully we can see some real stimulus in Europe. I suggest military industry could do with a boost, given recent events...
Schild und Schwert der Partei
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
Well, it's always the case that the reality is less than the rhetoric. The question is how much less. But i mean, if he's going to sell out, folks might as well have voted for Pasok (who got absolutely hammered, btw)
A procrastination in of itself
Well the "right-wing party Greek Independents." have formed a coalition with Syrizia... this is going to get interesting.[1]
Lost in Space
It remains disturbing, both at a political level and to judge by the comments on various articles about Greece, such as Krugman's latest, how committed people are to the vision of Greece as deserving its affliction.
V
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Greece didn't exactly have the best of reputations, even before the economic crisis hit.
edited 26th Jan '15 5:25:34 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
Lost in Space
"It's a shame we have to beat the poor bum to death." "To be fair, he was kind of a dick."
"Hey, Doctor, this bleeding treatment we're giving the patient seems to be making him sicker." "Fuck him, his health problems are his own fault."
edited 26th Jan '15 5:31:17 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
I think it plays into the whole "negative reinforcement" thing: the idea is if you don't "teach them a lesson" by inflicting (economic) pain, they'll never learn.
"Investment Riches built on Auto Loans to the poor"
Led by companies like Santander Consumer; GM Financial, General Motors’ lending unit; and Exeter Finance, an arm of the Blackstone Group, such securitizations have grown 302 percent, to $20.2 billion since 2010, according to Thomson Reuters IFR Markets. And even as rising delinquencies and other signs of stress in the market emerged last year, subprime securitizations increased 28 percent from 2013.
V
Apple posts the biggest quarterly profit in history
of $18bn (£11.8bn) in its fiscal first quarter, which tops the $15.9bn made by ExxonMobil in the second quarter of 2012, according to Standard and Poor's.
Record sales of iPhones were behind the surge in profits. Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones in the three months to 27 December - well ahead of most analysts' expectations.
In a conference call with financial analysts Apple's chief executive Tim Cook said that demand for phones was "staggering". However, sales of the iPad continued to disappoint, falling by 22% in 2014 from a year earlier.
Tesco names 43 UK store closures
The Express and Home Plus stores will close on 15 March with the Tesco Metros and Superstores on the list closing on 4 April. Tesco warned earlier this month that 43 stores would be shut as part of plans to cut costs.
Superstore closures include those in Doncaster and Chatham, while the DIY and homeware Homeplus closures include stores in Edinburgh and Southampton. In total, 18 Express, 12 Metro, seven superstores and six Homeplus stores are shutting their doors.
Waitrose to create 2,000 jobs at new and existing shops
In contrast, rivals including Tesco and Sainsbury's are shelving expansion plans or even closing stores. The UK's biggest food retailers are facing increased competition from discount stores such as Lidl and Aldi. This month Tesco said it will close 43 unprofitable stores, and cancel plans for 49 new large stores. In November Sainsbury's said it was shelving plans for new stores. Morrisons is closing 10 loss-making stores in 2015.
Most of Waitrose's announced expansion will take place in south east England. The retailer, which positions itself at the higher end of the market, has already opened two new shops this year in Egham in Surrey and Walbrook in London.
Waitrose director of development, Nigel Keen, said: "Our expansion story continues as we take the brand to more customers."
"Last year many of our new branches received than more than 10 applications for every vacancy - so we're delighted to be able to create an additional 2,000 roles in 2015."
From the Guardian live report on Greece:
GREEK ATG STOCK INDEX FALLS 0.8% AT OPEN
GREEK BANKING SECTOR INDEX FALLS 3.7%
SHARES IN GREEK UTILITY PPC FALL 7.2% AFTER GOVT PLANS TO FREEZE PRIVATISATION PROCESS
SHARES IN PIRAEUS PORT FALL 6.6% AFTER GOVT PLANS TO STOP PLANNED SALE OF 67% STAKE IN COMPANY
edited 28th Jan '15 6:11:05 AM by Quag15
While reading the many many comments on an article about robots replacing jobs, I saw this:
I wonder how that would work, but I really like the idea. People getting involved with helping their communities would be fantastic. It would give them a sense of purpose, and possibly get them more involved with caring, with helping. I like the idea, though I wonder how realistic it is.
Lost in Space
Many people, liberated from the need to work in order to eat, will happily take jobs helping the community.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
They should be alerted to the fact that such jobs exist and where they are; the word needs to spread.
Meanwhile, Google Fiber is coming to many more cities. None in my area. Even if they wired up Philly, that's at least close to my area (though I doubt Comcast or Verizon would improve their service here, but at least they don't have data caps here), and might influence us... or might not.
Either way, these damn worthless incumbent providers that provide shit service for high prices need to face some real competition. The Republicans sure aren't helping with their hate-on for net neutrality and their insistence that local monopolies aren't monopolies. Every time I see any news article about Google Fiber or Comcast, the hate for the incumbents is all over the comments section, even if it's some mainstream media outlet. Also, another great comment from the "robots replacing jobs" article:
edited 28th Jan '15 1:35:44 PM by BonsaiForest
V
The trouble is of course, that most of those sort of jobs at the moment are either unpaid volunteering or are low-paid Public Sector roles.
And anyway, for another random question, how common are underground power or telephone cables in the US, especially in residential areas?
edited 28th Jan '15 2:03:09 PM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
Lost in Space
My neighborhood has underground lines.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Jupiterian Local
Underground lines are common in urban areas, but other than that, above-ground lines on utility poles are far more common.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
The Wanderer
Most lines in NYC limits are underground save for the outskirts.
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
Probably because skateboarding got big out of nowhere.
Not Three Laws compliant.