09 February 2013
08 February 2013
07 February 2013
06 February 2013
Maastricht
"You must be older than the European Union to drink in this establishment."
... some amateur economics, for which if you want the whole and professional story, check out Paul Krugman's Times mag story from a year and a half ago (or his Canadian article from---wow, the late 90s): The Euro, the intended monument to the unification of Europe, is what is tearing the continent apart. Krugman would specify that a currency union, if not chaperoned by economic or fiscal union, is very likely to spend the later hours flirting with disaster. The Eurozone nations cannot set their own monetary policy, which ordinarily can be used to fight slumps and inflation, because the entire continent uses the same money. So contractionary policy desired by inflation-obsessed Germany, for instance, simultaneously effects depressed Spain, which is need of expansionary policy. The same's true in America, but unemployed Las Vegans can easily move to booming Northern Virginia---they speak the same language and serve the same Big Macs there---but it's quite another than for a Barcelonan to move to Hamburg. And when Nevada and the Florida panhandle slump, the federal government bails them out---more Social Security and unemployment money goes into the region than payroll taxes come out---but there's no such transfer payments between European countries.
And some history, which is still amateur but in the case of which I actually do know a bit whereof I speak: Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterand knew this all would happen. Or rather: They knew it was a risk, which they thought would diminish over time and ultimately, at the moment of crisis, would ultimately be resolved by their political heirs. That is, they forgot entirely the political logic of depressions.
It's not a coincidence this treaty followed so soon after the reunification of East and West Germany. Recall the rest of the 20th century was a story of Germany bullying its neighbors; the French followed their traditional role of seeking to counterbalance its rivals, not to win Europe but to keep any one nation from gaining too much influence and so preserve the community of nations, and the Germans for their part were, by 1990, rather abashed at their national history. Both sought to subsume German influence within a larger European community, so the political will to bring the European Union into existence was there, and that extended to currency union.
But less consensus existed about the inconvenient details of what that currency union would require. Specifically, German voters were both terrified of inflation (the widely held but incorrect belief is that the hyperinflation of the 1920s was what brought about Hitler; that inflation was solved by 1923, and Nazi vote shares did not rise until unemployment skyrocketed after 1929) and insistent that they never be made to pay the debts of other nations (this experience from the Treaty of Versailles may have been more reasonable). So the ECB was given only a single mandate, to keep inflation low, in contrast to the Federal Reserve's double mandate to manage both inflation and unemployment. And Kohl made the following promise to the German people: you never will have to pay for the debts of your neighbors. Kohl almost certainly knew this promise could not be kept, but the hope was that, as Europe became further and further interlinked, the Germans eventually would abandon their natural suspiciousness and realize their equal stake in the common European project. Europeans of all nations would learn the value of tariff-less trade, open borders, sped-up passport lines, and the free exchange of goods, services, and individuals. It's a lovely vision of Kantian cosmopolitanism that such liberality would eventually make the Germans, as well as their neighbors, forget their nationality and identify solely as European.
Until the mid-oughts, this might have looked prescient. But when the economy cratered and everyone started losing money, the psychology of financial panic reappeared. And the common future of Europe was revealed to be merely a comforting dream, not a new reality. The Danes closed their borders. Hungary changed the constitution to subvert democracy. The Greeks voted in droves for both socialists and neo-Nazis. And the Germans once again asserted their dominance over the continent, although this time through economic measures. There's not tanks rolling in Paris or the Sudetenland this time, but the reader will be forgiven for thinking she's seen this movie before.
... some amateur economics, for which if you want the whole and professional story, check out Paul Krugman's Times mag story from a year and a half ago (or his Canadian article from---wow, the late 90s): The Euro, the intended monument to the unification of Europe, is what is tearing the continent apart. Krugman would specify that a currency union, if not chaperoned by economic or fiscal union, is very likely to spend the later hours flirting with disaster. The Eurozone nations cannot set their own monetary policy, which ordinarily can be used to fight slumps and inflation, because the entire continent uses the same money. So contractionary policy desired by inflation-obsessed Germany, for instance, simultaneously effects depressed Spain, which is need of expansionary policy. The same's true in America, but unemployed Las Vegans can easily move to booming Northern Virginia---they speak the same language and serve the same Big Macs there---but it's quite another than for a Barcelonan to move to Hamburg. And when Nevada and the Florida panhandle slump, the federal government bails them out---more Social Security and unemployment money goes into the region than payroll taxes come out---but there's no such transfer payments between European countries.
And some history, which is still amateur but in the case of which I actually do know a bit whereof I speak: Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterand knew this all would happen. Or rather: They knew it was a risk, which they thought would diminish over time and ultimately, at the moment of crisis, would ultimately be resolved by their political heirs. That is, they forgot entirely the political logic of depressions.
It's not a coincidence this treaty followed so soon after the reunification of East and West Germany. Recall the rest of the 20th century was a story of Germany bullying its neighbors; the French followed their traditional role of seeking to counterbalance its rivals, not to win Europe but to keep any one nation from gaining too much influence and so preserve the community of nations, and the Germans for their part were, by 1990, rather abashed at their national history. Both sought to subsume German influence within a larger European community, so the political will to bring the European Union into existence was there, and that extended to currency union.
