A bottomless pit of contrivance?(from office.microsoft.com) A few days ago in Alberta, a heat spike was forecast. The power-generating giant TransAlta seems to have anticipated its own spike as two of its large coal-fired electricity generating plants were shut down for “unscheduled maintenance” creating a classic supply and demand divergence—huge demand with limited supply, with […]
TransAlta Culpa (Again) ? Read More »
If you are a believer in “free-markets” and laissez-faire, perhaps an excursion beyond Milton Friedman (& company) might prove useful. Here is one suggestion: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis © 2014 In trying to unravel a Wall Street mystery, several people, hired and headed by Brad Katsuyama of RBC (Royal Bank
High-Frequency Déjà Vu Read More »
The Gods must have an infinite sense of irony to have inspired the naming of this modern behemoth.Is this not the latest, perfect symbol of ten-thousand déjà vus since the days of Cain? Is this what we champion with our capital addictions? Isn’t this the inevitable legacy of the Randians? Isn’t there a better option?
ECON 013 ~ Aptly Named? Read More »
“Capitalism cannot coexist with the morality of altruism.” That was a statement1 made by Ayn Rand in 1967 on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (at 22:12 minutes). Considering her well-documented admiration of unregulated capitalism and her disdain of altruism, she meant it as a commendation of capitalism. But when we look at the “ways
Truth & Consequence? Read More »
(or The Toxic Fallout from Ayn & Uncle Miltie) Posted in observance of April [etc.] Fool’s Day Here are a few quotes from Boomerang by Michael Lewis—a déjà vu of “what you sow is what you reap [eventually**]”: “They created fake capital by trading assets amongst themselves at inflated values, … This was how the banks
A Series of Massive Delusions* Read More »
(va: To dupers and dupees everywhere) The Thinker by Auguste Rodinat the California Palace of the Legion of HonorImage from Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain: Author, Karora On odd occasions, one can encounter contrition in the red-white-&-blue, balloon-strewn ballroom of 6-AM, post-convention chaos. That’s where I encountered PR. He was alone, seated in Thinker repose, a damp hanky drying
Confession of a Dupe Dealer Read More »