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Archive for the Economics Nobel Category

What Is With Our Friend Sweden And Our Friends The Swedes? The Swedish Central Bankers Reward One Of Their Criminal Home Boys: Bernanke. The “Real” Nobel For Peace (War?) Rewards Hypocrisy And Dishonesty. The Nord Stream Pipeline Terrorism Investigation Is Dodgy. (October 24, 2022)

Posted in Economics, Economics Nobel, Noble Prize on October 24, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “They are Swedes. They are rumored to be smart and level-headed.”

J “There is always that bottom half of the class lurking out there.”

. . .

K “The selection of Bernanke is cruel, perverse, twisted and offensive. He has done more to destroy opportunity for the average person and to shovel wealth to the already wealthy Kleptocrats than just about anyone else in recent history other than possibly Greenspan. We are suffering and will continue to suffer from his decisions and indecision.”

J “Bernanke committed economic crimes against the public good. A person who commits economic crimes against the public good is a criminal.”

. . .

K “One of the recipients of the purported Peace Prize is allegedly investigating Russian war crimes but not Ukrainian/NATO/US/UK war crimes. They should be investigating war crimes. Partisan activities should not be rewarded. So many of the purported NGOs [Non-Governmental Organizations] are fronts working hand in glove with governments.”

J “They may need to take sides. Sometimes, sides need to be taken.”

. . .

K “You know full well that when they took the fingerprints on the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage caper, they made a perfect match with . . . Samuel, Uncle. You know full well that when they did a DNA swab test on the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage caper, they made a perfect match with . . . Samuel, Uncle. And now the Swedes are blocking a complete investigation of an international act of terrorism.”

J “They may need to take sides. Sometimes, sides need to be taken.”

. . .

K “These are the good folks who conceived and crafted the legendary Volvo 122S and the celebrated SAAB 90 series.”

J “These are the good folks at the Gransfors Bruk and S.A. Wetterlings and Hults Bruk facilities who hand forge scientific works of art that work artfully in hand. At least we agree that the dullards at the Sveriges Riksbank, the Swedish Central Bank, are not the sharpest splitting mauls in the wood bunk. Their failure, however, is not one of intellect but of judgement, character and integrity.”

. . .

[See “Noble and Ignoble Prizes” at Rabobank dated October 11, 2022 by Michael Every; “The Sveriges Riksbank Counterfeit Nobel Award Goes to Bernanke et al. for the Wrong Model” at Naked Capitalism dated October 19, 2022 by Yves Smith, the recipient of the Seventh Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2022; “Ben Bernanke vs. Greg Hunter” at www.mark-skidmore.com by Mark Skidmore, the recipient of the Fourth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 14, 2019); “A Nobel? Ben Bernanke belongs in the Economics Hall of Shame” at the New York Post dated October 11, 2022 by the Editorial Board and “Ben Bernanke getting Nobel Prize is panned as ‘drunkest decision of all time’” in the New York Post dated October 19, 2022 by Ariel Zilber.]

[See the optimistic and hopeful e-commentary at Bernanke 2.0 (August 31, 2009) and a more disquieting analysis of his comments and tenure at the Fed. at Economics And Finance: Girls v. Boys (June 4, 2018) including commentary on economic and financial commentators including Yves Smith.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“In the surreal economy, the Nobel Prize committee showed either they don’t read this Daily (no!), or if they do, they do the opposite. After all, they just gave the Prize in Economics (jointly) to former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke.

Yes, Economics isn’t a real Noble Prize. Yes, there have been lots of previous stupid winners of even the real Prizes:

For Peace to Aung San Suu Kyi, for being pro-democracy – who then looked the other way over a genocide; to the EU, for being the EU; to Barack Obama, for something – who then carried out drone strikes on weddings, etc.; to Henry Kissinger – for blowing up South-East Asia, etc.

For Literature to Peter Handke – despite genocide denial (again); to Bob Dylan – for singing; to Mario Vargas Llosa – for being political in a way the committee liked; and never to Tolstoy while we was still alive.

For Economics to Friedman – for monetarism, just before it was tried and failed, and as he backed the dictator Pinochet in Chile; to Nordhaus – for saying if climate change gets too bad, we can spend more time indoors and GDP will be OK; to Krugman – for saying free trade always ends up with the best of all possible outcomes in the best of all possible worlds.

