Last year’s recap was subtitled “Hanging on for dear life (and rational policymaking)”. This year, at least we’ve ended the self-inflicted economic uncertainty (and officially sanctioned economic mendacity) of the previous four years.
January: Because I happen to be Asian-American while holding certain views, I’m accused of being intimidated by the Chinese government:
On “Intimidation” (and a very short, truncated history on the Chinese diaspora in America)
February: People are often surprised what’s contained in a standard economics textbook. Probably because they didn’t learn much in their economics course(s).
Musings on: “What the he** do you teach your students, Menzie”
March: Some people will define words in ways not generally understood:
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/03/on-the-word-eminent
April: Foxconn is still the biggest disaster Scott Walker and the Republican legislature inflicted on Wisconsin.
Runner up: The argument that lockdowns would cause more suicides than fatalities from covid-19:
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/04/did-the-lockdown-cause-more-suicides
May: Judy Shelton tries to write about crypto.
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/05/more-nonsense
June: More from Judy Shelton, now on wage rigidity.
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/06/judy-shelton-on-downward-nominal-wage-rigidity
July: Remembering “bleach”, when thinking about why policy uncertainty shot up so much higher in America than in Europe during the pandemic.
Runner up: A scholar of Classics tries to talk economics. Scary.
August: Why is it some people confidently assert that something does not exist when a few minutes on Google will demonstrate it does?
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/08/x-files-2021-edition
September: “Develop the West” project was not aimed at helping the indigenous population of Xinjiang.
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/09/motivations-for-economic-policies-in-western-china
October: It’s amazing what little some people know about finance, but are happy to opine on finance nonetheless.
November: The assertion that enhanced unemployment benefits was the cause of Wisconsin’s labor “shortage” needs a little empirical validation.
Runner up: Why is it if you have particular views, people who should know better are eager to assert you got unfair advantages and/or are an “elite”?
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/11/anti-elitism-or-anti-other-ism
December: Asserting a wrong prediction is right because of (unstated) conditions only the forecaster knew of – i.e., why the 368K death toll due to covid-19 is actually correct!
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/12/as-the-nation-approaches-800000-covid-fatalities
Here’s to hoping for more reasoned analysis in 2022.
Happy New Year to all!
Great stuff. May the news be saner and more sensible in 2022, and that some more people have enough gumption to think and learn vs shooting their mouth off on things they wish were true (but aren’t).
Be well, Prof Chinn.
Menzie,
As for March, you’re disingenuous at best.
You state “ Some people will define words in ways not generally understood.” But why do you suggest lexicographers are such “people”? Has this become your newfound area of specialization? On the other hand, these “people” are in fact experts in providing the definition(s) of words as their field of experts understands them. This is their area of expertise. I’d wager you wouldn’t ever suggest that econometricians define statistical approaches “in ways not generally understood” despite being not generally understood by 90% of the world. This is as much of a fact as the lexicographers who provide definitions that cause your emotions to be damaged. It’s silly (albeit not surprising given your fragile ego) how uptight you become when someone you dislike (was it Judy Shelton?) falls squarely into a category of a word that you (not a lexicographer) apparently feel to be unequivocally unfit.
You’re a hack. A sad hack. But an entertaining hack nonetheless.
Have a great new year and I look forward to another year of your misrepresentations, attacking of guests, and generally hackish blogging. Cheers!!!
I had a great laugh at the exchange between you and Menzie that began with your statement:
I agree with all of this (particularly the last sentence in the last paragraph) except Menzie’s 2nd sentence in the first paragraph. Sure, if Menzie wants is “ tempted to go to “Google Scholar” or the successor to the Social Sciences Citation Index to make my own judgment” he should do so. But this is not what many “ Americans including policy makers of past, present, and future who respect her opinions” necessarily would do. MAGA doesn’t live in an ivory tower.
I take it that you agreed with his 2nd paragraph which was incredibly brutal but quite correct. With her track record – only the idiots who hail Trump would respect her nut ball views on monetary policy.
BTW – having a degree in engineering does not diminish getting a degree from Wharton in finance. But you should take basic engineering before tackling Finance 101.
I was curious what would pop up from Google Scholar for Judy Shelton. One might be impressed with the number of listings of things she has written over time. But it seems most of her “sound money” fluff ended up either in the Wall Street Journal or The Cato Journal. Not exactly the AER, JPE, or even the Journal of Monetary Economics.
I don’t think this is at all surprising to anyone who remotely follows these topics. But I also know that such scholarly work is, for better or worse, not a necessary condition for serving on the BOG or being “eminent”. So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Indeed, it was a funny exchange. Menzie was quite comical in how silly Menzie was trying to discredit a definition just because he dislikes Shelton. And this was despite Menzie admitting Shelton qualified as eminent per the definition I provided. Menzie is certainly an accidentally funny guy sometimes.
Guess who else used to mock Shelton’s views on monetary policy – Milton Friedman. Then again I doubt you have read what Friedman has written on things like fixed v. floating exchange rates.
It was a great Greek philosopher who once said “I wish Econned would just skedanime”
What? Of course I have. Again, not surprised. See above. Take off your blinders.
Be honest, you’re a literal clown aren’t you?
And the same Greek philosopher once opined “if a Moses Herzog posted on a blog and no one was around to give two sh*ts, did they actually post?”
Grasshopper is always listening to my blog posts, as is O-ren Ishii. O-ren always makes sure the conference table is quiet when I’m talking.
Econned,
Genuinely hilarious that Menzie decided to remind us of the time when you showed that you do not know that the Oxford Dictionary of English is pretty much universally considered to be more definitive and superior to the Cambridge one. So what do you do? You go on an incredibly stupid rant about lexicographers along with insulting Menzie, as you have done quite a few times here. Oh well. You really can’t take it, can you?
Did you notice that this arrogant know nothing claims he has read what Milton Friedman on written on the fixed v. floating exchange rate issue but fails to mention the title of a single thing Friedman wrote on the topic. He is also unaware that Friedman’s writings sort of blows up all the BS written by his supposed girl friend – Judy Shelton.
Econned is nothing more than a con man.
“girl friend”?
You never bring anything to the discussion.
pgl is nothing more than a clown man
Barkley Rosser,
You’re a lexicographer now? What’s the definition for senile?
Barkley Rosser,
Upon further contemplation, I must add that the amount of absolute bullsh!t coming from you is pathetic. Because one dictionary is “ considered to be more definitive and superior” doesn’t mean the other is wrong (corollary – based on your flawed logic, you should make sure to never cite ANY research that isn’t in a top journal). But here’s the thing, it isn’t that you aren’t aware of this (of course, this setting aside your potential sundowner syndrome). You certainly (should) understand basic logic. But it’s worse than someone speaking with ignorance – you’re purposefully misleading. This is your m.o. and is yet another stain on your reputation and your credibility.
Egonned,
This will be my only comment on this thread further, as anyone can see from what Menzie posted exactly how you conduct yourself here, going on and on and on, even when nobody is supporting you and you have had your head handed to you several times and ways on multiple platters. And nobody is supporting you now either, not even your occasional pals, CoRev or Fake Famous Porn Star.
