Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Economic Profession Messed Up


http://twitter.com/paramendra/status/3770105844

And here we have one of them owning up to it.
How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? Paul Krugam, New York Times ....... in a 2008 paper titled “The State of Macro” (that is, macroeconomics, the study of big-picture issues like recessions), Olivier Blanchard of M.I.T., now the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, declared that “the state of macro is good.” The battles of yesteryear, he said, were over, and there had been a “broad convergence of vision.” ........ the “central problem of depression-prevention has been solved,” declared Robert Lucas of the University of Chicago in his 2003 presidential address to the American Economic Association ........ Last year, everything came apart. ........ the 1987 stock crash, in which the Dow plunged nearly 23 percent in a day for no clear reason ......... U.S. households have seen $13 trillion in wealth evaporate. More than six million jobs have been lost ........ even as the recession continued to deepen, conventional monetary policy had lost all traction. ....... flaws-and-frictions economics will move from the periphery of economic analysis to its center. ....... has brought the world economy to its knees. .......... “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” ........ until now the impact of dysfunctional finance hasn’t been at the core even of Keynesian economics. ......... financial markets fall far short of perfection, that they are subject to extraordinary delusions and the madness of crowds ........ H. L. Mencken: “There is always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible and wrong.”
Globoeconomics: Name Of The Game

Micro To Macro To Globo

70 years back the economic profession went up one notch, from micro to macro. Now is the time to go up another notch: from macro to globo. The churn we see is of a US and a global economy tumbling to the global winds. New, robust, global institutions are needed, old ones have to be reinvented.

Old Jobs: Gone Jobs

The Great Depression saw the loss of countless agricultural jobs that never came back. World War II had to create a new set of industrial jobs. The old industrial jobs now lost in America will likely never come back. The country will have to make new strides and create many, many post-industrial jobs.

A Misguided Stimulus?

I thought a big chunk of the stimulus was going to go to ensure universal broadband. Instead they went to old highways, the offline kind.

Another War?

Will a full-fledged war to ensure a total spread of democracy in the Arab world finally get America out of the flunk? Could that be a war that brings about Iran-like mass movements? Is that war essentially one of communications technology?
The purpose of stimulus September 4, 2009 the recession — again, as officially defined — is over. ...... But unemployment is still very high and rising
A strange madness September 4, 2009 Something is going very wrong in the heads of a substantial number of Americans.
My whereabouts September 4, 2009
  1. Jobless in America: Is Double-Digit Unemployment Here to Stay? Time
  2. Guess What Texting Costs Your Wireless Provider?
  3. Behold! Facebook Gives Birth to the Retrosexual
  4. The Next Mayor of Atlanta: A Post-Racial Campaign?
  5. As Election Nears, Germans Feel Another Wall Rising



Thomas L. Friedman: Our One-Party Democracy New York Times It is not an accident that China is committed to overtaking us in electric cars, solar power, energy efficiency, batteries, nuclear power and wind power. ....... “Just because Obama is on a path to give America the Romney health plan with McCain-style financing, does not mean the Republicans will embrace it — if it seems politically more attractive to scream ‘socialist’ ” ....... no one needs the burden of health insurance shifted from business to government more than American business. No one needs immigration reform — so the world’s best brainpower can come here without restrictions — more than American business. No one needs a push for clean-tech — the world’s next great global manufacturing industry — more than American business. Yet the G.O.P. today resists national health care, immigration reform and wants to just drill, baby, drill.



White House Reveals Obama Is Bipolar, Has Entered Depressive Phase

Obama Drastically Scales Back Goals For America After Visiting Denny's

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Richard Aborn For Manhattan District Attorney

http://twitter.com/paramendra/status/3987278881
Richard Aborn for Manhattan District Attorney
Richard Aborn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Aborn | Facebook
Richard Aborn: A Narrow Victory
Richard Aborn Still Making Inroads in Manhatten's DA Race ...
Richard Aborn | The New York Observer



Richard M.Image via Wikipedia

Last Tuesday I showed up for an Aborn event near Union Square. I almost missed it. I thought it was on Wednesday. Lucky for me I logged into Facebook and there was a reminder or two. So I showed up.

I like to stick to following presidential level politics. Local races do not excite me to the same extent. But I had been noticing for months all my Obama 08 friends seem to be excited about this one guy: Richard Aborn. But I stayed away. District Attorney is not even Mayor. That was getting too local for me. But I wanted to check the guy out for the sake of my friends. So I showed up. Once at the bar I realized I had been to the same venue for a few other events by a few other organizations.

I was looking forward to seeing some friends - Faina showed up - and get a feel for Aborn. Also events like this draw interesting people, people you want to connect with. You end up in interesting conversations.

I showed up curious. I left excited. This is a local race, but this guy's election has national implications. You can be a white male like Aborn is and be working for equality for blacks. You can be a male and be taking stands against sexism. That is not odd at all. That is progressi

G. V.Image via Wikipedia

ve.

This is a guy who has prosecuted violent crimes for a living. He is not some soft on crime clown. This is a tough on crime guy who wants to make sense. Racism does not make sense.

From having met him only one evening, I am telling you, this guy is impressive, he is promising. Also from what I have been hearing, he is going to win tomorrow. I would not be surprised if he ends up in some federal position in about four years. You will be glad you got to know him and vote for him today.

