I gave up contributing to the Democratic National Committee years ago, right after Howard Dean left. IMO, he was the last chair who understood what needed to be done and every subsequent leader has been woeful. They totally lost the thread when the GOP were organizing to take over statehouses and governors in a lot of states back in 2010 and now are Gerrymandered out of existence in those states. I still get lots of meaningless emails every day but the only one getting money is the Obama/Holder effort that fights for fair elections.
I agree that the update which you received is an example of the useful things which a functional Democratic party ought to be doing. However, I seem to be on every Democratic email list in God's creation. I've been an officer in both the local and state party. I'm also a PhD economist who would have been happy to voice support for IRA. Why the hell didn't I get this mailing? In fairness, you are a nationally prominent public intellectual and I'm a little country professor (retired).
I share the conclusion that IRA is a good bill, even though I do not think it will reduce inflation. I do wish the supporters had focused more on the tax side. The covered interest provision was more progressive, but could the minimum corporate rate be more efficient in reducing differences in after-tax returns to investment between activities?
Should we be worried? Maybe, but I'm mostly confused.
I see GDI that is consistently outpacing GDP since the end of the Covid recession, (though GDI for Q2 isn't out yet). I see that the household survey says 168k jobs were lost since March, while the establishment survey says 1.68 million were gained. I know these two surveys shouldn't reconcile, but have they every been so different for so long? I see that BLS says wage inflation is 5.2%, and the Atlanta Fed says it is 7.2 ... again, it should reconcile but these used to track hand-in-hand.
Covid suddenly shifted our consumption, investment, and employment... and it isn't back to pre-Covid. I wonder if Covid didn't scramble the sampling in survey data?
I get the impression that Facebook is getting desperate. Investors require infinite exponential growth, and Facebook has been hitting its limits. I'll give Zuckerberg credit for going VR as opposed to crypto, but either would have been a sign of desperation. I wonder exactly what hold the investment community has on the man that he is so concerned. Supposedly, he more or less owns and controls the company. Will he be our next Howard Hughes?
The move to algorithmic is rather sad. The whole point of the internet for some of us was that it let us look into places we ordinarily wouldn't. There was all sorts of stuff, like an HVAC insider's take down of HVAC in the movies or the adventures of an organic synthesis chemist in the pharmaceutical business. I used to go to an out-of-town news stand just to buy newspapers and magazines from around the country and around the world to see different viewpoints. Algorithms are about just the opposite. They try to keep one from finding new and different things. They are the anti-serendipity.
I don't think Facebook will be as central to as many people as it is now in ten years. The only people I know who use it seriously do so for business reasons like Linkedin, and most new to the web businesses are now using one of those build-your-own web pages companies. For a few bucks a month, the price of a Yellow Pages listing, they have a URL to put on their business card or the side of their truck.
There's a good book on the origin of the anti-semitic tropes, Norman Cohn's 'Warrant for Genocide'. He's a good writer and a great historian. I'll also recommend his 'Europe's Inner Demons', his story of the origin of the devil worshiping witch stereotype.
I gave up contributing to the Democratic National Committee years ago, right after Howard Dean left. IMO, he was the last chair who understood what needed to be done and every subsequent leader has been woeful. They totally lost the thread when the GOP were organizing to take over statehouses and governors in a lot of states back in 2010 and now are Gerrymandered out of existence in those states. I still get lots of meaningless emails every day but the only one getting money is the Obama/Holder effort that fights for fair elections.
I understand you well...
I agree that the update which you received is an example of the useful things which a functional Democratic party ought to be doing. However, I seem to be on every Democratic email list in God's creation. I've been an officer in both the local and state party. I'm also a PhD economist who would have been happy to voice support for IRA. Why the hell didn't I get this mailing? In fairness, you are a nationally prominent public intellectual and I'm a little country professor (retired).
:-)
I share the conclusion that IRA is a good bill, even though I do not think it will reduce inflation. I do wish the supporters had focused more on the tax side. The covered interest provision was more progressive, but could the minimum corporate rate be more efficient in reducing differences in after-tax returns to investment between activities?
Should we be worried? Maybe, but I'm mostly confused.
I see GDI that is consistently outpacing GDP since the end of the Covid recession, (though GDI for Q2 isn't out yet). I see that the household survey says 168k jobs were lost since March, while the establishment survey says 1.68 million were gained. I know these two surveys shouldn't reconcile, but have they every been so different for so long? I see that BLS says wage inflation is 5.2%, and the Atlanta Fed says it is 7.2 ... again, it should reconcile but these used to track hand-in-hand.
Covid suddenly shifted our consumption, investment, and employment... and it isn't back to pre-Covid. I wonder if Covid didn't scramble the sampling in survey data?
I get the impression that Facebook is getting desperate. Investors require infinite exponential growth, and Facebook has been hitting its limits. I'll give Zuckerberg credit for going VR as opposed to crypto, but either would have been a sign of desperation. I wonder exactly what hold the investment community has on the man that he is so concerned. Supposedly, he more or less owns and controls the company. Will he be our next Howard Hughes?
The move to algorithmic is rather sad. The whole point of the internet for some of us was that it let us look into places we ordinarily wouldn't. There was all sorts of stuff, like an HVAC insider's take down of HVAC in the movies or the adventures of an organic synthesis chemist in the pharmaceutical business. I used to go to an out-of-town news stand just to buy newspapers and magazines from around the country and around the world to see different viewpoints. Algorithms are about just the opposite. They try to keep one from finding new and different things. They are the anti-serendipity.
I don't think Facebook will be as central to as many people as it is now in ten years. The only people I know who use it seriously do so for business reasons like Linkedin, and most new to the web businesses are now using one of those build-your-own web pages companies. For a few bucks a month, the price of a Yellow Pages listing, they have a URL to put on their business card or the side of their truck.
“He deserves credit for going for virtual reality, rather than for crypto“ is a very good and true point
There's a good book on the origin of the anti-semitic tropes, Norman Cohn's 'Warrant for Genocide'. He's a good writer and a great historian. I'll also recommend his 'Europe's Inner Demons', his story of the origin of the devil worshiping witch stereotype.