My only remark on the substantive issue left over from the original thread, which you seem somehow to think you scored points with your foolish and ignorant remarks about on lexicography, is to note “famous” in pretty much all dictionaries it even appears is a secondary and accompanying characteristic of being “eminent.” Nobody, aside from maybe his fellow serial murderers, would call Jeffrey Dahmer “eminent,” although he is certainly famous. But then this point was made numerous times by numerous people during the original very long thread, even if they did not all refer to dictionaries to make their point.
And if you want to claim that you know more about lexicography or linguistics or languages, despite already making a fool of yourself with your hype of the Cambridge dictionary, then tell us your real name and your credentials. Mine are public including knowing a lot of languages, if not as many as my highly mutlt-lingual wife. And if you were my Facebook friend you would have read that I am the Senior Coeditor of the Fourth Edition of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, and that I just completed reading all of the 14,705 pages of the Third Edition, with its over 3800 entries, with about 40 Nobel Prize winners authors of some of them, although I grant that is not strictly speaking a lexical dictionary (our hosts have entries in it).
So, Egonned, want to tell us your credentials as a lexicographer, much less as an economist? If not, then STFU and get lost, loser
BTW – this is all besides the point. The point being simply that Econned has not contributed a single economic insight on anything. Does he even understand basic economics? There is zero evidence to suggest he does.
I’m not a lexicographer. I never even suggested I’m well-versed in lexicography. But I can read the clear words written by those who are. Why can’t/won’t you do the same? There’s no refuting Shelton is “eminent” given Cambridge’s definition. That was the criteria. You don’t have to like it but that doesn’t matter. At all. In fact, nothing you type matters. You’re just fun to get riled up and show that a phd won’t get someone logic and all those classes won’t get you class.
Also, I literally spit out my drink laughing when reading the senility of the second paragraph. There’s so much hilarity/irrelevant info in such a compact diatribe that I’m kind of impressed (but in a mocking way). Your attempts at discussion/debate are among the worst on this blog. But at least you’re consistent.
More polite and insightful commentary from you – NOT. Look, we cannot help it that the other kiddies have kicked you out of the sand box. So go find some other blog to pester with your serial garbage and no one here gives a damn about your asinine rants.
You can’t help but reply on every comment I make. You’re a fool saying “ no one here gives a damn about your asinine rants”. Hell, even Menzie pens posts about them and even includes them in his annual wrap-up. Your clown nose is seriously impeding your vision, you f*cking joke of a clown.
Seriously, it’s increasingly becoming boring to go back and forth with your lunacy. I hoped you would provide some sort of challenge but it’s the same empty drivel from you. Over. And over. And over. At least try to make it entertaining if you aren’t interested/able in making things mentally stimulating.
Masterfully done.
A Top 12 list that would make David Letterman envious. And matching blow-for-blow in sardonic humor.
I’m not sure what made me laugh more – referring to the nonsense from Sheldon as a compendium of gobbledygook.
Or maybe Princeton Steve’s insistence that if firms have market power in employment decisions then labor markets “don’t work”. They may not work in the D = S fashion his right wing goofballs think but they certainly work for the firm. I can only imagine that Stevie’s high school teachers are having to admit they failed in teaching him how to write in the English language.
It turns out that China has its own Wikipedia with much of its material written by the government. Go figure!
Does anyone have a list of the ten best things that occurred in 2021?
#1 Orange abomination and WEAK tiny LOSER, GONE from the WH.
Happy New Year!
That’s what I just said.
1) Western Covid vaccines work well at preventing Covid Alpha and Delta, not terrible on Omicron.
2) 5.8 million new jobs.
3) Low-end wages rose rapidly.
4) Simone Biles showed how a true champion behaves in the face of adversity.
5) Devin Nunez cut and ran.
6) Everyone in my immediate family vaccinated as soon as possible, practiced social distancing and avoided Covid infection. And the flu. And colds. And, to the best part of my knowledge, clamydia.
7) Gravity hasn’t let us down. (There’s probably a clearer way to say that.)
8) Susanna Clarke published her second novel in 2020, but I only found out last week, so I got to read it in 2021.
9) The first big infrastructure spending bill in three decades (?) was signed into law.
10) Some badly bleached coral reefs appear to be recovering.
Happy and Healthy New Year to all
I usually tune out the macro stats stuff (more into oil industry analysis, more into supply/demand concepts). It’s interesting though to look at Econbrowser year in retrospective by clicking on the “inflation” term on the blog’s article by category. There’s a slew of them, so I just kind of skimmed. But definitely get the impression of a general tendency of wanting to downplay bad news, evolving a bit over the year as the evidence of inflation strengthened
P.s. I did a quick Google search on CPI and found this on the BLS front page (so not the eeful Fox News trogs):
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/consumer-prices-up-6-8-percent-for-year-ended-november-2021.htm
“The Consumer Price Index rose 6.8 percent from November 2020 November 2021, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending June 1982. Energy prices rose 33.3 percent over the last year, and food prices increased 6.1 percent.”
Presumably monetary policy and/or deficits, and deficit expectations is a big part of the explanation. And I admit to not even knowing the he-said, she-said of that stuff.
But I do know oil and gas. Not a Ph.D. in it. But a lot of sound insights into the industry structure/dynamics. US activity is much lower (price adjusted) than under Trump or Obama.
https://twitter.com/RobertClarke_WM/status/1453017667137323010
And US activity has been a key player in destabilizing OPEC previously (now very strong in controlling crude prices up). Lower activity also affects natural gas prices directly (gas directed drilling) and via less associated gas from oil directed drilling.
The Biden administration has been much more anti-shale than Obama or Trump: leasing freeze, permit freeze, methane rules, Keystone cancellation. Jennifer G. has been wild in her remarks. E.g. dancing with export controls, “everything in our toolkit being looked at”, now walked back from. And also ominous comments about “windfall profits”, not yet walked back. It’s not just the specific actions but the effect they have on investment by companies (this is a “capex business”) and on investor expectations for oil equities because of pricing in future risk. Political risk is a component of the O&G business, at home and abroad (just ask companies that paid lease bonuses for Marcellus shale areas in New York). This is how we felt last January:
https://twitter.com/MOAR_Drilling/status/1352753026545627137
And yes rigs/production are up. But not as much as they should be. And we didn’t suddenly run out of resource (average rig productivity is quite high). And we didn’t suddenly “learn discipline”. Look how we crashed prices in 2018, while adding 2 MM bopd/year of production. But companies/investors are being rational and pricing in higher risks, higher hurdles for CAPEX.
“Presumably monetary policy and/or deficits, and deficit expectations is a big part of the explanation.”
Presumably not, actually. The U.S. and global economies suffered a massive curtailment of labor supply and supply of intermediate goods. That is so obvious a candidate as the main cause of inflation tha one cannot reasonably presume a major contribution from monetary and fiscal policy. The record in recent decades is that monetary and fiscal expansion ar not reliable causes of accelerating inflation.
One needn’t be an economist to know these things. Simply reading Econbrowser is enough.
Great blog, great list. That my comments make it through moderation is indicative of the continuing decline of American culture and values–or maybe Menzie is sympathetic.
Thanks for reminding us of the Foxconn debacle. I’m not a Wisconsin resident, so I had the pleasure of following that particular bit of Scott Walker idiocy from the relative safety of Massachusetts. Unfortunately, I except Walker to rise out of his crypt sometime in 2023 to take his place in the ranks of the Republican advance guard for the revolution of 2024. He will link arms with Paul Ryan and Ron Johnson behind the chariot of the Orange Jesus.
