Greenspan is Forever Blowing Bubbles, by Gary North (LRC): “The central banks have only just begun to inflate. We now face a witch’s brew: enormous debt, enormous confidence in fiat money, and six decades without a major financial catastrophe have lulled people into complacency. I am not talking about the common man, who has no understanding of such matters. I mean (and Sheehan means) the sophisticated masters of the universe: senior politicians, the entire financial brokerage industry, and the debt-dismissing economists who serve as their well-paid cheerleaders. “
Time, Calendar, and State, by Joseph Stromberg (LRC): “The newly conjured or appointed Iraqi council and the US occupiers have lately begun organizing a new calendar. The Ba’athist holidays are out, and new ones are in, or will be, once they are invented. This says something about the artificiality of statist time.”
The Recession Ended; Get a Job (CNN.com): “About 938,000 people have lost their jobs since November 2001. Factory output has retreated eight times since then, not counting the months when it just stagnated. Airlines and retailers have gone bankrupt and huge budget deficits have mounted. This is a recovery?... The fact is the economy, especially to people out of work, still looks, feels, smells and sounds like it is in a recession. And all the postulating about real incomes and GDP performance isn’t going to change that. Then again, at least those economists have jobs.”
Heartland Grumblings about Greenspan (CSM): “Some people say Greenspan’s world doesn’t go beyond official Washington: Chauffeurs to work. Dinners with the chairmen of the boards. Guards to make the workplace a crime-free fortress. And no pesky e-mails, since the Fed doesn’t give out e-mail addresses.”
Mortgage Rates Climb (CNN): “Mortgage rates rose for the fourth consecutive week after reaching a record low in mid-June, stoking fears that the resilient housing market could begin to slow, Freddie Mac said Thursday.”
Mr. 49% (SFChron): “With the economy still struggling and U.S. soldiers still dying in Iraq, President Bush’s job approval rating in California has dropped to 49 percent, its lowest level since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a new Field Poll released today.”
Posted by Mises.org News
