Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Problems

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  • Gareth Ward,

    with the considerable added fizz of Icelandic machismo.

    Not a sentence you regularly have to call upon I imagine.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Not a sentence you regularly have to call upon I imagine.

    No, but fun to write. You have to read the story to get a full sense of how, er, distinctive Icelandic gender politics is.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    You've got to love the Ferguson line on the timing of the crisis:

    Wile E. Coyote ran off the cliff in August of ’07, but he didn’t really look down until over a year later.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    I wonder if the last few weeks of Obama's campaign were coloured by a feeling of "Do I really want this job??"

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    No, but fun to write. You have to read the story to get a full sense of how, er, distinctive Icelandic gender politics is.

    And who do they get in to fix it? A lesbian. Ace.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    You have to read the story to get a full sense of how, er, distinctive Icelandic gender politics is.

    Like, the bit about Bjork being mad, just like her mother. No mention of her dad, though.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Calder,

    Re
    I wonder if the last few weeks of Obama's campaign were coloured by a feeling of "Do I really want this job??"

    I'm sure you've seen

    http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/black_man_given_nations

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    You could have mentioned that it was Jane Albrectsen FFS. I wouldn't have bothered...

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    So it's not hard to sympathise with anyone tasked with political and economic decisions in the present environment, including our own Prime Minister, who was fairly elusive in his interview with Guyon Espiner on the debut show of Q+A yesterday.

    Well, I would have been tempted to turn to Guyon and snarl: "Plan? The Cylons has a plan, and how did that work for you people?"

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    Well it wouldn't be a recession without random weird movements - and "Going Galt" seems to be the current winner

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    And who do they get in to fix it? A lesbian. Ace.

    Indeed. And it makes perfect sense in the context of Icelandic politics, where men and women are literally in different political parties.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    And from a Google ad on the HuffPo page: John Galt giftware ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Conor Roberts,

    So that's just the crazy people. Trouble is, Obama can't catch a break from his own team. Paul Krugman's withering analysis of Tim Geithner's bank bailout plan has the liberals in dismay too.

    I love Paul Krugman. This guy does too.

    Lol.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 57 posts Report Reply

  • John Morrison,

    It has been fascinating watching the US MSM's coverage of the last 60 days. Fox, as you would expect, has given Obama no latitude, CNN a bit more lenient.

    But they all concentrate on the economy.Even Washington Post and NYT commentary is now starting to criticize, esp. Geitner and Summers of the Administration. The bank bailout plan has, and still looking like, coming up short with suggestions that these two are taking too much heed of their old banking friends.

    At least they have a plan which is more than can be said for our lot.

    Cromwell • Since Nov 2006 • 85 posts Report Reply

  • Caleb D'Anvers,

    Australian economist John Quiggin's been running a series called refuted economic doctrines over at Crooked Timber. The highlights for me so far: trickle down and the myth of the 'efficient market'.

    Here's the latest installment: central bank independence.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Hopes for the presidency of Barack Obama were always bound to be inflated

    That's what happens when you try and have an elected god.

    But you have to get down into the comments to appreciate the true level of paranoia at play

    Madder than a bag of Bjorks. It's only the internet that gives these people credibility beyond their log cabins in Idaho. Mind you, if they were Muslim kids fantasizing about deposing the government, they'd be in Guantanamo 2.0 faster than they could spell plutononimum.

    tech guru Douglas Rushkoff

    Hang on, is that the same guy as Ecstasy Club author and sometime Genesis P. Orridge sideman Douglas Rushkoff? What has he ever built/designed/coded? he's a great author, but designating someone a "tech guru" because they write vaguely futurist books is like calling Tom Hanks an astronaut.

    The debt burden, as a proportion of G.D.P., is in the region of 355 percent

    Which is like having a mortgage of 3.5 times earnings - people seem to mostly be able to service those. Or at current interest rates, the US has to put around 15% of GDP into servicing the interest (public and private).

    I don't think that's unsustainable. Whether a system that has 10% of the population as rentiers, 90% as serfs and a negligible proportion as aristocrats is sustainable is another matter.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Here's the latest installment: central bank independence.

    Britain tried fixing interest rates by fiat for many years. It did not work well.

    I tend to like the German economic model, which combined a strong independent central bank with social and industry policies which cushioned the impact of monetary policy.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Joshua Drummond,

    I wish Lindsay Perigo and SOLO people would Go Galt. It might stop them sending asinine, wordy, assonance-laden press releases.

    Since Nov 2006 • 119 posts Report Reply

  • Danyl Mclauchlan,

    I find it highly encouraging that the most articulate and damaging criticism of Obama comes from the liberal blogosphere - Atrios and Krugman, for starters. Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo has been the main driver of the AIG bonus story. Meanwhile the right are still chasing after Obama's birth certificate and demanding to know if he's a 'stealth muslim'.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    Australian economist John Quiggin's been running a series called refuted economic doctrines over at Crooked Timber. The highlights for me so far: trickle down and the myth of the 'efficient market'.

    Here's the latest installment: central bank independence.

    IMO, He's the leading independent economist in Australia. He might be one of the very very few who're neither linked to a specific econometric/consulting firms nor overtly party political. His other blog is good too - both the articles and the commentary.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Raymond A Francis,

    Well I hope we all did realise that despite the hype the Prez was not going to be able to walk on water
    We didn't we....
    Unfortunatly I notice the left are not quite as ready to cut Key any slack
    NZ really just has to ride this out, there is not much we can do till the big boys put their houses back in order except borrow and spend on things that might give us an edge when the world comes back to us for the things we can provide

    45' South • Since Nov 2006 • 578 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Just read the Michael Lewis article on Iceland. Two things occur:

    If Don Brash (or John Key) had been elected in '06, that could well have been us.

    Also, how bad is it for the Icelanders? They've had a fun few years, the fish are still there, the geothermal steam still comes out of the ground, and they've got working rights in the EU. Worst case, everyone goes bankrupt. The houses are still there and they can squat in them or whatever.

    Maybe Iceland will now invent a new form of f..k you socialism.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    If Don Brash (or John Key) had been elected in '06, that could well have been us.

    I think if they'd been elected in '06, someone would have told them we didn't have an election that year, and they would have been very sad :)

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    I notice the left are not quite as ready to cut Key any slack

    Ready and willing ... just as soon as the right get on their knees and thank Michael Cullen for not following their advice and twinning Wellington with Reykjavik.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • ScottY,

    Of course people will attack Obama. He's been in power two whole months and still hasn't solved the biggest economic crisis since the depression.

    I mean, how long does it take for someone to say "abracadabra?"

    West • Since Feb 2009 • 794 posts Report Reply

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