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Big day at the WSJ & Other ‘tin hats’
Mark your calendar. 2/18/2011 might well be a day where history takes a
turn. Something that I have been waiting weeks for has finally happened.
The Wall Street Journal has written an editorial that is critical of the Fed and its reckless monetary policies.
To be sure this editorial is mild in its language. But when the Journal says things like this it is time to take notice:
Once
again the Fed seems to have worried about deflation long after the
threat had passed and even as price pressures from its easier policy
were preparing to build. Let's hope it turns out better than it did the last time.
The timing of this is also important. Bernanke is in Paris this weekend
at the G-20 party. He is going to get his head bashed by a number of
other attendees. The WSJ has just given them the ammo they need. At this
point not even the Journal has anything nice to say about Fed policy.
I think we might see a bit of a floodgate on this. Others in the MSM are
watching global inflation perk up and cause big problems. They will be
pointing their editorial finger(s) at Ben. Soon. Fed bashing is too much fun, after all.
It will be interesting to read the next article by Jon Hilsenrath at the
Journal. He has been a steadfast Ben supporter. That crowd is getting
smaller by the day. Maybe Jon will hitch a ride on a different (more
popular) theme. I can’t wait.
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Speaking of those folks wearing tin foil hats, I know a bunch of them.
This group is convinced that the real problem we face has nothing to do
with climate change or the economy. It’s solar flares that are going to
do us in.
I tend to worry about things that can actually be changed. Things that
are out of our collective control are not worth fretting about. If we
are going to get hit on the head with a meteor (or solar flares) there
is not much we can do about it, so why worry?
There might be some worrying this weekend. Some big flares are in the
works. They had a minor consequence on Chinese radio last night. A
picture of the light show in the Alps and a video from NASA on the flare
that caused it:
NASA video link
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An update on a lawsuit between the Justice Department and AMBAC. This has to be one of the nuttier stories around.
The IRS “mistakenly” paid AMBAC $700mm as a “tentative” refund
resulting from a big restatement of prior year income. Now the IRS
wants it back. But AMBAC is in the hands of the Wisconsin insurance
commission. So DOJ is suing the State of Wisconsin. I’m no lawyer, but I
know a few of the rats. They tell me the IRS will win this one. Wisconsin/AMBAC will lose.
Here’s the rub. AMBAC is insuring a mere $225b of municipal bonds. (8%
of all issuance) If they lose the fight with the IRS the will have no
equity to pay claims. So the bonds will come into question.That's a lot of bonds.
Will the pending blowup at AMBAC be the straw that breaks the muni
market’s back? I don’t think so. But there is a lot of ‘straws’ on that
camel right now. The poor beast will most certainly feel the weight of
this one.
This stuff can only happen in America. The DOJ suit may well force a broader bailout of the muni market. One step forward, two steps back.
A link to the 2/9 filling by DOJ. I liked this language:
40.
Defendants’ conduct is causing irreparable injury to the United States,
and the United States has no adequate remedy at law. Defendants’
conduct, unless enjoined, may cause a substantial loss of revenue to the
United States Treasury, specifically a potential $700 million federal
tax liability that may be rendered effectively uncollectible except from
the non-existent assets of the Segregated Account.
»
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Ugh. I hate this question. I don't have answers. Not smart enough. I read about it. IMHO the climate is in transition. There is far too much evidence to dispute that. The question is, How much is this happening as a result of man's presence?
The answer to that is that it is greater than zero. How big, I don't hazard a guess. But given that it ain't "0", we should be thinking about that. And we are not.
Most reasonable response to the Climate Change question I have seen in awhile Mr. Krasting. Well said.
Funny, that didn't read like the words of a 'Death Eating Worship Hater' to me.
Warning BK: TMosley, our resident 'self-proclaimed-master-of-time-space-and-dimension over all things empirical' may beg to differ.
TMOS would you care to weigh in? (Assuming, of course, that we can find a scale of the correct order of magnitude required to accomodate your head and all the natural satellites orbiting it.)
Regards
If you think that we insignificant meddlers are affecting the climate more than a miniscule amount relative to solar system impacts and interactions between celestial bodies, then I have a few river-crossing structures you may be interested in. The fact that this planet can sustain us within an acceptable range of parameters for so long is simply a matter of balance of the universe. When the balance shifts, we are done.
Yup. The balance of nature is the supreme leveler of all things. I believe we as humans can put our finger on the scale and tip it a little but over all we live in the hands of the balance of nature.
Commander Cody, collect your prize at the Bingo counter...
Commander Cody...
I really liked that response, Bruce.
I too recognize that I'm not smart enough to know for sure, but remain suspicious of those who assure me that they are in fact smart enough.
here is my two cents, Bruce:
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/refuting-global-governance-through-climate-legislation
greater than 0 covers every tinfoil theory that was and ever will be conceived, to that end perhaps we should also be learning as much as we can about Planet X and the Mayan Calendar...
Seriously.
The chance that we'll be hit by a giant meteor is also greater than zero too, Bruce, and there probably isn't much difference between that probability and the likelihood our breathing is causing more hurricanes. Shouldn't we be doing everything we can to stop the looming meteor threat?
google tychee...its the planet x....
mayan calendar, revelations....looking good at this rate
i'd say more, but i'm late to pick up my ameros at roswell from a shape shifting reptilian i know, and my black helicopter is waiting
toxic pollution (frackin, food voodoo, etc) will kill us way faster than the droughts and floods
hey but why not hedge our bets and develop every threat we can think of. It's our only expertise
I, for my part Sire, go long companies that produce tear gas and batons.
I have a friend who's bought the patents and designs for hundreds of small hydro turbines. I'm thinking of going long buggy whips, myself.
Oh, droughts and floods can kill you much faster than most things. We'll see that if this year's winter wheat was burned by the same frost that's making Mexican produce unavailable from Sysco right now.