During my 35 years living in East Asia I was constantly called to account for any and all US government positions, as well as those of the US media.
Since you bring it up. let me reprise my comments:
[D]o I think Menzie is a China apologist? No. Do I think Menzie is thoroughly intimidated by China? Absolutely.
But he is hardly alone in this.
Nevertheless, there is a bigger picture. If China follows trend, if this trend leads to open conflict with the US, then Menzie will regret not having taken a more public and determined stand to argue for democracy in China. As I have stated: Our best hope for China’s peaceful rise to superpower status is the rapid development of that country’s internal democracy.
*******
I was, of course, referring the to banning of PeakTrader for using the term ‘China virus’. I see it as an extreme and discriminatory step. Moreover, because it is by a Chinese-American professor in an attempt to suppress what appears to be implied, but deserved, criticism of Chinese authorities, the optics are terrible and I believe serves no one, and in particular, the Chinese-American community whom you are ostensibly seeking to defend.
I stand by these comments.
First, the intervening months have only strengthened in me the feeling that war between the US and China is inevitable if Xi remains in power. The pressure on Taiwan has only increased. It is clear that Xi is looking for a test of power, and before 2030, I believe he will put the US to the military test. I believe such a war will become a world war in short order, and I believe that sooner or later, nuclear weapons will be involved. I believe such a war will involve the sinking of one or more US capital ships, likely including one or more US aircraft carriers. I believe such an event will have the same effect as Pearl Harbor and will produce sentiments towards Chinese-Americans much as Pearl Harbor did towards Japanese-Americans. I see nothing in the trend line to make me believe war is less likely than it was months ago, and much to make me believe it is more likely. If one believes war is possible or likely, I believe It is in the interest of the Chinese-American community to distance themselves to the greatest extent from Xi. My view has not changed, and indeed, it has only been reinforced by intervening events.
I believe this threat can only be materially mitigated by the transition of China to democracy. I believe the vast majority of the Chinese public have absolutely no interest in a war with the US and are principally concerned with improving their own lives and the opportunities of their children. I believe China is ready for democracy and that the Chinese people would like to live in a democracy under the rule of law, not man. China as a democracy is likely to dominate the globe economically, and we will have to get used to that. However, its political influence is likely to be more constructive, even if there are times of notable friction with the US (and that may be due more to the US than China).
Therefore, I strongly encourage you once again to post in no uncertain terms calling for democracy in China.
China Needs Democracy Now!
Let’s see you post on that.
The term political “lightweight” comes to mind here for some reason, when reading Kopits’ comments. Most of Kopits’ predictions are so farcical, they don’t even deem getting a response. And the accusations against Menzie are both false, and way out of bounds in the civility department.
Kopits requires Professor Chinn to say “China Needs Democracy Now!!!”. Did Kopits also want Professor Chinn to stand in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard (also known as “the Strip”) during rush hour traffic and scream “Stop casino gambling and prostitution now!!!!” That would be roughly as constructive of a task as posts calling for Democracy in China.
You are either the dumbest troll ever or you are being incredibly dishonest (even for you). I know a lot of Asian Americans who absolutely get what Trump and PeakTrader mean by China virus. It is not an attack on a government – it is an attack on people who happen to be Asian or Asian-American. In other words, it is pure and simple racism.
But of course there on Cape Cod hanging out with the white elite – maybe you do not know of any Asian-Americans.
But had you bothered to read PeakTraders other comments, you might have noted his hated of blacks, Hispanics as well as Asian-Americans. Banning this racist troll was long overdue.
You actually think you have the right to dictate what others write about? Seriously? As in your insistence that Menzie writes on China Needs Democracy Now!
Maybe I missed it as I tend to skip your worthless blog – but I have never your essay on Saudi Arabia Needs Democracy Now! Or are you scared to some folks in the oil sector might be a bit offended.
As for you, pgl, once again you are wholly lacking in substance.
I did not write this post. Menzie wrote the post and called me out on it. I responded, as Menzie no doubt intended. If you have a beef, take it up with him.
And for a change, why not try to make a substantive argument.
OMG – I did make a substantive argument but I guess you are too uncaring to even notice what it was. BTW – did you stop eating Asian food a couple of years ago thinking it might give you COVID? And we thought Peak Trader (who you defend for some reason) was the big racist here.
No substance. All anger.
China needs democracy … why?
I’m a life-long Democrat, and spent my entire adult life working on the China Watch.
FYI, the corruption in China would make all of us dream of a return to sanity, if that country were to turn democratic over night.
David –
I understand your casual racism towards mainland Chinese. It is widely shared. Your view is that they cannot enjoy democracy and self-determination because they are somehow genetically or socially interior to all other East Asians, including the Japanese, Koreans, Philippinos, Indonesians and, let’s not forget, the Taiwanese, who somehow managed to achieve a level of racial superiority unavailable to the mainland Chinese, as you see it. Or perhaps you are with Xi and think it would be better if democracy were extinguished in Taiwan.
Let me reiterate that I wholly and categorically reject this view.
“I understand your casual racism towards mainland Chinese. It is widely shared.”
This from someone who dismisses the racism of people who toss around “China virus”. Do you know even one Asian American? Damn!
pgl: I believe Mr. Kopits indicated his daughter-in-law is of Korean extraction. I can only imagine family gathering dynamics.
Sorry, Menzie. I thought your were replying to me, but then saw that is was to pgl. I don’t tend to read his posts, so I missed it. My apologies.
My sister in law is Korean. Lot of really smart, savvy, hardworking people on that side of the family too. And incredibly good looking, at that.
Steven Kopits: Apologies, I should have checked – your *sister*-in-law is Korean.
“Family dynamics”
[ Large dinner table, in a semi-large dining room. Some brought under duress by their husbands ] Closet racist eats some Kimchi then proceeds to blow a kazoo in some kind of celebratory musical exclamation. Weird middle-aged man often confused by large death count numbers projects his voice out boomingly loud as it near simultaneously echos off the walls “I am now the most multicultural man in all of Massachusetts!!!! Bring in the McDonalds from Uber Eats!!!!” Takes voice down low to a whisper as if talking to a child, looks over at sister in law “We call these delicacies…… buuuuuuuuurgeeeeeeeeeeers……. Tell the truth. This is the most exciting moment in your life, isn’t it??”
“Family dynamics”
[ Large dinner table, in a semi-large dining room. Some brought under duress by their husbands ] Closet racist eats some Kimchi then proceeds to blow a kazoo in some kind of celebratory musical exclamation. Weird middle-aged man often confused by large death count numbers projects his voice out boomingly loud as it near simultaneously echos off the walls “I am now the most multicultural man in all of Massachusetts!!!! Bring in the McDonalds from Uber Eats!!!!” Takes voice down low to a whisper as if talking to a child, looks over at sister in law “We call these delicacies…… buuuuuuuuurgeeeeeeeeeeers……. Tell the truth. This is the most exciting moment in your life, isn’t it??”
