The Cubans Teach Us about Economics and Arithmetic. I hope Paul Krugman reads their Works. He needs some Elementary Instruction.

The Cubans Teach Us about Economics and Arithmetic. I hope Paul Krugman reads their Works. He needs some Elementary Instruction.

Originally published 10.15.2008

The world is stuffed with bloated bureaucrats and obnoxious patzers that broadcast their ignorance on many unfamiliar topics at hand with sound and fury and the tossing of bright tinsel to the applause of the media and convince many good citizens to become losers.  The ‘experts’ shuffle and dance and have offered ‘advice’ and solemn counsel to millions as they go broke, run out of food and die in hopeless wars since they followed the wrong paths.

The US has had several baloney peddlers and drunks who nearly pushed the economy into the latrines like FDR, Peanut Jimmy Carter and LBJ and lately George Bush with the aid of Nancy Pelosi. Somehow FDR managed to get us entangled in a massive war on several fronts in spite of our Neutrality Act and we were later able to grow out of massive debt equal to one year’s GDP—a process unpredicted by our so-called economists of the times. We still can view the economic rot and residual infection from the Marxist-Leninist Follies in the USSR that trashed their society and inflated their ruble some 1500 fold although they were revered by many in our country for their expertise in government and finance. Is Obama really an Afro-Leninist, an ideological racist[1][2], a consummate liar[3] and a Marxian advocate or stooge[4]? He acts like one. He might become our new Hoover.

Politics, not exactly the preferred profession to conduct business or operate nations, shifts like a rotting pumpkin from time to time in various odd shapes and provides us with a model to predict political outcomes especially where economics is concerned. The  economic choices for many nations are now confined to  some mystic duality where some ‘leaders’ think we can spend our selves into prosperity [California[5], the US and the UK] while others are more practical and have even studied economics and finance and have great economies with low debt to GDP rations.  The US and the UK along with some sorry sisters like Ireland, Spain and Greece seem to be looking forward to enjoying and celebrating a depression.

Some Brits are particularly stubborn about the idea of bankrupting their economy with furious spending:

“Brussels said UK public debt will rise from around 60pc of GDP this year to 160pc by 2020, 406pc by 2040, and 760pc by 2060 unless there are drastic spending cuts.”[6]-- Treasury slams EU report warning Britain faces debt spiral By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Published 14 Oct 2009 [Emphasis is mine in all quotes.]

Other Brits welcome a financial holocaust.

The Third World has a desperate need of cash, inter alia, and the UN wants to tax the world starting at about 1% of the GDP of each nation. They are the most radical, racist and incompetent organization on the planet and cannot be trusted with a dime. The Cap and Trade Tax would add costs to everything in the US and would allow China and India to escape such a burden because they refuse to adhere to this nonsense.[7] The UK is committing economic hara-kiri [seppuku] with their carbon emissions follies led and abetted by their inbred and gibbering Princeling of Wails [8] who now embraces advanced EcoNazism.[9][10]

Imagine this. What kind of reasoning can we find that allows a nation to print money and produce prosperity? What kind of reasoning can we explain that allows a nation to wantonly take on phony taxes that will make them noncompetitively in world commerce? Apparently, the detailed histories of the economies of Germany in the 20s, Argentina and Brazile a few decades later and now Zimbabwe, where everybody is a billionaire, have been erased from the economics texts or the memories of certain politicians. Of course, we are following Gordon Brown down the Brown Path to Oblivion as well since are printing money as quickly as we can to [1] cure the TARP issue and [2] to pay for social programs we cannot afford. Our currency is sinking like a rock in a lily pond with bubbles and froth and gold prices, as we expect they should, are soaring.

