Fubsy
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Although there is much to keep me on my guard, I feel grateful for my wonderful family, good friends, the land we live on, my ancestors, and those who have not yet made themselves known to me. Wishing the best that life has to offer, to all.
Fubsy
Fubsy
Its Turkey Day...Don't be a...errr Ostrich
Here you go folks. A couple good head out of the sand articles for your Thanksgiving pleasure.
Fubsy
Mish Shedlock, Global Economic Analysis: Dubai Defaults, Deflation in Action –Watched Pot Theory Revisited.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/dubai-defaults-deflation-in-action.html
Mish gives a killer summary of the risks of debt defaults across the developed world. Things are not so rosy in the financial sector.
Barry Ritholtz, The Big {icture: Fed Reserve Endorses Crony Communism for Wealthy
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/federal-reserve-endorses-communism-for-the-wealthy/
Another review of the powers that control the flow of money, and their self-serving ways.
Fubsy
Mish Shedlock, Global Economic Analysis: Dubai Defaults, Deflation in Action –Watched Pot Theory Revisited.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/dubai-defaults-deflation-in-action.html
Mish gives a killer summary of the risks of debt defaults across the developed world. Things are not so rosy in the financial sector.
Barry Ritholtz, The Big {icture: Fed Reserve Endorses Crony Communism for Wealthy
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/federal-reserve-endorses-communism-for-the-wealthy/
Another review of the powers that control the flow of money, and their self-serving ways.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Mid Week Links
Hey Folks!
Here are a few stories to help you burn some calories as you gorge yourselves on the bounty of this Earth. If it pleases you, contact a congress person and support Auditting the Federal Reserve. Links to your reps on the right along with a handy dandy ready made letter for your empowerment and pleasure.
Fubsy
Randall Forsythe, The Wall Street journal via Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture: The Galley Slaves Aren’t Feeling It
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/the-galley-slaves-arent-feeling-it/
Excellent piece on the world of economics. Highly readable.
Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture: Treasury DKs Goldman/Fannie/BRK Tax Credit Scam.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/treasury-dks-goldmanfanniebrk-tax-credit-scam
Barry always gets it down cold. In this piece he goes after Goldman, and particularly Warren Buffet, and calls him out as not so much the good American that we are lead to believe he is. Great read. There is so much deceit going on relative to big money protecting their own ass at the expense of the American public and the overall health of the economy that I believe it is imperative for the public to wake up and become informed lest we arise one morning to the lack of a middle class.
George Washington, Zero Hedge: Senator Drogan: Modern Day Bank Robbers
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/senator-dorgan-we-essentially-have-had-modern-day-bank-robbers-and-theres-been-no-accountabi
Self-explanatory: The main issue for the United States losing civil liberties, IMO.
George Washington, Zero Hedge: Instead of Fixing the Economy or Creating Jobs for Americans, Obama will Spend the Money on Iraq and Afghanistan
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/instead-fixing-us-economy-or-creating-jobs-americans-obama-will-spend-money-afghanistan-and-
What are the policies of the White House aimed at fixing? Interesting perspective.
Karl Deninger, The Market Ticker: Health Care Farce Voted Up Last Night.
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1599-Health-Care-FARCE-Voted-Up-Last-Night.html
Interesting perspective on health care reform. I don’t agree with all of it, but recognize the logic in many of Karl’s arguments, as uncomfortable as they may be.
Karl Deninger, The Market Ticker: More Extortion by the Banks
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1597-More-Extortion-By-The-Banks.html
It would do my heart good if the Too Big To Fail Banks were broken up and Glass Steagall was reinstated with Sarbannes Oxley accounting rules enforced. The big money center banks are bringing ruin to this country without conscience, IMO.
Bill Fleckensein, MSN Money Central: Obama team ignores Volcker at its peril.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/obama-team-ignores-volcker-at-its-peril.aspx?OCID=eml_msnnl_6004.14.2.14&REFCD=emmsnnl_6004.14.2.14
There are very few things I like about the Federal Reserve, but Paul Volcker is one of them. In the 80s he took a very unpopular route toward raising interest rates in the face of runaway inflation to curb America’s runaway spending binge, and bring the economy into balance. It paid off, and largely due to his unpopular frugality the U.S. had a solid foundation from which it was able to enter a twenty year cycle of prosperity. Read on.
Here are a few stories to help you burn some calories as you gorge yourselves on the bounty of this Earth. If it pleases you, contact a congress person and support Auditting the Federal Reserve. Links to your reps on the right along with a handy dandy ready made letter for your empowerment and pleasure.
Fubsy
Randall Forsythe, The Wall Street journal via Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture: The Galley Slaves Aren’t Feeling It
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/the-galley-slaves-arent-feeling-it/
Excellent piece on the world of economics. Highly readable.
Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture: Treasury DKs Goldman/Fannie/BRK Tax Credit Scam.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/treasury-dks-goldmanfanniebrk-tax-credit-scam
Barry always gets it down cold. In this piece he goes after Goldman, and particularly Warren Buffet, and calls him out as not so much the good American that we are lead to believe he is. Great read. There is so much deceit going on relative to big money protecting their own ass at the expense of the American public and the overall health of the economy that I believe it is imperative for the public to wake up and become informed lest we arise one morning to the lack of a middle class.
George Washington, Zero Hedge: Senator Drogan: Modern Day Bank Robbers
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/senator-dorgan-we-essentially-have-had-modern-day-bank-robbers-and-theres-been-no-accountabi
Self-explanatory: The main issue for the United States losing civil liberties, IMO.
George Washington, Zero Hedge: Instead of Fixing the Economy or Creating Jobs for Americans, Obama will Spend the Money on Iraq and Afghanistan
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/instead-fixing-us-economy-or-creating-jobs-americans-obama-will-spend-money-afghanistan-and-
What are the policies of the White House aimed at fixing? Interesting perspective.
Karl Deninger, The Market Ticker: Health Care Farce Voted Up Last Night.
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1599-Health-Care-FARCE-Voted-Up-Last-Night.html
Interesting perspective on health care reform. I don’t agree with all of it, but recognize the logic in many of Karl’s arguments, as uncomfortable as they may be.
Karl Deninger, The Market Ticker: More Extortion by the Banks
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1597-More-Extortion-By-The-Banks.html
It would do my heart good if the Too Big To Fail Banks were broken up and Glass Steagall was reinstated with Sarbannes Oxley accounting rules enforced. The big money center banks are bringing ruin to this country without conscience, IMO.
Bill Fleckensein, MSN Money Central: Obama team ignores Volcker at its peril.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/obama-team-ignores-volcker-at-its-peril.aspx?OCID=eml_msnnl_6004.14.2.14&REFCD=emmsnnl_6004.14.2.14
There are very few things I like about the Federal Reserve, but Paul Volcker is one of them. In the 80s he took a very unpopular route toward raising interest rates in the face of runaway inflation to curb America’s runaway spending binge, and bring the economy into balance. It paid off, and largely due to his unpopular frugality the U.S. had a solid foundation from which it was able to enter a twenty year cycle of prosperity. Read on.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Is America Finally Standing up To Wall Street?
This from Zero Hedge. A look into the democratic party's increasing unease with the President's economic team. All I can say is it's about f'n time.
Is America Finally Starting to Stand Up To Wall Street?
Submitted by George Washington on 11/21/2009 00:09 -0500
→ Washington's Blog.
Are the American people finally starting to stand up to Wall Street?
Shareholder Revolt
Some of Goldman Sach's biggest shareholders are demanding that executive compensation be reduced. As the Wall Street Journal notes:
Their complaints in private conversations with the company and at analyst meetings show how anger over its big-money culture is spilling into the ranks of investors who typically shy away from debates over Wall Street pay.
Protests
There were the protests outside of the Bankers Association meeting in Chicago. See this, this, this, this, this and this.
If you don't think that more - bigger - protests are coming, you haven't been paying attention.
Debtor's Revolt
Debtors are revolting against exorbitant interest rates and fees and other aggressive tactics by the too big to fail banks. See this, this, and this.
Congresswoman Kaptur advises her constituents facing foreclosure to demand that the original mortgage papers be produced. She says that - if the bank can't produce the mortgage papers - then the homeowner can stay in the house.
Portfolio manager and investment advisor Marshall Auerback argues that a debtor's revolt would be a good thing.
And even popular personal finance advisor Suze Orman is highlighting the debtors revolt phenomenon on her national tv show.
Congress Is Starting to Get the Message
The American people are shouting so loud at their congress members and Senators, that even some of the most pro-Wall Street congressman are starting to get it.
For example, the Congressional Black Caucus has been hearing so much about how congress is failing to address the crisis of unemployment from their constituents, that the CBC delayed Barney Frank's proposed financial reform.
The House Financial Services Committee received so many phone calls from constituents that it approved the Ron Paul/Alan Grayson bill to audit the Fed and defeated the trojan horse alternate bill written by Mel Watt. Indeed, I have heard from congressional sources that the only calls to support the Watt alternate bill were from the Fed itself. And see this.
The Committee also approved Congressman Grayson's bill to rein in foreign currency swaps.
Both Geithner and Summers are coming under increasing pressure to resign due to their being in bed with Wall Street.