I’m extremely hesitant to play mindreader here, but I think David’s point may have been more culturally related than race-dynamics related. The point being, no matter the race/ethnicity, including European, Anglo-Saxon, etc. if you have multiple generations living life according to nanny state parameters, an abrupt change in societal rules would be “problematic”. I am not saying (assuming I am near to the ballpark in my mindreading) David O’Rear is correct or incorrect in this assessment. But it is not totally an unreasonable line of thought, nor is it necessarily “racist”.
Possibly we have a bit of “projection” here from our transplanted Bay Stater.
No Moses, it’s racist.
Having slammed David on the issue, I nevertheless think there is some merit to both his and your point wrt transition. In Central and Eastern Europe, the transition was immediate and largely successful, although we see some backsliding and not everyone is happy with the choices those electorates make. Nevertheless, the transition to democracy was ultimately successful without any transition period in all of Eastern Europe bar Russia and Belarus.
In Xi’s place, I would have started the transition to democracy in China five years ago, with Communist Party members allowed to run against each other in elections, starting local and moving to the national level, with a target of full democracy in, say, 12-16 years, so by 2026-2030. By limiting candidates to only Communist Party members, the Party could have maintained some control over both candidates and the nature of the resulting politics and policy. Those candidates, regardless of their provenance, would eventually split ideologically into egalitarians, liberals and conservatives, just as we see throughout the democratic world, and they would eventually spin off into independent, competing parties. That would allow an orderly transition without shock accountability (ie, the risk of sending CCP members to jail for corruption and misuse of power — undesirable from the perspective of current leadership).
That is why I have said that China needs a Washington, not a Mao. The country needs a leader to transition to a stable and workable democracy, not someone working a rearguard action hoping to turn back the clock.
Menzie Chinn @ January 3, 2022 at 4:51 pm
No, you shouldn’t have checked. What you should’ve done is just stfu.
You should be ashamed of yourself for making these comments but we know you aren’t because being an accommodating host isn’t in your vocabulary – I can’t wait for the upcoming post on how that’s a conditional term and anyone using a definition that you don’t agree with is wrong. Fact is that you foster the disgusting tenor of this blog (I wanted to say “blog’s comment section” but the truth is you even pen posts that ignite this atmosphere). And let’s be honest – if those individuals who you don’t like were to make ridiculous comments such as those made here by Moses Herzog, you would be up in arms. But you’re a hypocrite. Just like you showed in other posts with commenters opining on the origin of a guest’s screen name. Spineless.
This place is cesspool because Menzie Chinn allows it. Menzie Chinn allows it because Menzie Chinn wants it. So please give it up with the occasional ‘policing’ of this blog – you’re just a corrupt cop and the only commenters you’re fooling are your fanboys.
Please clarify what you mean, Menzie.
I have stated that I reject the implicit racism in the notion that mainland Chinese are somehow not fit for democracy. This is what O’Rear said: “the corruption in China would make all of us dream of a return to sanity, if that country were to turn democratic over night.”
China’s GDP per capita per the IMF is $13,000. I count more than 50 democracies with GDP / capita lower than China’s. Is it your view that these countries should not be democracies, Menzie?
Or look at it another way: Taiwan was at China’s current level of income at per cap PPP levels in 1992. By similar measures, 1995. Taiwan held its first democratic election for president in 1996.
Did democracy prove a failure for Taiwan? Like David, do you wish Taiwan to be absorbed into a non-democratic state and see its autonomy and democracy end? Or do you take David’s view that the mainland Chinese are inherently inferior and therefore not worthy of self-determination and rule of law?
Because if you don’t believe that, then China is looking at becoming a democracy quite soon. Middle of this decade, if Taiwan is to be the precedent.
I would be happy for democracy in Saudi Arabia. I doubt it could be sustained. It could not in Egypt, for example. It is barely limping along in Iraq. (By contrast, I think it could work pretty well in Iran.) If you want to accuse me of having a higher opinion of the socio-political development of the Chinese than I do of any of Russia, Saudi Arabia or Iraq, well, I think the available data supports that point and that is my view. We have seen democracy work pretty well in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and even Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It will work well in China. The mainland Chinese are not inferior to any of these other people, or indeed us, as you seem to contend.
Saudi Arabia presents no systemic risk to either the US or to the rest of the world. China does. If Saudi Arabia had 1.4 billion people and were threatening to invade, say, Turkey, yes, I would be very concerned. But Saudi Arabia is none of these. China is, and China’s leader has again and again demonstrated a disregard for rule of law, norms of civilized society, and international law, among others. China under his leadership has become a dangerous and aggressive country representing a potentially existential risk to the United States, to the west generally, and not least to the Chinese people themselves. If you are optimistic about Xi’s behavior in the future and care little for human rights or the rule of law, then by all means, you can maintain that the Chinese people neither merit nor need democracy. I hold a categorically different view.
Gee the Middle East is no threat to us? I guess all those wars in the last 20 years were a big waste of time. And of course Osama bin Laden did not kill 3000 New Yorkers? It is a good thing Princeton Steve moved to Cape Cod as he would not be welcomed here.
As far as not being able to sustain a democracy in the Middle East – I guess Israel is a dictatorship.
I never knew Princeton Steve was THIS INCREDIBLY STUPID. Sorry dude – stay clear of foreign policy as you suck at it.
” I guess all those wars in the last 20 years were a big waste of time. ”
your guess is correct!
and trying to destabilize syria was insane.
china and russia are making ‘inroads’ in to the north side of the persian gulf and gulf of oman further reduce us’ influence in the region
where the saudis fit in future is open…..
Putin pays you well!
Terrorists killing some Americans and blowing up stuff may be terrible and worth preempting or countering. But you cannot bring the US down by a program of hijacking aircraft or sending suicide bombers to shopping malls. That’s a local threat and certainly may create larger political issues, just as 9/11 did. But it was in no way a systemic threat to the US, vastly different from covid-19, for example, which does qualify as both a systemic threat and a realized systemic event.
So which country in the Middle East represents a systemic threat to the US? Iran? Iran is going to blow up Israel way before it takes on the US (and thus Iran is a systemic threat to Israel, which of course is not news). But Iran does not want to take on the US in any meaningful way, because they know they will be whacked, just as Saddam’s Iraq was.
Who else is a systemic threat? Yemen? Oman? Jordan? Egypt? There just isn’t one, unless you think someone is going to shut down the Persian Gulf. And even then, because the US is a net zero importer of oil, that would have no aggregate impact on the US (although a punishing regional impact on the coasts and the Midwest even as the Midcontinent rolls in cash).
You are correct though, I think, the enhanced viruses are now an existential threat to both the US and the rest of the world. If I were Pyongyang or Tehran, the experience of covid would tell me that this sort of biowarfare can be used as an asymmetrical weapon without accountability or reprisal.
So you actually think Xi can conquer America? I must confess – your comments are getting dumber and dumber. I would be more worried about Trump’s army. Oh wait – you cannot condemn these domestic terrorists lest Fox and Friends stop inviting you on their pathetic show.
“this sort of biowarfare can be used as an asymmetrical weapon without accountability or reprisal”
Still spreading the Wuhan Lab lie we see. You are sick.
No substance. All rant.
