Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
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Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
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Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
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Wednesday, December 17. 2008

Weds. morning links

Do you view college as an investment? If so, see how they stack up in returns on capital.

Would you buy a new car from this company?

Why government spending doesn't help in recessions. Betsy. (It's because the money has to come from somewhere.)

The Ten Dopiest Leaders of 2008. h/t, Insty

Caroline Kennedy? What's she ever done? I guess Teddy wants it done.

Major study finds no relation between school spending and achievement

Christmas Books: Thomas Sowell

Fed rates to zero. That is dramatic, but how about -1%? Kudlow says only tax cuts can help.

Pin-up from Theo

Posted by The News Junkie in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:23 | Comments (6) | Trackbacks (0)

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Zero percent just means that they're not using the rate as a guide to how much money to supply or destroy. They stopped using the rate some time ago.

They're fighting cash hoarding as institutions deleverage and soak up all the cash they're supplying, by handing it right back to the government as Treasury purchases.

Numbers go up but nothing real happens in the economy.

The real trouble is that the division of labor stopped working, and that's what supports the standard of living.
#1 Ron Hardin (Link) on 2008-12-17 07:58 (Reply)
I thought america fought a war of independence to be rid of royalty?...the Kennedys prove otherwise it seems.
#2 thud (Link) on 2008-12-17 08:00 (Reply)
When society and the law removed corporal punishment from the parents and schools and adopted the wacko Dr, Spock methodology of child rearing we lost as a culture one of the most valuable tools we had for child guidance.

I'm not talking about child beat downs but a good spanking does , when applied judiciously, a great deal of good.

Now kids of all ages threaten their parents with legal action brought by the entire might of the all powerful socialist state if they are even required to do a homework assignment.
#3 Habu on 2008-12-17 11:58 (Reply)
NJ,

Thank you for the Theo contribution. In my lifetime the only better I've seen was the Vargas artistry in Playboy. They are both great. Thanks again.
#4 Habu on 2008-12-17 12:07 (Reply)
Of course college is an investment. Even if you don't learn enough to get more than a 1.99 GPA, you have the diploma. The payback is worth it ten times over.

Money doesn't make the education. The teacher does. "Please write that five-hundred times." You can have a wonderful teacher in a one-room school house or a bad teacher in a posh private school. Who's going to learn?

Here's another way to look at it: Think of the people you surround yourself with and what influence they have on you. Are they readers? Do they like to debate? Do they think? Do they make you think? Do they question and energize your curiousity? Do they analzye data and use critical thinking skills? Do they laugh? Do they appreciate a beautiful poem?

Half the learning you engage in is through the people you spend your time with; and if a teacher is one you'd like to spend your time with, you will learn. Money and pedigree matter not. Character and knowledge count for everything.
`
#5 Meta on 2008-12-17 13:27 (Reply)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoxDyC7y7PM

A more detailed answer on why government spending during a recession doesn't work (by Dan Mitchell over at Cato).
#6 Alchemist on 2008-12-18 04:27 (Reply)

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