Yearly Archives: 2013

ObamaCare Staggers Toward the October 1 Finish Line (6)

By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

And never mind that the Democratic nomenhackura has redefined October 1 as a “soft launch”; it’s still the first chance people are going to get to see the Exchanges in action, and you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And never mind the whole defund ObamaCare slash government shutdown slash debt ceiling mishegoss and all the yammering and posturing and hostage-taking and fundraising appeals [whines] because they really need the money; after all, the Republicans looked crazy when Newt shut down the government and then impeached Clinton over a *******, and they went on to win the next two Presidential elections, at least for some definition of win, so really, who knows and who’s crazy?

Be that as it may, tonight I want to first look briefly at a modest proposal by Paul Krugman in his blog, “The Conscience of a Liberal“; then at the open bullshit purveyed by all parties in the ObamaCare debate and, more importantly, at the unspoken agreement between them; and finally I want to take note of a few orts and scraps I found along the way.

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Robert Reich, Inequality’s Intellectual Fraudster

Now it may seem churlish to take on a prominent former government official making a star turn to publicize one of the most pressing social and political problems in America, namely, our ever widening levels of inequality. But in fact, Reich is not only selling the equivalent of patent medicine as the remedy but he’s even getting commissions from some of the snake-oil manufacturers.

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Ilargi: From Tragedy To Travesty – Selling Off The Cradle Of Democracy

Is it merely a coincidence that the troika rode its Trojan horse into Athens again on the very day Angela Merkel went awfully close to an absolute majority in German elections? I’m sure it is. But it’s still very bad news for the Greeks, who now have their perhaps last chance to throw out the international financial system and decide their own fate, before most of their valuables have been sold off to foreign interests. Greece is where democracy started, and the way things are going, it may be where it will end as well.

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Was Money Created to Overcome Barter?

Yves here. Many readers have either read or are generally familiar with David Graeber’s book Debt: The First 5000 Years. Graeber shows how debt preceded money and confirms the work of Modern Monetary Theory proponents that the standard account presented in economic texts of how money originated is all wet.

This article by Reyold Nesiba gives a short summary of this evidence, which is helpful to those new to this issue or interested in explaining it to brainwashed skeptical friends and colleagues.

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Why You Should Not Trust the Financials of Private Equity Owned Companies

Yesterday, we discussed how a family private equity firm Swift River, which is owned in part by Tony James, Blackstone’s head of private equity business, purchased a software company called iLevel Solutions rom Blackstone itself.

Today, we are going to examine iLevel in greater detail. We will see that this company is built from the ground up as vehicle to convince PE investors and the SEC that Blackstone and other PE firms have implemented robust financial controls over the companies they own. The reality, however, is the opposite

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Rajiv Sethi: Information, Beliefs, and Trading

Yves here. This is a terrific post, and I think readers who are in the unfortunate position of having to invest in the markets will relate to Sethi’s analysis (personally, I hate trading, I wish it were possible to be a long-term investor, but that’s become an awful lot like driving a Model T on a Nascar track). The use of Intrade data and discussing Obama v. Romney-biased speculators is both clever and makes the discussion accessible. And I must confess to being very attached to my “priors” and too willing to fight the tape!

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