Pretty decent article on the recent 914 C&C production report.
https://peakoilbarrel.com/us-october-oil-production-rebounds-after-hurricane-ida/#comments
The drop in TX (and especially NM) is curious. Would think the rig count is sufficient for growth generally and don’t know of a recent event (e.g. weather) that would have caused a drop for Permian volumes. I suspect there is something about their methodology (914 is a good survey, but they estimate amounts by smaller producers).
Would not be surprised to see some future revisions (old months down or recent months up) to show a more understandable upwards trend. Especially for NM, which is almost pure Permian. AUG seems strangely high versus JUL and SEP/OCT.
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mcrfpnm2&f=m
There are revisions over time, even up to a couple years out. This is not to criticize the EIA. They actually changed methods a few years ago to a direct survey (at some expense to them and the industry) versus earlier methods. But the ultimate answer is determined by lease-level state filings, some of which don’t get finalized for 24 months+. And the 914 reports are really the class of their reports. A survey with about 90% direct coverage, very small amount of modeling. And I like that the time series is curated (corrected) eventually. Much better than the weeklies that are about 95% modeled and NEVER updated when new info emerges.
The way in which extreme anti-Semitism always worked was to attack a particular person who was Jewish for failing to judge or condemn an entire Jewish community. This is of course definitive anti-Semitism or general racism. Jews in Europe were beset by such attacks over centuries. At times, survival meant renouncing Judaism as during the Inquisition. To avoid expulsion, a Jew had to convert but even as a convert a Jew was always subject to being denounced and destroyed for remaining secretly a Jew.
So we find magical words that must be spoken and painstakingly abided by to avoid the Grand Inquisitor.
I noted in the comments under another post Paul Krugman’s take on the Texas job juggernaut (this was after I read some stupid Mark Perry AEI rant about the alleged benefits of ‘right to work’ anti-union laws). Krugman mentioned the usual rightwing nonsense under “the Goodhair doctrine”. I had no idea what this doctrine was but Google kept popping up links to the hairdos of black woman. But then this from the always great Wonkette let me know Krugman was mocking Gov. Perry’s hair. The discussion was timely and the picture of Perry dancing will make your day:
https://www.wonkette.com/governor-rick-goodhair-perry-texans-will-happily-freeze-to-keep-the-feds-out-of-their-power-grid
Jeremy Corbyn, a life-long champion of human rights, leader of British Labour, was ruined by the media of Rupert Murodch for not knowing the magic words to recite to avoid being repeatedly charged as anti-Semitic. When Corbyn went to a Passover Seder at a friends home, the choice of the Seder was condemned as being Reformed rather than Conservative.
Say the magic words; condemn an entire people; as though that could ever save a person.
I have been going back to the review of 2020. Three thoughts:
(1) Princeton Steve should take a look at the June edition since this Cape Cod elitist has no clue what the term China virus is about.
(2) Econned in his serial defense of Judy Shelton may want to review a few of her past writings.
(3) And it seems in early March of 2020, COVID-19 expert forecaster Bruce Hall told us that this virus would still be around for around another 6 weeks and at most another 6 months. I bet the authors of DOW 36000 (1999) feel vindicated!
PaGLiacci,
I’m not sure I’ve ever defended Judy Shelton. So how could I do so “serially”??? And what makes you think I haven’t read her past writings (which is one reason why I don’t defend her)? Please explain further so I can continue to laugh at you. You joke of a clown.
You sure get huffy when Menzie points out her monetary analysis is bizarre in the extreme. On this score – Milton Friedman would agree with Menzie. Now you claim you have Friedman’s excellent writings on this topic but you still have not named one thing he has written – even though every knowledgeable international macro type read his best writings in graduate school. BTW – did you ever take a graduate course in economics? I doubt it.
As far as being a defender of Judy Shelton – you suck at that too. Please do not go into law as the profession already has enough arrogant incompetent boobs.
This is a flat out lie. I’m not sure that I’ve ever questioned or disagreed with Menzie regarding Shelton’s monpol stances. And I’m not sure I’ve ever been a defender of Shelton’s policy stances and/or research.
Provide proof for stfu. It’s simple.
Proof was in this blog post and its dedication to your “eminence”. You remind me of Trump – even when people are mocking you, you think they are offering praise.
I’ve suggested nothing of the such. It isn’t “praise”. I don’t create the definitions. It’s simply reading a definition and not being ignorant in applying it. You’re such a clown.
Also, I’m asking “proof” that I defended Shelton. You have no pride because it never happened. Applying a definition to someone isn’t defending them. Put away the clown nose.
Econned
January 2, 2022 at 2:59 pm
Deny, deny, deny! You are funnier than Joey Bishop was in Guide for a Married Man (1963)!
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2021/12/year-in-review-2021-cleaning-up-what-trump-wrought#comment-265218
That’s exactly what I thought – another assertion from you that you’re unable to support. Clown time with PaGLiacci never ends!!! HonkHonkHonk
Econned: “You state “ Some people will define words in ways not generally understood.”
To be fair, it was an auto-correction error. Econned meant to say that Judy Shelton was an imminent economist, not an eminent economist. She still has a chance, however unlikely, of learning the basics of economics.
Nah. Eminent. Even Menzie (tacitly) agreed. He just knows his guests are too biased and dogmatic to go read the entire discussion.
When the other kids in your sand box are laughing at you – I guess you take that to be tacit agreement. I read the entire discussion. Maybe you should go re-read as you got schooled. Oh wait – you never went to a real school. Never mind.
Great post, PaGLiacci! So great!
Oh gee – did I get in the gutter where you live? OK, I admit it. Any exchange with you is an utter waste of time. But then you are just being you!
The combination of a reference to a well-know technological annoyance, a common writing error and simultaneous takedown of two gas bags makes this by far to top comment to this post.
Harry Johnson’s 1969 The Case for Flexible Exchange Rates paid tribute to the 1953 paper by Milton Friedman in its choice of the title:
https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/69/06/Flexible_Jun1969.pdf
When I read the strange rants of Judy Shelton, I have to wonder whether she has ever read Friedman, Johnson, and the host of economists who have extended the wise thoughts from a young Milton Friedman. And yet one Friedman wannabe (Econned of course) thinks Shelton is an “eminent economist”.
OK – this comment was from me. What I did wrong to not say so I’m not sure. Still recovering from last night. Happy New Year!
Probably a Freudian slip. You are digging me. Drink up. I look better as the night progresses. 😉
I don’t “think” that Shelton is an “eminent economist”. I know that based on the definition of the word “eminent” as provided by a respected dictionary, that Shelton is “eminent”. I’m not a lexicographer – I just read their work and Menzie agreed based on the definition. He just knows that you and the other Econbrowser fanboys lack the objective reasoning skills to go read the discussion in its entirety and see things as they are. Whatever.
This is response to a link by that 1969 paper by Harry Johnson? I guess it was over your end as it was written in English.
But nice back tracking on “eminent” – assuming you know what the term even means.
No, you dolt. I’m replying to your silly last sentence. YOU brought up “eminent”. It’s right there for anyone to see. Quite the clown show you are.
Try READING Harry Johnson’s essay. Once you pass preK remedial reading.
For those of you concerned about my wife’s heath, I can report that she is definitely doing much better now. Thank you, and happy new year, you all!
Nice. Keep taking care of her and Happy New Year!