It was an amazing evening. I went in. Jeff Kurzon - the first time I met Jeff Kurzon was near a Mahatma Gandhi statue - was greeting people as they streamed in. Kurzon's beard was gone. I made a blade gesture to my beard to tease. Last I had seen him was at the Bill Thompson event at Bombay Palace, and he was sporting a beard then. Good to know Jeff is now officially an Aborn staffer. By the time he helps push Aborn to victory, he will be a ripe cadidate for another high flying private sector lawyerly job, granted that is what he wants. Jeff used to work for the same law firm the Obamas worked for in their youth, its New York office. That was so impressive to me when I first found out. I have seen a halo around his head since.



Jeff introduced me to someone from "Brooklyn," and I am thinking this guy still thinks I am in Brooklyn. The NYPD drove me out of Brooklyn!

"I have seen you before!" I teased the person I was introduced to. Then Jeff introduced me to an author. His book was about to show up on Amazon.

Barackface: Jeff Kurzon's Living Room, Union Sqaure, Times Square ...
Give Me A Huge Rally In This City Before Summer Is Over
Barackface: New York City For Barack Obama 1-10
Bush Is Anarchy, Hillary Is Monarchy
March 4 Returns Parties
The Meaning Of An Iowa Victory
Knock, Knock, Knocking On Heaven's Door
Register 100000 New Voters In NYC For Barack

My jaw dropped when Jeff took six months off work and went state hopping for Obama. He started in his native New Hampshire. He ended up as far as California. Then one day I spotted him in a corner at the Irish Rogue. I did not know he was going to be there. So I was visibly, excitedly surprised.

"You are back!"

Jeff Kurzon takes public service seriously. Like Aborn he has progressive white guy ideas on race, that touchy, touchy topic that many people don't know how to talk about.

Then one day Obama's sister showed up in New York while Jeff was in NH. I ended up one of her 10 friends on MyBO. Jeff emailed me saying he was jealous. Then Obama showed up in Harlem. Jeff rode in the car with the future president. They went downtown together. I emailed Jeff. I was jealous. But I was only half serious. The guy deserved the ride. He practically quit his fancy job for Obama. I am surprised he is not ambassador yet. Ugh, maybe after Obama's reelection.

And of course Jeff was on stage for the biggest rally in US presidential campaign history to date: that Washington Square Park rally. Oprah broke that record soon after, but it was a record while it lasted.




I bumped into Deanna Tilley before I bumped into Jeff Kurzon. The video at the top of this blog post comes from one of Deanna's Facebook status updates earlier today.

After having worked the room a little, I spotted this middle aged black woman in a corner. I had run out of people so I walked over to her and said hello. Ends up she is a grad school friend of Aborn's wife. She said she was a "housewife." My mass media trained mind was about to blurt the phrase "Desperate Housewife," but I resisted. Social media makes more sense on such topics.

Aborn showed up. The "housewife" kept nudging me to go say hello. I waited for an opening. Then I was standing in front of Richard Aborn. He was approachable.

I also moved here from the Midwest, I said teasingly. I once showed up for a county fair in Indiana, and I was the only nonwhite person at the fair. It is not like anyone bothers you, but you notice. Aborn is originally from Iowa. Iowa elected Obama. Then Iowa went ahead and legalized gay marriage, before California, before New York. So much for coastal progressivism.

I chatted with Aborn. I told him I was from Nepal. Told him I was a tech entrepreneur when he asked what I did. Then I told him I had read nothing about him to that point, and that I was there because all my Obama friends were so excited about him. Then his wife showed up, and he introduced. My wife, he said.

"I just met your friend Jackie!" I said. The wife got impressed.

Then something happened that really impressed me. A staffer looking woman approached Aborn. Eric will introduce you, she said.

"What do you want me to say?" Aborn asked her. I was touched. This guy was not short on words to speak, but the respect he showed for his staffer won me over. She briefed him. Later I got to talk to her. She was a consultant. I got her card: Jacqui Samuels, Samuels Consulting. Aborn approached us. This was after the speeches had been done, Eric Schneiderman had spoken, Bill Perkins had come and gone. He remembered me as the guy form Nepal. I was impressed. I was bragging to Jacqui I had more than 20,000 followers on Twitter. I offered to send out a few tweets for Aborn.

"Are they all from New York?" Aborn asked. It was like JFK and LBJ are watching a man land on the moon. And LBJ, ever the politician, goes: "If only he were a Negro!"

"No. All over the world. But many are from New York," I said.

Then it was one on one. This was my time with Richard Aborn. I told him now I was excited about him. I am all about tough on crime, I said, but the part that really got me is the one about your progressive ideas, I said. I don't know if I got too excited, or Aborn wanted to sit and chat with some chips, he reached out for chips and salsa at the nearby table.

In the aftermath the husband of someone Aborn sits on the Board of something or the other - interfaith dialogue something - and the wife walked over and the three of us had chips and salsa for a while.

The evening slowly wound down, and I walked away determined to blog and tweet for Aborn.

The guy got me excited.



At one point a George said he had seen my Jordan Thomas video. Jordan showed up. He said he had not seen that video to the end himself. The video is an hour, and it is "raw," like George said.

Towards the end I approached someone from having seen him at many political events.

"You run for office, right?" I said.

This was Brian Kavanagh, a member of the New York state assembly. He represents Union Square, Lower East Side. I guess I was in his district.

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