(no subject)

" The inflation adjusted chart shows the true nature of the U.S. stock market. "

The point is, the current situation is not entirely anomalous and the stock market moves much more slowly than people think.

"The peak in 1929 was not ultimately exceeded until 1992. When the market touched the bottom of the channel in 1982, its value was about equal to the value at the beginning of the chart in 1910."

This is interesting too:
Dow "price" in gold, 1901-2008

83%!

"By 1990, the value of the weapons, equipment, and factories devoted to the Department of Defense was 83% of the value of all plants and equipment in American manufacturing. From 1947 to 1990, the combined U.S. military budgets amounted to $8.7 trillion. Even though the Soviet Union no longer exists, U.S. reliance on military Keynesianism has, if anything, ratcheted up, thanks to the massive vested interests that have become entrenched around the military establishment. Over time, a commitment to both guns and butter has proven an unstable configuration. Military industries crowd out the civilian economy and lead to severe economic weaknesses. Devotion to military Keynesianism is, in fact, a form of slow economic suicide.

On May 1, 2007, the Center for Economic and Policy Research of Washington, D.C., released a study prepared by the global forecasting company Global Insight on the long-term economic impact of increased military spending. Guided by economist Dean Baker, this research showed that, after an initial demand stimulus, by about the sixth year the effect of increased military spending turns negative. Needless to say, the U.S. economy has had to cope with growing defense spending for more than 60 years. He found that, after 10 years of higher defense spending, there would be 464,000 fewer jobs than in a baseline scenario that involved lower defense spending. "

- Chalmers Johnson

This explains a lot actually. Combine that with the "reverse robin hood effect" of credit expansion by the banking system, and you've got a good basic idea of why the economy looks very different, depending on which segment of it you're standing in.

(no subject)

Sibel Edmonds case: Front page of the (UK) papers (finally) - Basically about how high ranking US Gov't officials sold nuclear secrets to various countries, including Pakistan.

Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told

Russia warns of nuclear defence

(no subject)

Steroids, Other "Drugs", and Baseball