Friday, December 14, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
New howler from Greenspan
Alan Greenspan, his reputation in tatters as the bubbles that he helped to build up continue their long collapse, can't believe anyone could hold him to blame, telling Bloomberg:
"Markets are becoming aware of the fact that the decline in house prices is not stopping. I have no particular regrets. The housing bubble is not a reflection of what we did, as it is a global phenomenon.''
"Markets are becoming aware of the fact that the decline in house prices is not stopping. I have no particular regrets. The housing bubble is not a reflection of what we did, as it is a global phenomenon.''
Thursday, November 22, 2007
It couldn't happen in America, could it?
Am I the only one to wonder if, having seen the news that Jacques Chirac, the former French president, has been placed under investigation for alleged dirty dealings, the same thing might not happen to the current occupant of the White House?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
On progress
"There can be no progress (real, that is, moral) except in the individual and by the individual himself."
(Charles Baudelaire, from Mon Coeur Mis À Nu, 1897)
(Charles Baudelaire, from Mon Coeur Mis À Nu, 1897)
The big strike Tuesday
Le Monde has a nice item on the so-called "special regimes" that are at the heart of the strike that has disrupted transportation in France over the last week.
Interestingly, President Nicolas Sarkozy is fighting to overturn not some recent handouts of the modern welfare state, but institutions that go back hundreds of years, in some cases. The "régimes spéciaux" were created to compensate workers in dangerous or especially difficult jobs, or perhaps, as in the case of the theatre workers, jobs with endless and inconvenient hours. Some jobs, I would argue, do indeed merit special retirement. Imagine being a fishermen, for example, in the sailboat era, going out into the English channel or the Atlantic to brave January seas. In the United States, one can retire after 20 years of service in the military, with half pay and full PX and commissary privileges, among other things.
The special retirement regime for l'Opéra national de Paris was created in 1698 by Louis XIV; that of the merchant marine and fishermen was created in 1709. The Banque de France (what's so hard about banking?) got its special regime in 1806, the Comédie-Française got its in 1812, civil servants got theirs in 1853, railway workers got theirs in 1855, and miners -- surely the most deserving of all, got theirs in 1894.
When the modern system of sécurité sociale was created in 1945, the beneficiaries of the regimes were allowed to keep some of their advantages, and a law was passed that year maintaining the status of the regimes for certain professions. Now, with the population aging rapidly, the piper must be paid. Le Monde says the early retirements already require the government to write a 5 billion euro check every year, and that will only grow.
There's nothing fair about giving a central bank employee or a civil servant the same dangerous work retirement benefits that a coal miner gets, but in the politics of entitlement, fairness rarely plays a part...
Interestingly, President Nicolas Sarkozy is fighting to overturn not some recent handouts of the modern welfare state, but institutions that go back hundreds of years, in some cases. The "régimes spéciaux" were created to compensate workers in dangerous or especially difficult jobs, or perhaps, as in the case of the theatre workers, jobs with endless and inconvenient hours. Some jobs, I would argue, do indeed merit special retirement. Imagine being a fishermen, for example, in the sailboat era, going out into the English channel or the Atlantic to brave January seas. In the United States, one can retire after 20 years of service in the military, with half pay and full PX and commissary privileges, among other things.
The special retirement regime for l'Opéra national de Paris was created in 1698 by Louis XIV; that of the merchant marine and fishermen was created in 1709. The Banque de France (what's so hard about banking?) got its special regime in 1806, the Comédie-Française got its in 1812, civil servants got theirs in 1853, railway workers got theirs in 1855, and miners -- surely the most deserving of all, got theirs in 1894.
When the modern system of sécurité sociale was created in 1945, the beneficiaries of the regimes were allowed to keep some of their advantages, and a law was passed that year maintaining the status of the regimes for certain professions. Now, with the population aging rapidly, the piper must be paid. Le Monde says the early retirements already require the government to write a 5 billion euro check every year, and that will only grow.
There's nothing fair about giving a central bank employee or a civil servant the same dangerous work retirement benefits that a coal miner gets, but in the politics of entitlement, fairness rarely plays a part...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Strike blues
A friend has been planning for months to visit Paris. Now, with the start of a strike set for tomorrow, Wednesday, 14 Nov., the day before his arrival, he's not certain it's worth the pain. Most people would probably skip it, knowing that just the act of getting from the airport into central Paris. My friend is a curious, intelligent man who enjoys learning about the politics of places he visits. Will he find this teaser, which I sent him today, irresistible?
dear friend,
based on what we know now (that is, it's likely to be
a mess, right on schedule), i offer this sincere
counsel:
if you are prepared to "embrace" the strike, your trip
might still be pleasurable. the strike is a robust
demonstration of the vigor of democracy here, and it
will be a time of great interest, in terms of
political economy and society, i think. the students
are getting in on the act, and no one knows quite
where it will go. if you made this a study trip,
seeking opinions from people who will no doubt be
eager to share them, following the papers, etc., you
might be able to laugh when we have to hop through
hoops, walk to or from cdg to paris, or whatever dumb
adventures befall us. i would most certainly recommend
traveling light.
