There he goes again. Alan Greenspan sees little economic light as the recovery remains "unbalanced", with only high earners and big companies driving growth so far.
The reasons for Alan's pessimism are my reasons for optimism. Concentration of capital, such as those in the hands of high earners and big corporations, are what sets in motion a solid recovery. Small businesses can't borrow unless capital is available. The unemployed can't get jobs until capital is amassed and used to purchase productive capacity. Production must precede consumption.
This truth is the reason why the Gospel's admonition to aid the poor cannot constitute the basis for sound economic policy. Dispersion of capital--dissaving--is what wrecks economic recoveries. One aids the poor from one's surplus, not from one's seed corn.
The decision about how much to save and how much to consume--and how much to give to the poor--is a decision best made by each believer, not by the State.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Why Bother With Getting Up?
Our minds become more sluggish the longer we're awake.
Come to think of it, I rather like this study. Nighty night.
Come to think of it, I rather like this study. Nighty night.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Whiff Of Pew-Stink
A More Mundane Criterion
Another interesting item from Och's blog concerns the report that the OCA's Met Jonah is talking to the Fort Worth ECUSA diocese, presumably about reception into Orthodoxy.
I'm a huge fan of the Anglicans. Their sensible outreach spirit has brought us such varied phenomena as the USA (Anglicans along with Protestants, Masons, and Deists) and Alcoholics Anonymous.
How shameful we Orthodox must feel at our own paltry outreach. Our excitable Greek and Slavic energies have been wasted in stupid quibblings. We can't even agree to pay our priests a living wage. We make a big show about Lenten repentance and what the Fathers think about whatnot, but kick the man who's commissioned to lead us to the Kingdom. We kick his family, too.
Met. Jonah's talks with the Anglicans are good news. Assuming there's some real conversion going on, the Met needs to get his numbers up to take on the Greeks about leadership in America. He needs also to show Moscow that he has the Right Stuff to lead a united Russian-legacy effort.
All of these issues are nice, but I'm especially joyful at the prospect of more formerly-Anglican converts filling Orthodox parish councils. The Anglicans are used to having priests, and they're used to paying them well. In fact, I would say that in my experience Anglican converts are the only converts that parishes should fight to get on their councils. Among the cradles on councils, my favorites are Syrians and Greeks, in that order. Those cradles are also worth fighting for.
We enter the Kingdom through our parishes. Let's take care of them.
I'm a huge fan of the Anglicans. Their sensible outreach spirit has brought us such varied phenomena as the USA (Anglicans along with Protestants, Masons, and Deists) and Alcoholics Anonymous.
How shameful we Orthodox must feel at our own paltry outreach. Our excitable Greek and Slavic energies have been wasted in stupid quibblings. We can't even agree to pay our priests a living wage. We make a big show about Lenten repentance and what the Fathers think about whatnot, but kick the man who's commissioned to lead us to the Kingdom. We kick his family, too.
Met. Jonah's talks with the Anglicans are good news. Assuming there's some real conversion going on, the Met needs to get his numbers up to take on the Greeks about leadership in America. He needs also to show Moscow that he has the Right Stuff to lead a united Russian-legacy effort.
All of these issues are nice, but I'm especially joyful at the prospect of more formerly-Anglican converts filling Orthodox parish councils. The Anglicans are used to having priests, and they're used to paying them well. In fact, I would say that in my experience Anglican converts are the only converts that parishes should fight to get on their councils. Among the cradles on councils, my favorites are Syrians and Greeks, in that order. Those cradles are also worth fighting for.
We enter the Kingdom through our parishes. Let's take care of them.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
"You're An Historicist" AKA "Your Momma"
In philosophical circles, calling someone an historicist is like talking trash about someone's mother. It doesn't accomplish much, but it could rock a pretty lazy day.
Unless, of course, one's actually talking about a priori truth, which in this day and age is pretty rare.
Have you met an extreme apriorist lately? You have now, but I'll save the Austrian Methodenstreit topic for another time.