Even Bernanke's re-appointment is no longer certain.
And Obama's approval ratings have now dipped below 50%, largely due to his mishandling of the economic crisis.
As Congressman Peter DeFazio notes:
There were a lot of Democrats who were "upset and nervous with" the handling of the economy by the administration.
"It is pretty embarrassing for a Democratic administration and a Democratic Congress to be identified with total attention to Wall Street and nothing for Main Street and jobs," he said. "There are a lot of Democrats who... want to see something more effective done to create employment."
DeFazio insisted that President Obama and, by extension, the Democratic Party were hampered by Geithner's policies for economic recovery. He pointed to the inability of the administration to spur small business lending and the lack of effective TARP oversight as particularly egregious examples of mismanagement. More than anything else, the Oregon Democrat deemed it untenable for the president to continue employing his current economic team given the taint of Wall Street that clings to many of those advisers.
"I have had a number of people say to me, 'I feel the same way you do but I'm not going to say it.' People are worried it will rub off on the president who still enjoys popularity," he said. "I tell them I still support the president. I just think he is being poorly served by his economic team."
"The truth of the matter," DeFazio added, "is that we have not changed the way the money is being used. It is not being used for the purpose it was supposed to be used for. We are not creating jobs and we have not aggressively taken on the culture of Wall Street"...
One of his chief concerns was that the president appeared enamored with the lords of finance. "The administration has, thus far, not threaded the needle here," he said. "They have taken care of Wall Street but not the rest of the country."
Are the American people are finally starting to awaken?
We've been down this road before
Shown worse devils to the door
Throw off our chains of slavery
Now is the time to set ourselves free
And reclaim our liberty ...
They bought the politicians and the news
They've got all the weapons (which they like to use)
But they are few and we're billions strong
We are the giant ... been sleeping for too long
Time to wake up and sing our victory song
- The Voice
The elites hate to acknowledge it, but when large numbers of ordinary people are moved to action, it changes the narrow political world where the elites call the shots. Inside accounts reveal the extent to which Johnson and Nixon’s conduct of the Vietnam War was constrained by the huge anti-war movement. It was the civil rights movement, not compelling arguments, that convinced members of Congress to end legal racial discrimination.
- PhD Economist Dean Baker
Anger is a great force. If you control it, it can be transmuted into a power which can move the whole world.
- Sivananda
The power of an aroused public is unbeatable.
- Dr. Helen Caldicott
The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
-Ferdinand Foch
In times of danger large groups rise to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, courage and sacrifice . . . Mankind will be refashioned and history rewritten when this law is understood and obeyed.
-Helen Keller
You let one ant stand up to us - then they all might stand up. Those puny little ants outnumber us a 100 to one. And if they ever figure that out, there goes our way of life.
- Hopper (a grasshopper who is the leader of the gang of thugs who are stealing from the other bugs, speaking to fellow grasshoppers in the Disney/Pixar movie A Bug's Life)
Is America Finally Starting to Stand Up To Wall Street?
Submitted by George Washington on 11/21/2009 00:09 -0500
→ Washington's Blog.
Are the American people finally starting to stand up to Wall Street?
Shareholder Revolt
Some of Goldman Sach's biggest shareholders are demanding that executive compensation be reduced. As the Wall Street Journal notes:
Their complaints in private conversations with the company and at analyst meetings show how anger over its big-money culture is spilling into the ranks of investors who typically shy away from debates over Wall Street pay.
Protests
There were the protests outside of the Bankers Association meeting in Chicago. See this, this, this, this, this and this.
If you don't think that more - bigger - protests are coming, you haven't been paying attention.
Debtor's Revolt
Debtors are revolting against exorbitant interest rates and fees and other aggressive tactics by the too big to fail banks. See this, this, and this.
Congresswoman Kaptur advises her constituents facing foreclosure to demand that the original mortgage papers be produced. She says that - if the bank can't produce the mortgage papers - then the homeowner can stay in the house.
Portfolio manager and investment advisor Marshall Auerback argues that a debtor's revolt would be a good thing.
And even popular personal finance advisor Suze Orman is highlighting the debtors revolt phenomenon on her national tv show.
Congress Is Starting to Get the Message
The American people are shouting so loud at their congress members and Senators, that even some of the most pro-Wall Street congressman are starting to get it.
For example, the Congressional Black Caucus has been hearing so much about how congress is failing to address the crisis of unemployment from their constituents, that the CBC delayed Barney Frank's proposed financial reform.
The House Financial Services Committee received so many phone calls from constituents that it approved the Ron Paul/Alan Grayson bill to audit the Fed and defeated the trojan horse alternate bill written by Mel Watt. Indeed, I have heard from congressional sources that the only calls to support the Watt alternate bill were from the Fed itself. And see this.
The Committee also approved Congressman Grayson's bill to rein in foreign currency swaps.
Both Geithner and Summers are coming under increasing pressure to resign due to their being in bed with Wall Street.
Even Bernanke's re-appointment is no longer certain.
And Obama's approval ratings have now dipped below 50%, largely due to his mishandling of the economic crisis.
As Congressman Peter DeFazio notes:
There were a lot of Democrats who were "upset and nervous with" the handling of the economy by the administration.
"It is pretty embarrassing for a Democratic administration and a Democratic Congress to be identified with total attention to Wall Street and nothing for Main Street and jobs," he said. "There are a lot of Democrats who... want to see something more effective done to create employment."
DeFazio insisted that President Obama and, by extension, the Democratic Party were hampered by Geithner's policies for economic recovery. He pointed to the inability of the administration to spur small business lending and the lack of effective TARP oversight as particularly egregious examples of mismanagement. More than anything else, the Oregon Democrat deemed it untenable for the president to continue employing his current economic team given the taint of Wall Street that clings to many of those advisers.
"I have had a number of people say to me, 'I feel the same way you do but I'm not going to say it.' People are worried it will rub off on the president who still enjoys popularity," he said. "I tell them I still support the president. I just think he is being poorly served by his economic team."
"The truth of the matter," DeFazio added, "is that we have not changed the way the money is being used. It is not being used for the purpose it was supposed to be used for. We are not creating jobs and we have not aggressively taken on the culture of Wall Street"...
One of his chief concerns was that the president appeared enamored with the lords of finance. "The administration has, thus far, not threaded the needle here," he said. "They have taken care of Wall Street but not the rest of the country."
Are the American people are finally starting to awaken?
We've been down this road before
Shown worse devils to the door
Throw off our chains of slavery
Now is the time to set ourselves free
And reclaim our liberty ...
They bought the politicians and the news
They've got all the weapons (which they like to use)
But they are few and we're billions strong
We are the giant ... been sleeping for too long
Time to wake up and sing our victory song
- The Voice
The elites hate to acknowledge it, but when large numbers of ordinary people are moved to action, it changes the narrow political world where the elites call the shots. Inside accounts reveal the extent to which Johnson and Nixon’s conduct of the Vietnam War was constrained by the huge anti-war movement. It was the civil rights movement, not compelling arguments, that convinced members of Congress to end legal racial discrimination.
- PhD Economist Dean Baker
Anger is a great force. If you control it, it can be transmuted into a power which can move the whole world.
- Sivananda
The power of an aroused public is unbeatable.
- Dr. Helen Caldicott
The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
-Ferdinand Foch
In times of danger large groups rise to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, courage and sacrifice . . . Mankind will be refashioned and history rewritten when this law is understood and obeyed.
-Helen Keller
You let one ant stand up to us - then they all might stand up. Those puny little ants outnumber us a 100 to one. And if they ever figure that out, there goes our way of life.
- Hopper (a grasshopper who is the leader of the gang of thugs who are stealing from the other bugs, speaking to fellow grasshoppers in the Disney/Pixar movie A Bug's Life)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Shorting the Long Term US Treasury (TLT)
Hey Folks,
I've been watching TLT (long term US treasury)and TBT (double short long term treasury) for awhile. I bought a couple hundred shares of TBT today for a couple reasons.
1) The 200, 50 and 20 day averages are all now sloping downward signifying a strong case for a bear market in this asset class.
2) TLT has bounced for a few days and is coming up against the 20 day average, which has rebuffed it twice since the averages bgan their unified downward slope. I think there are good odds it will continue to do that for the time being.
3) If I'm wrong, my stop loss is less than 1% away on TLT (94.80) which would be 2% loss on TBT (or appx 1/4% to my account). On the reward side TLT could easily drop 5% from here, which allows me a 5 to 1 reqard to risk ratio. A lovely set up.
I will add to the position if TLT forms a swing day high, which it could be setting up for. Notice how it went higher today than it has in it's current up swing. If it were to close right now, the low would be 93.48. If it closed lower than that in the next couple days without breaking today's high, it tells me that demand is drying up, and supply is increasing. A good time to short, with an easy stop above the 20 day average.
Here's the chart.
Shorting the above (TLT) buying TBT (double short TLT)
Fubsy
I've been watching TLT (long term US treasury)and TBT (double short long term treasury) for awhile. I bought a couple hundred shares of TBT today for a couple reasons.
1) The 200, 50 and 20 day averages are all now sloping downward signifying a strong case for a bear market in this asset class.