However, to give a Nobel to Ben “Sub-prime is contained”/“high levels of private debt do not matter”/“banks intermediate between savers and borrowers”/“zero rates and QE” Bernanke for providing “a foundation for our modern understanding of why banks are needed, why they’re vulnerable, and what to do about it” — just as central banks try to undo the post-2008 policy error, and perhaps the post-1980 financialisation and zombification of the economy to boot — is either a slap in the face (“You might reshape the global economy, but you aren’t going to get a prize from us!”) or shows economics, or the Nobel committee, or both are past saving.

Putting it more succinctly, Matt Taibbi tweeted: “Giving Ben Bernanke the Nobel Prize in Economics may be the drunkest decision of all time.” Amen, Matt, Amen. And cheers to the Nobel Prize team.

. . .

Don’t worry though – we have Ben Bernanke and other Nobel prize-winners to guide us through.”

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Fifth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 12, 2020)

Posted in Economics, Economics Nobel, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics on October 12, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “An award acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone on the planet who really knows something about eco-nomics. Eco-nomics is about making and sharing; e-con-omics is about taking and stealing.”

J “The Noble Prize in Eco-nomics is a delightful and playful replacement for the discredited and misnamed ‘Nobel’ Prize in Voodoo E-con-omics. And I get it. You get what you reward. You need to reward what you want to get. Who gets it this year?”

K “The recipients of the fifth annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics are . . . Pam Martens and Russ Martens who have researched and crafted ‘Wall Street On Parade’ for decades. The couple has contributed immensely and with little credit chronicling in clear prose the circus and criminality on Wall Street and the consequences for the ordinary person.”

J “They should get credit for challenging the credit markets. They have made a far great contribution to the public discourse than everyone writing at ‘The Wall Street Journal’ for the last two decades. The age of vicious irony is viciously ironic.”

. . .

[See “The American Nightmare” in “The Automatic Earth” by Byron Bishop dated October 12, 2020; “The Tyranny of Economists How can they be so wrong, so often, and yet still exert so much influence on government policy?” in “The New Republic” by Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein dated September 30, 2019, the book titled “The Nobel Factor: The Prize in Economics, Social Democracy, and the Market Turn” by Avner Offer and Gabriel Söderberg and “Heretics welcome! Economics needs a new Reformation” in “The Guardian” by Larry Elliott dated December 17, 2017.]

[See the e-commentary at “Fourth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 14, 2019)”, “Third Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 8, 2018)”, “Second Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 9, 2017)”, “First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2016)”, “Announcing The First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (May 2, 2016)”, “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)”, “From e-con-omics to eco-nomics? (August 1, 2011)”, and “Skip the Nobel in Economics (October 6, 2009)”.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“Show me the incentives and I will show you the outcome.” Charlie Munger

Boycott banks; support credit unions

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day

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Wandering E-con-omists: The Travels And Travails Of E-con-omic Sciences (November 4, 2019)

Posted in Economics, Economics Nobel, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics on November 4, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “For decades, the econ. boys have had their own fraternity house/crash pad/temple and a separate department in academia to give them street cred. and street money. The peripatetic ghost was harbored first in the Department of Religion / Department of Mathematics and then floated to the Department of Psychology and is now decamped in the current haunt in the Department of Computer Science.”

J “The great journey from the Monetarists/Mathematicians/Religionists to the Behaviorists to the Coders. They will be giddy to see the word ‘Science’ on the plaque outside their current hang out. The great anxiety and anguish for e-con-omists is that the few thinking folks do not regard it as a science. And the reason the few thinking folks do not regard it as a science is because it is not a science.”

K “Where will they wander next? The Department of Astrology?”

J “The Swedish central bank award for ‘E-con-omic Sciences’ nourishes their delusion and assuages their angst.”

. . .

J “During the formal religious phase, the Monetarists/Religionists assumed what they proclaimed is an indisputable assumption: ‘God exists’ and then jumped to the conclusion: ‘God exists’. The shamans and the shills collected considerable mammon and lucre for spreading the gospel that the rich and powerful must be rewarded at all costs. If anyone doubted the conclusion, they dismissed the cavil and reiterated that it followed logically and inevitably from their indisputable assumption.”

K “They like tautologies. God is Mammon; Mammon is God. Their gospel claimed to be air tight, but it lacks any real air.”

