The ECB is Engaging in Massive QE. In-depth analysis on Credit Writedowns Pro. You are here: Political Economy » The ECB is Engaging in Massive QE By Marshall Auerback So the ratings agencies have finally followed through on the big threat and downgraded a number of the eurozone’s credit ratings, including France and Austria, both of which have now lost their coveted Triple AAA status. Italy, Portugal and Spain were downgraded a further two notches. What does this mean and why does it matter? Investors (often badly informed) use ratings agencies like Fitch, Moody’s and S&P as an indicator of default risk of a country. My take is that the ratings downgrade causes a vicious cycle in which countries will end up adopting policies that will put their economies even more at risk than they were already. As readers of this blog are well aware, Eurozone countries have faced two types of problems by entering the euro regime that have made them unstable.
Look at this another way: Are we about to re-enact the 1930s? Also see: Seven principles for arguing with economists. In the increasingly contentious world of pop economics, you - whether an educated layperson, an economist-in-training, or even a professional economist unused to the rough-and-tumble of the mediasphere - may find yourself in an argument with an economist. And when this happens, you should be prepared, because many of the arguments that may seem at first blush to be very powerful and devastating are, in fact, pretty weak tea. For this reason, I have constructed a short list of (a few of) the fallacious arguments that you may encounter in your travels, along with suggested responses. Remember, forewarned is forearmed!
I give you: Noah's First Seven Principles For Arguing With Economists Principle 1: Credentials are not an argument. Example: "You say Theory X is wrong...but don't you know that Theory X is supported by Nobel Prize winners A, B, and C, not to mention famous and distinguished professors D, E, F, G, and H? " Suggested Retort: Loud, barking laughter. Suggested Retort: "Nope!
" Why Iran Assassinations Are Backfiring, Aiding Nuclear Program. The killing of yet another nuclear scientist in Tehran this week is pushing the Iranian people to side with the military regime and emboldening enrichment efforts. The suspected assassination of yet another scientist linked to Iran’s nuclear program is renewing questions over whether such attempts will slow enrichment efforts, or push Iranian leaders to more aggressively pursue their nuclear ambitions.
But how is all this playing out in Iran? On Wednesday, a Tehran bomb blast killed Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who served as deputy director of commercial affairs at the Natanz nuclear facility. According to official Iranian media, a man on a motorcycle stuck a magnetic bomb to Roshan’s car as the 32-year-old was leaving his home.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton “categorically denied any U.S. involvement in any act of violence in Iran. Iranian officials immediately pointed the finger at the U.S. and Israel. “The United Nations has to intervene. A Murder in Tehran. Reuters makes a good point that Iran is having difficulty getting the international community to condemn the terrorist attacks against its scientists, which over time have left four of them dead in bombings. Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan Behdast, a professor at Tehran’s technical university, was killed yesterday. Behdast was aged 32 and had been a chemistry major at the Oil Industry University.
He then became deputy director of commerce at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility near Isfahan. Thus, some of these scientists were clearly connected to Iran’s civilian nuclear energy establishment. On January 11, 2010, another Iranian university nuclear scientist, Mas’ud Ali Mohammadi was assassinated by a similar bombing. If four US nuclear scientists were (God forbid) blown up at Las Alamos one after another, I think we all know that there would be hell to pay. Iran wants the UN General Assembly to condemn the bombings. Readers have been asking me who I thought was behind the attacks. The Bifurcated Society. In-depth analysis on Credit Writedowns Pro. You are here: Economy » The Bifurcated Society By Rick Bookstaber Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible. Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralizing.
An article in the New York Times last week made note of the lower mobility in the work force: “Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe. There is less mobility in the work force because the computers are not simply displacing jobs, they are taking out the middle. Because they take out the middle, it is a lot harder to pursue the American dream by working your way up the ladder.
Futurists have seen this coming for along time, sort of. When God closes one door, He opens another We have had an axiomatic view that when technology uproots us from jobs it opens up new ones, and the new ones are even better in pay and in job satisfaction. The Outsourcing Masses.