I always find too many informative political and economic articles to share, so I’ll select a few and throw them all in to one post of important stuff you should read to get your week started:
1. Maybe we shouldn’t be blaming our leaders for not being able to lead:
- A thought-provoking read from Slate.com: Down With the People: “…the biggest culprit in our current predicament: the childishness, ignorance, and growing incoherence of the public at large.”
That’s you, Glenn Bleck-loving, Sarah Palin-voting idiots. (Some Democrats are probably to blame too…)
2. Topline GDP Growth was 5.7% last quarter:
- Sounds great. Except that only 2% was final demand. 2/3rds of that growth was just inventory adjustments — which will slow significantly in the coming quarters.
3. Job creation continues to tread water.
- As Paul Krugman so eloquently put it: Jobs Are Up! I Mean Down! Whatever…
4. Employment opportunities still remain weak (From Calculated Risk):
5. The Dallas Fed has some interesting charts comparing our current situation to past recessions:
6. Ladies, a great Valentine’s Day gift for that someone special in your life: A Heineken-pouring Robot.
7. Who Dat Gonna Have The Best Picture? Drew Brees and the Saints his young son, obviously:
That has to be a commercial. Or a poster. Or something. Right?
1. While I love putting all the onus on the right, the fact is, parochialism and childishness abounds on both sides of the aisle, and both groups of voters. From the “kill the bill” daily kos crowd to the “kill the bill” Glenn Beck crown.
I also don’t entirely blame the public for their “ignorance”. The fact is, very few people have the time/inclination to dig really deeply into political issues. (And the media sucks hard at reporting policy.) That’s fine. In fact, we are a Republic and not a direct Democracy for a reason. If pols would stop acting like a direct democracy and start just doing what’s right, the public ignorance wouldn’t matter nearly as much. Instead, we get pols who pay way too much attention to what uninformed voters think, to the detriment of the country.