J “It is hot air. But their God sure made buckets and boat loads of money for those on the inside and spewed a few shillings for those who did their shilling.”

. . .

K “During their interregnum in the Department of Psychology, at least the Behaviorists claimed to gander at how folks behave en route to positing how folks behave.”

. . .

K “Now they are into randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that purport to explain and predict behavior. Testing just like the doctors.”

J “The real doctors have the Hippocratic Oath and the e-con-omics shamans and charlatans now have their precious computer code. And they can allay their anxieties because it is after all . . . science!”

K “But you cannot replicate the studies. So it is not real science!”

J “Don’t hurt their feelings. Don’t undermine their self-esteem.”

. . .

K “Full circle or moving forward?”

J “Sideways or backwards?”

. . .

[See “New Nobel Winners Are Latest Bad Sign for Economic Theory” in “Mises Wire” by Peter G. Klein dated October 15, 2019, “Impoverished economics? Unpacking the economics Nobel Prize” in “Open Democracy” by Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven dated October 18, 2019 reprinted with commentary by Yves Smith in “Naked Capitalism” dated October 18, 2019 and “What randomisation can and cannot do: The 2019 Nobel Prize” in “VoxEU” by Kevin Bryan dated October 29, 2019 reprinted with commentary by Yves Smith in “Naked Capitalism” dated November 2, 2019.]

[See the e-commentary under the Categories “Economics”, “Economics Nobel” and “Noble Prize in Eco-nomics”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Economics: If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand. With a nod to Oscar Wilde

Not all who wander are lost, but some are

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Fourth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 14, 2019)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Economics, Economics Nobel, Gold, Nobel Prize, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics, Petrodollar, Silver on October 14, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J “The Noble Prize in Eco-nomics is a delightful and playful replacement for the discredited and misnamed ‘Nobel’ Prize in Voodoo E-con-omics. And I get it. You get what you reward. You need to reward what you want to get. Who gets it this year?”

K “The recipients of the fourth annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics are . . . Professors Mark Skidmore and Laurence J. Kotlikoff who have contributed immensely and with little credit to an undertaking that tracks and analyzes federal expenditures and properly and honestly accounts for them in reconstructed books.”

J “Solid work. Crafting a book that chronicles and corrects the government crooks’ collective efforts to cook the books.”

. . .

J “They shined a bright light on government accounting and may have prompted the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) to shift government accounting further into the shadows. Late last year, the FASAB unleashed the ‘Statement of Federal Financing Accounting Standards 56 (Standard 56)’ that replaced laxly enforced government accounting and reporting standards with official obfuscation and concealment of government financing and spending.”

K “Catherin Austin Fitts and the Solari staff [Michele Ferri and Jonathan Lurie of The Law Offices of Lurie and Ferri] prepared a spell-binding and best-selling document “FASAB Statement 56: Understanding New Government Financial Accounting Loopholes” that provides a comprehensive explanation of the history, amendments and consequences of the changes to FASAB Statement 56. Everyone should leave a copy in the bathroom for light reading.”

J “The upshot is that the government is now officially no longer accountable to the public.”

. . .

[See the “Intergenerational Financial Obligations Reform Act” (INFORM Act), “Has Our Government Spent $21 Trillion Of Our Money Without Telling Us?” in “Forbes” by Laurence Kotlikoff and Mark Skidmore dated December 8, 2017, “The Tyranny of Economists How can they be so wrong, so often, and yet still exert so much influence on government policy?” in “The New Republic” by Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein dated September 30, 2019, the book titled “The Nobel Factor: The Prize in Economics, Social Democracy, and the Market Turn” by Avner Offer and Gabriel Söderberg and “Heretics welcome! Economics needs a new Reformation” in “The Guardian” by Larry Elliott dated December 17, 2017.]

[See the e-commentary at “Third Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 8, 2018)”, “Second Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 9, 2017)”, “First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2016)”, “Announcing The First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (May 2, 2016)”, “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)”, “From e-con-omics to eco-nomics? (August 1, 2011)”, and “Skip the Nobel in Economics (October 6, 2009)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The United States of Anger backed its currency with Au (until August 15, 1971) and transacted in part in Ag (until July 23, 1965) and now backs its concoction d.b.a. the PetroDollar with Fe and Pb by bombing any country and killing any person who demurs to the US hegemony.

