Alfonso Jones Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I just saw Greenspan on The Daily Show (Jon Stewart).Stewart led off asking why the Fed is needed in a free market.Alfonso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peri Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I just saw Greenspan on The Daily Show (Jon Stewart).Stewart led off asking why the Fed is needed in a free market.AlfonsoI noted that as well. Since the publication of his book, I've heard several interviews with Greenspan in various media--and Stewart was the most incisive interviewer of the lot. Scads of journalists interview the guy, and a former stand-up comedian and denizen of MTV proved to ask the most interesting questions...Which is another topic in itself....I will reserve comment on the Fed's necessity--or not--in a free market as I have not read enough nor know enough about economics to comment intelligently. I eagerly await comment from people more familiar with the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I will reserve comment on the Fed's necessity--or not--in a free market as I have not read enough nor know enough about economics to comment intelligently. I eagerly await comment from people more familiar with the subject.Peri,Take 45 minutes of your time and watch this cartoon (it's a literal cartoon and it's free):Money as DebtThis will give you a notion of what the Fed does in very simple and entertaining terms (and probably get you thinking in a weird direction). I have seen it 3 times already and each time it just gets better. After you do that, you might want to review the material (including linked videos) given in this thread on OL:Money and Politics - The Money MastersI usually find economics terribly boring, but these sources strongly held my interest and were more informative than all the materials I have read and learned up to now.Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAMF Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I wish I could have seen this episode. I love the Daily Show. I looked for it on youtube, but didn't find it. I did find this little gallup deal that showed a very small portion of the episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggrad02 Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I wish I could have seen this episode. I love the Daily Show. I looked for it on youtube, but didn't find it. I did find this little gallup deal that showed a very small portion of the episode. Comedy Central is suing Youtube over intellectual property rights, so youtube takes down immediately anything by Comedy Central.But you can watch it on Comedycentral.comhttp://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/in...ml_video=102970--Dustan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfonso Jones Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 I usually find economics terribly boring, but these sources strongly held my interest and were more informative than all the materials I have read and learned up to now.Michael Michael - Economics BORING?Have you ever read Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt? A brilliant book, written with flair and clarity.Or for the moral basis of Capitalism: "The Objectivist Ethics." (found in The Virtue of Selfishness, or Or the book "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal." I'm not mentioning this for you, Michael, but just for completeness in case someone finds it helpful.Alfonso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Grieb Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Alfonso; Let me second your endorsement of Economics in One Lesson. It is a truly great book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Alfonso,Yep. Haven't read Hazlitt's book, but I have read a great deal of similar things. Of course all the Objectivist stuff I have read more than once.Boring.I'll go out on a limb, also. I did not find much of that practical when I had to deal with certain financial matters. For instance, I ran up against international government bonds at one time in my life. Nothing I had learned served me except in a kind of kindergarten sense. I had to start from zero and learn from other sources. International banking ditto. As I was in Brazil and the Internet was full of conflicting information, I decided to learn from the US Government.So I learned about how private banking works from the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (this has now been absorbed somehow by Homeland Security):Private Banking and Money Laundering: A Case Study of Opportunities and Vulnerabilities, November 9 and 10, 1999The same goes for correspondent accounts:Report on Correspondent Banking: A Gateway For Money Laundering (2001)I actually printed these things out and studied them for long hours. (Incidentally, despite the titles, I was not engaged in money laundering.)Boring.I could go on...Still boring. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Grieb Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Michael; You could read Economics in One Lesson in one setting. It is not boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Chris,I am sure the book is written in a light readable style. I just find the subject of economics boring. When they dressed it up a bit like in the videos I linked, and stated very clearly what real the components of the money supply were, that helped.Here's a question for ya'. How much money is in the world? Does Hazlitt tell you how to find out?Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Michael, don't judge the book without have read it. It is not boring, it is so short that you don't even have time to get bored (you can read it in a few hours at most). It is not some complex textbook or a technical manual, it just gives a delightful exposition of an important principle in economics, which, simple as it is, is often overlooked by many people who should know better. I have little interest in economics, but this booklet was worth reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Here are a couple of links I will use as a placeholder. Hazlitt's book is free online.Economics in One Lesson (html)Economics in One Lesson (pdf)I'll read it when I get some time and get back on this.Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peri Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 My goodness, I have received a lot of suggestions on what do watch and read to learn something about economics! You folks always come through for me! I'm afraid the reason that I don't understand much about economics thus far is that everything I've tried to read on the subject produces a reaction similar to MSK's--boredom...but I'm willing to revisit the issue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Peri,I suggest you do the Money as Debt video linked above first. You will not regret it. You will lose 45 minutes out of your life. And at least you will then have a very practical frame of reference for why things don't always happen according to all the theoretical stuff that comes later. And if you have a thieving nature, it will give you ideas galore. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Russell Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Russell Roberts writes excellent novels on economic issues.The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and ProtectionismThe Invisible Heart: An Economic RomanceI know someone who has a copy of these books and can loan them to Peri. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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