otherwise, knowing your reluctance, i think it will be
more pain than you want to deal with.
in any case, we hope to see you soon.
ton ami,
"marichaux"
dear friend,
based on what we know now (that is, it's likely to be
a mess, right on schedule), i offer this sincere
counsel:
if you are prepared to "embrace" the strike, your trip
might still be pleasurable. the strike is a robust
demonstration of the vigor of democracy here, and it
will be a time of great interest, in terms of
political economy and society, i think. the students
are getting in on the act, and no one knows quite
where it will go. if you made this a study trip,
seeking opinions from people who will no doubt be
eager to share them, following the papers, etc., you
might be able to laugh when we have to hop through
hoops, walk to or from cdg to paris, or whatever dumb
adventures befall us. i would most certainly recommend
traveling light.
otherwise, knowing your reluctance, i think it will be
more pain than you want to deal with.
in any case, we hope to see you soon.
ton ami,
"marichaux"
Monday, November 12, 2007
Latest movie in the War on Terror™
The Kingdom is not the worst movie Hollywood ever made. That prize has hundreds, if not thousands, of more worthy claimants. It could even be one of the top products of the year for the "entertainment industry."
The plot boils down to this: Maverick FBI agents led by Agent Fleury (the good, but not quite correctly cast Jamie Foxx) go to Saudi Arabia to solve a case in which hundreds of resident American civilians have been killed and wounded in a bombing attack. Along the way, the intrepid, wisecracking heroes must overcome the difficulties of operating under extreme security arrangements in a hostile environment, not to mention the opposition of the U.S. State Department and a horde of evildoers.
Only there is this one Saudi cop, a good guy (yes, that was a hint that he will be killed in the end). He helps them to overcome all obstacles to crack the case.
From our heroes' arrival until the start of an orgy of violence that makes up most of the last 15 minutes of the film, director Peter Berg's movie is equal parts "CSI: Saudi Arabia" and every lame cop TV series you ever saw --- transplanted, of course, to the territory of the world's biggest oil producer. The cop show part of the film was occasionally fascinating.
In the final 15 minutes, the crime scene investigators magically metamorphose into a crack team of Special Forces, and fortunately, since they are called upon to blast every last bad guy out a Saudi slum in a horrific sea of gore and blood. The combat scenes employ the fake realism typical of contemporary Hollywood -- the bad guys end up splattered to cinematically exact bits, while the good guys escape from RPGs, machine guns, machetes at the throat, etc., in the nick of time with a few scratches.
For good measure, the screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan makes sure to through in as many cliches and as much kitsch as the 110 minutes allowed. It is not possible to call this as a good movie.
And yet, there is a nice bit of potted U.S.-Saudi history at the beginning, and the film goes out of its way to show Arabs as human beings with families, and, as mentioned the hero who buys the farm is, in fact, an Arab, the cliched "good cop," a sympathetic trope in the mind of the moviegoer. It has enough finesse and humanity to avoid a failing grade.
By the time the final bloodbath was under way, however, I was ready to walk out. There wasn't any doubt that the good guys would win, and the only suspense was about who was going to get killed.
The Kingdom is not the worst movie Hollywood ever made; but that's not saying much.
The plot boils down to this: Maverick FBI agents led by Agent Fleury (the good, but not quite correctly cast Jamie Foxx) go to Saudi Arabia to solve a case in which hundreds of resident American civilians have been killed and wounded in a bombing attack. Along the way, the intrepid, wisecracking heroes must overcome the difficulties of operating under extreme security arrangements in a hostile environment, not to mention the opposition of the U.S. State Department and a horde of evildoers.
Only there is this one Saudi cop, a good guy (yes, that was a hint that he will be killed in the end). He helps them to overcome all obstacles to crack the case.
From our heroes' arrival until the start of an orgy of violence that makes up most of the last 15 minutes of the film, director Peter Berg's movie is equal parts "CSI: Saudi Arabia" and every lame cop TV series you ever saw --- transplanted, of course, to the territory of the world's biggest oil producer. The cop show part of the film was occasionally fascinating.
In the final 15 minutes, the crime scene investigators magically metamorphose into a crack team of Special Forces, and fortunately, since they are called upon to blast every last bad guy out a Saudi slum in a horrific sea of gore and blood. The combat scenes employ the fake realism typical of contemporary Hollywood -- the bad guys end up splattered to cinematically exact bits, while the good guys escape from RPGs, machine guns, machetes at the throat, etc., in the nick of time with a few scratches.
For good measure, the screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan makes sure to through in as many cliches and as much kitsch as the 110 minutes allowed. It is not possible to call this as a good movie.
And yet, there is a nice bit of potted U.S.-Saudi history at the beginning, and the film goes out of its way to show Arabs as human beings with families, and, as mentioned the hero who buys the farm is, in fact, an Arab, the cliched "good cop," a sympathetic trope in the mind of the moviegoer. It has enough finesse and humanity to avoid a failing grade.
By the time the final bloodbath was under way, however, I was ready to walk out. There wasn't any doubt that the good guys would win, and the only suspense was about who was going to get killed.
The Kingdom is not the worst movie Hollywood ever made; but that's not saying much.
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