Sunday, November 30, 2008

Speech, Bernanke --Deflation-- November 21, 2002

Here is the Fed's position on any worries about deflation. Written in 2002 but it outlines the tools Bernanke will use to fight off a recession.



Of course, the U.S. government is not going to print money and distribute it willy-nilly (although as we will see later, there are practical policies that approximate this behavior).8 Normally, money is injected into the economy through asset purchases by the Federal Reserve. To stimulate aggregate spending when short-term interest rates have reached zero, the Fed must expand the scale of its asset purchases or, possibly, expand the menu of assets that it buys. Alternatively, the Fed could find other ways of injecting money into the system--for example, by making low-interest-rate loans to banks or cooperating with the fiscal authorities. Each method of adding money to the economy has advantages and drawbacks, both technical and economic. One important concern in practice is that calibrating the economic effects of nonstandard means of injecting money may be difficult, given our relative lack of experience with such policies. Thus, as I have stressed already, prevention of deflation remains preferable to having to cure it. If we do fall into deflation, however, we can take comfort that the logic of the printing press example must assert itself, and sufficient injections of money will ultimately always reverse a deflation.
Speech, Bernanke --Deflation-- November 21, 2002
Blogged with the Flock Browser

'Encouraged by a wicked wizard, Greenspan, Bernanke toils at his printing press' - Telegraph

"The original Frank Baum story was written as a political allegory of America's entry on to the gold standard in 1879. The strictures of sound money coincided with a vibrant post Civil War economy. The result was deflation: prices fell by 1.7pc pa between 1875 and 1896. The farmer, as depicted by the scarecrow, was held captive by falling agricultural prices and mortgages owed to the big banks, the wicked witch of the east. The spell of tight monetary policy cast a pall over the poor tin woodsman: every time he swung his axe, he chopped off part of his body. It was a depiction of the economy's shuttered and rusting factories."
'Encouraged by a wicked wizard, Greenspan, Bernanke toils at his printing press' - Telegraph
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Op-Ed Contributor - What They Hate About Mumbai - NYTimes.com

"Mumbai is all about dhandha, or transaction. From the street food vendor squatting on a sidewalk, fiercely guarding his little business, to the tycoons and their dreams of acquiring Hollywood, this city understands money and has no guilt about the getting and spending of it. I once asked a Muslim man living in a shack without indoor plumbing what kept him in the city. “Mumbai is a golden songbird,” he said. It flies quick and sly, and you’ll have to work hard to catch it, but if you do, a fabulous fortune will open up for you. The executives who congregated in the Taj Mahal hotel were chasing this golden songbird. The terrorists want to kill the songbird."
Op-Ed Contributor - What They Hate About Mumbai - NYTimes.com
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Henry Waxman, Green Energy and Technology Win First Fight of the New Congress

"The winds of change are sweeping Washington even before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in Jan. 20, heralding new agenda priorities on a wide range of issues affecting technology, from climate change to health care reform to network neutrality.

In the U.S. House, Democrats voted Nov. 20 to replace 82-year-old Rep. John Dingell—a powerful voice for Detroit automakers for more than 50 years—with outspoken energy and environmental advocate Rep. Henry Waxman of California as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. In the Senate, Democrats are installing Sen. Jay Rockefeller, with health care reform and rural broadband access at the top of his agenda, as chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology."
Henry Waxman, Green Energy and Technology Win First Fight of the New Congress
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Speculation on Waxman's Telecom Influence

"Waxman was elected chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is expected to emphasize government accountability and pursue a "transparency agenda." A report soon to be issued on the FCC's decision-making process under current FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is expected to highlight Waxman's penchant for accountability.While Waxman has a "spotty record" of attending high-tech oriented hearings, he supports network neutrality and is expected to work with the incoming administration to craft legislation in that area."
Speculation on Waxman's telecom influence - FierceTelecom
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Monday, November 24, 2008

Idea Lab - Becoming Screen Literate - NYTimes.com

"These ever-present screens have created an audience for very short moving pictures, as brief as three minutes, while cheap digital creation tools have empowered a new generation of filmmakers, who are rapidly filling up those screens. We are headed toward screen ubiquity."
Idea Lab - Becoming Screen Literate - NYTimes.com
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Why Obama Should Keep His BlackBerry - WSJ.com