I visited Och's tea party after a six-month absence when friend Sophocles asked me to sound off on something. Unfortunately, Och's daily topic didn't permit my periodic anti-ecumenist diatribe, but it was almost as interesting:
USURY
I'm still trying to figure out what Och means by usury, because he describes all sorts of things as usurious, but I know it means something BAD.
To me, usury means:
ZIP. ZERO. NOTHING. NADA.
The East and West diverged in their treatment of interest on loans.
We all know how things went in the West: (1) Interest was outlawed, thanks to Aristotle and his episcopal cheerleaders and (2) Cardinal Cajetan saved Westerners from Aristotle's error. Deo Gratias.
How did things go in the East? Byzantium and Russia didn't outlaw interest. Their cultures were commercial. The West's was agrarian. The Fathers--the Real Ones--concerned themselves with loans and interest being charged to the destitute. Plainly put, it's uncharitable for someone to charge interest to a distressed borrower. Unpaid interest compounds over time and magnifies the distress of the already-distressed borrower. It's simple decency not to charge interest, and it's meritorious to forgive the principal as well.
Let's add another dimension--the penalty for nonpayment of debt. Back in the Fathers' time, failing to pays debts could land one and one's family and heirs in prison or slavery. When the Fathers talk about interest and enslavement, they mean it. It's not metaphorical.
Charging compounding interest to a distressed borrower heightens the probability that the borrower won't die as a free man.
You can call it usury. I call it evil.
In our casually-clothed age, however, debt enslavement is metaphorical. The borrower's downside is truncated by bankruptcy. Unpleasant, but one remains free. One can even pick a preferred chapter of the Bankruptcy Code.
When the Fathers talk about usury, it's good for us to know what they mean. All ya'll gotta look at the words, but what do the words mean?.
Sometimes meaning can be gleaned by the cultural and historical context that shaped their concepts and language. Sometimes context is an excuse for historicism.
By the way, Mom's fine. Thanks for asking.
Unless, of course, one's actually talking about a priori truth, which in this day and age is pretty rare.
Have you met an extreme apriorist lately? You have now, but I'll save the Austrian Methodenstreit topic for another time.
I visited Och's tea party after a six-month absence when friend Sophocles asked me to sound off on something. Unfortunately, Och's daily topic didn't permit my periodic anti-ecumenist diatribe, but it was almost as interesting:
USURY
I'm still trying to figure out what Och means by usury, because he describes all sorts of things as usurious, but I know it means something BAD.
To me, usury means:
ZIP. ZERO. NOTHING. NADA.
The East and West diverged in their treatment of interest on loans.
We all know how things went in the West: (1) Interest was outlawed, thanks to Aristotle and his episcopal cheerleaders and (2) Cardinal Cajetan saved Westerners from Aristotle's error. Deo Gratias.
How did things go in the East? Byzantium and Russia didn't outlaw interest. Their cultures were commercial. The West's was agrarian. The Fathers--the Real Ones--concerned themselves with loans and interest being charged to the destitute. Plainly put, it's uncharitable for someone to charge interest to a distressed borrower. Unpaid interest compounds over time and magnifies the distress of the already-distressed borrower. It's simple decency not to charge interest, and it's meritorious to forgive the principal as well.
Let's add another dimension--the penalty for nonpayment of debt. Back in the Fathers' time, failing to pays debts could land one and one's family and heirs in prison or slavery. When the Fathers talk about interest and enslavement, they mean it. It's not metaphorical.
Charging compounding interest to a distressed borrower heightens the probability that the borrower won't die as a free man.
You can call it usury. I call it evil.
In our casually-clothed age, however, debt enslavement is metaphorical. The borrower's downside is truncated by bankruptcy. Unpleasant, but one remains free. One can even pick a preferred chapter of the Bankruptcy Code.
When the Fathers talk about usury, it's good for us to know what they mean. All ya'll gotta look at the words, but what do the words mean?.