2) TLT has bounced for a few days and is coming up against the 20 day average, which has rebuffed it twice since the averages bgan their unified downward slope. I think there are good odds it will continue to do that for the time being.
3) If I'm wrong, my stop loss is less than 1% away on TLT (94.80) which would be 2% loss on TBT (or appx 1/4% to my account). On the reward side TLT could easily drop 5% from here, which allows me a 5 to 1 reqard to risk ratio. A lovely set up.
I will add to the position if TLT forms a swing day high, which it could be setting up for. Notice how it went higher today than it has in it's current up swing. If it were to close right now, the low would be 93.48. If it closed lower than that in the next couple days without breaking today's high, it tells me that demand is drying up, and supply is increasing. A good time to short, with an easy stop above the 20 day average.
Here's the chart.
Shorting the above (TLT) buying TBT (double short TLT)
Fubsy
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Gold...the King
I love that most of the people I speak to who are involved in the investment world think Gold is too expensive. That tells me there is a ways to go before we have our first intermediate top of this pulse upward. Looking at the chart below, you can see that gold has repeated the same cycle four times in its almost ten year old secular bull market. A break above it's previous high, followed by an appx 15% move upward, followed by a brief 4 to 8 week consolidation period, followed by another equal pulse upward (appx 15%) before having a more significant correction, only to repeat all over again. With this pattern in mind, I'm guessing we have a few months left before gold begins it's significant consolidation phase, which would be the end of the intermediate rally, but not the end of the bull. As I've said before, secular bulls end one way...with the public becoming euphoric, and thus, irrational about the prospects of riches to be had by the asset in question. This drives the price to ridiculous levels, and convinces the masses that it will never again go down.
How many of you own gold? How many of you have dumped everything you own to buy gold? I bet no one is nodding yes at this point. My guess is that when your friends and family are all starting businesses buying jewelry, and there are multi-level marketing positions open for you to join businesses to do just that, the top will be near, and you should be selling everything you own that is gold to buy land. That is at least a oouple of these rinse repeat cycles away in my opinion.
Anyway, here is the chart.
I continue to add to positons in GLD, SLV and GDX. Do not do this because I am. Speak to a financial professional if you are considering investing in gold, and speak to them about your goals, and risk tolerance.
I reserve the right to be wrong 50% of the time. Prioritizing risk management makes that level of accuracy profitable.
Fubsy
How many of you own gold? How many of you have dumped everything you own to buy gold? I bet no one is nodding yes at this point. My guess is that when your friends and family are all starting businesses buying jewelry, and there are multi-level marketing positions open for you to join businesses to do just that, the top will be near, and you should be selling everything you own that is gold to buy land. That is at least a oouple of these rinse repeat cycles away in my opinion.
Anyway, here is the chart.
I continue to add to positons in GLD, SLV and GDX. Do not do this because I am. Speak to a financial professional if you are considering investing in gold, and speak to them about your goals, and risk tolerance.
I reserve the right to be wrong 50% of the time. Prioritizing risk management makes that level of accuracy profitable.
Fubsy
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Another Awesome Story by Matt Taibbi
Ok. For the past couple weeks I've been thinking I need to give more focus to the infuriating goings on at Goldman Sachs, the investment bank that basically staffs the federal reserve, and consequently, takes a significant slice of the trillion dollar pie per year. What does GS doe with all this generosity by the taxpayer via the Fed? Do they payt their taxes? Nah, not really. Do they contribute to charities, non profits, or many of the other pssible means of giving back to common man? Nope. They pretty much take every liberty they can to profit off the loss of public wealth, and continue to push the envelope for more. Goldman is the poster child of greed, and avarice, and they act as though they can get away with murder. Hmmm, can they Check out Matt's latest piece.
Fubsy
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/30481512/wall_streets_naked_swindle
Fubsy
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/30481512/wall_streets_naked_swindle
Weekly Links
As usual, there are some juicy articles to read this weekened. The theme this week doesn;t stray too far from the banking industry and current monetary policy. I don't know about you, but it gets my blood boiling. I have written and phoned congressional reps twice this week. How about you. The letter is in the right hand column, and contact info for your reps is right above it. If you're so inclined.
Fubsy
Bill Fleckensein, MSN Money Central: Obama team ignores Volcker at its peril.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/obama-team-ignores-volcker-at-its-peril.aspx?OCID=eml_msnnl_6004.14.2.14&REFCD=emmsnnl_6004.14.2.14
There are very few things I like about the Federal Reserve, but Paul Volcker is one of them. In the 80s he took a very unpopular route toward raising interest rates in the face of runaway inflation to curb America’s runaway spending binge, and bring the economy into balance. It paid off, and largely due to his unpopular frugality the U.S. had a solid foundation from which it was able to enter a twenty year cycle of prosperity. Read on.
Mish Shedlock, Global Economic Trend Analysis: Janet Tavakoli on Financial Meth Labs
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/janet-tavakoli-on-financial-meth-labs.html
Astute, straight shooting commentary on government and federal reserve response to the credit crisis.
Steve Seville, 321Gold: Bank Reserves and Inflation
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/saville/saville110309.html
Interesting chart and sensible article. I posted it because the numbers are staggering.
Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism: Trouble Ahead: Can the Right Seize the Banking Reform Issue in 2010?
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/11/trouble-ahead-can-the-right-seize-the-banking-reform-issue-in-2010.html
This captures the importance of the issue of financial reform and projects some outcomes of the misguided attempts to avoid the hard, but effective solutions.
Ron Paul, Forbes.com: Be Prepared for the Worst
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/1116/opinions-great-depression-economy-on-my-mind.html
I wish Ron Paul presented less like a whack job, because I think he was the best presidential candidate to actually reform the financial system, which in my opinion is the cornerstone to the health of our future. Unlike Obama who touts change and supports the status quo, Paul actually walks the walk. He’s just so damn kooky.
John Browne, 321Gold: Boeasting of Glory
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/browne/browne110509.html
commentary on the government and media glee over the end of the recession. What are the drivers behind our economies tepid, and fragile growth? And why should we be skeptical?
Floyd Norris, The Big Picture: The Worst Idea of 2009
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/browne/browne110509.html
Not sure I agree with the title as there have been so many bad ideas in 2009, but I would likely put this one in top 20 if I had them all before me. This is one of many infuriating instances of disregard of duty to taxpayers by a bank (In this case Goldman Sachs, the king of the bullies) who would not exist if not for taxpayer bailouts. I’m tempted to drop an F-Bomb Here.
Mark Dowie, Whiskey and Gunpowder:Urban Farming In Detroit and Big Cities….
http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/urban-farming-in-detroit-and-big-cities-back-to-small-towns-and-agriculture
Perhaps a positive paradigm shift in the making toward more localized economies. Any Mo-Town entrepreneurial green thumbs out there? Kid Rock...Kid Rock, anyone, Kid Rock, anyone?
Fubsy
Bill Fleckensein, MSN Money Central: Obama team ignores Volcker at its peril.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/obama-team-ignores-volcker-at-its-peril.aspx?OCID=eml_msnnl_6004.14.2.14&REFCD=emmsnnl_6004.14.2.14
There are very few things I like about the Federal Reserve, but Paul Volcker is one of them. In the 80s he took a very unpopular route toward raising interest rates in the face of runaway inflation to curb America’s runaway spending binge, and bring the economy into balance. It paid off, and largely due to his unpopular frugality the U.S. had a solid foundation from which it was able to enter a twenty year cycle of prosperity. Read on.
Mish Shedlock, Global Economic Trend Analysis: Janet Tavakoli on Financial Meth Labs
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/janet-tavakoli-on-financial-meth-labs.html
Astute, straight shooting commentary on government and federal reserve response to the credit crisis.
Steve Seville, 321Gold: Bank Reserves and Inflation
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/saville/saville110309.html
Interesting chart and sensible article. I posted it because the numbers are staggering.
Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism: Trouble Ahead: Can the Right Seize the Banking Reform Issue in 2010?
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/11/trouble-ahead-can-the-right-seize-the-banking-reform-issue-in-2010.html
This captures the importance of the issue of financial reform and projects some outcomes of the misguided attempts to avoid the hard, but effective solutions.
Ron Paul, Forbes.com: Be Prepared for the Worst
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/1116/opinions-great-depression-economy-on-my-mind.html
I wish Ron Paul presented less like a whack job, because I think he was the best presidential candidate to actually reform the financial system, which in my opinion is the cornerstone to the health of our future. Unlike Obama who touts change and supports the status quo, Paul actually walks the walk. He’s just so damn kooky.
John Browne, 321Gold: Boeasting of Glory
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/browne/browne110509.html
commentary on the government and media glee over the end of the recession. What are the drivers behind our economies tepid, and fragile growth? And why should we be skeptical?
Floyd Norris, The Big Picture: The Worst Idea of 2009
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/browne/browne110509.html
Not sure I agree with the title as there have been so many bad ideas in 2009, but I would likely put this one in top 20 if I had them all before me. This is one of many infuriating instances of disregard of duty to taxpayers by a bank (In this case Goldman Sachs, the king of the bullies) who would not exist if not for taxpayer bailouts. I’m tempted to drop an F-Bomb Here.