Happy to hear it. I have heard fish oils are good for the heart. Try to find her low cholesterol types of fish and serve it with a side of vegetables and I bet that will be beneficial for avoiding trips to the hospital. I’m not a strong believer in supplements put she could even take fish oil “pills”. I would go with real fish, but that’s you and her’s call.
Good news.
If that’s the issue, suggest Prof Rosser and wife obtain a referral to a MD nutritionist and go on a strict diet.
Two years ago, the warden was finally convinced that she has life-threatening high bold pressure and weight problems. She is on pressure meds. We obtained a referral to nutritionists and we strictly comply with no meat, no carbs, no processed foods, etc. It was worth it – health-wise.
For me, it was hard. I cheat whenever I can.
Happy to hear it, Barkley. Did she need to be hospitalized?
CoRev,
In the end, no. For three days she was on the edge especially on oxygen level. One unit down and she would have been there. But she is doing much better now across the board. Thanks.
Do you have one of those dilly-boppers you can put on the finger to read oxygen levels?? It might provide you with an early tip off if there’s problems in the future. I’m guessing there’s some Apple watch products or Samsung watch that will also do that, but if it was me I’d try to find a name-brand/trusted one of those things that clamps down on your index finger or middle finger and gives you an oxygen reading. If she dips below a certain point it will clue you in faster when something is happening.
Moses,
She has an oximeter, which is as good as it gets I think outside a doc’s office or the hospital.
I feel bad that the whole field of economics gets tainted by this sort of thing. The trouble is that Econbrowser is the flagship blog of mainstream economics, which I think is the main society for econometric research. The problem is not haters like me that draw attention to these blogs; the problem is that this sort of work is regularly endorsed and publicized by the leading mainstream news outlets in the field. When Econbrowser regularly releases blogs touting this kind of noise study, it does tell us something bad about the field of economics. Not all the work in the field, not most of the work in the field, not the most important work in the field. Economics is important and I have a huge respect for many economic researchers. Indeed I have a huge respect for much of the research within statistics that has been conducted by economists. And I say, with deep respect for the field, that it’s bad news that its leading blog publicizes work that is not serious and has huge, obvious flaws. Flaws that might not have been obvious 10 or even 5 years ago, when most of us were not so aware of the problems associated with the garden of forking paths, but flaws which for the past couple of years have been widely known. They should know better; indeed I’d somehow thought they’d cleaned up their act so I was surprised to see this new blog, front and center in their leading website.
“regularly endorsed and publicized by the leading mainstream news outlets in the field”
Are you serious? The mainstream media ignores this blog as well as other very good economists preferring to have people who can barely balance a check book play economist on the TV. This is certainly true for Faux News but this kind of pop economics shows up on MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, etc.
BTW – there were some other excellent economist blogs that basically retired as they could not tolerate the deluge of trolls like you.
Twitter suspended Marjorie Taylor Greene over COVID disinformation. I bet Econned will protest that they just don’t like her while Princeton Steve will protest that Twitter has not thrown Xi out of office
You bet wrong. Again, you’re wrong. It’s a theme. On this very post you’ve been wrong multiple times. It must be tiresome.
See, there are rules that Twitter has. If Green violated said rules, she should face consequences as determined by Twitter. Seems simple enough that even a clown like you can understand.
See, you’re so narrow-minded and subjective in how you view things, you can’t imagine a situation where others aren’t as narrow-minded and subjective as you are. Situations where someone you have zero understanding of how they view the world but you don’t like because of a blog might actually agree with something you (presumably) agree with. Guess what, clown? That’s the real world. Keep on honking!
Gee dude – lay off the uppers as the men in white coats while have to take you away soon. Or are you trying to get a role in the sequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
Hahaha. What a reply!!! I can see my constant calling out of your misrepresentations is getting to you. Here’s a solution – just be better. Clown
I just love the title that Menzie chose.
“Cleaning up what Trump as Wrought” or something like this.
Only a professor with a PhD Berkeley and Harvard undergrad teaching at a “school of public policy” can call this last year “cleaning up”.
Oh well. There are many of us who disagree calling it “cleaning up”. No, it is not cleaning up. It is making the worst public policy in modern times for the United States.
But I know, if you live in a left wing bubble, tax payer funded, and do not care about the real world, you do not care about people really paying so much more for stuff at the grocery store, you do not care about the lives lost in Afghanistan, if you do not care about the stupid comments by Ron Klain, if you do not care about the stupidities of Kamala, then of course, this was “cleaning up”. And by the way – Menzie makes a lot about Rick Stryker somehow getting it wrong in his prediction.
What the good professor in a “school of public policy” forgets (conveniently, of course), is that under Joe Biden more people died from Covid than under Trump,
Of course, Menzie never discusses it, because he is a pawn of the Official Progressive Narrative. And he never discusses that Biden completely botched the testing. I had Covid over Christmas – I could not find ONE testing center able to test me. The lines were horrendously long. But, again, for Menzie this is “cleaning up”. Democrats never have responsibility for anything. No, Joe Biden’s Administration is the worst administration of modern times, no matter what a PhD Berkeley says teaching in a “school of public policy”. Something like Galileo telling the Inquisition “eppur si muove”, no matter what you say, the Earth moves anyway.
No matter what you say, Biden’s Administration is the simply the worst of modern times.
Manfred: You still have not answered what puzzled me:
What does this mean? Does it mean I cheated my way into Harvard? Or I was a “legacy” admit because my parents went to Harvard (I can assure you that is not the case). Or does it mean I’m an affirmative action beneficiary? I *really* want to know what you mean.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Manfred is apparently confused by the distiction between merit and privilege. There’s a lot of that going around.
This is harassment per the Menzie Chinn definition. Yes, we all know that Menzie Chinn has an issue with definitions (see e.g. his “March: Some people will define words in ways not generally understood:”). So we know Menzie will deny this as being harassment despite admitting this very act is harassment in others, but we must apply the criteria equally even if our host will not.
Oh Menzie.
That you are still harping on that issue, just means you have no arguments.
Evidently, defending a catastrophic Biden Administration is proving difficult for you.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Manfred: As long as you comment without responding, I’ll respond in kind. Heck, I’m going to use your comment as a case study in you know what.
But Econned says calling Manfred on this kind of insulting garbage is harassment. I guess Econned has to as that is what he usually does as well.
Personally, I’m just amazed Manfred is intelligent enough to recognize Covid-19 and its variants as a real mortal threat. I’d rank that as progress for someone as dumb as Manfred. Maybe it finally sunk in when one of his relatives died. I imagine that’s the only way that “epiphany” would ring the bell for Manfred.
For the general reader’s edification, Manfred is the guy who, in a very sly (cowardly??) way strongly intimated on this blog that a violent attack by hundreds of donald trump goons on the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. didn’t qualify as sedition. Manfred also cried like an infant that in the middle of a pandemic that has caused the deaths of 824,000 American deaths he’s upset that the media isn’t talking about the swine flu that caused 12,500 Americans’ deaths roughly in the years 2009–2010.
