Stability Of The European Union (18) March 26, 2013 To April 18, 2013 [View instapost]
Thanks for the link LT. Isn't it hilarious. Sell its gold to raise a paltry €400m in a €23B bailout. If central banks have to start selling their gold to fund bailouts they may finally start letting the price rise. It is better to sell it at $3000/oz than $1500/oz.
Axion Power Concentrator 226: April 8: Axion Power Completes New Continuous Roll Carbon Sheeting Process [View instapost]
Since this is the b-day issue, you all might want to silently wish me a VERY happy birthday since mine is tomorrow. ranma, you have me beat by five years.
Axion Power Concentrator 225: April 4: Axion Power Completes New Continuous Roll Carbon Sheeting Process [View instapost]
One worry of mine has always been that the current executives would not be around long enough to fully execute their plan and approach that I believe they have been crafting pretty meticulously for years; mainly, putting out a fully developed, fully automated, fully scalable, fully quality controlled product into the market. I could not imagine new executives coming in and pretending to be able to take over at this stage in the companies development with the relationships that have already been forged and considering the uniqueness of the PbC and the carbon electrodes. There may be a time for that down the road but the new team has come way too far for that last second debacle now. Vani was hired a week before the last offering and we assumed it was part of the deal for the investors to get a solid marketing leader in place, I believe we are seeing the same thing here with the contracts.
"This management team seems to be swinging for the fences" We are all swinging for the fences here and we should be so lucky to have a management team and stockholder base all on the same page. One off sales for nickels and dimes is not what I am looking for which is why I shrug my shoulders at the HUB and even ePower, it is great these things can help put food on the table considering the crumbs it takes to keep Axion alive (and they should offer some level of comfort and margin of safety on the risk side) but I want to get fat on a feast and so does management. The less ties and constraints they have to smaller one or two-off deals the more maneuverability in negotiations they have with customer number one who shows up with a mighty check.
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
That's fascinating. In all of your recent posts since I first saw your writings about two weeks ago on DUST. I had you pegged for a mid-20's advanced college student. But just now when I went back to read your first articles from last dec I could see immediately I was wrong in that your are a bit more of a serious and responsible guy than my first impression gave me. Anyhow, good luck with your retirement, it looks like your doing really well with your trades so keep it up. Good talking.
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
That's great. I hope it works. I think we really worked everything out. You agreed high government debt is a problem, I agreed we inflate our way out to keep the ball rolling. Maybe that will be about as close as we get, but not bad for a day, its been fun. Could we agree that it would take a lot less inflation if we maintained more responsible debt levels by maintaining a smaller, more efficient, cleaner, leaner, meaner, faster, more honest simple and transparent government?
How close are you to getting your masters in economics. Are you a TA?
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
Read my edits. It exports our inflation to growing economies making theirs larger while ours stagnates because the govt has become an elephant sitting on top of a now mouse sized private sector. Maybe we will squeeze our way out of this one but we have at tops one more bubble to go before we are Japan for the next three decades and domestic inflation becomes impossible.
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
I agree we have beat this dead horse long enough. And you have chosen to ignore the part about government with massive debt do not sustain economic prosperity. I realize modern economic theory taught in schools just preach to inflate our way from bubble to bubble in order to maintain the growth and debt of governments and all that central power. However, they leave out the part about how at one point you can't do it anymore because the government has become an albatross of debt around a private sector no longer capable of organic growth and unable to increase the velocity of money domestically. The low interest rates and printing of money just exports out inflation to other countries. Those countries grow while we maintain high-unemployment and our people suffer. No, it is not a sustainable way to run an economy it is just the way liberal econmists enjoy maintaining their largess govt. until we have completely squandered our economic superiority and we are in constant state of high-unemployment and abysmal growth and austerity becomes the only option.
Do you remember the part about austerity a la Italy being higher taxes and small budget cuts, while that is austerity from liberals b/c it is all they have left to maintain their enormous governments that have become elephants sitting on top of an ant sized private sector unable to move, grow or inflate.