Mark Dowie, Whiskey and Gunpowder:Urban Farming In Detroit and Big Cities….
http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/urban-farming-in-detroit-and-big-cities-back-to-small-towns-and-agriculture
Perhaps a positive paradigm shift in the making toward more localized economies. Any Mo-Town entrepreneurial green thumbs out there? Kid Rock...Kid Rock, anyone, Kid Rock, anyone?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Federal Reserve/Goldman Sachs and the Taxpayer
The one on your left is the Fed/GS, the one on your right is the taxpayer.
Stop it, stop it, oh, this hurts.....ahahahahhhahahahahaha
Stop it, stop it, oh, this hurts.....ahahahahhhahahahahaha
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Why are we asking the banks to increase lending?
In response to....
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/stiglitz-u-s-paying-for-not-nationalizing-banks/
I wrote....
Barry et al,
I for one, am relieved the banks aren't increasing lending. Our public and private sectors are carrying overwhelming debt loads. When the banks increase lending, not only will our debt loads swell further, but we will feel the pain of real inflation as the excess money supply created by Federal Reserve actually hits the economy instead of sitting in the vaults of the banks. I believe the banks refusal to lend is one of the few things they have done to benefit this nation (albeit selfishly).
It is a symptom of the ignorance of government representatives that is fueling Obama and congress to insist that banks increase lending. We are a consumption addicted society and are in the process of cleansing that addiction. Unfortunately, the political powers that be (who are largely influenced by private concerns) are not willing to tolerate the pain that will come with rehabilitation from addictive spending. Consequently, it is my belief that unless this paradigm shifts, we as a nation are destined for further destruction of the freedoms we have taken for granted as we become further enslaved to debt.
IMO, nationalization of the banks would have been a critical error, which would have put too much control in the hands of a bumbling federal government and devious federal reserve. Rather, banks should have been allowed to fail, with well managed and well capitalized financial institutions allowed to bid for their assets, and those assets going to the highest bidder with no government assitance. We would likely have had several years of contracting economic production, but we would have had an opportunity to come out on the other end as a more cautious, ethical, and strong nation with reasonable fiscal practices.
People seem to be willing to do anything to avoid recession, and god forbid, depression. In my mind, stimulus aimed at avoiding a contracting economy is the elixir that will drive us to the devastating consequences of holding debt that we cannot pay off without monetizing it (printing enough money to pay our obligations) which will destroy the value of the dollar, and the middle class along with it. A nation's people cannot live the life of excess without having to feel the pain of contraction at some point. The longer we delay contraction in our economy, the greater will be the eventual financial reckoning.
Fubsy
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/stiglitz-u-s-paying-for-not-nationalizing-banks/
I wrote....
Barry et al,
I for one, am relieved the banks aren't increasing lending. Our public and private sectors are carrying overwhelming debt loads. When the banks increase lending, not only will our debt loads swell further, but we will feel the pain of real inflation as the excess money supply created by Federal Reserve actually hits the economy instead of sitting in the vaults of the banks. I believe the banks refusal to lend is one of the few things they have done to benefit this nation (albeit selfishly).
It is a symptom of the ignorance of government representatives that is fueling Obama and congress to insist that banks increase lending. We are a consumption addicted society and are in the process of cleansing that addiction. Unfortunately, the political powers that be (who are largely influenced by private concerns) are not willing to tolerate the pain that will come with rehabilitation from addictive spending. Consequently, it is my belief that unless this paradigm shifts, we as a nation are destined for further destruction of the freedoms we have taken for granted as we become further enslaved to debt.
IMO, nationalization of the banks would have been a critical error, which would have put too much control in the hands of a bumbling federal government and devious federal reserve. Rather, banks should have been allowed to fail, with well managed and well capitalized financial institutions allowed to bid for their assets, and those assets going to the highest bidder with no government assitance. We would likely have had several years of contracting economic production, but we would have had an opportunity to come out on the other end as a more cautious, ethical, and strong nation with reasonable fiscal practices.
People seem to be willing to do anything to avoid recession, and god forbid, depression. In my mind, stimulus aimed at avoiding a contracting economy is the elixir that will drive us to the devastating consequences of holding debt that we cannot pay off without monetizing it (printing enough money to pay our obligations) which will destroy the value of the dollar, and the middle class along with it. A nation's people cannot live the life of excess without having to feel the pain of contraction at some point. The longer we delay contraction in our economy, the greater will be the eventual financial reckoning.
Fubsy
Monday, November 2, 2009
Why Keep Geithner?
From The Big Picture, this from Dylan Ratigan on the sham that is Timothy Geithner, Barack Obama's appointed Secty of the Treasury. In my opinion, possibly the most hideous scoundrel in government today. He is Obama's Karl Rove. Except rather than create a war on terror, Geithner creates a war on the taxpayer through covert actions that reward bankers for heinous risk taking by rescuing them from failure via funds provided by the taxpayer w/o the taxpayer's consent. Read on....
Dylan Ratigan hosts the show Morning Meeting with Dylan Ratigan, which airs weekday mornings from 9 to 11 A.M. ET. Ratigan was most recently anchor and co-creator of CNBC’s Fast Money, co-anchor of CNBC’s Closing Bell, and has also been a regular contributor to MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Prior to joining CNBC, Ratigan served as a Global Managing Editor at Bloomberg News until March 2003.
~~~
A year ago it was revealed to the American people that our banking system was a legalized Ponzi scheme in which bank and insurance CEOs paid themselves billions of dollars in personal compensation to lend and insure assets with money they didn’t have to customers who couldn’t pay back the loans.
In those dark days between the fall of Lehman Brothers and before the presidential election, we were often carried through that time by the small glimmer of hope in that at least we would soon have a new leader who would hopefully fix this mess and punish those responsible.
Yet in the past 9 months, not only has the administration not fixed anything, they have made things much worse for anyone who isn’t a Wall Street banker. Therefore, we are past the point where anyone in power still gets the benefit of the doubt and the process of taking back our country for all citizens must begin now.
This is why I think we must ask if U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is still the right person for the job. It has become clear recently that back in his previous role as New York Federal Reserve Governor, he unnecessarily gave billions of dollars of US tax money to banks and insurance companies with few strings attached. And it is now becoming clear that his lack of meaningful action is helping many of these same banks steal more by legalizing their most economically dangerous, socially destructive and self-enriching practices.
Yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Secretary Geithner again endorsed House bank reform legislation that would allow, by my calculations, as much as 80%, or $475 trillion, of the bank’s $600 trillion in crooked insurance schemes to still be held in secret. It was and is the secret risks held in this very market that led to our collapse in the first place and continue to pose massive future risk to the global economy.
He also continued to employ the bankers’ favorite, and most ludicrous, lie : that the taxpayer must somehow continue to pay executives at companies like AIG ungodly sums of money under the threat that if we don’t, somehow the taxpayer will never make their money back. Well let me tell you something, the taxpayer and our nation, will never get back the lost wealth taken under these false circumstances and this colossal breach of fiduciary duty. The idea that we must somehow perpetuate this system with our tax money and the future wealth of our children goes against the very American ideal of failure, adaptation and innovation, not to mention of our democracy.
Also last week, the Treasury Secretary endorsed a piece of legislation that instead of stopping a select few companies from profiting from the implicit taxpayer-guarantee of Too Big Too Fail seeks to officially condone it. If the most prized skill in our society economically is a competition to see who can lend and insure the most money without consequences, you have doomed our nation’s people to lose everything in the world’s largest ever betting parlor; and that is precisely the system this Treasury Secretary — Tim Geithner — is seeking to legalize in America today.
However, the smoking gun for Secretary Geithner comes from a recent Bloomberg FOIA disclosure regarding events from last November. It was then that New York Federal Reserve Governor Tim Geithner decided to deliver 100 cents on the dollar, in secret no less, to pay off the counter parties to the world’s largest (and still un-investigated) insurance fraud — AIG. This full payoff with taxpayer dollars was carried out by Geithner after AIG’s bank customers, such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale, had already previously agreed to taking as little as 40 cents on the dollar. Even after the GM autoworkers, bondholders and vendors all received a government-enforced haircut on their contracts, he still had the audacity to claim the “sanctity of contracts” in the dealings with these companies like AIG.
None of us were in the rooms when these decisions were made, so I don’t pretend to know if Mr. Geithner was the one lone, sane voice of reason fighting against mysterious forces or the primary proponent. However, I fail to see the reasoning for why we continue to rely on those who were in the room when these horrendous decisions took place to be the same people that we choose to deal with their aftermath. There are just certain situations that are not suited for continuity. The best analogy I can think of is that it would be like asking Al Cowlings to spearhead the Nicole Brown Simpson murder investigation under the premise that he knows the layout and the “players” best.
The fact is that there are people who understand all of the intricacies of finance and policy as well as Secretary Geithner, but whose allegiances to the taxpayer are much clearer. People like Elizabeth Warren, Neil Barofsky, Rob Johnson, and Senator Maria Cantwell just to name a few.
To stop the theft from continuing, it requires that the most basic rules of capitalism be applied to our banks and that our future national wealth be safeguarded by the US Government. The current custodian of America’s wealth, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, is not doing a good job of either. The time for corrective action is now.
