Housing Bubble?

Wolf Richter: Dear Fed, It’s Not “Really Hard to Spot Bubbles” | naked capitalism:

Maybe.. but in the last bubble the housing market in my area, eastern Indiana Teabagistan, was crazy. Anyone could get any kind of loan, lots of people were talking about buying and flipping for a profit, housing never goes down, you can't lose, etc. five acre lots with a double-wides going for 150,000+ , etc. it was crazy.

It's nothing like that now.

Slow sales, empty houses everywhere, boarded up, burned out, un-mowed yards, blue-plastic roofs, confederate flag curtains. Hell, there's a country song in there somewhere. Anyway,.... there may be a housing bubble in some places but it hasn't hit our area like it did the last time.

I ain't buying the housing bubble story just yet.



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Trump the R

a pretty good post on Trump here.

Why Trump campaigned like a populist and governs like a sellout

Although Donald Trump campaigned as a populist during the 2016 campaign, he has not governed like one. Instead, in domestic policy he has taken positions that are largely consistent with a very conservative business-oriented Republican who wants to lower taxes on the wealthy, slash entitlements, and lift regulatory scrutiny from business.  His working class supporters have gotten little economic help from his policies, and are unlikely to receive it in the future.

Fake News, Propaganda, politics

Good one from Naked capitalism's 2pm Water Cooler

‘Nearly half (40%) of millennials use the news feed at Facebook Inc.’s social media site as their source for news. That’s far higher than the percentage that uses Twitter (16%) or Instagram (4%). All other news sites garnered the remaining 40%’ [247 Wall Street]. That is, 40% of millenials filter have their news filtered for them by a ginormous, global oligopoly whose CEO is making moves like he’s running for President. What could go wrong?

Trump's Saudi Deal

Nice headline on Trump's Saudi deal. from Israel's Haaretz

Helping Americans

A good post on policies that would really help Americans. You won't hear these from R's, D's or network news.

What Economic Policies Do Americans Need? Just Ask Them
It's not complicated. The poor want more money. The middle class worries about health care. The rich fret over retirement.

Pricing Algorithms

Algorithmic Pricing and Competition: The Small-Town Gas Station Example

Twice recently I've tried to purchase something from Amazon that I had purchased just a few months before. In both cases the price of the item in second purchase had been jacked up over 25%, one was over 33%. So,... I just didn't buy one and I bought the other from amazon's competitor, walmart.com, for the price of the original amazon purchase.

The amazon algorithm knows I didn't buy either at the higher price but it doesn't know i'm a price shopping dick and that amazon lost a sale to a competitor.

I'll check every price now.  How does that get input into amazon's algorithm?

Jerusalem: Some History

For those who wonder why recognizing Jerusalem is controversial.

Why Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel | Middle East | Al Jazeera:

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Why I don't believe in God

Posts like this could put Tyler Cowen on the winger's enemies list.  Why I don't believe in God - Marginal REVOLUTION:

My favorite line:

5. I am frustrated by the lack of Bayesianism in most of the religious belief I observe.  I’ve never met a believer who asserted: “I’m really not sure here.  But I think Lutheranism is true with p = .018, and the next strongest contender comes in only at .014, so call me Lutheran.”  The religious people I’ve known rebel against that manner of framing, even though during times of conversion they may act on such a basis

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Hillary Clinton

The D's couldn't be that stupid,.... could they?

No, Hillary Clinton Shouldn't Run For President Again - Syracuse New Times:

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Farm Supports

Every farmer I know voted for Trump, I wonder what they think of this.  Anyway, it ain't happening.

Trump Budget Would Erase $38 Billion in Farm Supports - Crops - News | Agweb.com:



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