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As I mentioned, I am studying both meteorology (weather) and climate change at the graduate school level. So hopefully I will know the difference soon...
Economically, our big problem right now is avoiding deflation, which is actually occurring in various parts of the world, and which economists of all stripes uniformly agree is far worse more damaging than moderate inflation could ever be.
Of course governments and most citizens hate deflation. They have debts to pay and would rather not pay in deflated dollars. Those of us with no debt, however, might think differently. Personally, I welcome deflation. If the dollar deflated enough, I could afford to retire tomorrow! :-)
"Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.
As I mentioned, I am studying both meteorology (weather) and climate change at the graduate school level. So hopefully I will know the difference soon...
The droughts and dust bowls of the Dirty 30's actually took place and we know there have been good years since then. I don't draw too many conclusions from the current weather patterns.
I think you know the difference now. You didn't know the example I was going to cite to illustrate the difference.
When evidence is debatable, all that can be claimed is the result was inconclusive. Neither side is admirable for claiming a hair splitting item proves his point.
Of course governments and most citizens hate deflation. They have debts to pay and would rather not pay in deflated dollars. Those of us with no debt, however, might think differently. Personally, I welcome deflation. If the dollar deflated enough, I could afford to retire tomorrow! :-)
The idea is always to borrow in todays hard dollars and pay back in tomorrows deflated dollars. Let's not forget many pensions are adjusted for inflation. Cost of living increases.
I don't put too much stock in Ed's view of macroeconomics. Any move by a Eurozone nation to move to an independent currency would have to be met with acceptance of that currency by other nations.
I don't pretend to know the exact effect on the U.S. dollar. However, I do know I won't be shorting the U.S. dollar, nor would I be going long the Euro.
Actually I enjoy Ed's post. Particularly on government debt. He says the U.S. government grew out of debt after the WWII. The way I remember it, they taxed their way out of debt. Government don't have money. The take it from you and I.
There will probably be an election before fall. Most likely Harper will call an election based on opposition obstruction.
Do you have any idea at all what the Liberal platform contains? All I've seen them do is support the Conservatives and their budget.
Actually I enjoy Ed's post. Particularly on government debt. He says the U.S. government grew out of debt after the WWII.
I didn't say that at all. I said the US grew out of the debt, and that is not the same thing. I am disappointed that a chess player finds such a difference apparently too subtle for him.
The way I remember it, they taxed their way out of debt.
It was the economy that grew and provided the taxes that the government used to reduce the debt as a percentage of the GDP. Tax rates went down after WWII, as a matter of fact.
I am sorry your memory is so poor and hope it will improve soon.
Government don't have money. They take it from you and I.
The actual situation is the very opposite. Governments and their agents alone create money and they give it to the rest of the economy by spending it or, in the case of their agents the banks, loaning it. They do it by fiat, exercising the sovereignty of the people.
Anyone who attempts to create money except as allowed by government will shortly be in jail for counterfeiting, at least we hope they will be. Alberta tried to, in effect, print their own money in the 1930s under Social Credit but the Federal government stopped them quite quickly, jealous of their rights.
Of course, money is not wealth and should not be confused with wealth. Governments create wealth, of course, but they are only part of the wealth creating community if, as is desirable, we have a vigorous mixed economy.
Governments cannot tax the people except as the people create wealth and give part of it to government, willingly or unwillingly. In return government creates wealth and returns it to the people, so that they can use it to create more wealth.
As a pensioner I might not personally mind a little deflation for a short term, but I understand the economy well enough to know that an extended period of deflation would end up deflating my own income in the fairly near term, and leave me overall much worse off.
As a pensioner I might not personally mind a little deflation for a short term, but I understand the economy well enough to know that an extended period of deflation would end up deflating my own income in the fairly near term, and leave me overall much worse off.
Aren't you glad you live in Canada? Harper has done a fine job for you. COLA on government pensions. Lower GST.
I know B.C. wants to give you a HST but you've got the winter Olympics. Ontario is giving us the HST and we've got squat.
I got a chuckle out of your endorsement of taxes after WWII. What was the average industrial wage? Maybe 25 dollars a week? Maybe 18. I don't recall. How high could the taxes be.
We were lucky if the tooth fairy left a dime. I can recall going to the movies. It was a nickle each way for the street car. A dime to get in. A nickle for the popcorn and drink. A whole quarter for a neat afternoon western movie along with a Superman or some other serial to keep me coming back.
I got a chuckle out of your endorsement of taxes after WWII.
I didn't endorse any such thing. You do enjoy putting words in other people's mouths, don't you?
What was the average industrial wage? Maybe 25 dollars a week? Maybe 18. I don't recall. How high could the taxes be.
Irrelevant to anything. What counts is debt compared to income, and that was much higher after WWII than it is now. The total debt today is much higher, but so is our national income and ability to support that debt.
Marginal income taxes went quite high during the war and came down but were still a lot higher than today relative to income. Yet we had a boom despite these extremely high tax rate, which was, if I recall right, over 90% for the highest income brackets all through the 1950's.
Really Paul, you ought to study at least a tiny bit of macroeconomics. Then perhaps you wouldn't come across as quite so economically illiterate.
I didn't endorse any such thing. You do enjoy putting words in other people's mouths, don't you?
Irrelevant to anything. What counts is debt compared to income, and that was much higher after WWII than it is now. The total debt today is much higher, but so is our national income and ability to support that debt.
