Roger Erickson brought to my attention a column by Matthew Yglesias that relates to the ethical issues I was discussing in my column yesterday about Yglesias’ ode to GHB (Geithner, Holder, and Breuer’s doctrine of immunity for the largest banks). (In deference to Yves’ endocrinologist, I am renaming it GBH (Brit-speak for “grievous bodily harm”).
We are only two weeks in to 2013 and there is plenty of time for far more embarrassing financial columns to be written, but The Guardian's financial editor, Heidi Moore, has opened up an early lead in the competition. Moore's column represents five embarrassing elements. She entitled her piece: “'Mint the coin': why the platinum coin campaign doesn't even work as satire.”
Alvaro Vargas Llosa (AVL) co-authored the Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot with two other journalists. He revisited the subject with an article in 2007 entitled “The Return of the Idiot.”
P.J. O'Rourke's column: “Dear Mr. President, Zero-Sum Doesn't Add Up” claims that the following metaphor explains President Obama's world view and policy choices: “life [is] like a pizza, where if some people have too many slices, other people have to eat the pizza box.”
Everyone now agrees that the so-called “fiscal cliff” is a stupid policy that threatens our economy and our people. Everyone agrees why the “fiscal cliff” is stupid – it inflicts austerity at a time when it is likely to throw the nation into a gratuitous recession. Causing a recession leads to increased unemployment and a larger budget deficit.