Boycott banks; support credit unions

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Everything Monopolized, Nothing Economized. Completion Of “The General Theory Of Economics” Is In Remission . . . Oh, And Happy Halloween! (October 29, 2018)

Posted in Economics, Economics Nobel, Market Solutions, Markets, Monopoly, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics, Price, Technology on October 29, 2018 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J “Bummer. After all that time and thought.”

K “And all that fun. I tell you I realized that if it was going to be done and if it was going to be done right, I would have to do it to get it done right.”

J “Been there. Done that.”

. . .

K “A construct such as the IS-LM model is largely malarkey but is heuristically valuable. Today, the fundamental problem trying to describe and direct the operation and function of the economy is that there really is not an operating and functioning economy. With all of the distortion, intervention and manipulation, price is not tied to anything real. Every business, every single business in every single industry, is a monopoly. The business is the industry; the industry is the business. From pork to politics.”

J “Yet only a few folks have discovered and understand that we cannot discover price. Price discovery now is so passé. Without price, we cannot communicate in the economic marketplace. And the central bankers working alone and together destroyed the language of the marketplace.”

. . .

K “He left Iowa with his father marketing the hogs to five potential buyers and returned to find that one buyer sets the price.”

J “And both Senators from Iowa are Republicans. You don’t have to ‘go figure’ when ‘it figures’ so clearly.”

. . .

J “And the Swedish central bankers reward those individuals who provide the economic cover for the crimes and misdemeanors of all the central bankers by giving their ignoble ‘Nobel’ Prize in E-con-omics to the most successful errand boy or girl.”

K “The Noble Prize in Eco-nomics is the part of the answer.”

. . .

J “The most vexing monopoly is the government/corporate syndicate that precludes any competing alternative entity.”

K “The twisted irony is that most industries, and all the major tech industries without exception, are basically ‘natural monopolies’ and thus ‘utilities’ such as the water company. A utility is a monopoly. A monopoly must be regulated. Yet the tech companies/tech utilities own the government and quash any regulation.”

. . .

J “The Republican political monopoly firmly supports the current economic monopolies who in turn own the Republican political monopoly. The Death Spiral is spiraling but not changing.”

K “In a fortnight, the slow boiling coup d’état by the Republicans could be completed by the Republicans. If the Democrats do not take the House, the control of government will be concentrated in one mega-corporation – the Republican Party, Inc. / the Corporation, Inc. The political ‘campaign’ is aptly namely for battle because the Democrats are charging east up Jenkins Hill trying to retake the southern flank of the Capitol and the House of Commons under intense enemy fire. We need to hire the friends and fire the enemy.”

J “The Presidency is a lock, the Judiciary is the stock and the Congress is the barrel. Lock, stock and barrel.”

K “For the next two years at least, the Presidency is indeed a lock for the Republicans. For the rest of our time on this Planet, the judiciary is a laughing stock and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party, Inc. / the Corporation, Inc. doing their bidding. And the Republican Congress has the ordinary citizen over a barrel.”

J “Hook, line and sinker. We are hooked, they have us firmly on the line and all of us are sunk.”

. . .

[See the discussion in “This is Not a Market” in “The Automatic Earth” by Raul Ilargi Meijer dated April 23, 2018.]

[See the scary e-commentary last Halloween at “Are ‘Prices’ Language? Are Antitrust Laws Grounded In The First Amendment? How Do We Forestall The ‘Frightful Five’ And Other Monopolies. Oh, And Happy Halloween! (October 30, 2017)”.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Free markets now!

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Third Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 8, 2018)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Economics, Economics Nobel, Nobel Prize, Noble Prize, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics on October 8, 2018 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “An award dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone on the planet who really knows something about eco-nomics. Eco-nomics is about making and sharing; e-con-omics is about taking and stealing.”

K “The recipient of the third annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics is . . . Ellen H. Brown who writes and speaks about money, banking, financial reform and the need for publicly run banks. A lawyer and political candidate, Ms. Brown is the founder and president of the Public Banking Institute, a nonpartisan think tank researching and advocating for the creation of publicly run banks. She has authored twelve books including Web of Debt and The Public Bank Solution, speaks regularly on these topics and crafts the “Web of Debt Blog.” Her considerable corpus of work is undergirded by the conviction that eco-nomics should be concerned with pursuing the public good not just producing goods.”