Marginal income taxes went quite high during the war and came down but were still a lot higher than today relative to income. Yet we had a boom despite these extremely high tax rate, which was, if I recall right, over 90% for the highest income brackets all through the 1950's.
Really Paul, you ought to study at least a tiny bit of macroeconomics. Then perhaps you wouldn't come across as quite so economically illiterate.
For the sake of accuracy you didn't write that to Paul. Can't you remember with whom you were having the conversation? :)
After the war our fighting men came back and the Zombies were let out of the forces. There were a lot more people to pay taxes. I didn't know anyone who would have been in the 90% bracket. Military pay wasn't that good. I take it you were a boy back then. Or were you referring to WW one?
There is no question in my mind; climate change is rapidly occurring as CO2 concentrations rapidly rise. I am basing this on my reading and studying of meteorology and climate change at university, i.e. on the science.
Instead of reading newspaper articles and heresay
Are you accusing Gary of heresy?
and peoples opinions start reading some of the scientific papers;
The ones that are based on fudged science and cooked data? That article from the Globe and Mail that Gary linked to indicated that the data for China was fudged too.
China
Russia
Canada
Antarctica
New Zealand
Is there anywhere that data is not fudged?
For example, just last week there was a new scientific peer reviewed paper on the state of Arctic ice melt, and how it was still increasing.
Some melting would be good right about now. Guelph was pretty cold last weekend.
When it goes it will have enormous implications for our climate. Do a bit of research yourself with google, it is really not that difficult.
One of the most noticeable things that climate change causes is weather extremes and changes in precipitation patterns. Things like lack of snowfall in Ottawa (95 cm this winter as opposed to a norm of 240 cm) versus huge snowfall events like 60 cm storms in Washington and Philadelphia, etc; i.e. 1 in 100 years events. Of course one year does not mean anything, but when bizarre weather happens year in and year out that shows a clearly discernible pattern.
No, it just shows that the weather is unpredictable. Snow in Texas tends to support the global cooling hypothesis.
Perhaps Gary can calculate the cost of this snow-pocalypse, as they are calling it.
Well the Russian scientists are calling for a lot more global cooling so we may be in for a lot of it.
If it disagrees with Vlad then it must, of course be fudged, in his mind anyway.
On the other hand if you are rational and interested in some actual real data you could do worse than the "Skeptical Science" website, though undoubtedly Vlad will pronounce it "fudged" too.
Why is it that people say "of course" right after they tell a big whopper?
Well, Vlad can never admit it of course, it being against his ideology, but most people can see, for example, that the safety that is provided up to a point by police forces and armies obviously add to our wealth. People value safety, so safety is a form of wealth. If Vlad doesn't believe this he should have the honesty to go live somewhere where the government doesn't assist his personal safety, like say Somalia.
A little actual thought will multiply in one's mind the things governments do that add to the common wealth. I myself worked in a government organization for many years which returned far, far more dollars in wealth than the citizenry paid in taxes to support it. But I suppose Vlad would not step inside a public Library for fear of becoming infected with communism!
If you ever put down the slogans and memes that blind you Vlad, and started looking at the way things actually are, you would see many many ways in which governments contribute to the increase of the general wealth. Show me a country with no government and I will show you a very poor country where the people live short and blighted lives in great poverty.
But only because they are victims of a badly run central bank controlling the Euro. If things continue as they are and they leave the Euro zone, which is fairly likely unless the power brokers in Europe come to their senses, they will then regain the power to use their currencies for their own people's benefit and the fiscal part of their crisis will pass fairly quickly. However if the Euro zone keeps the clamps on there is likely to be at least one violent revolution in Europe and that will cost far, far more than allowing a rational monetary policy would.
Ed, I hope you're paying attention to what's happening. It looks like Greece is starting to move toward including more people in the higher tax rates. Unless you think Germany and France will bail them out.
I particularly like the part where you speculate on them leaving the Eurozone. More likely they will be fortunate if they aren't thrown out. If you want to see what happens to the currency of a nation which is doing badly check out Iceland and their currency.
It looks to me like some nations got into the Eurozone and had such a low percentage of the overall GDP they thought they could do whatever they wanted. After only about 10 years of the Euro the chickens are coming home to roost. The reality of fiscal responsiblility is the order of the day.
It looks to me like some nations got into the Eurozone and had such a low percentage of the overall GDP they thought they could do whatever they wanted. After only about 10 years of the Euro the chickens are coming home to roost. The reality of fiscal responsiblility is the order of the day.
And yet Spain, which was running surplus after surplus before the crash and had one of the lower debt loads in the Euro zone, is suffering about as badly as fiscally "irresponsible" Greece.
For those who wish to learn some facts about the situation in Europe, and whose minds are not made up in advance of the facts, Paul Krugman has a good article on this in his blog today.
And yet Spain, which was running surplus after surplus before the crash and had one of the lower debt loads in the Euro zone, is suffering about as badly as fiscally "irresponsible" Greece.
Even the article you linked concedes that was in the past. An important part is in the article is this:
"But then the bubble burst, leaving Spain with much reduced domestic demand — and highly uncompetitive within the euro area thanks to the rise in its prices and labor costs."
From your example, it appears prices and Labour costs have to come down. Also, the housing bubble part of the article suggests to me the percentage of debt to equity in must have been high. Too much debt and not enough equity.
Isn't Spain into the green energy? Can they afford this now?
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