Lansingman

Are Short Sellers Really to Blame?

Any company can be described as insolvent if they hold long term assets which are valued on a short term basis. Short selling just ratchets up the pressure of short term valuations. If we want companies to take a long term view we need to reeevaluate the mark to market frenzy caused by short term accounting and investment horizons.

House Prices Falling In Australia [Housing Tracker]

Is the median housing price really $435,000 in Australia? I find it hard to believe it is higher than the $336,000 in the UK.

There's Been Major Deflation for Some Products

I assume these deflation numbers take into account technical improvements. For instance a laptop which might cost $600 to $1,000 now was not even available 10 years ago. However the laptops that were available then did not cost $6,000 to $10,000.

A U.S./China Comparison

I've been visiting China for more than 15 years. The progress there is staggering. What I can't figure out is what comes next, continued expansion or revolution of the downtrodden masses. How they will complete the transition from agrarian to industrial is beyond my imagination or comprehension. It will be hard to keep 900,000,000 people down on the farm.

Finding a Bottom: The Numbers Aren't Enough

The "Frozen Economy" article if anything shows how short people's memories are. Back in the 1930's thousands of banks were folding without any FDIC backup. Over 30% of the people were unemployed.

Our cost levels of food and fuel are still below Europe's typical prices. Our current unemployment is less than any of the major European countries.

The author chastises GM for wasting opportunities to develop more efficient engines. Maybe the real issue here is the folks sitting around in restaurants that wasted the opportunities to save a few bucks during the "good old days" whenever they were.

Critique of Dollar Policy

I sense that a lot of the outrage in this and similar posts on this site come not from concern for the little guy but from the grim reality that income from actively trading securities or just buying and holding (like worked in the good old days) are no longer a sure thing. Speaking as a person who has run a manufacturing company for years and has heard all the wall street types condescendingly pontificate on all the ways to "fix" our industries it does me good to hear a little of the panic in the investment/trader class. Certainly in my case I have felt far more pain over the last 10 years from legal/investment/actua... advice gone awry than I ever have from underlying shifts in business.

When Central Bankers Clash, Stock Markets Can Crash

Thanks for the excellent article!

Why Tax Credits for Health Insurance Won't Work

I agree with the idea that the breadth of available health care coverage needs to be taken into account when we tout the "quality" of the US medical system. We spend much more than other countries and and have 40 million without coverage.

As an employer who has provided insurance to employees for 21 years I can say that the current employer based is rapidly coming apart. Why not offer the current medicare system to all and build around it with private insurance?