Bloopers

Economic Bloopers

Every day the government makes new mistakes or discovers new economic consequences of their past errors. Arbitrary Vote brings you the country's biggest economic bloopers.

t Blooper of the week Blooper of the month

11/23/09 - Government scientists take wholesome approach to climate change

There's no agenda in the push for climate change. There's no rampant corruption among government scientists. There's no competing data refuting the problems and the potential causes. Let's ruin the economy and use the money to fight a ghost!

Climate Emails Stoke Debate - The Wall Street Journal

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11/20/09 - Citi upholds the tried and true method for economic success

Become a riskier borrower and pay less to borrow. Hmmm...Seems like a familiar formula for economic disaster. The government's credit card regulations are working well if measured by the level of resulting unintended consequences.

To lower interest rates, Citi customers must spend - Yahoo Finance/Associated Press

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11/19/09 - FAA should control kites, not planes

Central planning at its best...

FAA glitch causes widespread US air travel delays - Yahoo News/AP

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11/18/09 - Obama hedges economic prediction bets

Obama translation:
"My administration are heroes for pulling us out of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Now we will go back into a recession."

Obama warns of 'double-dip recession' - MSNBC

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11/17/09 - California needs better accountants

Apparently the last "balancing" of the budget will yet again require more kicking of the can down the road. Seems like the pavement might be running out.

California faces a projected deficit of $21 billion - LA Times

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11/16/09 - Gift cards are the key problem

"The proposed rules come after the Fed came under fire for not doing more to protect consumers during the credit bubble."

The last time I checked, gift cards are not credit cards and did not contribute to the credit bubble. Aside from this, it's interesting that gift cards fall under the Fed's responsibilities. And no need to mention the obscene assault on the sacredness of contracts.

Fed proposes limits on fees on gift cards - MarketWatch

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11/13/09 - Washington needs to keep up the fix

They proclaim we are coming out of the recession and yet we need more stimulus. In other words, we are getting high on heroin again and we need more injections so that we don't come crashing back down.

Washington testing the waters for more stimulus - MarketWatch

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11/12/09 - Bush offers wisdom on freedom and the economy

"Former President George W. Bush, outlining plans for a new public policy institute, on Thursday said America must fight the temptation to allow the federal government to take control of the private sector, declaring that too much government intervention will squelch economic recovery and expansion."

Way to set a precedent while in office.

Bush warns of threats to freedom, economic growth - Washington Times

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11/11/09 - Geithner is serious this time

Very convincing comments by Geithner. While his government swiftly partakes in devaluing the currency from multiple angles, he has great reason to expect everyone to stop shorting the dollar.

Geithner Says Strong Dollar ‘Very Important’ to U.S. - Bloomberg

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11/10/09 - Dodd goes grave dancing

As if capitalism wasn't already dead...

Dodd offers sweeping bank oversight plan - CNN Money

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11/9/09 - The origins of a new religion

As Blankfein stylishly drove away from the office in his Lamborghini, the taxpayers bowed their heads and together said:

"Thanks be to Goldman. Amen."

Goldman Sachs’ Blankfein on Banking: ‘Doing God’s Work’ - The Wall Street Journal

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11/6/09 - Sibling GSEs must be fraternal twins

Same parents as Fannie, same stupid upbringing, same massive and fraudulent mistakes, same theft from taxpayers - again.

Freddie Mac posts $5 billion loss - Reuters

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11/5/09 - Fannie Mae is the latest of the failed bailouts

Very encouraging to see Fannie seeking $15 billion more of taxpayer dollars after burning through the first round. Their best argument to receive the new money might be to proclaim that U.S. dollars will soon be worthless anyway - so might as well spend it frivolously while it's still accepted as tender.

Fannie Mae Seeks $15 Billion in Aid After Posting Loss - CNBC/Associated Press

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11/4/09 - Very important updates about Fed and Treasury plan

Fed: We'll keep blowing up the bubble...

