James Grant wrote an article in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal wondering “Why No Outrage?” from the public concerning Wall Street’s reckless behavior during the credit boom and the assistance they’ve received from their government enablers.
How Nerds Can Help America's Economy Written By: Eben Esterhuizen 2008-08-05 14:15:25
While the twentieth century had the arms race, the competition in this century will be a brains race, and it looks like America is falling behind.
"Although the United States continues to possess the world's strongest science and engineering enterprise, its position is jeopardized both by evolving weakness at home and by growing strength abroad," said a recent National Academy of Sciences report.
The report found that U.S. funding of "research in most physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering has declined or remained flat — in real purchasing power — for several decades." The report also argued that leadership in high-energy physics, a U.S. franchise since the Manhattan Project built the atomic bomb, is shifting overseas.
Beginning in 2007, the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth will be outside the USA for the first time in decades. Similarly, U.S. scientists complain that fusion reactor tests and underground physics labs needed to stay ahead in the most cutting-edge areas are all overseas.
Is the Sky Falling? A Recap and a Prediction Written By: Mark Bershatsky 2008-03-22 10:48:25 As we push further into 2008 and see market conditions continue to deteriorate, the number one question that investors seem to be focused on is whether things have gotten bad enough to lead to a recession. Many financial experts seem to think so, but if we are heading in this direction, are the right actions being taken and what will this mean going forward?
Long Term Interest Rates: Breaking Out or in a Range Written By: David Neubert 2007-06-13 09:36:14 It seems like just weeks ago the financial media was looking for the coming drop in fed funds rate by the Fed. Real Estate was dropping and the economy was slowing. This time last year, inflation was on the rise and interest rates were going up. I like to use the financial media as a contra indicator on bonds.
On Smoking Cannabis, Cavemen, Giants and Predicting Stock Markets Written By: Eben Esterhuizen 2008-01-30 20:48:51
Once upon a time, in a land far far away, lived a hairy caveman. After a long hard day of hunting mammoths and avoiding saber-tooth tigers, he scratched his nose and it started raining. He didn't think much of it at first and ran back to his cave into the arms of his loving cavewoman. The next day he scratched his nose again and voila! It rained again. The caveman came to an important conclusion: "if" he scratches his nose, "then" it rains. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but at least he had a way to cope with the randomness of nature and had assurance that he had some control over the arbitrary events of his life. He spent the rest of his days devising an intricate system to optimize the results of his nose-scratching activity. It was the birth of the "science" of prediction.
