1/15/15 Today's Inquiries

Good morning.


The Links:

Some more good economic news: job openings were up 21% year over year for November. It remains to be seen whether or not that will translate into rising wages since companies aren't in much of a hurry to fill positions. More here.

But, full employment won't solve the problem of stagnant wages.

So, Barry wants to let localities set up their own internet (something which various state legislatures have blocked at the behest of internet companies). With local government spending on all other infrastructure falling, is this the best idea? So, I'm torn. While I don't know that many localities will be able to afford running fiber everywhere, I support any action which challenges the current ISP monopolies. The fact that private investment is growing doesn't necessarily mean that competitors are emerging.

Here are some staggering statistics: Since 2006, state and local real investment in highways and streets has fallen by 22%.  Their spending on sewer systems, in real terms, is also down by 22%. And real investment by state and local governments in water systems has fallen by a stunning 34% (chart below).

Meanwhile, over the same period, private real investment by telecommunications and broadcasting companies is up by 13%, according to statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Conservatives in name only. Yeah, it's never been about principles or making the country a better place. The only point to politics today is to generate rents for your patrons. For example: The Republican assault on Dodd-Frank intensifies. Dodd-Frank was deeply flawed to begin with but it gave away more to left-patrons than right-patrons, hence the GOP move to dismantle it.

The term corruption is so inclusive as to be almost meaningless.

Which Mitt Romney is going to run for President this time? There's only one Mitt Romney, and that's the one he pretends to be in order win. So, we had moderate Romney, then "severely conservative" Romney, and next we'll get populist Romney. Just how empty is this guy? His team criticized Jeb Bush for being out of office for a long time. Guess what? Romney and Jeb left the governor's office at the same time.

How should the left look at finance?

This tells us two things. One is that markets don't give a toss about government borrowing. Negative interest rates are a strong argument against austerity. The other is that low rates reflect low growth expectations - secular stagnation (pdf) if you will. This is consistent with the Marxianclaim that capitalism has run out of oomph, that the relations of production have become fetters on the economy, perhaps because inequality holds back growth.

Secondly, the markets should teach us humility. Anyone who's worked in them for more than a few moments know that trades go wrong, that regulations backfire and that we are often surprised. Most unit trust managers under-perform (pdf) their benchmarks, and the performance of many hedge funds is mediocre.

Secular Stagnation, the US recovery, and Houses. A follow up to the Summers/Andreessen conversation which kicked off earlier this week.

I will discuss why I like Summers’s list of possible causes of secular stagnation after the jump, but here I just note that it is appropriately long. A model adicted economist would look at one possible explanation and assume away all the others. In fact the point (if any) of this post is to add another explanation — lower demand for housing.

The Big Short is being turned into a movie. I doubt it can do the financial stuff justice but I'll see it anyway. I'd really like a movie made of Liar's Poker.

Ta-Nehisi Coates visits Paris. I highly recommend reading the whole thing.

I am here for a little while longer. My hope is that by the time I leave I will have graduated from "Internet smart" to the ranks of the "sort of knowledgeable." I'm talking to everyone I can. I'm reading as much as I can. I'm endangering previously agreed-upon deadlines. History is happening around me and I am not equipped to understand. I am mostly unequipped because I only have the barest understanding of the emotional aspects of patriotism. I have spent the past week asking people what,precisely, they believe themselves to be defending. The answers have been fascinating

The NYPD will end their practice of arresting people only when it is absolutely necessary.

The plight of the bitter nerd: why so many awkward shy guys end up hating feminism.

Is bitcoin a Ponzi scheme for redistributing wealth from one libertarian to another? Real nerds mine Dogecoin anyway.

An interview with Agent Carter's Hayley Atwell. I've watched the first two episodes and I rather like the show. It has the depth of AoS and the various Marvell films, which is to say not much depth, but I love the feminist angle. It's somewhat blunt but, I think, adds some levity to patriarchy. Hey, it's network TV, you can't expect too much.

Billy Dee Williams will voice himself in The Rebels.

Whale testicle beer. I'd try it.