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You know NBBooks, I happen to think you are a genius. But...

On the subject of inflation here, I believe you are listening to the wrong voices.  Why?

Inflation is often a fiscal / monetary problem--but not this time.  This time, the rising costs of commodities like wheat and oil are being driven by something much more basic--demand is exceeding supply for real reasons such as increasing populations and a finite biosphere.

Because this is true, any advice from the banksters and their idiot economists will almost certainly make the situation MUCH worse.  You notice that none of the standard remedies proposed by the central bankers is "working."  (whatever that means)

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Mon Mar 3rd, 2008 at 01:34:19 PM EST
Ahh, there you are. I wanted to link to your article on financial capitalism versus industrial capitalism, but could not find it on your site. And I could not find the email in which you gave me the URL, so I would like it again.

What I liked about that graph with 14 commodities in it is that it shows there is a general phenomena occurring. I left out mentioning that commodities are also being pushed up by investors seeking to profit on the rise. In the interests of brevity amd all that. That's why I included the link to Thomas Palley's Destabilizing Speculation and the Case for an International Currency Transactions Tax:

A third challenge comes from the literature on herd behavior (Banerjee 1992; Palley 1995), which posits that market investors may act as a herd. Each individual acts rationally from his or her own standpoint, but collectively they behave as a herd, each following the actions of others for no reason other than the fact that others are doing it. In this case, the "behavior of others" becomes the market fundamental, and the actions of speculators can trigger movements in market prices through random dealings that have no relation to underlying economic conditions.

I'm not a genius; I just read people like you and Palley and Jerome and Migeru and Chris Cook and hosts of others I can't all name at once.

Each of these damn diaries could easily turn into a book. The really annoying thing the past two months is when I have tried to write a book, I get writer's block and research dreary.

by NBBooks on Mon Mar 3rd, 2008 at 02:04:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
In other words, yes, there are a number of factors pushing up some commodities, such as those you site for wheat. Which explains why wheat is so much more of an increase than the other commodities. But all commodities are going up.
by NBBooks on Mon Mar 3rd, 2008 at 02:06:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The essay you are looking for can be found right here at this wonderful site:

http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2007/1/18/191310/123

And even though my web site is undergoing a major redesign, it address is, and will be:

http://elegant-technology.com/kossack_econ_1.html

Just a thought--maybe you should create a book as a collection of your more recent essays.  We should all have such writer's block ;-)

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Tue Mar 4th, 2008 at 12:16:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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