"This reality of the information age might be particularly stark for the president, but it's no less true for all of us. Conversation used to be ephemeral. Whether face-to-face or by phone, we could be reasonably sure that what we said disappeared as soon as we said it. Organized crime bosses worried about phone taps and room bugs, but that was the exception. Privacy was just assumed."
Why Obama Should Keep His BlackBerry - WSJ.com
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Broadband subs hit 400 million, 'Net bending under the weight - FierceTelecom

"The Broadband Forum and research partner Point-Topic announced that there are now more than 400 million global broadband subscribers. That's a long way from the first measurement taken in 1998, when global broadband subscribers numbered barely more than than 57,000. Fiber-based broadband services now account for about 45 million subscribers, according to Point-Topic."
Broadband subs hit 400 million, 'Net bending under the weight - FierceTelecom
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Know It All - The Industry - Telecom in Tough Times: The Big Will Get Bigger

"Following the shock of the last bubble popping, he says, these companies were conservative in managing their balance sheets, so their free cash flow is high and they are not strapped for credit. "Network expansion plans could be delayed in some cases, but they remain on track."The scarcity of credit, though, is squeezing vendors, who rely heavily on R&D, and who face price-conscious customers and demands that they share risks and costs on big projects."
Know It All - The Industry - Telecom in Tough Times: The Big Will Get Bigger
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Debt Man Walking

"For decades, the United States has relied on a tortuous financial arrangement that knits together its economy with those of China and Japan. This informal system has allowed Asian countries to run huge export surpluses with the United States, while allowing the United States to run huge budget deficits without having to raise interest rates or taxes, and to run huge trade deficits without abruptly depreciating its currency. I couldn't find a single instance of Obama discussing this issue, but it has been an obsession of bankers, international economists, and high officials like Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. They think this informal system contributed to today's financial crisis. Worse, they fear that its breakdown could turn the looming downturn into something resembling the global depression of the 1930s."
Debt Man Walking
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Search Engine With an Eye for Videos - WSJ.com

"When it works, VideoSurf is one of those technologies that make you wonder why someone didn't think of it sooner. The site aggregates content from about 60 sources, including YouTube, CNN Video, Hulu, ESPN and Comedy Central, and a sorting tool weeds out unwanted results like the irksome slideshows that are labeled as videos. VideoSurf can find videos on all kinds of subjects, but it really shines when it finds well-known people."
A Search Engine With an Eye for Videos - WSJ.com
Blogged with the Flock Browser

The New Washington Tech Agenda

"Since technology is the key to virtually all of President-elect Barack Obama's plans for sweeping changes in the direction of the country and the way Washington does business with its citizens, it is not surprising Obama brings a decidedly different technology agenda to the White House than President Bush did eight years ago.Bush praised technology as a key driver of the economy and worked to remove government barriers such as laws, rules and regulations to let the free market make its decisions on winners and losers. Obama, though, embraces technology as the path to innovation and the future and plans to invest heavily in technology as the key to reviving the economy."
The New Washington Tech Agenda
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Lawmaker Plans Bill on Web Neutrality

Sen. "Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, believes a law is essential to prevent telephone and cable companies from discriminating against Internet content, even though regulators have taken actions to enforce free Web principles, a top Dorgan aide said on Thursday."We feel that legislation is definitely necessary," said Frannie Wellings, telecom counsel to Dorgan, speaking at a University of Nebraska law school event on changes in telecom law after the election of Democrat Barack Obama."
Lawmaker Plans Bill on Web Neutrality
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Monday, November 17, 2008

A New Inconvenient Truth

"Nobel prize winner Al Gore shifted from his longstanding focus on regulating carbon pollution to advocating direct government investments in clean energy as the best way to deal with climate change. Gore is the country's most prominent spokesperson on climate change and a shift in his thinking in reaction to new economic and political circumstances is highly significant."
A New Inconvenient Truth
Blogged with the Flock Browser