So let’s do the math here, 12,500 swine flu deaths (12 years ago) divided by 824,000 Covid-19 deaths in the last 2 years, starting under donald trump, who told people not to wear masks and not to get vaccinated (“strange”, but I never remember President Biden or President Obama telling people to ignore masks and not to bother getting vaccinated). What percentage number does that give us?? 0.0152%. So the 2009–2010 swine flu that caused less than 2% of the deaths that Covid 19 has caused has poor Manfred upset that no one is talking about it anymore.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/08/13/fact-check-swine-flu-spread-rapidly-but-not-deadly-covid-19/5577001002/
See what an “intelligent guy” Manfred is?? He mourns and laments the days when his hero, the orange abomination held press conferences telling Americans not to wear masks, not to get vaccinated, and even that Covid-19 was “made up” by liberals. That Covid-19 was “a hoax”. That’s what “great public policy” is to our village idiot, Manfred.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/emails-detail-trump-administrations-fight-with-own-medical-experts-over-covid-advice
And here is Manfred’s personal hero in life, an orange man who says the deaths of 824,000 Americans is a “hoax”.
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1233570800223084544
And here is Manfred’s personal hero in life, in late February 2020, telling a crowd of Manfred’s southern incestuous cousins, that “no Americans yet have died from the coronavirus”. Well I bet all of those idiots cheering those words felt so joyous that night. And here we are 824,000 American deaths later. Manfred’s shining light of public policy really “nailed it” didn’t he??
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1233825837721489414
Manfred, ask me if I care you couldn’t find a Covid-19 test on Christmas when you support/supported the orange bastard. Just ask me in this thread, and I’ll tell you in this thread how much I care you couldn’t find a Covid-19 test. Your Mom, I might care, but you??
Manfred,
As someone who has a wife still recovering from a bad case of Covid-19, I am more sympathetic than others here. I hope your case was not too bad. I must ask, I fear, did you get vaccinated and boosted? Have you worn masks in indoor places and practiced social distancing.? Failures on those fronts unfortunately will reduce my sympathy somewhat. My wife, who has the serious co-morbidity of heart disease, was fully vaxxed and boosted. We made the mistake of attending a wedding in Washington the weekend of the major outbreak of omicron before people knew it was exploding. I was a bit uneasy when we entered, and I saw nobody wearing masks. I do not know how you got it.
Regarding your complaint about the Biden administration being behind the curve on testing, I happen to agree. I think nobody noticed and I did not repeat it, but on an earlier thread I made a comment on one by pgl where I said that Biden’s biggest mistake was “missing the bandwagon on testing” in terms of pandemic policy. His administration should have moved much earlier on that, although I understand that they did not do so because they were pushing so hard on getting people vaccinated, which the evidence clearly shows has saved many thousands of lives this year, although if you are one of the anti-vaxxers, perhaps you are not buying that. As it is, given her co-morbidities, I am sure the fact that my wife is fully vaxxed and boosted is why she is alive, given her health issues.
On the matter of our personal experience with testing, my wife went to our regular doctor, and they managed to sneak her in and give her one, with her suffering symptoms very badly at that point. I made an effort to get one or an appointment at any local pharmacy. No dice. This was Christmas Eve. In the end a neighbor who had Covid earlier happened to have a kit still, which they gave to me so I could learn I am negative. But those here saying no problem getting a test at a pharmacy, well, maybe where you are and maybe not now. But I sure as heck was unable to get one, and I do think this is the one area where Biden’s team fell down on Covid policy.
That said his policy has been far superior to that of Trump’s. Those noting more deaths in 2021 than 2020 want to blame them all on Biden. But the worst month was January when Trump was still in office for most of the month. Trump did one good thing,: helping to get vaccines developed and approved, and I applaud him now advocating people getting vaxxed and boosted, which many of his followers seem not to accept. But otherwise he botched things up in many ways not even worth listing, with various knowledgeable people declaring that his actions almost certainly were responsible for several hundred thousand extra dead. Biden has performed far better, and blaming him because the deadly delta variant appeared is just ridiculous.
Of course claiming that Biden’s administration is the “worst ever,” is simply not defensible. Yes, inflation is the highest we have seen in decades, although there are many reasons to expect it to decline in the near future. But aside from that, almost all other economic variables have performed very well, highest growth rate for a first year of a presidency in 40 years with sharpest decline in unemployment rate, and an all time low for the poverty rate, just to name a few. I do not agree with all his policies, but the irony is that his worst policies have been where he failed to undo bad policies of Trump’s, notably not undoing Trump’s stupid trade war. This of course has aggravated the main economic problem Biden is facing, heightened inflation.
My view is that Biden is basically an intermediate level of president. We have seen better, and we have seen worse, notably with Trump. Let us on that matter consider the other substantive matter you mentioned, namely Afghanistan. Of course the withdrawal looked awful and damaged Biden’s poll ratings, and clearly his administration should have moved sooner and more vigorously to get people out. However, while there are several thousand who did not get out whom we think should have (one can argue about who really deserved or deserves to get out), they did manage to get 130,000 out a historical record that is way more than the US got out of Vietnam when the end came there.
But GOPs complaining about this are just utter hypocrites, including you, Manfred. Trump surrendered to the Taliban with the Doha Accords, negotiated with the Taliban without the existing Afghan government at the table. The Taliban stopped attacking Americans after that deal was cut, but local forces began cutting deals with the Taliban to surrender after that. Trump agreed to get out on May 1, 2021, and was making zero efforts to get anybody out. When Biden negotiated a move to put the withdrawal off to Aug. 31, Trump and many of his allies denounced Biden for not leaving on May 1. As it is, those 130,000 who got out did so because of this renegotiation by Biden, a vast improvement over the disastrous policy Trump had in place. Nobody talks about it much. but the really bad visuals that happened at the end (people hanging onto airplanes) happened because of an utterly unpredictable thing that remains unexplained. Guards in the presidential palace told President Ghazni there were Taliban in the presidential palace, which was not the case. He immediately left, which triggered an immediate collapse of his government, with all those people hanging off those planes the following day.
The visuals may have been bad. But this Christmas was the first in 20 years that an American president was not sending holiday greetings to US troops “on the front line” because there are none on such a front line. This is a bad outcome?
Oh, I will mention one other bad foreign policy situation where the problem is that Biden has continued a stupid and disastrous policy of Trump’s. That involves Iran. He should have reentered the nuclear JCPOA deal immediately and without conditions when he was inaugurated. He delayed, and left us with the mess Trump gave us with his totally unjustified and massively stupid withdrawal from that deal. Even senior military and intel officials in Israel are now publicly recognizing that withdrawing from that deal was an awful policy. Biden’s failure to clean up Trump’s mess on that one has been probably his biggest mistake, although I know that poorly informed people like you, Manfred, probably do not understand this at all.
Way too long to respond point by point, sorry.
As for your questions in the beginning of your comments – I did not know that I have to disclose private health info to you. Tell me on what authority I have to do it, then I consider it. Otherwise, stick to policy issues.