Follow Dylan Ratigan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DylanRatigan
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-ratigan/why-keep-geithner_b_341908.html
Dylan Ratigan hosts the show Morning Meeting with Dylan Ratigan, which airs weekday mornings from 9 to 11 A.M. ET. Ratigan was most recently anchor and co-creator of CNBC’s Fast Money, co-anchor of CNBC’s Closing Bell, and has also been a regular contributor to MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Prior to joining CNBC, Ratigan served as a Global Managing Editor at Bloomberg News until March 2003.
~~~
A year ago it was revealed to the American people that our banking system was a legalized Ponzi scheme in which bank and insurance CEOs paid themselves billions of dollars in personal compensation to lend and insure assets with money they didn’t have to customers who couldn’t pay back the loans.
In those dark days between the fall of Lehman Brothers and before the presidential election, we were often carried through that time by the small glimmer of hope in that at least we would soon have a new leader who would hopefully fix this mess and punish those responsible.
Yet in the past 9 months, not only has the administration not fixed anything, they have made things much worse for anyone who isn’t a Wall Street banker. Therefore, we are past the point where anyone in power still gets the benefit of the doubt and the process of taking back our country for all citizens must begin now.
This is why I think we must ask if U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is still the right person for the job. It has become clear recently that back in his previous role as New York Federal Reserve Governor, he unnecessarily gave billions of dollars of US tax money to banks and insurance companies with few strings attached. And it is now becoming clear that his lack of meaningful action is helping many of these same banks steal more by legalizing their most economically dangerous, socially destructive and self-enriching practices.
Yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Secretary Geithner again endorsed House bank reform legislation that would allow, by my calculations, as much as 80%, or $475 trillion, of the bank’s $600 trillion in crooked insurance schemes to still be held in secret. It was and is the secret risks held in this very market that led to our collapse in the first place and continue to pose massive future risk to the global economy.
He also continued to employ the bankers’ favorite, and most ludicrous, lie : that the taxpayer must somehow continue to pay executives at companies like AIG ungodly sums of money under the threat that if we don’t, somehow the taxpayer will never make their money back. Well let me tell you something, the taxpayer and our nation, will never get back the lost wealth taken under these false circumstances and this colossal breach of fiduciary duty. The idea that we must somehow perpetuate this system with our tax money and the future wealth of our children goes against the very American ideal of failure, adaptation and innovation, not to mention of our democracy.
Also last week, the Treasury Secretary endorsed a piece of legislation that instead of stopping a select few companies from profiting from the implicit taxpayer-guarantee of Too Big Too Fail seeks to officially condone it. If the most prized skill in our society economically is a competition to see who can lend and insure the most money without consequences, you have doomed our nation’s people to lose everything in the world’s largest ever betting parlor; and that is precisely the system this Treasury Secretary — Tim Geithner — is seeking to legalize in America today.
However, the smoking gun for Secretary Geithner comes from a recent Bloomberg FOIA disclosure regarding events from last November. It was then that New York Federal Reserve Governor Tim Geithner decided to deliver 100 cents on the dollar, in secret no less, to pay off the counter parties to the world’s largest (and still un-investigated) insurance fraud — AIG. This full payoff with taxpayer dollars was carried out by Geithner after AIG’s bank customers, such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale, had already previously agreed to taking as little as 40 cents on the dollar. Even after the GM autoworkers, bondholders and vendors all received a government-enforced haircut on their contracts, he still had the audacity to claim the “sanctity of contracts” in the dealings with these companies like AIG.
None of us were in the rooms when these decisions were made, so I don’t pretend to know if Mr. Geithner was the one lone, sane voice of reason fighting against mysterious forces or the primary proponent. However, I fail to see the reasoning for why we continue to rely on those who were in the room when these horrendous decisions took place to be the same people that we choose to deal with their aftermath. There are just certain situations that are not suited for continuity. The best analogy I can think of is that it would be like asking Al Cowlings to spearhead the Nicole Brown Simpson murder investigation under the premise that he knows the layout and the “players” best.
The fact is that there are people who understand all of the intricacies of finance and policy as well as Secretary Geithner, but whose allegiances to the taxpayer are much clearer. People like Elizabeth Warren, Neil Barofsky, Rob Johnson, and Senator Maria Cantwell just to name a few.
To stop the theft from continuing, it requires that the most basic rules of capitalism be applied to our banks and that our future national wealth be safeguarded by the US Government. The current custodian of America’s wealth, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, is not doing a good job of either. The time for corrective action is now.
Follow Dylan Ratigan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DylanRatigan
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-ratigan/why-keep-geithner_b_341908.html
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Weekly Links
*For some reason links are not working. Please copy and paste the url into your browser to link to the articles below. Thanks!!
Dan D, The Fundamental View: Audit the Federal Reserve-Update
http://thefundamentalview.blogspot.com/2009/11/audit-federal-reserve-update.html
I see this as the single most important issue in our country today. Yhe Federal Reserve controls the monetary policy of our nation, and has no regulatory body overseeing how the money is spent. This is a good intro into the issue, and its current status.
From The Big Picture, a video on Bloomberg with Josh Rosner who gives his perspective on the House Financial Appropriations Committee bill that would serve to put the moentary onus of responsibility on small and medium sized banks and hedge funds when "Too big to fail" financial institutions like Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells etc do fail. Please watch...link below.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/josh-rosners-tv-rant-on-tbtf/
Peter Shiff, 321Gold: Hair of the Dog
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/schiff/schiff103009.html
Commentary on stimulus spending as it contributes to the repeating economic cycle of spend, contract, spend more, contract more, spend even more…..
Mish Shedlock, Global Economic Trend Analysis: Obama Creates 640,000 jobs at a cost of 324,000 per job.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-creates-640329-jobs-at-cost-of.html
This seems like an efficient use of taxpayer funds. I'd laugh if I didn't find our current state of government to be pathetic and disturbing. But I must admit there is comedy in this downfall. And it is a downfall. Unfortunately, we have not seen the worst of the economic contraction.
Karl Deninger, The Market Ticker: Doing the Same THing Over and Over..War
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1563-Doing-The-Same-Thing-Over-And-Over-War.html
Another example of how our current administration more closely resembles the last one than not.
Dan D, The Fundamental View: Audit the Federal Reserve-Update
http://thefundamentalview.blogspot.com/2009/11/audit-federal-reserve-update.html
I see this as the single most important issue in our country today. Yhe Federal Reserve controls the monetary policy of our nation, and has no regulatory body overseeing how the money is spent. This is a good intro into the issue, and its current status.
From The Big Picture, a video on Bloomberg with Josh Rosner who gives his perspective on the House Financial Appropriations Committee bill that would serve to put the moentary onus of responsibility on small and medium sized banks and hedge funds when "Too big to fail" financial institutions like Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells etc do fail. Please watch...link below.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/josh-rosners-tv-rant-on-tbtf/
Peter Shiff, 321Gold: Hair of the Dog
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/schiff/schiff103009.html
Commentary on stimulus spending as it contributes to the repeating economic cycle of spend, contract, spend more, contract more, spend even more…..
Mish Shedlock, Global Economic Trend Analysis: Obama Creates 640,000 jobs at a cost of 324,000 per job.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-creates-640329-jobs-at-cost-of.html
This seems like an efficient use of taxpayer funds. I'd laugh if I didn't find our current state of government to be pathetic and disturbing. But I must admit there is comedy in this downfall. And it is a downfall. Unfortunately, we have not seen the worst of the economic contraction.
Karl Deninger, The Market Ticker: Doing the Same THing Over and Over..War
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1563-Doing-The-Same-Thing-Over-And-Over-War.html
Another example of how our current administration more closely resembles the last one than not.
Tomgram: Matt Bivens, Pox Americana
Tomgram: Matt Bivens, Pox Americana
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Tomgram: Matt Bivens, Pox Americana
With up to 61% of Americans, according to a recent poll, convinced that things are going badly indeed in Afghanistan and an official 9.8% of Americans unemployed, Congress is set to respond. This week, it's slated to pass a $636 billion appropriations bill for the Pentagon that will include another $128 billion for our Afghan and Iraq Wars. Meanwhile, the president and his advisors are about to consider the latest plan by our Afghan War commander, General Stanley McChrystal, to gainfully employ up to 40,000 more Americans in Afghanistan.
By the way, as in the Bush years, all dollar figures associated with the Pentagon budget and our wars should be considered underestimates. Various military expenses like the upkeep of our nuclear arsenal aren't even in that budget. Depending on who is doing the figuring, estimates of all U.S. defense-related expenditures -- and this first budget of the Obama era is already larger than the last monster one from the Bush era -- can run upwards of a trillion dollars. As for the war expenses, they invariably prove short of the mark and end up having to be supplemented.
When it comes to the Afghan War, this is practically guaranteed. Being prosecuted many thousands of miles from home over long, often embattled, supply lines, it is proving staggeringly expensive. According to one recent estimate, for instance, it costs more than $750,000 a year simply to keep a single U.S. soldier in the field, while the cost of delivering a single gallon of gas to the war zone is estimated at up to $100.
And then, don't forget the Afghan army. Its U.S.-NATO upgrade program is already costing an estimated $8 billion a year and is clearly about to be expanded by the Obama administration. As the Afghan government is essentially poverty-stricken, that means its army is going to be U.S. property for years to come.
