vibinc

Tag: economy

  • The Journalism of Artificial Panic

    The Journalism of Artificial Panic

    Last year featured a large sample of breathless reporting and bad takes regarding the economy, crime, and the mid-term elections. I’m calling this, the journalism of artificial panic. For most of the summer and early fall, mainstream media concern trolled all three topics relentlessly. That’s not to say these weren’t real, and important stories. In…

  • What did I mean by ‘value’?

    At the end of my last post I talked about value. Specifically I said: In the mean time, the Council needs to think long and hard about their ideas of revenue, expenditures, long-term liabilities, rate and most importantly, value. …phrases used in this and previous budget negotiations are empty political rhetoric unless they include specific…

  • The Looming Republican Recession

    I’ve been thinking a lot about money lately, as I’m sure most folks have. The ongoing economic situation almost demands our attention. Even those who are doing better than average are nervous about the economy. What we’ve learned in the past several years is that no one is immune from the poor decision making of…

  • Gobsmacked

    In an article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Governor Phil Bredesen is quoted about the current healthcare debate in Congress and President Obama’s reported decision to shift priorities to job creation: “I think it had gotten a little off track, with the public being very, very concerned about the economy and jobs and the…

  • Bank Nationalization

    Barry Ritholtz over at The Big Picture, debunks the arguments against Bank nationalization. Ritholtz and company have been arguing for nationalization for some time now, as an alternative to the current “Bad Bank” scenario that Treasury is pursuing. I don’t know enough about the Macro effects of this, but I agree with the basic premise;…