Posts tagged as:

economics

CLIMATE CHANGE: a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years*

November 3, 2012

Nobody likes to be ignored.   Including the Earth. Despite numerous optimal opportunities to speak on the issue of Climate Change, both major political parties have basically ignored the hot potato issue over the past year.   This past week the environment roared back, introducing Hurricane Sandy to a part of the country least capable of handling [...]

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WONK: a second look at the word

September 6, 2012

On June the 8th I wrote a blog posting about the word wonk and thought I was done with it.  [WONK]   I discovered in that process that a wonk could be anything from an Australian sailor to a Geek who is overly-obsessed with the pursuit of a specific topic.   There was a reference to the [...]

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VEEP: a casual, abbreviated way of identifying the Vice President

August 12, 2012

Now that it’s official, Paul Ryan will be the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States, things begin to get a little clearer in the campaign.   There’s been an awful lot of “mush” over the past several weeks and months, but Ryan’s selection clarifies what the rest of the election campaign will be [...]

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MILITARISM: tending to prefer the use of military action over other alternatives

June 3, 2012

On Chris Hayes’ morning show, Up! with Chris Hayes, a very interesting and intelligent conversation was held regarding the increased use of military action by President Obama over the past couple of years.  Some are applauding the strength of his action against Al Qaeda, and some are deploring the shift from a more concilliatory position [...]

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SUSTAINABILITY: the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance*

April 24, 2012

The concept of sustainability revolves around the idea that elements of our environment and our attempt to live in a healthy way in this environment require an understanding of depletion and restoration.   If those elements, including food, are to be available to this and future generations care must be taken to avoid depleting the supply [...]

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“obfuscation, misdirection and straight-up lies” : a commetary on a political agenda

March 1, 2012

A posting by Robert L. Borosage in the Huffington Post takes issue with assumed Republican Candidate Mitt Romney, and he does it straight on.  In doing so, he accuses Romney of “obfuscation, misdirection and straight-up lies.”   That’s a pretty brave comment which  risks the chance of being  designated dangerously risky by some.   So I checked [...]

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CLASS WARFARE: the struggle for political and economic power carried on between capitalists and workers.

January 31, 2012

The term class warfare is actually a term created by Karl Marx and used by Marxists to describe the way in which the elite pound on the lower classes in society.  It is amusing, therefore, to find the words being used in today’s political dialogue by Republicans (primarily) to describe the way in which they [...]

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RECOVERY: a transitional stage following a crisis

November 7, 2011

Given my history of hospitalizations over the past year or more, when I hear the word recovery my mind moves directly to the recovery room.  It’s that very important location in a hospital where you are moved for a temporary stay directly after having surgery or some other procedure.  The main reason they take you [...]

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INFLATION/DEFLATION: economic terms to identify the value of purchase

September 21, 2011

Economists and politicians toss “in-house” language around, assuming that we all know what it is they are talking about.  Sometimes it really doesn’t matter.  The words are very much trade language and useful only to those engaged in finance. But when it comes to such common terms as inflation and deflation it’s important to be [...]

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CHICKEN: a dangerous game in which opponents “stare down” each other

July 14, 2011

Who can forget the scene in Rebel Without a Cause in which James Dean, playing the lead character, is speeding head-on toward his rival in souped-up cars?  They are playing “chicken” to see which one of them will blink first before the cars smash into each other, probably killing both of them.   The basic principle [...]

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