Consider this a small introduction to TomDispatch newcomer Matt Bivens's striking analysis of American investment practices. Tom
Follow the Money
Cure Millions of Leprosy -- or Just Give Hank Paulson a Tax Break?
By Matt Bivens
There are many possible responses to the news that we have committed more than four trillion public dollars to Wall Street.
Mine is a roar of admiration.
Four trillion dollars! Holy hell! I didn't even know that was possible!
U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
After all, the cost of World War II in inflation-adjusted dollars was $4 trillion. This bailout thing is just getting started, and already we've burned through that.
Without even noticing.
Certainly without rationing sugar or collecting scrap rubber or any of that nonsense.
Who's the Greatest Generation now, baby?
Admit it. You feel it too. Just imagine someone snatching your laptop off a table and throwing it, Olympic-discus style, hundreds... and hundreds... and hundreds of feet. Sure, you'd be upset (and stuck with the bill). But however briefly, you'd feel admiration for the physical feat: Look at that thing fly!
So it goes with our bailouts, wild tax cuts, and war budgets. The money in play is staggering, but everyone acts like that's something to mope about. Where's the excitement?
Often, after reading an incomprehensible dollar figure, I'll Google "What does a trillion dollars look like?" to get myself fired up. One example of where this takes you shows a million dollars (pathetic, wouldn't fill a grocery bag), a billion (interesting, I could fit it in a truck), and then a trillion. (Wow, it spreads for acres! Look at that tiny human included for scale!)
It turns out that the United States can pick up that sort of weight and just smash it down on whatever the hell we want. Like Optimus Prime with giant square green paper fists. Slam! Slam!
Yet we've committed not one trillion dollars to the incompetent and/or corrupt, but more than four trillion dollars. That's according to a report to Congress from special inspector general Neil Barofsky, the overseer of the bank bailout program.
Technically, Barofsky adds, Wall Street's IOU to you and me is at about three trillion dollars these days, since some of it's been paid back. Relieved? Don't be. As these tsunamis of public wealth pour out, ignore the slosh and focus on the order of magnitude. The entire Gross Domestic Product -- the number reflecting all wealth generated in this nation for this year -- is only $14.1 trillion. So whether the sum of our money that's now their money is $3 trillion (1/5th of all wealth generated in America in a year) or $4.7 trillion (1/3rd of all wealth generated in America in a year), it still means that, for a big chunk of the year, every single one of us was working for Goldman Sachs et al.
Barofsky's report also suggests that Wall Street's tab might ultimately work out to $24 trillion, which would be $80,000 per American, or $320,000 for a family of four. But that's, like, totally the worst-case scenario. (Still, wouldn't it be impressive? I envision huge, five-foot-cubed, shrink-wrapped pallets of dollars dropping from the sky onto my neighborhood, smashing houses, crushing cars, killing beloved pets, blasting craters into asphalt streets. Yeah!)
Smallpox and Bikinis
And yet could we employ this financial muscle in a more constructive way?
For an illuminating example, consider how we dealt with smallpox. That airborne virus, with its fevers reaching 106 F and signature pus-filled skin eruptions, was the greatest killer of man ever known.
In the 20th century, smallpox killed more people than all of that bloody century's wars combined.
In fact, if you tally the worldwide death tolls for World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Iran-Iraq war and the Mexican Revolution, the civil wars in China and Russia and Spain, and all the other wars of the last century, from Afghanistan to Zaire, the total is less than one-third of the smallpox death toll.
And that's just a single 100-year period, for a disease that disfigured Egyptian pharaohs, allied with Hernando Cortes to rout the Aztecs, left a young George Washington scarred, later stalked his Continental Army, and left Abraham Lincoln pale, weak, and dizzy as he delivered his Gettysburg Address.
And yet, in the 1960s, smallpox was targeted by visionary public health experts -- and in just 10 years it was gone. An excellent new book by D.A. Henderson, the doctor who led the effort, tells the story: Smallpox: The Death of a Disease.
This was a signature achievement, up there with defeating the Nazis or walking on the moon. To track down a virus in every corner of the planet, encircle it with vaccinations and kill it… I began to wonder how many five-foot-cubed pallets of Benjamins the world had brought to bear. After all, this was mankind's greatest killer -- the Joker to our Batman, Lex Luthor to our Superman. The amounts of cash flung about must have been awe-inspiring.
Chasing down the cost of the 10-year eradication campaign was not easy. Eventually, Dr. Henderson himself steered me to a 1,450-page official history of smallpox maintained as a PDF in a sleepy corner of the website of the World Health Organization (WHO). The answer, hidden away on page 1,366: $300 million.
Three hundred million?
Not trillion? Not even billion?
Such a tiny sum of money for such a tremendous feat? It's like hitting a home run at Fenway Park using a chopstick for a bat.
The price paid to defeat humanity's greatest foe wouldn't cover a 24-hour day of Iraqi combat operations. In Wall Street bailout terms, there's no way to even talk about sums this tiny. To do that, we have to go the level of overcompensated individuals. So, sure, $300 million could eradicate history's greatest killer of humans -- yet the same sum wouldn't cover the bonus pool for the executives of the insurance company AIG after its great meltdown. It's less than what just one man, Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld, pulled down over the past 5 years.
It's even more striking if you remember that this was a price tag for a worldwide program whose cost was shared by multiple governments; and also a total cost over a 10-year period. To think about it in annual budgeting terms, it works out to $30 million a year. Which is approaching the ridiculous. Hell, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue for 2006 featured a blond in a bikini of diamonds worth $30 million.
We Fight Over There So We Don't Have to Fight Here
These are sad economic times, sadder still when you consider the tsunamis of wealth going to waste: four trillion dollars for Wall Street welfare queens; somewhere from one to three trillion for anyone affluent enough to own a top hat and a monocle; another trillion or so (and counting) for our current military escapades abroad.
But it's also just damned exciting. Because, frankly, it's a helluva lot of money we have to play with! Even now, at one of our darkest economic hours, we could be performing miracles with the spare change left behind the national couch cushions.
If you're an engineering type, you might prefer that those miracles involve shoring up our creaking national infrastructure. Good! Go write your own article.
I'm a doctor so I'll stick with medical possibilities. Since the smallpox triumph, public health experts have been inspired to target other diseases for eradication. One is polio, a virus known for paralyzing a minority of its unluckiest victims, among them former president Franklin D. Roosevelt; two others are Guinea worm and leprosy, plagues dating back to the Bible.
The World Health Organization and the volunteer service organization Rotary International have spent two decades tracking down and vaccinating billions of people against polio. They calculate that they've prevented the paralysis of five million children worldwide.
Just this May, a 10-day frenzy saw the immunization of more than 222 million children in Africa and Asia. It was possible to watch the campaigners' march through Africa on Google Maps. Among the foot soldiers in that vaccine war: Ali Mao Moallim, who more than three decades ago became the last person on Earth to contract wild smallpox. (Others have caught smallpox in the laboratory since.)
Think about that: inoculating 222 million children in 10 days. For comparison, there are only about 80 million children in the entire United States.
Imagine inoculating every child in America in 10 days. In 10 days, we couldn't even get every voter in Florida to figure out whom they chose for president.
Not so long ago, polio roamed the globe, and each day would paralyze 1,000 children. Today, there are only some hundreds of cases each year, mostly in underdeveloped areas of Africa and Asia.
The entire 21-year slog has so far cost five billion dollars. By comparison, Wall Street executive bonuses last year -- not salaries, but bonuses, for a single year that saw the whole mess collapse and the taxpayers handed the broom -- came to $18 billion.
If you look at the polio campaign costs on an annual basis, it's about $240 million a year, or less per year than it has cost to occupy Iraq per day.
The United States has been polio-free since 1994. But if the polio campaign falters, the virus could return. This, unlike Iraqi military operations, truly is a case of having to fight them overseas so as not to face them at home.
And why would the polio campaign falter? Because there are huge demands on the public purse and we must spend judiciously; otherwise, Wall Street CEOs would have to pay for their own $87,000 area rugs and $68,000 credenzas. (What's a credenza? I had to look it up. Turns out it's that sideboard thing you only see in the movies, where Wall Street villains keep their decanters of fine whiskey for toasting the paralysis of small children.)
Casting Out the Fiery Serpent
Consider another life-saving success-for-pennies program that's evolving right now, in fact racing against polio to be the next public health triumph. We are on verge of eradicating Guinea worm, a parasite believed to be the "fiery serpent" that torments the Hebrews during the Exodus. Go read your Bible, it's in there.
A female Guinea worm matures in its victim's gut, growing two feet long. Then, over a year marked by cramping, nausea, and fevers, it burrows out of the intestines, down through a leg, and to the skin surface. A blister forms accompanied by a burning sensation -- hence the "fiery serpent." The agonized victim immerses the leg in water for relief; on cue, the worm releases a cloud of larvae. Others drink downstream, and the cycle repeats itself.
Treatment involves digging into a blister to seize the worm's head, then extracting it over days to weeks by wrapping it around a stick -- a therapeutic image that some argue may have inspired the Rod of Asclepius, the physician's symbol of a snake coiled around a staff.