. . .

J “The ‘Nobel’ Prize in Voodoo E-con-omics is given by the Swedish Central Bank to someone who advances the interests of the central bankers or at least does not threaten them. Their selections are not surprising. Ellen Brown is number ‘n’ on the central bankers’ list of possible recipients.”

K “Bill Black is a co-number ‘n’ on the central bankers’ list of possible recipients.”

. . .

K “The Committee also examined and considered the pioneering work of Professors Mark Skidmore and Laurence J. Kotlikoff who have contributed immensely and without enough credit to tracking and analyzing federal expenditures that are not on the books or part of the public discussion.”

. . .

[See the “Intergenerational Financial Obligations Reform Act” (INFORM Act), “Has Our Government Spent $21 Trillion Of Our Money Without Telling Us?” in “Forbes” by Laurence Kotlikoff and Mark Skidmore dated December 8, 2017 and “Heretics welcome! Economics needs a new Reformation” in “The Guardian” by Larry Elliott dated December 17, 2017.]

[See the e-commentary at “Second Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 9, 2017)”, “First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2016)”, “Announcing The First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (May 2, 2016)”, “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)”, “From e-con-omics to eco-nomics? (August 1, 2011)”, and “Skip the Nobel in Economics (October 6, 2009)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The life cycle of American business: Engineers build, salespersons sell, hedge funders loot

When what is known as “e-con-omics” transitioned to “behavioral economics,” the undertaking should have been moved from the department of religion to the department of psychology. The undisciplined discipline does not require its own department.

Boycott banks; support credit unions

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Second Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 9, 2017)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Economics, Economics Nobel, Nobel Prize, Noble Prize, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics on October 9, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J “The Noble Prize in Eco-nomics is a delightful and playful replacement for the discredited ‘Nobel’ Prize in Voodoo E-con-omics. And I get it. You get what you reward. You need to reward what you want to get. Who gets it this year?”

K “The recipient of the second annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics is . . . Norbert Häring of Planet Earth and Germany. His considerable corpus of work is undergirded by the conviction that eco-nomics should be concerned with pursuing the public good not just producing goods.”

. . .

[See “There Is No Nobel Prize in Economics” in “AlterNet” by Yasha Levine dated October 12, 2012, “The Nobel family dissociates itself from the economics prize” in “Real-World Economics Review Blog” by Jorge Buzaglo dated October 22, 2010 and “The Beauty (Pageant?) of Economics” in “Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis” by Ronald A. Wirtz dated September 1, 1999.]

[See the e-commentary at “Announcing The First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (May 2, 2016)”, “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)”, “From e-con-omics to eco-nomics? (August 1, 2011)” and “Skip the Nobel in Economics (October 6, 2009).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Eco-nomics is about good; e-con-omics is about goods

Eco-nomics is about making; e-con-omics is about taking

Eco-nomics is about making good; e-con-omics is about taking goods

“There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen.” Claude-Frédéric Bastiat

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First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 10, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Banks and Banking System, Courage, Credit Unions, Crime/Punishment, Economics, Economics Nobel, FDIC, Journalism, Kleptocracy, Law, Newspapers, Nobel Prize, Noble Prize, Noble Prize in Eco-nomics, Press/Media, Rule of Law, Song Reference on October 10, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “An award dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone on the planet who really knows something about eco-nomics.”

J “Novel. Appropriate. Necessary. And unprecedented.”

K “The recipient of the first annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics is . . . Professor William Kurt Black, Esq. professor of law and economics with the University of Missouri at Kansas City. With decades of substantial and substantive real world experience, Professor Black examines and explicates the workings of banks and the banking system in the United States and the world with insight and conviction. In his classic, timely and timeless magnum opus The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, he advances the conservative notion that those in the banking industry who commit systematic and rampant fraud should be convicted. In an inspiring TEDxUMKC presentation available at TED the national public forum, he notes that bankers deploy banks as weapons of mass destruction against the public. Unlike so many other law professors and judges who explore the interface of law and economics, he contends that law and economics should serve more than the interests of the wealthy and the powerful. A felicitous contributor to the public discourse and dialogue, Professor Black’s continuing academic and personal commitment to the common weal and greater good is a good thing.”

. . .