Stability Of The European Union (18) March 26, 2013 To April 18, 2013 [View instapost]
Companies use debt to buy back shares, buybacks are a natural course of action to create shareholder value in a very low interest environment that just had taxes raised on dividends. They are giving the shareholders the value they can with the tools that are currently available. If they felt global macro growth was going to accelerate and contribute to higher returns they would probably use the money more for acquisitions, but I don't think the global economic environment lends itself to being aggressive like that right now, imo.
I remember these teachers unions in the mid-80's at my elementary school in Ohio, teachers laying in front of school buses and stuff. I had no clue what was going on but my Dad found it ironic and disturbing these were the people responsible and qualified for teaching his son.
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
It is clearly visible that all the unemployment rates were at their lowest at the beginning of this century and remained low until the 2009 debt crisis.
All the countries represented in the chart adopted the Euro on an accounting basis in 1999 1999 to 2008 Unemployment rate France 11% 2008 7% Italy 12% 2008 6% Spain 14% 2008 8% Greece 11% 2008 7% Ireland 6% 2008 5% Portugal 5% 2008 8% (up) Germany 8% 2008 12% (up)
The only two countries in which unemployment rose from 1999 to 2008 was Germany's and Portugal's.
You said, "unemployment dropped throughout the 90's" You are calling Italy's unemployment rate going from 8% in 1992 to 12% in 1998 "dropped throughout the 90's"? and Portugals rate going from below 5% in 1991 to ~8% in 1997 "dropping"? and France rate going from 8% in 1991 to 12% in 1995 "dropping"? Spains unemployment went from 12% in 1991 to almost 20% in 1995. Frances unemployment rate right now is the highest it has been in 16 years that would be comparing it to when it was four years away from fully adopting the Euro.
Anyhow, it doesn't matter. Your premise that these countries were well on their way to economic prosperity before joining the Euro and getting acquainted with Germany is false. If anything Germany was hurt more at the early adoption of the widespread Euro and the others benefited more. Until, of course, their debt caught up with them and we find ourselves in what is called The European Debt Crisis. Take note that it is not called The European Not-Enough Debt Crisis. But you still want to argue debt is great, in moderation you are correct, in excess history as well as modern times proves you categorically wrong.
Now how about those Asian ETF's?
Ireland had an unemployment crisis in early 90's which led them to adopt economic liberalism and very low taxes and you can see its dramatic effect on the unemployment rate, but they didn't get rid of that spending and debt and now here we are.
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
Here is a chart showing Unemployment rates back to the mid-80's. You can see when they entered the Euro unemployment dropped fast but instead of governments taking the opportunity to capitalize on positive economic benefits they squandered them and here we are today.
Their is a clear effort on his part to reconcile low unemployment rates in small populated scandinavian countries with the higher unemployment rates in the southern more diversely populated countries. Here I believe you would get into all sorts of social and cultural implications to explain that. But for that reason he won't fully conclude that high unemployment was part of the "generosity" of larger government programs since the scandinavian countries had similar programs but acceptable levels of unemployment. He writes this however: "In many (but not all) countries the increase in unemployment in the 1970s was associated with a small further increase in the generosity of unemployment insurance, a small increase in employment protection, and an increase in the tax wedge."
"The final reading implies a mid-80s pace for the final two weeks of the month which is the very strongest pace of the whole recovery!"
Consumers must have gotten all excited when the EU stole bank deposits from Cypriots, or maybe it was the US flying our stealth bomber over S. Korea for the North to see that really lifted their spirits. The Q4 GDP at .4%. Things are looking downright chipper.
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
France, Ireland, Italy, Spain; their unemployment is real bad. Did you know it was worse before they entered the Euro? Big government debt with or without the Euro leads to unemployment and no economic prosperity. You can continue blaming the Germans austerity but the only reason this didn't happen fifteen years ago is because the Germans and stronger economic nations saved them by joining in the Euro -- in a very socialist way. Instead of the debt ridden countries taking the opportunity to fix their mistakes they just continued along with their bloated governments a little longer, and now when the reckoning has come it is all Germany's fault.