Sometimes meaning can be gleaned by the cultural and historical context that shaped their concepts and language. Sometimes context is an excuse for historicism.
By the way, Mom's fine. Thanks for asking.
Never Underestimate The Power Of A Tired Banality To Attract The Banal
Pass the Pepto
Give to the IOCC, and skip the self-absorbed display of charity.
"We are the fallen world, and
you should listen to our song
rather than attend the Canon.
We need you more than St. Andrew, anyway.
Have a great day!"
Give to the IOCC, and skip the self-absorbed display of charity.
"We are the fallen world, and
you should listen to our song
rather than attend the Canon.
We need you more than St. Andrew, anyway.
Have a great day!"
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Health Care
'Tis the season for health care pontification. Bowing to popular demand, I'll state my position, or, rather, reiterate Ron Paul's position. Paul's Comprehensive Health Care Reform Act:
Paul's Coercion is Not Health Care Act:
This legislation forbids the federal government from forcing any American to purchase health insurance, and from conditioning participation in any federal program, or receipt of any federal benefit, on the purchase of health insurance.
A. Provides all Americans with a tax credit for 100 percent of health care expenses. The tax credit is fully refundable against both income and payroll taxes.
B. Allows individuals to roll over unused amounts in cafeteria plans and Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA).
C. Makes every American eligible for a Health Savings Account (HSA), removes the requirement that individuals must obtain a high-deductible insurance policy to open an HSA; allows individuals to use their HSA to make premiums payments for high-deductible policy; and allows senior citizens to use their HSA to purchase Medigap policies.
D. Repeals the 7.5 percent threshold for the deduction of medical expenses, thus making all medical expenses tax deductible.
Paul's Coercion is Not Health Care Act:
This legislation forbids the federal government from forcing any American to purchase health insurance, and from conditioning participation in any federal program, or receipt of any federal benefit, on the purchase of health insurance.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Patriarch Kyrill On Veliky Novgorod
Patriarch Kyrill celebrated the birth of Veliky Novgorod in 859 by speaking about its republican history. Russian political history isn't monolithically absolutist.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Charpentier's Prelude (Te Deum)
Arturo inspired this post.
The sound quality is muddled, but the tempo is appropriately snappy.
I've run across this more conventional rendition at Western weddings.
The sound quality is muddled, but the tempo is appropriately snappy.
I've run across this more conventional rendition at Western weddings.
Multi-Tasking As A Divine Attribute
Do you ever become impatient with incompetent folks who swear that they can successfully multi-task? I do.
Let me go further by proposing that anyone who claims to be a successful multi-tasker is automatically incompetent. Scientists have concluded that we humans can focus only on one task at at time. Therefore, performing more than one task simultaneously consists in applying "continuous partial attention" to the tasks. (I got that phrase from today's Wall Street Journal.)
I'm going to add this to my list of interview questions: Can you successfully multi-task, and can you give me an example of your success at multi-tasking?
Just imagine how the interviewees, eager to make a good impression, would fall into my trap. Not only are they incapable of focusing, but also they're incapable of acquiring the introspective knowledge that would enable them to recognize what focusing entails and how they fall short.
Or, I could just dismiss them as blasphemers for claiming possession of what appears to be a divine attribute.
Let me go further by proposing that anyone who claims to be a successful multi-tasker is automatically incompetent. Scientists have concluded that we humans can focus only on one task at at time. Therefore, performing more than one task simultaneously consists in applying "continuous partial attention" to the tasks. (I got that phrase from today's Wall Street Journal.)
I'm going to add this to my list of interview questions: Can you successfully multi-task, and can you give me an example of your success at multi-tasking?
Just imagine how the interviewees, eager to make a good impression, would fall into my trap. Not only are they incapable of focusing, but also they're incapable of acquiring the introspective knowledge that would enable them to recognize what focusing entails and how they fall short.
Or, I could just dismiss them as blasphemers for claiming possession of what appears to be a divine attribute.