[“This is Walter Kingsbury Brinkley, XYZ News, New York. Earlier today, the highly coveted Noble Prize In Eco-nomics was awarded to Professor William K. Black, Esq. of the University of Missouri at Kansas City. In his most celebrated work, Professor Black contends among other observations that the adoption of the rule of law in America is a swell idea. In a related development, the Swedish bankers convened and announced the 2016 Nobel Prize in E-con-omics given to the individual who has or individuals who have done the most during his, her or their career to advance the interests of the wealthy and powerful. . . . “]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered I’ve seen lots of funny men; Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen.” “The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd” by Woody Guthrie (c) 1958 (renewed) Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc.

Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank; give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

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Announcing The First Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (May 2, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Economics, Economics Nobel, Nobel Prize, Noble Prize on May 2, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

“This year, the first annual Noble Prize in Eco-nomics is to be awarded to the individual or individuals who have made the greatest contribution to the understanding of eco-nomics and the operation of the eco-nomy. To be announced on the second Monday each October and this year on October 11, the award is established and endowed with a prize purse of $250. Nominations are accepted through the last Friday each August and this year on August 26.”

. . .

[Send a nomination and a supporting letter to e-ssay@gci.net by August 26, 2017 and send the entry fee to your favorite charity.]

[See the e-commentary at “From e-con-omics to eco-nomics? (August 1, 2011)” and “Skip the Nobel in Economics (October 6, 2009).”]

[See “The Beauty (Pageant?) of Economics.”]

Bumper sticker of the week:

If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.

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National Financial Literacy Month: Teaching Financial Literacy In The “Debt Age” (April 25, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Consumerism, Economics, Economics Nobel, Federal Courts, Kleptocracy, Nobel Prize, Noble Prize, Schooling on April 25, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K “But do they really want them to be financially literate.”

J “Who wants a citizenry to be financially literate. Illiteracy is so profitable.”

K “What would they teach.”

. . .

K “For a few hours, they should teach them simply to consume less. That is the answer. Devour less. That goes against the spend and spend and spend and consume and consume and consume mantra they are fed every waking moment on every medium everywhere they venture.”

J “The same corporations and institutions that ceaselessly propagandize them to spend then underwrite a few hours of instruction advising them, in effect, not to spend.”

. . .

K “You could teach supply and demand, yet supply and demand no longer drive or dictate price.”

J “Price/earnings ratios remain a sound financial metric in an economy with accurate price discovery. With all the government and private sector manipulation and intervention, they are not relevant or reflective metrics of reality.”

. . .

K “Markets do not exist. The ‘stock market’ is a Racket. What few insider trading cases are prosecuted are overturned and repudiated by obliging federal appellate courts doing their job protecting the Kleptocracy.”

. . .

K “Personal finance courses would at core contradict all the carpet bombing saturation advertising inflicted on the public. And look how the consequences define our age. We have evolved from the ‘Stone Age’ to the ‘Bronze Age’ and now to the ‘Debt Age’.”

J “Still prudent to avoid debt at any cost unless the return is nearly certain. The debt one assumes to spend time around a college may not be worth the return.”

K “To the individual and also to society. Buying a used car and not eating at a restaurant are sound pieces of financial literacy advice. However, someone must buy new cars and frequent restaurants on occasion.”

J “The loans for new cars exceed the expected life of the cars. Restaurants are moving to computer ordering and eliminating the wait staff.”

. . .

K “All prices are manipulated and manufactured. What would you teach.”

J “Most current economic curricula in America’s colleges and universities is a secular religion built on inaccurate assumptions and the conviction that growth can continue forever.”

K “To educate the Nobel Prize winners in Economics in economics, night classes in financial literacy could be offered.”

J “The classes for them would need to be scheduled around their daily teaching schedules propagandizing the religious orthodoxy.”

. . .

[See the discussions of the “Save” program and the “Credit Abuse Resistance Education” program.]

[See the e-commentary at “Consume, Don’t Invest (Nov. 9, 2009).”]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“The more flak you get the closer you are to the target.” World War Two bomber’s observation

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Archive for the Economics Nobel Category

[See the optimistic and hopeful e-commentary at Bernanke 2.0 (August 31, 2009) and a more disquieting analysis of his comments and tenure at the Fed. at Economics And Finance: Girls v. Boys (June 4, 2018) including commentary on economic and financial commentators including Yves Smith.]

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