Proponents of this madness are ‘experts’ in the field and have impressive Nobel Prizes to show off their acumen in financial matters.  Here we have a new Peace Prize winner[11] fighting two major wars and running out of money and troops and an Economics Peace Prize winner advocating the splendor of debasing our currency. That is a ‘good’ idea we read from Paul Krugman.[12]  The Chinese, experts on inflation from way back, seem take exception to our shrinking dollar and complain about this phony fluff:

Little Timmy Lies:

"We have the deepest and most liquid markets for risk-free assets in the world. We're committed to bring our fiscal deficits down over time to a sustainable level.

"We believe in a strong dollar ... and we're going to make sure that we repair and reform the financial system so that we sustain confidence," he said.”[13]-- Geithner tells China its dollar assets are safe On Monday June 1, 2009

There is an impolite and undiplomatic name for this kind of hustle frequently heard on the streets of San Francisco and Amsterdam and earlier in Saigon in the 60s.  Many of us see an economic crash on the near horizon and have shouted such predictions from the roof tops with no effect. [14][15][16]

But, suddenly, like a flash of light from the swamps, we are stunned by a rational argument and some sorely needed instruction in arithmetic from an unlikely source:

"Nobody, no individual nor country, can indefinitely spend more than she or he earns. Two plus two always adds up to four, never five," he said. "Within the conditions of our imperfect socialism, due to our own shortcomings, two plus two often adds up to three."[17]—Cuban President Raúl Castro

This seems to ring in key and harmony with some comments by Warren Buffett:

“Every country that has denominated its debt in its own currency and has found itself with uncomfortable amounts of debt relative to the rest of the world, in the end they inflate,” Buffett explains. That becomes a tax on everybody that has fixed dollar investments.”[18]--Buffett Sees Massive Inflation to Handle Staggering Debt. Monday, May 4, 2009 By Dan Weil [Emphasis is mine in all quotes]

But, this nonsense is refuted out of hand by Paul Krugman:

“The truth is that the falling dollar is good news. For one thing, it’s mainly the result of rising confidence [??? ed]: the dollar rose at the height of the financial crisis as panicked investors sought safe haven in America, and it’s falling again now that the fear is subsiding. And a lower dollar is good for U.S. exporters, helping us make the transition away from huge trade deficits to a more sustainable international position.”[19]-- Misguided Monetary Mentalities By Paul Krugman

Isn’t this strange? War is Peace; Poverty is Prosperity.

We wonder if the peace-loving Swedes have reclaimed their basis of reasoning and, with fewer suicides[20] and fewer syphilis cases[21], might want to consider Castro’s brother for the Nobel Prize in Economics.  Raul seems to know a few things about prosperity and failed socialism that have escaped the Swedes and their victims.  The Swedes must have forgotten how to count as now many more men than women are reported have the Disease of Venus.  This is not possible! Or, there may be another explanation.

It is clear that the economic world has been tossed on its ear and that those who are enlightened are shifting from Marxism and socialism into capitalism and visa versa. It is also clear that many of our elected officials have no clues how to maintain an orderly currency or budget.  If we must direct the attention of our financial gurus to the island of Cuba for elementary instruction in arithmetic and economics this is going to be a long, dismal decade in hyperinflation and serfdom.

Maybe Congress can get the Noble Prize for showing that in our economic case 2 +2 =2 and best the Cubans.

rycK

Comments: ryckki@gmail.com

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[1] Racism and the “Out of Context Excuse” from the White House.  Lies Compounded with More Lies—the Old Democrat Way.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/04/racism_and_the_%e2%80%9cout_of_context_excuse%e2%80%9d_from_the_white_house__lies_compounded_with_more_lies%e2%80%94the_old_democrat_way.thtml

[2] O’Bozo is a Liar as Well as a Bigot and Ideological Racist

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/03/o%e2%80%99bozo_is_a_liar_as_well_as_a_bigot_and_ideological_racist.thtml

[3] Racism and the “Out of Context Excuse” from the White House.  Lies Compounded with More Lies—the Old Democrat Way.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/04/racism_and_the_%e2%80%9cout_of_context_excuse%e2%80%9d_from_the_white_house__lies_compounded_with_more_lies%e2%80%94the_old_democrat_way.thtml

[4] The Demise of the US Dollar and the Road to Serfdom

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/05/25/the_demise_of_the_us_dollar_and_the_road_to_serfdom.thtml

[5] The Road to Social Success, Peace and Justice: California has NO Vision!