Stability Of The European Union (18) March 26, 2013 To April 18, 2013 [View instapost]
Axion Power Concentrator 226: April 8: Axion Power Completes New Continuous Roll Carbon Sheeting Process [View instapost]
Axion Power Concentrator 225: April 4: Axion Power Completes New Continuous Roll Carbon Sheeting Process [View instapost]
"This management team seems to be swinging for the fences"
We are all swinging for the fences here and we should be so lucky to have a management team and stockholder base all on the same page. One off sales for nickels and dimes is not what I am looking for which is why I shrug my shoulders at the HUB and even ePower, it is great these things can help put food on the table considering the crumbs it takes to keep Axion alive (and they should offer some level of comfort and margin of safety on the risk side) but I want to get fat on a feast and so does management. The less ties and constraints they have to smaller one or two-off deals the more maneuverability in negotiations they have with customer number one who shows up with a mighty check.
QC #255, March 13, 2013 [View instapost]
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
How close are you to getting your masters in economics. Are you a TA?
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
Do you remember the part about austerity a la Italy being higher taxes and small budget cuts, while that is austerity from liberals b/c it is all they have left to maintain their enormous governments that have become elephants sitting on top of an ant sized private sector unable to move, grow or inflate.
Stability Of The European Union (18) March 26, 2013 To April 18, 2013 [View instapost]
Political QuickChat 6: Jan. 30, 2013 [View instapost]
Political QuickChat 5: Nov. 5th 2012 [View instapost]
http://seekingalpha.co...
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
All the countries represented in the chart adopted the Euro on an accounting basis in 1999
1999 to 2008 Unemployment rate
France 11% 2008 7%
Italy 12% 2008 6%
Spain 14% 2008 8%
Greece 11% 2008 7%
Ireland 6% 2008 5%
Portugal 5% 2008 8% (up)
Germany 8% 2008 12% (up)
The only two countries in which unemployment rose from 1999 to 2008 was Germany's and Portugal's.
You said, "unemployment dropped throughout the 90's"
You are calling Italy's unemployment rate going from 8% in 1992 to 12% in 1998 "dropped throughout the 90's"? and Portugals rate going from below 5% in 1991 to ~8% in 1997 "dropping"? and France rate going from 8% in 1991 to 12% in 1995 "dropping"? Spains unemployment went from 12% in 1991 to almost 20% in 1995. Frances unemployment rate right now is the highest it has been in 16 years that would be comparing it to when it was four years away from fully adopting the Euro.
Anyhow, it doesn't matter. Your premise that these countries were well on their way to economic prosperity before joining the Euro and getting acquainted with Germany is false. If anything Germany was hurt more at the early adoption of the widespread Euro and the others benefited more. Until, of course, their debt caught up with them and we find ourselves in what is called The European Debt Crisis. Take note that it is not called The European Not-Enough Debt Crisis. But you still want to argue debt is great, in moderation you are correct, in excess history as well as modern times proves you categorically wrong.
Now how about those Asian ETF's?
Ireland had an unemployment crisis in early 90's which led them to adopt economic liberalism and very low taxes and you can see its dramatic effect on the unemployment rate, but they didn't get rid of that spending and debt and now here we are.
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]
http://bit.ly/YNJ2ru
Here is a piece from the National Bureau of Economic Research
http://bit.ly/110g2uv
Their is a clear effort on his part to reconcile low unemployment rates in small populated scandinavian countries with the higher unemployment rates in the southern more diversely populated countries. Here I believe you would get into all sorts of social and cultural implications to explain that. But for that reason he won't fully conclude that high unemployment was part of the "generosity" of larger government programs since the scandinavian countries had similar programs but acceptable levels of unemployment. He writes this however: "In many (but not all) countries the increase in unemployment in the 1970s was associated with a small further increase in the generosity of unemployment insurance, a small increase in employment protection, and an increase in the tax wedge."
Mar. Reuters/UofM Consumer Sentiment: 78.6 vs. 72.5 expected and 71.8 prior. [View news story]
Consumers must have gotten all excited when the EU stole bank deposits from Cypriots, or maybe it was the US flying our stealth bomber over S. Korea for the North to see that really lifted their spirits. The Q4 GDP at .4%. Things are looking downright chipper.
Time To Turn Out The Lights In Europe And Buy Gold [View article]