tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post4977900327485113903..comments2023-11-02T07:30:03.967-07:00Comments on Cassandra Does Tokyo: If You Can't Tell Who The Sucker Is...."Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-896796806885823612008-12-27T13:06:00.000-08:002008-12-27T13:06:00.000-08:00Brilliant.Brilliant.Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10098169118867085623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-78074961550219853072008-12-24T18:27:00.000-08:002008-12-24T18:27:00.000-08:00shtovethanks...failed "cut and paste". The French ...shtove<BR/>thanks...failed "cut and paste". The French Monk was from my MACs cache. Will fix. Happy hols...<BR/><BR/>-C-Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-77568769991503683622008-12-24T16:15:00.000-08:002008-12-24T16:15:00.000-08:00Why does the peak credit link show me a picture of...Why does the peak credit link show me a picture of a tibetan monk?<BR/><BR/>And what does that say about the sustainability of our scientific research programs?<BR/><BR/>Cassandra really is forcing me to think sideways ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-56552756512182480922008-12-22T23:50:00.000-08:002008-12-22T23:50:00.000-08:00If you're looking for the sucker, you're at the wr...If you're looking for the sucker, you're at the wrong table...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02295501159514327268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-8178466430293506632008-12-22T20:38:00.000-08:002008-12-22T20:38:00.000-08:00Quick reply to Mike Sankowski-the purchasing power...Quick reply to Mike Sankowski-the purchasing power of wages fell and did not return from their 1979 levels until 2001, while productivity has increased in every single year of that period. Purchasing power has dropped again. <BR/><BR/>Now you know why we can't afford what we produce. We keep producing more per person, yet each person does not get comparable increases in wages, remaining equal to Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-34479805246397659502008-12-22T18:37:00.000-08:002008-12-22T18:37:00.000-08:00Gen -- I lived in Tokyo 1992-2000 so, yeah, I thin...Gen -- I lived in Tokyo 1992-2000 so, yeah, I think I've seen this movie before.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-92044930354141401522008-12-22T18:36:00.000-08:002008-12-22T18:36:00.000-08:00The "All-Devouring Rent" is IMO importan...The "All-Devouring Rent" is IMO important to understanding boom/bust cycles.<BR/><BR/>Titled land ownership in good times is a license to print money so attracts wide speculative interest. Due to the limited, fixed supply of land this results in land prices being bid up past the point of affordability on the upstroke.<BR/><BR/>Then the downstroke comes.<BR/><BR/>People think the US Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-56563561050691902812008-12-22T13:57:00.000-08:002008-12-22T13:57:00.000-08:00The problem of affordability, rises from the fact ...The problem of affordability, rises from the fact that a large portion of society does not produce anything that is desired or needed by those that produce the goods that modern life requires.<BR/><BR/>The houses are not affordable, because those that want to live in them, do not produce enough to trade for them, and as such it makes no sense to build them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-45125840782494372072008-12-22T10:52:00.000-08:002008-12-22T10:52:00.000-08:00I think we need to go back to the meaning of what ...I think we need to go back to the meaning of what an "affordance" really is. ;^)<BR/><BR/>Psychologist James J. Gibson originally introduced the term in his 1977 article The Theory of Affordances[1] and explored it more fully in his book The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception[2] in 1979. He defined affordances as all "action possibilities" latent in the environment, objectively measurable donnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00762690167864156774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-24618034279022200902008-12-22T10:49:00.000-08:002008-12-22T10:49:00.000-08:00Structural Normality.I can borrow pension fund mon...Structural Normality.<BR/><BR/>I can borrow pension fund money to buy a SUV.<BR/><BR/>Jet Fuel is reasonable and that guy with the Lincoln Town car has clean white gloves.<BR/><BR/>My dog Buster's credit is restored and I can use his card to speculate on wine futures.<BR/><BR/>My ordained place in the universe is rightfully restored.<BR/><BR/>I never buy "bulk" again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-58218801028155650752008-12-22T09:59:00.000-08:002008-12-22T09:59:00.000-08:00>> how can it not be "net affordable&qu...>> how can it not be "net affordable" to our society<BR/><BR/>because the developer borrowed money to build it and in order for him to pay off his loan and make a profit someone must be willing to take on an even bigger loan.<BR/><BR/>Its true that the houses that were built are an asset but unlike a factory or farm they are not productive assets. So to have value they have to be Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-63567821449347542272008-12-22T08:56:00.000-08:002008-12-22T08:56:00.000-08:00Excellent blog - I just discovered it. Great comm...Excellent blog - I just discovered it. Great comments as well.<BR/><BR/>"consume en masse beyond their means"<BR/><BR/>I've been thinking an enormous amount about exactly what this phrase might mean. For example, if we can produce stuff, why can we not afford it?<BR/><BR/>For example, we just produced a few million extra homes and upgraded millions of other homes. If the work is already done,Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05819776376553445235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-47493305719732634092008-12-22T04:27:00.000-08:002008-12-22T04:27:00.000-08:00Good to see this is the drift the discussion is ta...Good to see this is the drift the discussion is taking. But there are a couple of bits with which I beg to differ.<BR/><BR/>Cassandra says:<BR/><BR/>"And this return to what is sustainable, and service-able has profound economy-wide, implications, and they are indisputably contractionary: deleveraging, higher savings rates, matching household consumption to income, and government revenues to Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14907443238108377751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-8394792243303022222008-12-22T03:28:00.000-08:002008-12-22T03:28:00.000-08:00Well, if the SEC hadn't banned shorting stocks... ...Well, if the SEC hadn't banned shorting stocks... More seriously, stock markets have dropped so far I think the bottom is fairly close. But I don't think stocks will appreciate much after the bottom is found so not much of a point in dabbling in them. However, stocks are not the only thing you can short, and I'm sure more than a few overlooked rotten bonds can still be found if you want to make aAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-50630433736411565912008-12-22T02:17:00.000-08:002008-12-22T02:17:00.000-08:00So, I take it you short stock in the restorative p...So, I take it you short stock in the restorative powers of billions of dollars slapped into the crevices like putty at a higher, faster rate than ever in history?Hume's Bastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06912507715641803385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-17318067061313305072008-12-21T23:14:00.000-08:002008-12-21T23:14:00.000-08:00The US "norm" is now near the Japanese n...The US "norm" is now near the Japanese norm, at least as far as the interest rate is concerned.<BR/><BR/>Krugman talks at length at the recent National Press Club Luncheon about ZIRP in Japan vs. near ZIRP in the US.<BR/><BR/>http://npc.press.org/video/player.cfm?type=lunch&id=16709<BR/><BR/>I'm in the camp that says that there's more to learn from Japan's ZIRP Gen Kanaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01981551684895504503noreply@blogger.com