Guinea worm still plagued millions when former President Jimmy Carter organized a charitable foundation and challenged his advisers to suggest a disease to stamp out. They nominated Guinea worm: Humans are its only host, so if the cycle is broken in people, the parasite will be gone.
Thanks to larvicides, nylon water filters, and education, we are almost there. Today, there are fewer than 5,000 recorded Guinea worm cases in six African countries. The total cost of this 23-year campaign to date has been $225 million. Or less than $10 million a year.
This sort of chump change is so small, you can't even talk outsize salaries; you have to focus on the tax breaks on those outsize salaries. So, consider that the following celebrities have saved the following estimated sums each year on their taxes, courtesy of Bush-era tax cuts: movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer, $5.8 million; L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant, $1.6 million; rapper 50 Cent, $6 million; real estate mogul Donald Trump, $1.2 million.
Imagine a sort of a Congressional reverse earmark -- one that canceled the Bush tax cuts only for Bruckheimer, out of punishment for Armageddon and Pearl Harbor -- and steered the resulting millions to disease control efforts. Really, would any of these men notice the slightest changes in their lives if they returned to paying Clinton-era tax rates?
When Curing Millions of Leprosy is "Failure"
But wait. Aren't some of these public health campaigns wasteful failures? Sure they are. Let's look at one public health failure: The drive to eliminate leprosy.
Caught early enough, leprosy can be cured today with the antibiotics dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine. Over 25 years -- courtesy of Novartis pharmaceuticals and the Japanese Nippon Foundation -- these medicines have been handed out for free, and have cured more than 14 million people of the disease. They work so well that the WHO now recommends integrating the world's 250,000 known leprosy patients into primary-care settings, just like those with any other illness.
Treatment is so effective, in fact, that several years ago the WHO launched a campaign to eliminate leprosy entirely. Ultimately it sank 15 years and about $200 million into the project. (I cannot find a link for the $200 million figure, provided to me by WHO officials in e-mail correspondence.)
But there's a logistical nightmare when trying to eliminate leprosy. Other targets such as smallpox, polio, and Guinea worm exist in one reservoir only: sick humans.
Not so with Mycobacterium leprae, a bacterium that attacks skin and nerve cells. Even today, we don't know everywhere this bug lives. It has been found in the oddest places: in armadillos in Louisiana and Texas, in the noses of healthy people in some parts of the world, and even in some soil samples.
Such a bug was never an easy target. Even so, in 1991, the World Health Organization vowed its "elimination" -- and then defined "elimination" to mean less than 1 case per 10,000 people. At such a low background level, it was hoped, the disease might dwindle into irrelevance. It hasn't worked. That 1-in-10,000 target was arrived at via politics and hopeful thinking. It was achieved worldwide in 2000, putting the WHO in the risible position of claiming "elimination!" and then seeking more money to, like, eliminate it some more.
The organization was bitterly criticized. Earnest, indignant treatises have been written noting that there is too little money to go around, and accusing the WHO of risking the credit of the more promising drives against polio and Guinea worm.
So, the anti-leprosy push was a $200 million failure.
Because it didn't eradicate leprosy.
It only cured 14 million people.
Of leprosy.
For half the price of an Alaskan bridge to nowhere.
Oddly enough, $200 million is reportedly the tax deferral enjoyed by former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson -- he of bailout infamy -- when he joined the Bush cabinet as treasury secretary.
So there you have it, finally: For $200 million of public money we can take a walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ himself, curing millions of leprosy. A truly inspiring future is, as always, easily within reach, if we choose it.
Or we can just give Hank Paulson a tax break. Maybe throw in a credenza by way of thanks.
Matt Bivens is in his intern year at a Harvard-affiliated emergency medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is a former editor of the Moscow Times who lived for years in Russia, and who covered the war in Chechnya for the Los Angeles Times. His journalism has appeared in Harper's, Playboy, the Nation, and many other publications.
Copyright 2009 Matt Bivens
Posted using ShareThis
Tomgram: Matt Bivens, Pox Americana
With up to 61% of Americans, according to a recent poll, convinced that things are going badly indeed in Afghanistan and an official 9.8% of Americans unemployed, Congress is set to respond. This week, it's slated to pass a $636 billion appropriations bill for the Pentagon that will include another $128 billion for our Afghan and Iraq Wars. Meanwhile, the president and his advisors are about to consider the latest plan by our Afghan War commander, General Stanley McChrystal, to gainfully employ up to 40,000 more Americans in Afghanistan.
By the way, as in the Bush years, all dollar figures associated with the Pentagon budget and our wars should be considered underestimates. Various military expenses like the upkeep of our nuclear arsenal aren't even in that budget. Depending on who is doing the figuring, estimates of all U.S. defense-related expenditures -- and this first budget of the Obama era is already larger than the last monster one from the Bush era -- can run upwards of a trillion dollars. As for the war expenses, they invariably prove short of the mark and end up having to be supplemented.
When it comes to the Afghan War, this is practically guaranteed. Being prosecuted many thousands of miles from home over long, often embattled, supply lines, it is proving staggeringly expensive. According to one recent estimate, for instance, it costs more than $750,000 a year simply to keep a single U.S. soldier in the field, while the cost of delivering a single gallon of gas to the war zone is estimated at up to $100.
And then, don't forget the Afghan army. Its U.S.-NATO upgrade program is already costing an estimated $8 billion a year and is clearly about to be expanded by the Obama administration. As the Afghan government is essentially poverty-stricken, that means its army is going to be U.S. property for years to come.
Consider this a small introduction to TomDispatch newcomer Matt Bivens's striking analysis of American investment practices. Tom
Follow the Money
Cure Millions of Leprosy -- or Just Give Hank Paulson a Tax Break?
By Matt Bivens
There are many possible responses to the news that we have committed more than four trillion public dollars to Wall Street.
Mine is a roar of admiration.
Four trillion dollars! Holy hell! I didn't even know that was possible!
U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
After all, the cost of World War II in inflation-adjusted dollars was $4 trillion. This bailout thing is just getting started, and already we've burned through that.
Without even noticing.
Certainly without rationing sugar or collecting scrap rubber or any of that nonsense.
Who's the Greatest Generation now, baby?
Admit it. You feel it too. Just imagine someone snatching your laptop off a table and throwing it, Olympic-discus style, hundreds... and hundreds... and hundreds of feet. Sure, you'd be upset (and stuck with the bill). But however briefly, you'd feel admiration for the physical feat: Look at that thing fly!
So it goes with our bailouts, wild tax cuts, and war budgets. The money in play is staggering, but everyone acts like that's something to mope about. Where's the excitement?
Often, after reading an incomprehensible dollar figure, I'll Google "What does a trillion dollars look like?" to get myself fired up. One example of where this takes you shows a million dollars (pathetic, wouldn't fill a grocery bag), a billion (interesting, I could fit it in a truck), and then a trillion. (Wow, it spreads for acres! Look at that tiny human included for scale!)
It turns out that the United States can pick up that sort of weight and just smash it down on whatever the hell we want. Like Optimus Prime with giant square green paper fists. Slam! Slam!
Yet we've committed not one trillion dollars to the incompetent and/or corrupt, but more than four trillion dollars. That's according to a report to Congress from special inspector general Neil Barofsky, the overseer of the bank bailout program.
Technically, Barofsky adds, Wall Street's IOU to you and me is at about three trillion dollars these days, since some of it's been paid back. Relieved? Don't be. As these tsunamis of public wealth pour out, ignore the slosh and focus on the order of magnitude. The entire Gross Domestic Product -- the number reflecting all wealth generated in this nation for this year -- is only $14.1 trillion. So whether the sum of our money that's now their money is $3 trillion (1/5th of all wealth generated in America in a year) or $4.7 trillion (1/3rd of all wealth generated in America in a year), it still means that, for a big chunk of the year, every single one of us was working for Goldman Sachs et al.
Barofsky's report also suggests that Wall Street's tab might ultimately work out to $24 trillion, which would be $80,000 per American, or $320,000 for a family of four. But that's, like, totally the worst-case scenario. (Still, wouldn't it be impressive? I envision huge, five-foot-cubed, shrink-wrapped pallets of dollars dropping from the sky onto my neighborhood, smashing houses, crushing cars, killing beloved pets, blasting craters into asphalt streets. Yeah!)
Smallpox and Bikinis
And yet could we employ this financial muscle in a more constructive way?
For an illuminating example, consider how we dealt with smallpox. That airborne virus, with its fevers reaching 106 F and signature pus-filled skin eruptions, was the greatest killer of man ever known.
In the 20th century, smallpox killed more people than all of that bloody century's wars combined.
In fact, if you tally the worldwide death tolls for World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Iran-Iraq war and the Mexican Revolution, the civil wars in China and Russia and Spain, and all the other wars of the last century, from Afghanistan to Zaire, the total is less than one-third of the smallpox death toll.
And that's just a single 100-year period, for a disease that disfigured Egyptian pharaohs, allied with Hernando Cortes to rout the Aztecs, left a young George Washington scarred, later stalked his Continental Army, and left Abraham Lincoln pale, weak, and dizzy as he delivered his Gettysburg Address.
And yet, in the 1960s, smallpox was targeted by visionary public health experts -- and in just 10 years it was gone. An excellent new book by D.A. Henderson, the doctor who led the effort, tells the story: Smallpox: The Death of a Disease.
