bills_fan

I see the 2nd WC game coming down to 9-6 NE at 9-6 BUF on 12/28...win and you're in.

I was very skeptical of Obama at first, but so far, I really like his choices to run the new administration. I am hopeful that we will have a competant administration for the first time in years.

I like Geithner as the pick, but was hoping for Volcker. Geithner is a great choice, but now who runs the NY Fed, a position arguably as important as the Fed Chairman himself?

There are two ways we could end up in a hyperinflationary state... 1- The Fed has injected approximately $1.5 trillion (and growing) into the banks as "M1" capital, meaning base capital. Banks have a reserve ratio of 10%, meaning 90% of that $1.5 trillion (and growing) can be lent out to individuals, businesses or other banks. That money can then be lent again and again, by a factor of ten. This velocity of money will accelerate in proprotion to the amount in system. Right now, bank are not lending, but if they start, we could get inflation very quickly as more moeny is "pursuing" the same good and services, driving prices much higher. The solution here is for the Fed to jack up reserve levels just as things are about to turn positive. This will likely force us back into the depression, but it will be necessary and painful. 2- Devaluation of the dollar. The dollar is the world's reserve currency, if that changes or if foreign governments stop buying US debt, or seek to maintain reserves in something other than dollars, the game is over. Then the US would be like any other nation, except with a massive debt that could only have been sustainable because of artificial demand for the dollar (as the reserve currency). The US would have to pay higher and higher interest to attract investors to its debt, cauing more and more of the Federal budget to be used for interest on the debt. Causing higher taxes to maintain the same level of services. Causing workers to demand higehr wages from employers. Causing employers to raise prices on everything. Causing workers to demand higher wages...etc. The solution here is to maintain the dollar as the world's reserve currency by any means necessary.

I was 13, there with my Dad. When we won the game, I asked him if we could go down on the field. He didn't want to do it, but I talked him into letting us stand away from the huge mass of people. I really enjoyed 1988 more than any other season I have ever seen. No expectations...just enjoy the ride!!

You realize I meant the rhetorical "you" not you, specifically. Sorry if it came off that way. I know there are certainly many suckers in this world, but there are also many people driven by greed alone, and not only on Wall Street. Wall Street needs to take its fair share of blame here, but so do MANY others, which was the whole point of my statement. That said, the article does a great job describing how this all happened on Wall Street.

I think the real problem is with dollar hegemony. The US dollar has been the world's reserve currency since the Bretton Woods agreement. Thats why we can run big deficits and still have a market for US Gov't debt. Foreign gov'ts must maintain dollar reserves. The great deleveraging that is currently occuring is the primary reason why the dollar has increased in strength so much in the last few months...assets are being sold worldwide, the settlement of the sale is in dollars. Hence the dollar gets stronger. The problem will arise when the great deleveraging has slowed down and the are so many more trillions of dollars in the world...will the Fed have the stones to demand a reserve ratio of 25% or more for banks (in effect taking dollars out of the system)? What if we are still in depression, but at the end of it? And doing so will plunge us back into the darkest depression? Otherwise we could be looking at hyperinflation and US default on debt. What happens if foreign gov'ts stop buying our debt and actually want to sell their notes? Uh-oh...Houston we have a real problem. Yes, its our dollar, their problem (or so said John Connally in 1971), but what if they bust themselves? There's only so much of their own currency they can print to keep buying US debt (hedging against their past purchases of US debt)? I don't have the answers, and am still trying to figure out if I am asking the right questions.

He does miss the point, but the securities did not always require a bad mortgage...many times the securities were simply written off the short sale of a trade...in effect a purely synthetic instrument with no underlying asset (which, of course, the ratings agencies rated AAA). For those abominations, Wall Street stands alone in blame.

Should you buy a $600,000 house with an income of $50,000? Should you even consider it? Should a mortgage broker even consider writing a mortgage in a situation like that? Wall Street has its culpability, sure, and Lewis is a very good writer who writes from a Wall Street perspective, but the Wall Street banks did not dance alone.

We need to be very careful about our current delationary recession...it can very easily "jump the shark" to become a hyperinflationary depression that rivals Weimer Germany. Anyone who tells you this is not possible has no idea what they are talking about.

Which is why the US Govt would have to provide debtor in possession financing for the bankruptcy to work at all.

I found this article to be an excellent read. It does go a bit too far in blaming Wall Street (versus the mortgagebrokers/consumers), but all in all it does a good job of explaining what has happened and truly how f*cked we are. http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/nati...eets-Boom#page9

JLH and Heidi Klum are just naturally hot.

Why? I think McGee played a good game last night. I discount the Ginn game as he was clearly hurt. What is the basis for your decision to invest in Greer and not McGee?

The Airing of Grievances would sure be fun on the PPP board.

Funny...the NY Post/Daily News write all about smash mouth football when referring to the SB winning and 9-1 Giants...

Agreed, I think trent got gun shy. I would ask Kelly to speak to him...ints are just a part of football and you can never stop gunning.

Yep.

I think last night showed us we need three big things... 1- Another target for Edwards, preferably at TE. TGonzalez would have been perfect for this team, absolutely perfect. Maybe we can take another run at him this offseason, otherwise we should look at free agents. I think LJ Smith was liked by the staff before Philly franchised him. 2- A real C. This should be our 1st round pick. Preston got blasted backwards so much last night it was terrible. Butler looked OK, I'm content to let him develop, but a real C is what we really need. Alex Mack of Cal seems to grade the highest, any draftniks want to chime in here? 3- Playmaker at OLB. Mitchell has been great, we need to compliment him on the other side. Hopefully, we can get someone who can also rush the passer. Mike Peterson is leaving Jax and has played in this defense before in Indy. I don't know too much about his pass rush abilities but the guy seems like a pretty sure tackler. We may be able to get him here. I believe we are thisclose to really having a GREAT team. We are young and just need to let the players learn to win. Keep fighting and this team will have a real breakthough next year.

I got there at 7, and this was a kick a$$ time last night.

I like him and think he has some very good potential. We may have stolen one here.

Its going to be nuts, I'm thinking of heading over about 7.

I did not know that, thanks for the info.

This is spectacular!! I love my Labatt Blue. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081114/inbev_anheuser_busch.html

The airlines were able to continue operating while in bankruptcy, get significant restructing of onerous costs (not just labor) and emerge as more viable entities. This is the approach that should be used IMHO. You know there is a problem when GM, F and Chrysler are paying $73 an hour versus Honds, Toyota etc. paying $46. Let alone such thing as job pools (basically paying people not to work) etc. The pension costs will be guaranteed by the gov't anyway, to my knowledge, so its not like the workers who did labor in good faith would lose out.