Humor

The Boom and Bust Cycle

Sometimes, especially if you’re a long-dead economist, you have to climb down from your ivory tower and speak to the youth of today in a language that they can understand. In this music video, two giants of economics break down their differing views on how to fix what ails us when it comes to boom and bust.

Stay Classy, Lincoln County!

From the “only in North Carolina” file, 30-year-old Richard Peterson had a meeting with his probation officer, but he didn’t show up. Instead, his probation officer turned on the TV, and was stunned to see his missing charge bragging about a one night stand with a stripper on “The Jerry Springer Show”. Peterson’s stunt earned him three days in jail, and presumably, a spot in the dumb criminals Hall of Fame. WRAL News has more information, courtesy of The Gaston Gazette.

Sup Dawg?

I made a funny. Click for a larger version.

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Random Comic Book Sighting

Anyone else notice that Katie Zalia is reading a “Watchmen” comic book in today’s “Sluggy Freelance” comic?

General Motors Does A Bad Cleavon Little Impression

Next week, the automakers are supposed to return to Washington, DC (presumably NOT by private jet) to testify to Congress about the details of their restructuring plans as required by the bailout bill passed last December. Details of General Motors’ plan have begun to leak out, and it appears that Rick Wagoner has decided to seek inspiration from Cleavon Little’s portrayal of Sheriff Bart in Mel Brooks’s 1974 cult classic Blazing Saddles:

[the Johnsons load their guns and point them at Bart. Bart then points his own pistol at his head]
Bart: [low voice] Hold it! Next man makes a move, the nigger gets it!
Olson Johnson: Hold it, men. He’s not bluffing.
Dr. Sam Johnson: Listen to him, men. He’s just crazy enough to do it!
Bart: [low voice] Drop it! Or I swear I’ll blow this nigger’s head all over this town!
Bart: [high-pitched voice] Oh, lo’dy, lo’d, he’s desp’it! Do what he sayyyy, do what he sayyyy!
[Townspeople drop their guns. Bart jams the gun into his neck and drags himself through the crowd towards the station]
Harriet Johnson: Isn’t anybody going to help that poor man?
Dr. Sam Johnson: Hush, Harriet! That’s a sure way to get him killed!
Bart: [high-pitched voice] Oooh! He’p me, he’p me! Somebody he’p me! He’p me! He’p me! He’p me!
Bart: [low voice] Shut up!
[Bart places his hand over his own mouth, then drags himself through the door into his office]
Bart: Ooh, baby, you are so talented!
[looks into the camera]
Bart: And they are so *dumb*!

GM’s “restructuring plan” comes down to this: Give us more money, or we’ll declare bankruptcy. The gamble, of course, is that Congress will back down and turn on the money spigots without GM having to undergo any sort of serious reorganization. But GM may have underestimated the patience of the American people, and the willingness of Congress to be held hostage to companies that think of themselves as “too big to fail”. What worked for Sheriff Bart just might not work for Rick Wagoner.

h/t to TPM and Marketwatch.

With My Apologies To Keyser Söze

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that Beyonce Knowles is talented.

The Mars Bar Index

Some random surfing brought me to this essay in the Financial Times by the late Nico Colchester. Apparently, Mr. Colchester had decided at some point during his childhood to measure his worldy wealth by the number of Mars Bars it would buy. Because the cost of a Mars Bar (or, at least, the set of ingredients that goes into one) turns out to be a measure of a basket of commodities that are not widely subject to speculation (as opposed to say, gold), it is an amazingly stable “currency”. For example, an entry-level salary from 1940 would have bought roughly the same number of Mars Bars in 1940 that today’s entry level salary would buy today. Not all items are stable when priced in Mars Bars, however – the price of today’s Rolls Royce in Mars Bars is roughly twice what it was back in 1940. Obviously, you can’t buy things with Mars Bars. But it makes for an interesting thought exercise. Of course, since I’m currently on a low carb diet, maybe we should create a “chicken sausage index”.

Saddlebacking: A New Word Enters The Lexicon

FAIR WARNING: If you’re easily offended, you should probably skip this post. If you aren’t, then take the jump.
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The Soup: Staines The Dog

This was silly, but I had to share it. h/t to The Soup Blog.

Nerd Test Version 2.0

Just for fun. h/t goes to Erica Henderson (no relation).