B' bye, Big Guy....

[ish mailian]

I like the volcker the hero of the ruling class obit because it
foregrounds the workers. Though too much weight is given to breaking
the backs of the unions and the protracted weakness (still evident in
an economy with historically low unemployment (broken Phillip's
Curve?) and  of collective bargaining, of negotiating for higher wages
generally, the weakening of labor is, as Morris noted, one of the
causes of the long dis-inflationary trend and one of the problems
faced by the current Fed, desperate to get core inflation closer to
target (2%), but there are other causes, or possible cause and
combinations the obit ignores.

Capitalism itself (MMT).
The Fed itself, its response to crisis and how it communicates. Cred.
The other central banks.
Inflation is not a purely monetary phenomenon (Milton Friedman).
Globalization  off shore outsource
Automation
De-unionization.
China.
Demographics. Ageing.
Fiscal:  Failure to invest in education, skill development, infrastructure.
No Cap-Ex, no productivity gain. Productivity drives wages.
King Dollar.



On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 8:09 PM Gary Webb <gwebb8686 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Yes. And fair...
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Dec 11, 2019, at 7:50 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Kuttner is very good.
>
> https://prospect.org/economy/paul-volcker-without-tears/
>
> On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 6:26 PM Gary Webb <gwebb8686 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I’m digging the thread on Volcker. I submit two very different obits, each in their way address issues brought up by esteemed p-listers:
>>
>> https://jacobinmag.com/2019/12/paul-adolph-volcker-obituary-federal-reserve-chair
>>
>>
>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/paul-volcker-was-the-savior-our-economy-needed/2019/12/09/8f660482-1a91-11ea-8d58-5ac3600967a1_story.html
>>
>>
>> I don’t think economists and historians pay enough attention to the 1970s. Inflation, started during the Vietnam War, went into hyperdrive after the Nixon Shock and Arab Oil Embargo... also, for reasons that are still perplexing, the GDP(if GDP as a metric tells us anything, open ended question) of the US which had been trending up year to year since end of WWII abruptly stopped. Enter the Bankers. Their story also coincides with the development of the personal computer industry...Over time, consolidation in the financial industry coincides with consolidation in tech.
>>
>> It’s interesting too that you get GR in 1973. It was a high water mark for American cinema, due to the implosion of the major studios. You also have Star Wars in 1977.
>>
>> You also have the birth of two of the most enduring and adaptable art forms ever created in popular music, Punk and Rap/Hip-Hop as well as the death of Elvis...
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> > On Dec 11, 2019, at 1:06 PM, ish mailian <ishmailian at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Not sure who the Man who pushes credit is, but I assume that he is
>> > pushing credit on the People, um, so I guess the credit push is so
>> > they can buy houses and fill them with stuff. Maybe the People Pull
>> > the credit too. Maybe there's a push and a pull. Maybe interest rates,
>> > real and nominal, and expectations about the real rate or inflation
>> > can get more pushing or pulling or both. Maybe not. Maybe we will find
>> > out after the UST 10 year goes negative if it ever does. I don't know,
>> > though I've spent decades, since Volcker, convinced that what happened
>> > would happen, to interest rates and inflation, and so I was "right"
>> > about this, and, even when the crisis hit and smart people were
>> > dumping the dollar and buying gold, I was right, but now I know I was
>> > not right for any real or rational or mathematical or economic or
>> > financial reason, none I can moor my yacht to anyway. Better lucky
>> > than good or right. Humbling? Not really. Not anymore. Today I worship
>> > the hammer.
>> >
>> >> On Mon, Dec 9, 2019 at 3:15 PM Charles Albert <cfalbert at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> I think a reasonable argument could be made that he killed it then...at a time when no one dared touch Ronnie, Ronnie knew enough not to lay hands on Stretch.
>> >>
>> >> The basket of goods looks very different now, and I don't see any single component moving the aggregate soon...it's probably another lever being wrenched from the control of central banks by Mr. Market.
>> >>
>> >> But let me ask you....if the alleged benefit of progress is supposed to include an abundance of Supply of essentials at ever declining prices, why is inflation "desirable"? Is that why The Man is pushing credit?
>> >>
>> >> love,
>> >>
>> >> cfa
>> > --
>> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l