***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[stanfan]

Curious: what is the general thought on Gavin Newsom?

On one hand; he is doing what any political figure head should do and taking initiative and using the California economy and industry standards to his advantage to supply essential services to covid and other states as well

On the other; he’s being bullied by London Breed and letting homeless run rampant in one of the Crown Jewels of the state (San Francisco) where he was mayor and Los Angeles.

Does he have a presidential future?

 

[RustyShackleford]

Curious: what is the general thought on Gavin Newsom?

On one hand; he is doing what any political figure head should do and taking initiative and using the California economy and industry standards to his advantage to supply essential services to covid and other states as well

On the other; he’s being bullied by London Breed and letting homeless run rampant in one of the Crown Jewels of the state (San Francisco) where he was mayor and Los Angeles.

Does he have a presidential future?

 

[stanfan]

Is that not true?

 

[RustyShackleford]

Is that not true?

If your point is that Newsom needs to do more to address the systemic issues that forcing people into homelessness, and push for robust housing policies to improve the situation, then yes I would agree.

If your point where to paint homeless people as some sort of a nuisance that should be handled like litter on the street, tucked away from sight but without really helping these people or fixing the forces fueling this issue, then I think that is bull****.

It seemed like you were more painting the situation as a nuisance, so hence my reaction. If what was not your intention, then my bad.

 

[stanfan]

Not a nuisance. System issues that have led to these issues.

Homeless people aren’t trash or litter, can’t just pick them up and throw them away.

 

[rexanglorum]

In the early 2010's, the prediction from both rightwing and centrist opinion shappers was that California had taxes which were too high, labor and environmental regulation which were too onerous and therefore, California would have moribund State GDP growth. They were wrong. While the Golden State has one eighth of the US population , it has almost a quarter of US GDP growth as of 2018.

California disproves the conservative claim that maximal growth creates widely shared prosperity. CA has lots of growth but we are bedeviled by a lack of affordable housing, it is as if living near billionaires reduces the quality of life for most.

The only decent way to solve homelessness is to get those people into housing. If your solution is anything else, you are a ghoul.

 

[rexanglorum]

In high school, my AP class had one definition of economics. In undergrad, there was a similar but slightly different definition. When I gave my high school definition, my undergrad prof low key roasted me for my providing it.

In grad school, we did not waste a second thinking about what economics actually was, derivatives needed deriving. Now, as a 30 something doctor of Economics, this crisis has forced me to really think about what economics is, exactly. I finally found clarity because of the people who have clearly misidentified what economics is.

The problem is not that most American know nothing about economics. The real problem is that far too many people have a sophomoric understanding of it. For those who may not know, sophomore is from the Greek for "soph" as in wise and "mor" as in stupid. Almost everyone knows a simple supply-demand curve and some basics about macro economics.

This should be good but the problem is that a little knowledge can be worse than no knowledge. With that in mind, we see people saying that COVID-19 mitigation should not take a backseat to the "economy." They have been trained to conflate the entire economy with a few metrics and a few parts of the economy such as the DOW.

Here's the thing, an economy is supposed to be how a society can, with limited resources, address unlimited wants. In the last few weeks, we have a huge want which is to be able to live in a place and have enough food and toiletries brought to said place so that occupants of said place can stay in said place. That is critical but also costly. In order to direct enough resources to that end, we need to divert resources from hitherto important undertakings such as trade shows for insurance reps or music festivals.

This is the critical juncture. Without state assistance, we cannot easily move resources from music festival workers and insurance trade shows do home deliveries of toilet paper. In a better system, this should be no problem.

So we are stuck trying to decide between the health of a very niche financial market (most private sector finance moves through bond markets not stock markets) and elemental health and safety considerations. For the next few weeks, let us consider the economy as a means to satisfy unmet wants and needs and not a casino that is based on public equity prices.

 

[rexanglorum]

A decade ago, I was without care and snorting crushed oxy. Now, I have to be everyone's dad.

I have to make sure my own dad stays at home but my dad thinks that stay at home orders are a left-wing conspiracy and he's in early stages of dementia. I have to provide emotional support to my peers/former classmates who are losing their minds in their tiny NYC, Boston or Bay Area apartments. I got my students who I got to still teach. I got my own kids who are both almost two, which is good because they aren't old enough to know how much their daily lives have been disrupted.

I suppose it is a testament how not unique leadership actually is. When you got to do it, you do it. I have read John Donne's sermon, I suppose that it requires real life to bring the message home.

 

[rexanglorum]

My nephew just got into Harvard. Under normal circumstances, I'd have a party to cerebrate such.

He asked me for advice. He said that he was "pre PhD Econ." Given the limited time that I had, I told him that a school like Harvard has great grad school instruction but it skimps on one-to-one instruction for undergrads, at least for Econ. I told him that, at best, he might see Greg Mankiw from about 150 feet away.

I told the boy to make his major liberal arts and study Greek and Latin, focus on math, and go after Econ in grad school, if he was still interested.

I know that he'll ignore me on that front. In a few months I'll be having to teach him about budget lines and IC curves. I cannot blame the kid though, he does not want to wait.

 

[iDon’tRead]

There’s a coronavirus thread for all that?

 

[Cashflow]

 

[gry60]

Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel

The move comes as Trump makes a broad push against inspectors general scrutinizing his actions.

www.politico.com

Anyone remember Erdogan's purge? Al Sisi's crackdown on civil society in Egypt?
That's the rulebook Trump is following.

 

[getback]

Been rewatching When the Levees Broke, and damn, a lot of similarities between Katrina and COVID as it relates to the feds and states not being able to act like adults during the time of crisis. Bush did a much better job of concealing his scumbaggery though.

 

[IATT]

 

[AEA18]

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!!!!!!

 

[hipstermike]

 

[junglejim]

 

[Armada]

Well it was a fun ride. Onto the 2020 election.

 

[niketalker23]

deuce king

 

[deleted]

deuce king
deuce king
deuce king

 

[whywesteppin]

Here's the thing, an economy is supposed to be how a society can, with limited resources, address unlimited wants. In the last few weeks, we have a huge want which is to be able to live in a place and have enough food and toiletries brought to said place so that occupants of said place can stay in said place. That is critical but also costly. In order to direct enough resources to that end, we need to divert resources from hitherto important undertakings such as trade shows for insurance reps or music festivals.

this is my favorite Rex. my observation is that in capitalism we hyperoptimize to squeeze out every last inch of maximal growth, but that also leads to a system that is stiff, fragile, and vulnerable to unforeseen events like a pandemic.

tell your nephew congrats and that you should really use your undergrad to learn things that you're not going to do in your future career because that's the only chance you'll get and that's how you'll set yourself apart. the best biologists often come from theoretical physics, doctors from engineering, stock traders from computer science, and economists from (? i don't actually know, but you can fill him in).

 

[aepps20]

I noticed Dwalk gave a thumbs up to news Bernie suspended his campaign. He also gave a thumbs up to news about Roy Moore's DISGUSTING behavior with kids. Have a blessed day.

 

[whywesteppin]

Well it was a fun ride. Onto the 2020 election.

you mean 2024.

 

[Christian Pulisic]

 

[atlsfinest]

On top of the country moving in an anti-gun direction and the NRA continuing to be completely tone deaf, I think the NRA's big downfall was when they went from focusing on The second amendment and gun rights to becoming another right-wing news outlet. They began parroting every right-wing talking point just like Fox News and OAN.

It's like "Why is the national rifle association making videos talking about the border wall and bashing transgenders? What does it have to do with guns and gun rights?"

I think they lost a lot of people with that approach.