Apparently, no one has ever told the Pope that the absolute best way to help the poor and to lift people out of poverty is economic growth. Capitalism is imperfect at best and infected with greediness, but it is still the best method for helping the poor - through economic growth, not redistribution of wealth.
In his encyclical released last week titled "Caritas in Veritate," or Charity in Truth, Pope Benedict clearly cribbed from the Obama campaign's barrage of emails. "Grave imbalances are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution," warned the Supreme Pontiff.
Dear Mr. Pope, the best way to ensure economic contraction is to try to pursue justice through redistribution. This will do nothing more than cast a chill on entrepreneurship which is the engine for economic growth, which is [I will say again] THE BEST WAY TO GET PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY, MR. POPE!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Demand Driven Commodity Run Up?
What's behind the recent run up in commodity prices? Demand, you say? Not so fast. The likely culprit is hedge funds. I suspect that Ambrose-Pritchard's analysis is correct. I think this penetrating paragraph is the most fascinating, not to mention likely correct.
It [the commodity price run up] is a anti-inflation play by funds betting that quantitative easing by the world’s central banks will lead to systemic currency debasement. That may ultimately happen, but the more immediate threat is the abrupt slowdown/contraction of the broad money supply (M3, adjusted M4) and the collapse in the velocity of money, as well a post-War low in capacity use (68pc in the US), and a massive global “output gap”.
It [the commodity price run up] is a anti-inflation play by funds betting that quantitative easing by the world’s central banks will lead to systemic currency debasement. That may ultimately happen, but the more immediate threat is the abrupt slowdown/contraction of the broad money supply (M3, adjusted M4) and the collapse in the velocity of money, as well a post-War low in capacity use (68pc in the US), and a massive global “output gap”.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
California, Obama, and Never Ending Deficits
An excellent read from Bloomberg. I find this paragraph both sad and funny.
The federal picture is so bleak because the Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S. I would imagine that he would be the intergalactic champion as well, if we could gather the data on deficits on other worlds. Obama has taken George W. Bush’s inattention to deficits and elevated it to an art form.
"The intergalactic champion of fiscal irresponsibility," it has quite a ring to it, doesn't it?
The federal picture is so bleak because the Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S. I would imagine that he would be the intergalactic champion as well, if we could gather the data on deficits on other worlds. Obama has taken George W. Bush’s inattention to deficits and elevated it to an art form.
"The intergalactic champion of fiscal irresponsibility," it has quite a ring to it, doesn't it?
The Greatest Ever
Kind of cool that I got to see the greatest tennis player in history in his prime. The Wimbledon finals match was arguably the greatest in history as well. It's fitting that a great champion is forced to the absolute limit to capture his record-breaking 15th Grand Slam! Amazing. Congratulations to Roger Federer, and to Andy Roddick for pushing him so hard.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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