Dead Wrong

Posted on March 5, 2013 by MN Gordon

New evidence was revealed last week further confirming that not only is President Obama a doomsayer…he’s a liar too.  The first of the President’s deceits was amusing hyperbole.  The second was pure humbug.  Still, they were nothing compared to some other remarks out of Washington…

For while the President was busy prophesizing the apocalypse and Bob Woodward was busy calling him a liar, down the way, over on Capitol Hill, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke let out what must be the biggest whopper we’ve heard since the President uttered, “If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that.”

While responding to questions from Senator Bob Corker, Bernanke said “my inflation record is the best of any Federal Reserve chairman in the postwar period.”  We’re not kidding.  He really said this…take a look yourself.

Bernanke must think we’re all fools.  How else can one explain such a remark?  He either doesn’t know what he’s talking about or he’s two-faced.  Quite frankly, we think it’s the later. Continue reading →

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On Maximum Collective Welfare

Posted on March 1, 2013 by MN Gordon

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.” – Marcus Aurelius

Gradually Reducing the Minds of Men

The Roman Republic was corrupted long before Marcus Aurelius came to be Emperor in AD 161.  The responsibility and representation of consuls had been supplanted by Caesars sometime around BC 27.  Yet the Roman Empire still ran reasonably well, for a while.

There were happy, prosperous, years enjoyed by the empire from AD 98 until Aurelius’ death in AD 180.  But, unfortunately, Aurelius’ passing was the high-water mark for the civilization.  The fortunes of the imperial power slowly receded for the next three hundred years…until its final collapse on September 4, 476, when Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed by Odoacer, a Germanic soldier.

“It is scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption,” said 18th century historian Edward Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.  “This long peace, and the uniform government of the Romans, introduced a slow and secret poison into the vitals of the empire.  The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated.” Continue reading →

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Apocalyptic Revelations and Other Fictions of Government

Posted on February 26, 2013 by MN Gordon

Are you ready?  Something remarkable could happen within the next few days.  In fact, this Friday, if Congress doesn’t take action, we’ll all have the extraordinary opportunity to experience something that rarely occurs…

Apocalypse!

No kidding…  President Obama even says so…

“Emergency responders like the ones who are here today – their ability to help communities respond to and recover from disasters will be degraded.  Border Patrol agents will see their hours reduced.  FBI agents will be furloughed.  Federal prosecutors will have to close cases and let criminals go.  Air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, which means more delays at airports across the country.  Thousands of teachers and educators will be laid off.  Tens of thousands of parents will have to scramble to find childcare for their kids.  Hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose access to primary care and preventive care like flu vaccinations and cancer screenings.”

Quite frankly, the Presidents warnings don’t sound all that dire. Continue reading →

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The Best Laid Schemes of Mice and Men

Posted on February 22, 2013 by MN Gordon

Japan can’t seem to catch a break.  On Wednesday, for instance, Japan’s Finance Ministry reported that Japanese exports increased 6.4 percent to $51.2 billion in January from a year earlier.  Unfortunately, imports rose even faster…climbing 7.3 percent to $68.6 billion.

In effect, Japan, as a whole, spent $17.4 billion more on goods from abroad than they sold.  The difference was made up with debt: corporate debt, government debt, and private debt.

Naturally, this new debt will exacerbate Japan’s 230 percent government debt to GDP ratio, which is the largest percentage of any industrialized nation on the world.  This will also be compounded by the fact that Japan’s economy shrank 0.4 percent annualized during the fourth quarter of 2012…marking the third straight quarter of contraction.  If this sounds bad it’s because it is.  Yet Japan’s skid into economic oblivion is only beginning to pick up real steam.

Japan’s trade deficit for 2012 widened to $78 billion.  But that’s nothing. Continue reading →

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