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(Monthly Archives) March 2008

Now, That’s What Still Passes For "Capitalism" On Our Shores. It’s Not!

No, it’s not “creative destruction” either… It is a really mean version of economic Darwinism as preached and practiced by a pathologically moneyeyed executive nomenclature. I found the article below after reading today’s news about Bear Stearns:

“Wall Street’s five biggest firms together paid a record $39 billion in bonuses [for 2007], even though three of them suffered the worst quarterly losses in their history and shareholders lost more than $80 billion.

Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers Holdings and Bear Stearns together paid $65.6 billion in compensation and benefits last year to their 186,000 employees. Year-end bonuses usually account for 60 percent of the total, meaning bonuses exceeded the $36 billion distributed in 2006 when the industry reported all-time high profits.

The bonuses are larger than the gross domestic products of Sri Lanka, Lebanon or Bulgaria.”

See full article…

March 14, 2008 business
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Thanks to All Who Voted For Bush Twice…

“The median household earned $48,201 in 2006, down from $49,244 in 1999, according to the Census Bureau. It now looks as if a full decade may pass before most Americans receive a raise.”
March 8, 2008 politics
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The Myth of Home Ownership

“NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve says Americans’ percentage of equity in their homes has fallen below 50 percent for the first time since 1945.

The Fed’s U.S. Flow of Funds Accounts shows homeowners’ percentage of home equity slipped to a revised 49.6 percent in the second quarter of 2007 and declined further to 47.9 percent in the fourth quarter. It marks the first time homeowners’ debt on their houses exceeds their equity since the Fed started tracking the data in 1945.” (full story)

It is co-ownership at best – people investing massive amounts of time, energy, and emotion to manage assets owned mostly by banks.

March 6, 2008 social Comments (0)

Good Post About Obama by Marc Andreessen

Mark tells about a meeting he and his wife had with Obama in early 2007. Here are some parts of the post:

And here is the full post…

“I carried four distinct impressions away from our meeting with Senator Obama.

  • First, this is a normal guy.
  • Second, this is a smart guy.
  • Third, this is not a radical.
  • Fourth, this is the first credible post-Baby Boomer presidential candidate.

What’s the picture that emerges from these four impressions?

Smart, normal, curious, not radical, and post-Boomer.

If you were asking me to write a capsule description of what I would look for in the next President of the United States, that would be it.

He’s got my vote.”

March 3, 2008 politics Comments (0)