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Category Archives: Government
How Much Power is too Much Power
When the United States of America first organized herself into a country she ratified the Articles of Confederation. The document gave most of the power to the states and left very little with the Federal government. As tantalizing as that sounds in 2012, it crippled John Adams’ negotiations with Great Britain on reducing import taxes from America. It wasn’t until the Constitution was ratified in 1789 that teeth were given to our Federal government.
Posted in Business and Sales, Communication, Government
Tagged leaders, managers, organizational behavior, power politics
1 Comment
A Malfunction of time at the Greenwich Observatory
In 1796, David Kinnebrook was fired for miscalculating time by eight-tenths of a second at the Greenwich observatory. David worked as the assistant to the Reverend Nevil Maskelyn, the Royal Astronomer. The Reverend had noticed the discrepancy in 1795 and given David a warning to improve. The alleged miscalculation was compared to his own measurement.
The incident went unnoticed for 20 years until the German astronomer Friedrich Wilhem Bessell studied mistakes in the errors of measurement. He suspected that the so-called mistakes were attributable to human differences outside the control of cognitive thought. Through testing his hypothesis, he discovered that even among the most experienced astronomers, disagreements were common.
Posted in Communication, Government
Tagged communication skills, Greenwich observatory, Who vs What
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Technology and Politicians
“If you throw all the technology we have into the ocean, 1 billion people will die within the next 6 months. If you throw all the politicians in the ocean, we all succeed.”
This statement was made by Buckminster Fuller who felt guilty after saying it for not speaking with good purpose.
After considering the statement, perhaps if he amended it to read, “If you throw all the politicians out of office…” he wouldn’t feel so badly.
Probably have the same result.
Politically Speaking: Are You Left Or Right?
School textbooks teach that communism is the far left and fascism is the far right. In other words, it’s the communists (Radical revolutionaries, Lenin) vs. the fascists (military dictatorships, Hitler).
So what’s the difference between communism and fascism? Turns out they are virtually the same extreme tyranny. The only difference is our perception of right and left instead of right and wrong or freedom versus security.
Measuring candidates, people, and issues in terms of political parties has turned out to be misleading and philosophically fallacious. The right is deemed to have no heart towards the poor by the left, while the left is considered economically challenged by the right.
Posted in Government
Tagged Communism, Conservative, Democrat, Fascism, Liberal, Politics, Republican
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Politics, Economics and the Weather
Interesting thoughts by New York Fed President William “Milk” Dudley today.
He commented that the Fed is almost certain to lend support in order to ensure that a slowing economy does not fall further. In his example he chose the sum of a $500 Billion purchase plan and how it might impact interest rates.
The markets are noting that he is the first Fed official to actually use a specific monetary number, even though he was using it just as an example.
Posted in Fiscal Literacy, Government
Tagged Economic update, Politics, weather report
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Econ Update Sep. 7, 2010
For the past two weeks, it’s been pointed out that the Homebuyer Tax Credit has been harmful not helpful. No less than the New York Times is now singing the same tune, quoting a group of economists who call the Tax Credit an enormous waste.
We are at a point where the best medicine coming out of Washington would be no medicine. If our elected leaders would take a vacation for the next 12 months, odds are the economy would look better upon their return.
Bush Tax Cuts
Monday Morning Econ Update: Aug. 30, 2010
Existing Home Sales declined 27% from last month.
New Home Sales – ugly.
The actions from the Washington academics (politicians) continue to have unintended negative consequences. Consider the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.
The tax credit rewarded those who were already going to purchase homes and those who moved up the timing of an inevitable purchase. Now, potential buyers are feeling reticent to make a move after “missing out” on the free money.
The major problem with our economy is the job market while the focus from Washington has been elsewhere. It seems that each landmark passage of reforms – from aviation to healthcare to financial – has made job creations more challenging.
Financial Reform – or is it?
They say the only constant is change… and more change is coming! Last month, the sweeping Financial Regulation Bill was signed into law and promises to bring a wave of new changes to the financial system. But the question is: what does this change mean to you? Here’s what you need to know.
Generally speaking, the law calls for a new consumer protection agency and prohibits banks from taking risky bets. While those things are important, it’s also important to realize that this legislation… over 2,000 pages worth… amazingly does nothing to address the core reasons for the financial collapse.
Econ Update: June 8, 2010
My last two economic posts have tried to maintain a positive bend on the economy. The tenor of this update cannot uphold that view.
A recent Bloomberg story indicates US debt will overtake GDP by 2012, which exacerbates the fear of a double dip recession that many economist fear is just around the corner.
Although many European leaders are committed to keeping the Euro alive, many leading economic thinkers don’t believe the Euro will last out the decade.
Is our Government based on Capitalism?
Gig Harbor is a beautiful, picturesque city in which to dwell. I’m disconcerted when I see the beggars at intersections displaying their downtrodden faces and painting a story of sorrow or bad luck.
My heart wants to fix their problem and make it go away. My brain asks questions like how and why and tries to find logic in the scene playing before my eyes. Frustration is the end result trying to understand why this great country has poor folks living with rich folks.