Empirical Economic Irony
Gabriel and I have been conversing about Austrian economics, and we've been particularly focused on the School's theoretical wertfreiheit as opposed to its identification with libertarian normative prescriptions. Gabriel noted that perhaps the Austrians have been so closely identified with libertarianism that any attempt to distinguish Austrianism from libertarianism would be futile.
That kind of concern has never favorably impressed me, and I remain convinced of the crucial distinctions between theory, application, and statecraft. For those who are new to the discussion, what I call application consists in applying economic theory to the empirical world of history, forecasting, and finance.
I spent a little time today listening to a presentation from a Chicago School economist about monetary policy. My takeaway was that he, Ben Bernanke, and I have roughly the same ideas about how the Fed should have conducted its business during Fall 2008's dire days and how the Fed should conduct its business presently.
Now, this correlation would be apostasy among the Austrian purists with whom I associate, and I'd have to defend my empirical applications as vehemently against those Austrians--and I know this from experience--as I'd have to defend Austrian theoretical apriorism and methodological individualism against the Chicagoans.
Let's just say that God's expansive sense of humor manifests itself by His throwing all sorts of cute ironies and paradoxes in my path.
That kind of concern has never favorably impressed me, and I remain convinced of the crucial distinctions between theory, application, and statecraft. For those who are new to the discussion, what I call application consists in applying economic theory to the empirical world of history, forecasting, and finance.
I spent a little time today listening to a presentation from a Chicago School economist about monetary policy. My takeaway was that he, Ben Bernanke, and I have roughly the same ideas about how the Fed should have conducted its business during Fall 2008's dire days and how the Fed should conduct its business presently.
Now, this correlation would be apostasy among the Austrian purists with whom I associate, and I'd have to defend my empirical applications as vehemently against those Austrians--and I know this from experience--as I'd have to defend Austrian theoretical apriorism and methodological individualism against the Chicagoans.
Let's just say that God's expansive sense of humor manifests itself by His throwing all sorts of cute ironies and paradoxes in my path.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Monetary Economics 101
The Russian Church Primate again called the crisis a consequence of 'sin that penetrated in modern economics,' and stated that today, 'people of honest labor pay for those who made millions and milliards [sic] out of air, pay for deception, for those who seeking easy profits lost human face in economic relations.' [Emphasis mine]
Alan Greenspan's easy monetary policy manufactured money out of thin air. The newly-created money stole value from previously-existing money. This is the shameful mechanism of monetary inflation. Patriarch Kyrill is right on the money.
Alan Greenspan's easy monetary policy manufactured money out of thin air. The newly-created money stole value from previously-existing money. This is the shameful mechanism of monetary inflation. Patriarch Kyrill is right on the money.
Busybodies Want To Cheapen The Wedding Garments
Reporters criticized Patriarch Kyrill's expensive watch here. Maybe we're supposed to think that Christ stole from the poor by creating precious metals and other luxuries.
We Knew All Along That You Were Just A Pretty Face...
...and we wanted some real foreign policy expertise.
I can't stop laughing at this one.
I can't stop laughing at this one.
Friday, July 24, 2009
If You Don't Like This One, You're Not Human
It speaks for itself. I'm the proud owner of the CD. Crank up the volume so you don't miss the beginning.
Liking It Is Sufficient Reason For Posting It
Wrong season, but I like this nonliturgical hymn. The first rendition is so beautiful it's scary.
The second rendition isn't the best, but I adore their enthusiasm. If you observe the conductor, you'll notice that the enthusiasm is being orchestrated.
Now you know how I spend my free time.
The second rendition isn't the best, but I adore their enthusiasm. If you observe the conductor, you'll notice that the enthusiasm is being orchestrated.
Now you know how I spend my free time.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Stress Management Without Yoga
"Gentleness and humidity is the greatest power that not only helps manage the world according to God's law, but helps a person find peace and health."
Patriarch Kyrill
Patriarch Kyrill
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