This was a signature achievement, up there with defeating the Nazis or walking on the moon. To track down a virus in every corner of the planet, encircle it with vaccinations and kill it… I began to wonder how many five-foot-cubed pallets of Benjamins the world had brought to bear. After all, this was mankind's greatest killer -- the Joker to our Batman, Lex Luthor to our Superman. The amounts of cash flung about must have been awe-inspiring.
Chasing down the cost of the 10-year eradication campaign was not easy. Eventually, Dr. Henderson himself steered me to a 1,450-page official history of smallpox maintained as a PDF in a sleepy corner of the website of the World Health Organization (WHO). The answer, hidden away on page 1,366: $300 million.
Three hundred million?
Not trillion? Not even billion?
Such a tiny sum of money for such a tremendous feat? It's like hitting a home run at Fenway Park using a chopstick for a bat.
The price paid to defeat humanity's greatest foe wouldn't cover a 24-hour day of Iraqi combat operations. In Wall Street bailout terms, there's no way to even talk about sums this tiny. To do that, we have to go the level of overcompensated individuals. So, sure, $300 million could eradicate history's greatest killer of humans -- yet the same sum wouldn't cover the bonus pool for the executives of the insurance company AIG after its great meltdown. It's less than what just one man, Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld, pulled down over the past 5 years.
It's even more striking if you remember that this was a price tag for a worldwide program whose cost was shared by multiple governments; and also a total cost over a 10-year period. To think about it in annual budgeting terms, it works out to $30 million a year. Which is approaching the ridiculous. Hell, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue for 2006 featured a blond in a bikini of diamonds worth $30 million.
We Fight Over There So We Don't Have to Fight Here
These are sad economic times, sadder still when you consider the tsunamis of wealth going to waste: four trillion dollars for Wall Street welfare queens; somewhere from one to three trillion for anyone affluent enough to own a top hat and a monocle; another trillion or so (and counting) for our current military escapades abroad.
But it's also just damned exciting. Because, frankly, it's a helluva lot of money we have to play with! Even now, at one of our darkest economic hours, we could be performing miracles with the spare change left behind the national couch cushions.
If you're an engineering type, you might prefer that those miracles involve shoring up our creaking national infrastructure. Good! Go write your own article.
I'm a doctor so I'll stick with medical possibilities. Since the smallpox triumph, public health experts have been inspired to target other diseases for eradication. One is polio, a virus known for paralyzing a minority of its unluckiest victims, among them former president Franklin D. Roosevelt; two others are Guinea worm and leprosy, plagues dating back to the Bible.
The World Health Organization and the volunteer service organization Rotary International have spent two decades tracking down and vaccinating billions of people against polio. They calculate that they've prevented the paralysis of five million children worldwide.
Just this May, a 10-day frenzy saw the immunization of more than 222 million children in Africa and Asia. It was possible to watch the campaigners' march through Africa on Google Maps. Among the foot soldiers in that vaccine war: Ali Mao Moallim, who more than three decades ago became the last person on Earth to contract wild smallpox. (Others have caught smallpox in the laboratory since.)
Think about that: inoculating 222 million children in 10 days. For comparison, there are only about 80 million children in the entire United States.
Imagine inoculating every child in America in 10 days. In 10 days, we couldn't even get every voter in Florida to figure out whom they chose for president.
Not so long ago, polio roamed the globe, and each day would paralyze 1,000 children. Today, there are only some hundreds of cases each year, mostly in underdeveloped areas of Africa and Asia.
The entire 21-year slog has so far cost five billion dollars. By comparison, Wall Street executive bonuses last year -- not salaries, but bonuses, for a single year that saw the whole mess collapse and the taxpayers handed the broom -- came to $18 billion.
If you look at the polio campaign costs on an annual basis, it's about $240 million a year, or less per year than it has cost to occupy Iraq per day.
The United States has been polio-free since 1994. But if the polio campaign falters, the virus could return. This, unlike Iraqi military operations, truly is a case of having to fight them overseas so as not to face them at home.
And why would the polio campaign falter? Because there are huge demands on the public purse and we must spend judiciously; otherwise, Wall Street CEOs would have to pay for their own $87,000 area rugs and $68,000 credenzas. (What's a credenza? I had to look it up. Turns out it's that sideboard thing you only see in the movies, where Wall Street villains keep their decanters of fine whiskey for toasting the paralysis of small children.)
Casting Out the Fiery Serpent
Consider another life-saving success-for-pennies program that's evolving right now, in fact racing against polio to be the next public health triumph. We are on verge of eradicating Guinea worm, a parasite believed to be the "fiery serpent" that torments the Hebrews during the Exodus. Go read your Bible, it's in there.
A female Guinea worm matures in its victim's gut, growing two feet long. Then, over a year marked by cramping, nausea, and fevers, it burrows out of the intestines, down through a leg, and to the skin surface. A blister forms accompanied by a burning sensation -- hence the "fiery serpent." The agonized victim immerses the leg in water for relief; on cue, the worm releases a cloud of larvae. Others drink downstream, and the cycle repeats itself.
Treatment involves digging into a blister to seize the worm's head, then extracting it over days to weeks by wrapping it around a stick -- a therapeutic image that some argue may have inspired the Rod of Asclepius, the physician's symbol of a snake coiled around a staff.
Guinea worm still plagued millions when former President Jimmy Carter organized a charitable foundation and challenged his advisers to suggest a disease to stamp out. They nominated Guinea worm: Humans are its only host, so if the cycle is broken in people, the parasite will be gone.
Thanks to larvicides, nylon water filters, and education, we are almost there. Today, there are fewer than 5,000 recorded Guinea worm cases in six African countries. The total cost of this 23-year campaign to date has been $225 million. Or less than $10 million a year.
This sort of chump change is so small, you can't even talk outsize salaries; you have to focus on the tax breaks on those outsize salaries. So, consider that the following celebrities have saved the following estimated sums each year on their taxes, courtesy of Bush-era tax cuts: movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer, $5.8 million; L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant, $1.6 million; rapper 50 Cent, $6 million; real estate mogul Donald Trump, $1.2 million.
Imagine a sort of a Congressional reverse earmark -- one that canceled the Bush tax cuts only for Bruckheimer, out of punishment for Armageddon and Pearl Harbor -- and steered the resulting millions to disease control efforts. Really, would any of these men notice the slightest changes in their lives if they returned to paying Clinton-era tax rates?
When Curing Millions of Leprosy is "Failure"
But wait. Aren't some of these public health campaigns wasteful failures? Sure they are. Let's look at one public health failure: The drive to eliminate leprosy.
Caught early enough, leprosy can be cured today with the antibiotics dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine. Over 25 years -- courtesy of Novartis pharmaceuticals and the Japanese Nippon Foundation -- these medicines have been handed out for free, and have cured more than 14 million people of the disease. They work so well that the WHO now recommends integrating the world's 250,000 known leprosy patients into primary-care settings, just like those with any other illness.
Treatment is so effective, in fact, that several years ago the WHO launched a campaign to eliminate leprosy entirely. Ultimately it sank 15 years and about $200 million into the project. (I cannot find a link for the $200 million figure, provided to me by WHO officials in e-mail correspondence.)
But there's a logistical nightmare when trying to eliminate leprosy. Other targets such as smallpox, polio, and Guinea worm exist in one reservoir only: sick humans.
Not so with Mycobacterium leprae, a bacterium that attacks skin and nerve cells. Even today, we don't know everywhere this bug lives. It has been found in the oddest places: in armadillos in Louisiana and Texas, in the noses of healthy people in some parts of the world, and even in some soil samples.
Such a bug was never an easy target. Even so, in 1991, the World Health Organization vowed its "elimination" -- and then defined "elimination" to mean less than 1 case per 10,000 people. At such a low background level, it was hoped, the disease might dwindle into irrelevance. It hasn't worked. That 1-in-10,000 target was arrived at via politics and hopeful thinking. It was achieved worldwide in 2000, putting the WHO in the risible position of claiming "elimination!" and then seeking more money to, like, eliminate it some more.
The organization was bitterly criticized. Earnest, indignant treatises have been written noting that there is too little money to go around, and accusing the WHO of risking the credit of the more promising drives against polio and Guinea worm.
So, the anti-leprosy push was a $200 million failure.
Because it didn't eradicate leprosy.
It only cured 14 million people.
Of leprosy.
For half the price of an Alaskan bridge to nowhere.
Oddly enough, $200 million is reportedly the tax deferral enjoyed by former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson -- he of bailout infamy -- when he joined the Bush cabinet as treasury secretary.
So there you have it, finally: For $200 million of public money we can take a walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ himself, curing millions of leprosy. A truly inspiring future is, as always, easily within reach, if we choose it.
Or we can just give Hank Paulson a tax break. Maybe throw in a credenza by way of thanks.
Matt Bivens is in his intern year at a Harvard-affiliated emergency medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is a former editor of the Moscow Times who lived for years in Russia, and who covered the war in Chechnya for the Los Angeles Times. His journalism has appeared in Harper's, Playboy, the Nation, and many other publications.
Copyright 2009 Matt Bivens
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