The overarching issue is that a) in October 2020 Joe Biden said that Trump has to resign because the number of deaths had reached 220K or so; well, under Biden many more people died above 220K, and Biden is still president – he is not planning to resign. But, sycophants like you and so many in this blog, have not problem with Biden’s comment. b) Joe Biden, also during the 2020 campaign said that “he had a plan to shut down the virus”. Oh yeah? Fourteen months later, where is that plan? Is it hiding in the basement where Biden spent his summer of 2020? c) Joe Biden spent most of his first year of his presidency mandating, forcing, even violating Supreme Court decisions (is this not impeachable – not for Democrat apparently). And suddenly, a few days ago, our confused president said that “there is no federal solution”. What is it then? And related to c), point d) here is something that the sycophants of this administration cannot explain: Kamala Harris said in the 2020 campaign that “if Donald Trump tells me to take the vaccine, I will not take it”. She said this very explicitly. So explain this to me: now that Joe Biden is president, and he tells me (forces me, mandates me) to take the vaccine, I have to roll over and accept it just like that? No, sorry. This is a circle that Democrats cannot square, and thus, they lost all credibility.
Joe Biden is not an “intermediate president”. He is a catastrophe. A disaster. I know it hurts sycophant people like many in this blog.
@ Manfred
Personally, I hope you, as an individual don’t take the virus test and I hope you don’t get vaccinated. You can chair your own voluntary death panel. Other people here can pretend they care one way or the other. The possible result of you not taking the vaccines would bother me slightly less than if my morning coffee from Dunkin’ was more warm than hot.
@ Manfred
Hey stupid, when you worked for Louisiana state government, did you forget how to use the internet?? Here, in case your children aren’t there to explain how to use a mobile phone or a laptop. In case you didn’t know it while you were proverbially sucking at the pig tit of Louisiana state government, the use of mobile phones, desk-tops, and laptops has become ubiquitous in America. Let me help the poor whiny baby navigate the “complexity”:
https://ldh.la.gov/covidvaccine/
https://ready.nola.gov/incident/coronavirus/vaccine/
https://www.kplctv.com/2021/08/20/walmart-offering-flu-shots-all-its-louisiana-pharmacies/
We know you are a very dumb man Manfred, if the part where spelling your name on the form looks hard, consult your driver’s license.
Notice how our Louisiana boy, thinks that in the year 2022 a Black woman with a law degree is supposed to take orders from 75 year old racist white man, but in the very next sentence will say he terrorized by “government overreach”. Now you’ve taken a small peek into the type of mind that makes a “fundamentalist Christian” pay obeisance to a “President” who sleeps with multiple porn girls and openly admits to incestuous fantasies about his own daughter. Republican “conservatism” at its finest.
Manfred,
Oh, probably a waste of time, but just a few points.
I did not ask for your vaxx status. All I said was that I would have less sympathy for you getting Covid if you were unvaxxed and were not wearing masks indoors, etc. Sounds like maybe I hit a sore spot with that one, but I am still not asking.
I just googled, but all I could find in terms of Biden supposedly asking for Trump to resign in Oct. 2020 was some wild claim by Sean Hannity, who, sorry, is not a credible source. Biden was planning to defeat him in the election in the following month and get him out that way, and he succeeded.
Regarding this matter of shutting down the virus, he did have a plan, and it was successful in shutting down the alpha and beta variants, the latter raging hard when he took office. So there have been new variants. He was supposed to prevent them or stop them in their tracks when nobody else in the world succeeded in doing so? I am sure if Trump were prez he would have sent them to Mexico to hang out with all those rapists he was keeping out with that wall he built that Mexico paid for.
I remind you that I offered several criticisms of Biden, including that he should have prepared more for testing, and also that he did not undo some especially bad policies Trump put in place, notably his stupid trade war and his withdrawal from the Iran JCPOA nuclear deal.
And we accused Econned about being a long winded gas bag. GEESH!
Manfred: “I had Covid over Christmas – I could not find ONE testing center able to test me. The lines were horrendously long.”
Those long lines are because the right-wing anti-vaxxers are clogging up the system. Some fine hypocrisy there — refusing to get vaccinated then complaining about long lines for covid services.
By the way, you can make an appointment at just about any Walgreens, CVS or RiteAid and many other pharmacies to get a free covid test, thanks to Joe Biden. You don’t have to wait in a line.
Just yesterday I saw a mobile testing center right next to my gym with the line being about 4 people. I guess any line is too long for THE MANFRED.
@pgl,
“Putin pays you well”
nah, i was exuberant…..
tom brady went in to the last 2 minutes down 4 points and came out winning.
over your jets!
and rodgers starts against vikings in 10 mins……
LOL! I hate the Jets. Yes – TV 12 beat the worst team in the NFL. Big deal. BTW – what was up with his favorite wide receiver?
the goat has heart…….
Your boy is still begging the team to let Mr. Brown to put his uniform back on. I get you got all excited over his abs!
@ pgl
Relax, you can watch the Atlanta Hawks. Because of the leadership of Trae “I hurt my pinky toe” Young, they have won 46% of their games and are 4 spots out of the playoffs. I think if Trae avoids any paper cuts for the next two months they have a solid shot at winning 51% of their games. I’ll say a prayer to Saint Raphael tonight, that Trae can avoid paper cuts, pinky toe injuries, or any boo-boos to his elbows. pgl I put you personally in charge that he doesn’t get emotionally upset before games if someone puts broccoli on his dinner plate. Maybe you can do some Reiki healing for Trae so he doesn’t feel like crying pregame.
Earth to the worst basketball analysis ever. The Hawks are scoring but they need to work on their defense. It is like last year and something tells me that this coach will get them back on track. So you, Steven A. Smith, and all the other obnoxious Knicks fans may have to wait a few more years to actually win a playoff series.
I find the post and the rapprochement among commenters so refreshing. It’s nice to see 2022 starting off on the right foot. The world is so much kinder and gentler.
I was tempted to provide a long list of links from various sources extolling Biden’s great successes last year, but kept getting an “Error 404: Not Found”. Maybe I should have left out “great” and maybe “successes”. If I just searched for “Biden”, there was far more than I would have attempted to read.
But I hear 2022 will be better for consumers because Biden has pledged to ““fight for fairer prices” for farmers and consumers”… by attacking meat processors. By that I presume he will ensure farmers get higher prices for their cattle and consumers will see big rollbacks in retail prices for beef. I’m gonna let Menzie explain how that’s gonna work. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-launch-plan-fight-meatpacking-100000317.html
Hey, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Bruce,
I am going to repeat some things I have already noted here, but they were buried in my long response to Manfred, who whined that I went on too long. But here are a few items.
1) Highest GDP growth rate in the first year of a president in 40 years.
2) A very rapid increase in employment and decline in the unemployment rate during that year.
3) Achieving the lowest poverty rate ever observed in US history.
4) Signing the largest “hard” infrastructure bill in decades that will lead to substantial improvements in the long run productivity of the US economy and many other favorable outcomes (a pleasant contrast to the Trump presidency with its numerous “infrastructure weeks” that never invovled even any proposals).
5) oversaw organizing a vaccine distribution plan that has been estimated to have saved more than a million lives from esprcially the delta virus.
There is more, but do you think none of this to be at least a “success,” even if you want to deny that none of them is a “great” success?
“President Joe Biden promised to “fight for fairer prices” for farmers and consumers Monday as he announced plans to combat the market power of the giant conglomerates that dominate meat and poultry processing.”
This market power was extensively discussed here. Did you not understand the economics? Dude – please look up concepts like monopoly power (processing firms charging higher prices to consumers) and monopsony power (the same firms paying less to farmers). OK we get Bruce “no relationship to Robert” Hall flunked Econ 101 but our host has a new post just for you.