tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post8779572605381178248..comments2024-02-16T11:41:37.696-05:00Comments on Todd Seavey: Bailouts and the UndeadTodd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-13532886134798707202009-01-09T18:47:00.000-05:002009-01-09T18:47:00.000-05:00Stop drinking the Kool Aid dave. It is sour. It ...Stop drinking the Kool Aid dave. It is sour. It is not possible for an economic crisis to be caused by a lack of commercial paper. Paper is a useful item, but commercial paper is just numbers on a computer screen. <br><br>(For the uninitiated, the cause of this depression was that a lot of people thought that numbers on a computer screen were a productive asset, and went out and built and bought a bunch of crappy homes and other stuff for astronomical prices they figured they would pay off with computer funny-money, and are now realizing that you can’t eat a credit default swap nor, in fact, can you even burn it to keep warm while you huddle in your Obamaville recycled cardboard box and beg strangers for Boone’s.)<br><br>Also, as a historical point, while it is true that in fifty years ago the automotive companies played key roles in militarily strategic industries (Chrysler designed the M1 Abrams tank), these days all this stuff is produced by defense contractors such as General Dynamics. So the argument that car companies are somehow “strategic” is about a generation out of date.Dirtyrottenvarmintnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-32333906488037641802009-01-08T19:53:00.000-05:002009-01-08T19:53:00.000-05:00Great post, Todd! You’ve managed to connect somet...Great post, Todd! You’ve managed to connect something I definitely understand (zombie-related cinema) to the confusing hype and punditry behind creeping socialism. You have my utmost respect, sir.LT Nixonhttp://ltnixonrants.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-34089075833725823342009-01-08T19:33:00.000-05:002009-01-08T19:33:00.000-05:00Oh, and I think The Future Soon is a better song a...Oh, and I think The Future Soon is a better song and better music, but Code Monkey does speak a bit more to my hacker soul…cbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-59842359615316551312009-01-08T19:30:00.000-05:002009-01-08T19:30:00.000-05:00Someone on slashdot just posted a link to an artic...Someone on slashdot just posted a link to an article requesting healthy brain donations and tagged it as<br><br> “from the we’re-not-unreasonable-I-mean-no-one’s-gonna-eat-your-eyes dept.”<br><br> <a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1422245" rel="nofollow">http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1422245</a><br><br>This is *presumably* a coincidence, unless “samzenpus” is a big ToddSeavey.com fan!cbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-21040142631207695312009-01-08T17:54:00.000-05:002009-01-08T17:54:00.000-05:00The Jonathan Coulton songs are outstanding, cb, an...The Jonathan Coulton songs are outstanding, cb, and I imagine you sympathize more than a little bit with “Code Monkey” — as do I with “Future Soon.”Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-30657311856686501962009-01-08T11:31:00.000-05:002009-01-08T11:31:00.000-05:00It’s probably off-topic, but that Slate article re...It’s probably off-topic, but that <i>Slate</i> article really drives me nuts. From a film history POV, <i>28 Days Later</i> was <b>not</b> the first film to feature fast moving zombies. That honor goes to an <b>American</b> film, <i>Return of the Living Dead</i>, made in 1984.markhttp://scribesandscoundrels.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-63474348212268508842009-01-07T19:35:00.000-05:002009-01-07T19:35:00.000-05:00At this point, the mention of beaurocracy-minded z...At this point, the mention of beaurocracy-minded zombies demands a link to a YouTube video of the hilarious Jonathan Coulton (JoCo) song, “Re: Your Brains”<br><br> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMiDZIY1bM" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMiDZIY1bM</a><br><br>The “Code Monkey” and “Future Soon” songs are probably better, but less on-point. ;-)cbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-61892642806556833332009-01-07T18:07:00.000-05:002009-01-07T18:07:00.000-05:00Long story short (I have a debate to go host): ser...Long story short (I have a debate to go host): services that are valuable could be arranged for and paid for by those who ostensibly value them — people should put their money where their mouths are otherwise you get people unwilling to pay for their own paperclips while insisting, quite fairly but very inefficiently, that they will have to be supplied with paperclips in order to function as businesspeople.Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-42234459493661192552009-01-07T17:27:00.000-05:002009-01-07T17:27:00.000-05:00Here is another question. Is it possible to expand...Here is another question. Is it possible to expand the definition of protecting property rights? In this case, a lack of available commercial paper – which I think was the crux of the crisis – could stop businesses from honoring their contracts regarding payroll, rent, etc. And by extension, people from paying mortgages etc. Is it protecting property rights for the government to intervene? <br><br>I ask because I am trying to get behind the idea of strict property rights, but I feel like I don’t have enough of a case. But, perhaps I’m thinking too narrowly. Here is another example. This morning, I was thankful that the town salted the streets, and cursed the homeowners and shops that didn’t. Is protecting commerce – by salting the streets – protecting property rights? Beyond weather, do public roads serve to protect private property by allowing people to use that property. If there were no public roads, what would stop eight neighbors from cutting you off from your acre of property?<br><br>By the way, I think characterizing the bailout as helping desperate investment bankers is what inspires porn actors (or whoever, I didn’t read the article) to ask for a handout. Or even car companies. If characterized correctly, one can reasonably tell Dirk Diggler, No, of course you can’t get a tax support bailout because a vast swath of the nation’s businesses don’t depend on you in order to pay their employees.<br><br>The car company situation I understand less about, but if the US didn’t have a domestic auto industry, wouldn’t we be more susceptable to losing a war with, say Japan, who I think still has auto companies. Didn’t auto companies make tanks last time we were at war with Japan? And isn’t protecting the nation a libertarian view of Government’s role?davehttp://www.fireplacefeeling.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-62078489117001964922009-01-07T16:34:00.000-05:002009-01-07T16:34:00.000-05:00By the way, combining some of the important themes...By the way, combining some of the important themes addressed above — and raising interesting questions about IP that we can address at tonight’s debate — here’s an anthologized comic book miniseries about a man who decides to use real zombies, including undead famous people, in his porn productions: <br><br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crawl-Space-XXXombies-Rick-Remender/dp/1582409137/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231363802&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Crawl-Space-XXXombies-Rick-Remender/dp/1582409137/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231363802&sr=8-1</a><br><br>This raises ethical questions on more than one plane of reality.Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-70249211883389008652009-01-07T16:05:00.000-05:002009-01-07T16:05:00.000-05:00Not pooh-poohing the crisis itself so much as worr...Not pooh-poohing the crisis itself so much as worrying about the nature of the bailout(s) — which naturally leads to things like this bit of news, pointed out to me by very-serious evolutionary psychology researcher Diana Fleischman: <br><br><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/07/porn-industry-seeks-federal-bailout/" rel="nofollow">http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/07/porn-industry-seeks-federal-bailout/</a>Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-76452199170209823652009-01-07T15:07:00.000-05:002009-01-07T15:07:00.000-05:00I think you’re adding gorilla dust to your argumen...I think you’re adding gorilla dust to your argument. Whereas clearly it’s absurd for the government to intervene to help a small number of rich people, you’re side-stepping the enormity of the problem the government is addressing. The money was for the operation of businesses of all kinds – honest businesses, not investment banks, but their clients. <br><br>I’m just saying, don’t sidestep your point. If you think the government is wrong for injecting liquidity into the credit markets – making it possible for companies to pay operating expenses, including payroll – then make a case for A. Why it’s not a crisis. or B. How free markets might address the problem.<br><br>I think there is no need to minimize the enormity of the problem the government is addressing – perhaps there is a free market answer. I don’t know one – that’s why I read your blog. But you’re minimizing the crisis, and thus not really addressing the issue.davehttp://www.fireplacefeeling.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-53945823467694956102009-01-07T14:35:00.000-05:002009-01-07T14:35:00.000-05:00Plainly, it is my contention that those seven word...Plainly, it is my contention that those seven words capture the financial crisis — including all its myriad causes, ramifications, and proposed countermeasures — with both nuance and accuracy. <br><br>Has someone suggested there’s more to the story?Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-54015961156639973062009-01-07T14:25:00.000-05:002009-01-07T14:25:00.000-05:00…….give money to desperate, needy investment banke...…….give money to desperate, needy investment bankers.<br><br>Is that really what you think is going on?davehttp://www.fireplacefeeling.com/noreply@blogger.com