TPS

I lean toward John Stewart Mill's suggestion that worker ownership would probably be the best way to organize large-scale production. That doesn't mean there is no room for traditional small business--classic American entrepreurialism. China uses what I'd call state capitalism. The Communist Party is still in charge there if you didn't know... Of the advanced countries, the US has the highest level of inequality. The most common measure is the Gini ratio, and Germany is half of the US (higher is worse). You can find the list from the CIA FActbook. Europe is truly more democratic in that way then--people are more free to associate with radical alternatives, and the communist party is one of many alternative parties across Europe. Do they wield power? Not really. If they have marginal influence, so what. Believe me, after some 15 years (?) arguing with GG, I do know most of his ideas on economics, and we do agree some things. However, I think this statement of capitalism as some natural order smacks of religious fundamentalism. Most laws related to economics favor the large corporations over small business, because they pay for the influence. Most American politicians somehow end up significantly richer when they leave office than when they started. Maybe fascism isn't the word, as I mentioned; maybe corporatism is a better word, but there is no doubt that government has become less responsive to the now cliched 99%. That seems pretty clear to a majority of the American people now. Btw, front page article in the Buffalo News today with headline: "Nearly half of America qualifies as low-income." That's a recipe for civil disintegration as Plato argued... He didn't say it was the inevitable solution, he said it was the inevitable outcome. There's a difference. Maybe you should try reading his work.

And on the 8th day God created capitalism...Amen brother! There is no natual design of capitalism. Capitalism as an ideal was a system of small, entreprenuerial individual owners--it started individualistic. The growth and evolution of capitalism created forces which will cause its demise. The tendency is for large, capital-intensive enterprise to dominate markets; enterprise is no longer managed by entrepreneurs, but professional managers and owned by absentee shareholders. The concept of the entreprenuer owner-innovator is overtaken by the corporate R&D shop. Bigger capitalism generates greater inequality and bigger crises. Eventually that pain and suffering from the "natural" crises of capitalism question the foundation of "private ownership" and large gains for the absentee few. The survival of capitalism has required government intervention to prevent a violent ending--keep the 99% pacified. There were a lot of violent riots in the 1930s that were quelled by force. Some countries turned to fascism. FDR, who came from the ruling elite, took them on and helped bring about a more humane, managed capitalism. European capitalism went in this same direction, and over time has done a better job of distributing the surplus to pacify/satisfy a greater proportion of the population, and meet basic needs. American capitalism, starting in 1980, tried to go back to the 1920s--market fundamentalism rules the day, but that market fundamentalism in an era of big capitalism generated another big crisis, one that would've been bigger than the great one without the interventions of a lifetime--and we're still not out of it. Your fanatical religious belief in capitalism would say "let it work itself out." Good idea. Let's just let the thing play out, and jolly old capitalism will endure, errr, sustain us. I'll be knocking Dwight Drane's door if you want to try that experiment... What are the options? We're at a crossroad. From my vantage point, it looks like we're moving closer to fascism--or maybe we need a different name now that corporations are people too? Eisenhower tried to warn us. The two parties need to be taken down. You guys trash OWS, but behind the "hippies" camping out there is a hell of a lot of frustration with the system. Something is about to give. DD, send me a map, I'll bring the beer...

It might take just a tad more to end a few thousand years of conflict...but nice try.

It's presumptuous to state that "capitalism is by design sustainable," as if it's some natural, God-given system. Hell, Joseph Schumpeter, as pro-capitalist as anyone, said he did not think capitalism would survive. I look forward to the interpretation...

Christ! You sound like an academic..."true cost of capital" sheesh! I suppose you're going to go Austrian on me and say there's a "natural rate of interest"? And, "Capitalism is by design sustainable"? Yeah, if left alone it would create the "best of all possible worlds" Mr. Candide...Nice fairy tale.

I second this opinion--they need 2 playmakers on the edges. I think Merriman added more to the D than most think.

I didn't think much of CWhite initially, but he's actually looked better than I expected when playing. He could be a solid backup for Shep and he is a good ST player. JWhite hasn't shown much at all.

If you're implying the US government, sorry, but they can't go bankrupt. Bankrupt implies an inability to pay; the government always has the ability to pay its debt in its own currency.

Chan was right all along, they weren't as good as people thought, and not as bad. I think the defense is two OLB playmakers away from being very good, with the #1 priority a pass-rushing OLB who can play run as well. The O needs another tackle and a talented WR with speed (really sorry we didn't get to see what Easley brings). I think their biggest problem, outside of the pass rusher, was that their depth was made up of mainly rookies. Without all of the injuries, I think they have a good shot at 10 wins. [it's too bad Merriman didn't pan out.] The bright side is this year's class is getting a lot of experience. I think it's also serendipitous that Jackson went down to give Spiller the chance to show what he can do. I understand the frustration people have, but I see an improving team that's almost there. Another draft like 2011 and this should be a playoff team. There's always hope...

Lehman did approach the Fed, but they were turned down. Paulson (I suppose with Bernanke's agreement) was determined to send a message about moral hazard to the markets, and he sure did.

About 1 minute in to these highlights. My link

We agree! I'd rather see an outsider who could come in and expose the "one-party" system. I imagine there would be quite an interesting mid-year election after that...

My two assumptions for predicting a 10-6 season were a healthy Merriman and a healthy Bell. Of the two, I'd say the KEY issue for the Bills has been the absolute lack of pressure on the QB. This is the #1 priority next year.

He was close on a couple runs against the Jets, so I think he's due for a long TD run; well, he's definitely due... I'm also looking forward to seeing how Smith does this week. It sounds like Fitz is becoming very comfortable with him. Should be a good game. Bills 27 - Titans 24

Blue Monk is great for hard core European-style beers. If you're looking for a simple draft (Blue, an IPA, what have you), then Colter Bay is the place. On the other hand, those duck fat fries at the Monk are pretty tough to pass up...

Yeah, at 55 I have a hard time remembering what I had for breakfast. So I darn well won't remember many posts from a few years back. As for evil bankers, yes, next time, let the Wall Street fockers sink. Better to blame welfare queens I suppose...

Dude, chill. I simply thought it was interesting. If anyone posted almost any of those comments here at PPP, they would get JSP's response. I find that amusing.

This is entertaining... Big Banks

I will be shocked if he stays. Given his desire for attention, he'll go to a big market for the $$.

Who said it was to help homeowners? Take the marginal loans off the books now...in exchange for interest earning risk-free reserves.

Why do you think the Fed is going to buy mortgages? It's prevention by preemption this time.

fixed.

The private sector is too busy creating reuse out of all the cool old buildings. My link

So the Fed buys mortgages, which takes the banks off the hook, as home prices are still declining and defaults still rising; and banks get reserves that the Fed will pay interest on. I guess I'll refinance when the 30-year hits 3%... Btw, it's been 3 years and a couple trillion of so-called money printing, so where's that big inflation?