Oil Is Up 335% Since The Summer Of 1999

Oil prices have soared over 300% since leaving the $20/barrel range for good in early 2002.

The first time oil hit $19/barrel was in the summer of 1979.

The last time it hit $19/barrel was in January 2002.

Real GDP Per Capita 1980-2000 v. 2000-2012

Up 55% over the earlier twenty year period v. only 6.7% up over the most recent 11 year period.

Consumer Prices Are Up 9.5% In 5 Years

Expensive Oil Since 911 Has Coincided With Slow GDP Growth

Reagan-Bush-Clinton era low energy costs coincided with economic "good times" when real GDP increased 83% over twenty years.

By contrast the last twelve years have witnessed real GDP growth of barely 24% in the face of soaring energy prices.

The country's most urgent need is for lower energy prices, not tax increases. Revenues take care of themselves when the economy is growing well.

Crude Oil Is Priced About Where It Was 5 Years Ago

5yr Gold, NY Spot, Up Over 100% 12/07 to 12/12

From $800 to $1,700 the ounce in five years.

The late 2008 collapse was just a head fake.

5yr GLD Is Up Over 100% 12/2007 to 12/2012

Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Down 50% 12/07 to 12/12

Your Real Five Year S&P500 Rate Of Return Since October 2007 Is Negative

I've got your real annual rate of return right here. Actually this guy does, but I love showing it. You are down 1.19% every year for the last five years in the S&P500 Index, October 2007 to October 2012.

Buy and hold. Buy and hold. Buy and hold. Buy and hold. Buy and hold. ...

Bye.

"Babes Shall Rule Over Them. And The People Shall Be Oppressed."

"And I will give children [to be] their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

"And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable."

-- Isaiah 3:4f.

"Ben Bernanke and other central bankers, like promiscuous parents, compensate and indulge political leaders acting irresponsibly in their stewardship of national economies.

"Sooner or later spoiled children turn out badly, and economies juiced with too much money have their bubbles, inflation and collapse.

"This will all end badly."

-- Peter Morici, Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, here

Crazed Bomber Killed 38 School Children In This Building In 1927

In Bath, Michigan, northeast of Lansing.

Story here.

Human evil is not a recent invention.

Workin' Farmer Style

See it here.

Bank Failure Number 51 In 2012

Bank failure number 51 in 2012 is Community Bank of the Ozarks, Sunrise Beach, Missouri, costing the FDIC $10.4 million.

When asked to show me the money, they didn't have it.

Rare Sighting Of The Equally Rare "Green Whale"

Time Magazine's Unperson Of The Year

Libertarian Louis Woodhill Panders Left And Right

Louis Woodhill, here, who wants to go over the cliff to save the country:


"The electorate, as a whole, understands economics. ... (collectively) the voters know everything . . .."

Which is why they voted for divided government. Democrats were right! Republicans were right!

Uh huh.

Internet Pioneer Comes Out For Gridlock

Marc Andreessen, here:

"The presumption is that we want the government to do things. I'm pro-gridlock," Andreessen said. "It doesn't bother me in the least if government is all ground to a halt." ...

"'Rise above' I completely disagree with it," Andreessen said, speaking of the motto coined by CNBC to resolve Washington's budget woes. "I think it's well-intentioned, but I think it's undesirable and I think it's dangerous."

Growth Of Single Person Households To Blame For Income Inequality

The lesson? Get married and stay married. The tax code is your friend.

As reported here:

Without a corresponding increase in the measured income inequality for U.S. individuals, the increase in the measured income inequality for U.S. households has been almost entirely driven by the increase in the number of single person households over time.

So income inequality among U.S. households isn't increasing because the rich are getting richer. That means that policies intended to right this situation by going after the rich in the name of "fairness" are guaranteed to fail, because the real cause of the increase in income inequality among U.S. households over time is something that cannot be fixed by such actions.

If only the people pushing such policies could see that....

Boosting Minimum Wage 40% Reduces Youth Employment 25%

You talkin' to me?

Way to go, Brownie!

Story here:

In November 2007, teens represented 4.0% of the entire U.S. workforce. In November 2012, teens account for just 3.1% of the reduced U.S. workforce. At this point, jobs that were most likely to have been held by teens are 14 times more likely to have been negatively affected by the employment situation over the past five years than their numbers among the entire U.S. workforce would suggest.

In retrospect, it seems that the U.S. Congress' action to boost the minimum wage by nearly 41% in three stages from 2007 through 2009 without doing anything to boost the revenues of teen employers by an appropriate percentage to compensate them for their higher costs of doing business during this period of time wasn't such a hot idea.

Now Color Michigan Blue Like Indiana

Forced unionism states are in yellow.