Fed maintains promise to keep rates low - MarketWatch

Treasury: We'll keep moving the needle closer to the bubble...

Treasury expects to hit debt limit next month - MSNBC/Associated Press

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11/3/09 - India buys a whole bunch of gold

No trouble for the U.S. dollar expected by India. They're just buying 200 tons of gold to make jewelry.

India buys half of IMF's gold for sale; who's next? - Reuters

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11/2/09 - No blooper today - A noteworthy article instead

The below article is a concise description of the fundamental flaw of our societal model compared to what it should and could be. This is non-partisan (as is Arbitrary Vote) and should be read and understood by everyone in the world.

This is not a new or untested concept, and this article offers a good starting point for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. To dig into more detail, start with the writings of Murray Rothbard and Hans-Hermann Hoppe.

Unfortunately, the term "anarchocapitalism" is a rough-sounding name for an elegant, peaceful, and legitimate societal model with a powerful ability to rapidly advance society and solve our most troublesome problems while maintaining individual freedom.

Classical Liberalism versus Anarchocapitalism - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

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10/30/09 - A sentimental day

Consumer sentiment was up!

Consumer sentiment improves in final October reading - MarketWatch

But actually it was down...

Survey: Consumer sentiment slips in October - MSNBC/Reuters

Sentiment must not have been good enough for consumers to spend...Or was it a drop-off caused by false demand from Cash-for-Clunkers?

Consumer Spending in U.S. Declined in September - Bloomberg

And lastly, sentiment among scientists seems a bit confused...

The Earth Cools, and Fight Over Warming Heats Up - The Wall Street Journal

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10/29/09 - GDP growth says we're back on track

Let's break down the big GDP jump:
1. 1% of GDP growth was due to the unsustainable Cash-for-Clunkers program
2. The unsustainable housing tax credit also contributed significantly to growth
3. The trade deficit increased during this period
4. Debt continued to grow during this period
5. Savings declined during this period

Break out the champagne!

U.S. GDP rises 3.5% as stimulus kicks in - MarketWatch

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10/28/09 - Treasury and Frank come up with ingenious bank regulation

My favorite stipulation outlined in the article:
"The proposal would require financial firms with more than $10 billion of assets to pay for the unwinding of a collapsed competitor."

A successful business has to pay for its competitor's failure. Sounds like a great business deal in which the incentives are tightly aligned for all parties involved. The old communist adage goes something like this: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. The biggest hitch in this novel ideal applied to the banking industry is that even those banks with $10+ billion in assets don't actually have much "ability" to spare.

Deal Reached on Bank Crackdown - The Wall Street Journal

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10/27/09 - GMAC goes back to the well (for the third time)

The government bailouts continue to work quite well...

GMAC, Treasury in Talks on New Capital: Report - Reuters

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10/26/09 - Dodd introduces legislation to fix previous legislation

Dodd translation:
"The regulation we put together to protect consumers from the credit-card companies has been a complete failure riddled with unintended consequences in six short months. Therefore we are introducing new legislation as a showman's attempt to fix these failures while causing new failures and unintended consequences that we can then attempt to fix with more defunct legislation. Vote for me for re-election."

Dodd introduces bill to freeze credit-card rates - MarketWatch

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10/23/09 - Another government program creates more false demand

It's the Cash-for-Clunkers phenomenon applied to homes. In the meantime we've got rising foreclosures, falling housing prices, flat housing starts, unmanageable loan modifications, rampant loan fraud, and a mountain of approaching alt-A and option ARM resets.

U.S. Economy: Existing Home Sales Surge on Tax Credit - Bloomberg

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10/22/09 - Risk-loving Fed to curb bank risk

Aside from the wonderful unintended consequences that will come from policing compensation, the Fed is the perfect organization to do it. They truly understand how to curb excessive risk in the more excessive direction through ingenious actions like 0-.25% interest rate targets.

Fed proposes to police bank pay for 1st time - MSNBC/Associated Press

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