They had satisfied a childhood ambition by moving to the metropolis and becoming more or less successful there, yet most of them wanted to be somewhere else: they wanted to leave it all and go back to something, perhaps to their childhoods.
Of course they couldn’t go back: their own countrysides or Midwestern towns would offer no scope to their talents, no opportunity for earning the sort of living to which they had grown accustomed. They were inexorably tied to New York
— Exile’s Return, Malcolm Cowley (1934)
2 days ago | Tags: NYC lost generation
‘There were various discussions about Greece,’ such as whether the European Union or the International Monetary Fund should lead efforts to help out the country, Mr. Kan told reporters.
—
- Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan (WSJ)
I had hoped that the G-7, out in the middle of nowhere, would have the freedom from distraction necessary to think about better ways of dealing with Greece and the other PIGS than an IMF bailout of the idiots who lent to these countries.
It would be fantastic if the Europeans developed a framework for taking over any financial institutions that would fail if Greece defaults. The government would take over the institution, guarantee that all commercial and derivative contracts would be paid, and then deal appropriately with all other contracts - equity and debt would be worthless, and management’s employment and bonus contracts would not be assumed by the new entity. Something that deals with systemic risk without introducing moral hazard.
Like what we needed when Lehman failed, and still do not have.
2 days ago | Tags: PIGS Greece finance
Wrongful accusations and pressure will not help solve this issue.
—
Would you prefer tariffs?
- A senior Chinese official said on Thursday that China would not bow to pressure from the United States to revalue its currency. (NYT)
4 days ago | Tags: currency manipulation china finance imbalances
adriennes:
“…classical musicians essentially need to be in the business of adult education if they are to keep their audience and their livelihood. They must convince grown people with little or no knowledge of Bach and Brahms and Messiaen why these composers should matter to their daily lives. It’s time to drop the mask of professional aloofness. While the battle for education looks tougher than ever, the media can always be manipulated.” —Alex Ross (New Yorker)
Continuing CR’s theme that everything is related to generations, just like his gospel says. Also, classical music is probably doomed.
Holy cow! I just did the same thing with leisure boats!
Reblogged from adriennes 4 days ago | Tags: demographics
Unfair advantage and conflicts of interest, but more importantly: risk to the commercial banking system, which actually matters in the economy.
1 week ago | Tags: volcker finance
pambeckman:
Following in the tradition started several years ago by Beckman and D/R, no shaving allowed while on vacation. Beckman has a pretty savage fire chin going on now. GPOYW “7 days of growth addition” to follow when I return. Oh, and GPOYW “funny mustache/porkchop sideburns addition” will be exhibited as well. It’s like I timed my return to be on a wednesday for this very reason…
I’ve been considering something of this sort - in the “how can I take advantage of not working” vein. But I heard that it takes a full 4-6 weeks for things to actually get good (differing growth rates and what have you), and I might just be too vain for that.
Reblogged from pambeckman 1 week ago | Tags: beards
“Americans consume far more than the recommended daily salt intake. The average adult male consumes more than 10 grams of salt a day…the American Heart Association published new guidelines calling for (the) … equivalent (of) 3.8 grams of salt.” (WSJ)
After reading about how much salt there is in packaged food, especially baked goods (who knew?), I checked how much is in my bread (Arnold Health Nut). Two slices are 14% of my recommended salt intake.
So I decided to trying making my own bread. It wasn’t that hard, and it tastes darn good.
2 weeks ago | Tags: bread salt baking
