There are many people who would really like to know what is going on in the economy, if they knew where to find out. They -- we -- are too much the captives of the talking heads (and clicking keyboards) of the mainstream media who, whether of the left or of the right, are presenting a mixed and muddled message. (For a number of reasons that I'm sure will occur to you, we need not discuss them here in detail.)
May I recommend that you watch a recent video? It has its own set of talking heads, to be sure, and it also has its limitations, as you will see. But it has two things, at least, going for it: (a) Paul Craig Roberts, an economist (whom I have mentioned before, here and here), and (b) a friendly interviewer who is genuinely interested in what he has to say, and gives him a chance to say it.
The relevant part of the video is a little over 20 minutes in length, and is enlightening.
One of the important points that Mr. Roberts makes is that the financial "deciders" (my word), are exclusively interested in the short-term benefits for the few (themselves), rather than the long-term benefits for the larger population. I was reminded of Henry Hazlitt's perspective, very different from that of the modern financial class, which he clearly gives in his essay, "Economics in One Lesson." This essay is a readily available and easily readable classic from several decades ago, and mentioned by me in an earlier post.
I hope that you can spare a few minutes to listen to Paul Craig Roberts. The interview begins with the current Republican campaign (ho hum), but soon moves into more important matters.
This might be a link worth passing on to a friend.
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Your comments, necessarily incomplete and perhaps even fragmentary, are nevertheless most welcome.
Is this cable news? Wow, no wonder men have the news on all day. The host acted very seductive in some parts of the show and the camera shots emphasized that as well. Anyway...
ReplyDeletePCR mentioned that people don't understand economics. That's by design. They want people to think it is complex and just leave it to the experts. Don't worry, the experts will take care of everything.
He also takes the blame off Obama, which I agree. Most Christian conservatives I know blame EVERYTHING on O and can't see how these global policies (even under their heroic presidents) we've had for decades and decades have been the true cause.
I also agree with your assessment of short-term for the few vs. long-term for the people. That was an excellent post you linked too, I don't know how I missed it back in April. I'm going to print it out for my kids. Mises came out with a new text book, Lessons for the Young Economist, that just came in the mail yesterday. My 12 year old is devouring it : )
Oh, forget this link. When they talked about the media blackout on Ron Paul, it reminded me of this youtube about the technical difficulties that tend to happen when they do give him some air time:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PyixR66CQMw
Thanks for the link, castiron. I immediately checked it out, and enjoyed watching it.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing, though. When I set a link to it from the (google-provided) blogspot software and tested it, it repeatedly gave a couple of different errors and would not connect.
When I finally made a note of the event on the link, it started to behave correctly!
No kidding.
(No explanation expressed or implied!)