But less consensus existed about the inconvenient details of what that currency union would require. Specifically, German voters were both terrified of inflation (the widely held but incorrect belief is that the hyperinflation of the 1920s was what brought about Hitler; that inflation was solved by 1923, and Nazi vote shares did not rise until unemployment skyrocketed after 1929) and insistent that they never be made to pay the debts of other nations (this experience from the Treaty of Versailles may have been more reasonable). So the ECB was given only a single mandate, to keep inflation low, in contrast to the Federal Reserve's double mandate to manage both inflation and unemployment. And Kohl made the following promise to the German people: you never will have to pay for the debts of your neighbors. Kohl almost certainly knew this promise could not be kept, but the hope was that, as Europe became further and further interlinked, the Germans eventually would abandon their natural suspiciousness and realize their equal stake in the common European project. Europeans of all nations would learn the value of tariff-less trade, open borders, sped-up passport lines, and the free exchange of goods, services, and individuals. It's a lovely vision of Kantian cosmopolitanism that such liberality would eventually make the Germans, as well as their neighbors, forget their nationality and identify solely as European.
Until the mid-oughts, this might have looked prescient. But when the economy cratered and everyone started losing money, the psychology of financial panic reappeared. And the common future of Europe was revealed to be merely a comforting dream, not a new reality. The Danes closed their borders. Hungary changed the constitution to subvert democracy. The Greeks voted in droves for both socialists and neo-Nazis. And the Germans once again asserted their dominance over the continent, although this time through economic measures. There's not tanks rolling in Paris or the Sudetenland this time, but the reader will be forgiven for thinking she's seen this movie before.
05 February 2013
04 February 2013
"You must be older than Buckethead's career to drink in this establishment."
... yeah, I don't get it.
... yeah, I don't get it.
03 February 2013
LA face with the Oakland bootie
"You must be older than 'Baby Got Back' to drink in this establishment."
One more time!
Yet again! becausefuck Glee fairness, that's why! (h/t)
One more time!
Yet again! because
02 February 2013
Unanswered questions
Who are the people coming here? Here's Blogger's stats for today:
... for this week:
... for the month:
... for all time:
Some of this is obvious; I probably contributed to the initial dominance of Internet Explorer (before I turned the settings to disregard my own page views) when I was on work computers without Chrome, and much of the geography makes sense. But not all: I have friends in the U.S., Thailand, Nepal, England, Germany, and a few incidental contacts in France, Canada, etc. But Russia? Ukraine? Romania?
Oh, and the most recent Google search bringing someone here was "woo who whoo whooo." Go figure.
01 February 2013
If You Go Away
"You must be older than the New Kids' last charting song of the nineties in order to drink in this establishment."
Technically, they reached the top 40 again in 2008, with the first track of their comeback bid. But, you know, America was gripped in the terror of a financial panic, and there breeds nostalgia. And anyway, they elected Barack Hussein Obamacare that year, too, so you know their judgment must have been pretty shaky.
Oy. I need a palate cleanser. Something to obliterate the association with those words:
That'll do it! Recognize the tune from its foreign language version? Leave your guesses in comments, if you like.
Technically, they reached the top 40 again in 2008, with the first track of their comeback bid. But, you know, America was gripped in the terror of a financial panic, and there breeds nostalgia. And anyway, they elected Barack Hussein Obamacare that year, too, so you know their judgment must have been pretty shaky.
Oy. I need a palate cleanser. Something to obliterate the association with those words:
That'll do it! Recognize the tune from its foreign language version? Leave your guesses in comments, if you like.
29 January 2013
28 January 2013
27 January 2013
23 January 2013
Ricky Ray Rector
"You must be older than Bill Clinton's murderous hypocrisy have been born before Gov. Clinton personally oversaw the execution of a retarded man to appear 'tough on crime' to drink in this establishment."
Seriously, read the story if you haven't already.
Seriously, read the story if you haven't already.
22 January 2013
Lisa the Greek
"You must be older than 'Daddy-Daughter Day' to drink in this establishment."
.. can't embed, but apparently possibly viewable here.
... and happy birthday, Kiara!
.. can't embed, but apparently possibly viewable here.
... and happy birthday, Kiara!
19 January 2013
Mama cooked breakfast with no hog
"You must be older than Ice Cube's good day in order to drink here."
No. Not the song or the video. The actual titular day.
No. Not the song or the video. The actual titular day.
16 January 2013
14 January 2013
I'm back
Hey, so shit's obviously been on my mind other than this blog; regrets to my faithful readers (such as they are). Partly this is due to recent events; partly it's due to recent laziness; partly it's... I don't know. Maybe no one dropped any singles after the USSR dissolved.
Anyway, I do hope to be a more frequent updater in the coming weeks and months. Unfortunately, this one I can't find a specific date, but close enough: You must be older than Rancid to drink here.
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07 January 2013
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