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/06/26/the_road_to_social_success,_peace_and_justice_california_has_no_vision!.thtml

[6] Treasury slams EU report warning Britain faces debt spiral. The Treasury has lashed out at the European Commission in highly charged language after it suggested that Britain risks a debt compound spiral that could push public borrowing to levels never seen in a modern democracy. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Published 14 Oct 2009 [Emphasis is mine in all quotes.]

[7] Krugman Offers a World-Wide Trade War as He Argues for Cap and Trade.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/07/02/krugman_offers_a_world-wide_trade_war_as_he_argues_for_cap_and_trade.thtml

[8] Flop Ears the EcoNazi Prophet of Doom Raises the Spectre of Disaster from GM Food Production

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/08/14/flop_ears_the_econazi_prophet_of_doom_raises_the_spectre_of_disaster_from_gm_food_production.thtml

[9] 300 Years of British Inbreeding Brings us Flop Ears the EcoNazi Prophet of Doom

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/05/19/300_years_of_british_inbreeding_brings_us_flop_ears_the_econazi_prophet_of_doom.thtml

[10] Reprinted from a previous blog: The Dollar Sags in Full View of the World This Invites a Run on the Dollar. Inflation Threatens US.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/09/25/the_dollar_sags_in_full_view_of_the_world_this_invites_a_run_on_the_dollar_inflation_threatens_us.thtml

[11] Obama Receives the Ultimate Insult: The Swede's Bozo Prize for Leftist Stooges.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/10/09/obama_receives_the_ultimate_insult_the_swedes_bozo_prize_for_leftist_stooges.thtml

[12] Paul Krugman Mumbles about Misguided Monetary Mentalities and Offers Other Hokums about our Currency

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/10/12/paul_krugman_mumbles_about_misguided_monetary_mentalities_and_offers_other_hokums_about_our_currency.thtml

[13] Geithner tells China its dollar assets are safe On Monday June 1, 2009, By Glenn Somerville http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Geithner-tells-China-its-rb-15396905.html?.v=2

[14] The Dollar Sags in Full View of the World This Invites a Run on the Dollar. Inflation Threatens US.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/09/25/the_dollar_sags_in_full_view_of_the_world_this_invites_a_run_on_the_dollar_inflation_threatens_us.thtml

[15] The Collapse of the World Economy Continues Onward. The Left will Get Your Money One Way or Another

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/09/15/the_collapse_of_the_world_economy_continues_onward_the_left_will_get_your_money_one_way_or_another.thtml

[16] Gangrening the Greenback as Explained by Warren Buffett. Liberalism Has New Excuses for Spending and Printing Money.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/20/gangrening_the_greenback_as_explained_by_warren_buffett_liberalism_has_new_excuses_for_spending_and_printing_money.thtml

[17] Cuban President Raúl Castro http://www.mcclatchydc.com/255/story/77132.html  and http://www.miamiherald.com/581/story/1281788.html

[18] Buffett Sees Massive Inflation to Handle Staggering Debt. Monday, May 4, 2009 2:34 PM By: Dan Weil http://moneynews.newsmax.com/headlines/warren_buffett/2009/05/04/210480.html?s=al&promo_code=7F1D-1

[19] Misguided Monetary Mentalities By Paul Krugman Op-Ed Columnist Published: October 11, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/opinion/12krugman.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1255352441-AuHwC8cvFBNNFMyc/w9fCg [Emphasis is mine in all quotes.]

[20] http://www.thelocal.se/10422/20080312/

[21] http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=2830