Posted by Haystacks Calhoun on 06/26/09
Last updated 06/26/09

From the BBC UK -- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8120835.stm

China's central bank has reiterated its call for a new reserve currency to replace the US dollar.

The report from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said a "super-sovereign" currency should take its place.

Central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan has loudly led calls for the dollar to be replaced during the financial crisis.

The bank report called for more regulation of the countries that issue currencies that underpin the global financial system.

"An international monetary system dominated by a single sovereign currency has intensified the concentration of risk and the spread of the crisis," the Chinese central bank said.

The dollar fell after the report was released. The US currency dropped 1% against the euro to $1.4088, and declined 0.8% versus the British pound to $1.6848.

SDRs

Mr Zhou caused a stir earlier this year when he said the dollar could eventually be replaced as the world's main reserve currency by the Special Drawing Right (SDR), which was created as a unit of account by the IMF in 1969.

Dollar poses dilemma for China

The PBOC said in the report that not only should the world adopt the SDR, but that the IMF should be entrusted with managing a portion of its member countries' foreign currency reserves.

"To avoid intrinsic shortcomings in using a sovereign currency as a reserve currency, we need to create an international reserve currency that is divorced from sovereign states and can maintain a stable value over the long term," the PBOC report said.

It also issued some veiled criticism of the US policies, saying that one of the major issues was that it was difficult to balance the needs of domestic politics with the requirements of being the world's reserve currency.

"The economic development model of debt-based consumption is most difficult to sustain," the PBOC said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently joined Mr Zhou in saying it was time to consider an alternative benchmark currency for international debt.

But Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin then said "it's too early to speak of an alternative".

Posted by Haystacks Calhoun on 06/12/09

Americans have a problem: they fake work, just like Meg Ryan faked her orgasm.

How many of us go to office jobs and sit around pushing papers all day? We spend a little while filing or writing something, and then think, hey maybe I should surf the internet and call home. We go through this cycle tons of times a day.

How many of us are lobbyists or academics or productivity-challenged health care administrators? How many of us are government bureaucrats or work in money-sucking businesses like the postal service or auto industry?

The problem is: We forgot what real work is. Making stuff, inventing stuff, trading with our trading partners -- ever heard of it, America?

We are lazy bums who think dressing up business casual and sitting in an office under bright lights all day means we must have done useful.

Yeah, right.

At least I can admit I faked work when I was a lawyer. At least I understood that I was faking it all the time I was pushing those papers, reading those documents, writing those useless emails. Work is all a big show, and I knew how to play my part (especially when the partners were around the corner!)

What is sickening about these Obama-loving wanna-be-hippie types graduating from college now is that they actually believe they are doing something productive and meaningful. They are looking to be on the government dole, looking to be supported by others, they've never manufactured anything, invented anything, done anything to make wealth -- and yet they take this holier-than-thou approach that they MUST be doing GOOD. That they are FULFILLING the destiny that Obama set forth for them -- to be and do GOOD.

Oh, get over it, and yourselves.

Until we get our act together, until we learn or are forced to learn by events what REAL WORK is, we'll continue to be a broke, down-and-out country.

But as long as we can all get away with it, isn't it true that we'll continue faking it to ourselves and everyone else? I mean, how many women still fake it for their man?

Posted by Haystacks Calhoun on 04/14/09
Last updated 04/14/09

I am cheap. I don't like spending more money than I have to on things. I want a President who is cheap. I want a President who is cheap as all hell.

This is Obama in a January speech about the stimulus bill:
"To give our children the chance to live out their dreams in a world that's never been more competitive, we will equip tens of thousands of schools, community colleges and public universities with 21st-century classrooms, labs and libraries. We'll provide new computers, new technology, and new training for teachers so that students in Chicago and Boston can compete with kids in Beijing for the high-tech, high-wage jobs of the future."

As a cheap person, I read this and think:
1. Why do we keep encouraging everyone to go to college and grad school? OUR NATION IS BROKE. We must recognize: delaying entry into the labor market for most people until they are in their mid-twenties is a way of delaying critical productivity and accumulation of resources. Moreover, college is not for everyone. Don't we WANT some young people to not go to college, to not become complacent, to take on the risk that will make them successful young entrepreneurs and business leaders?

2. A new computer is nice, but that computer will be old and outdated pretty much the second it gets into the classroom. And, say, five or so years from now, when it's time to buy a whole new set of computers for these students, who is going to pay for it? My point is that these computers are a depreciating consumer asset whose real long-term value probably does not justify their cost.

3. Why are high-tech jobs necessarily the high-wage ones? Last time I checked the people who make the really big bucks are doctors, lawyers, and self-employed businessmen and entrepreneurs. Seriously, did you ever see any of those people bother fiddling with computer software instead of getting someone else to do it?

4. Why are we focusing on public schools as a primary object of investment, anyway? I'm taking French on the internet now, and I must say, I've probably learned more French in the last few months than some students in school learn in a couple of years. With the increased dissemination of the internet among Americans, doesn't 1) the need for computers in the classroom decrease (since kids have access to them at home) and 2) the need for public schooling decrease (I'd be all in favor of a public school day 9 to 10 am, where the teacher directs you to where on the internet you can learn algebra!)

Anyways, I want a Scrooge for President. Someone who IS and -- to put a finer point on it -- THINKS cheap. Someone who even if they have ten bucks in their pocket to take a cab will take the bus instead, just because IT'S CHEAPER. I'm sick of these high-class money-leeching politicians who act like they've never seen a pen with red ink in their lives. What I want is the oldstyle American individualist, uncultured, unpretentious, yet life savvy. Fine, maybe our President doesn't have to be all of that in one. But please God, make him a tightwad!

Posted 04/14/09 Mike in Virginia Fredericksburg, VA

If he really wanted American students to be competitive with Chinese students, he would abolish the Department of Education and end all other central government involvement in education, from pre-school through graduate school.

Posted 04/14/09 Mike in Virginia Fredericksburg, VA

P.S. It sounds like you want Ron Paul for president. ;-)

Posted 04/14/09 sweetliberty Saint George, UT

I just forwarded what you wrote to three of my friends. (Hope you don't mind.) I wholehearted agree! Well said!

Posted by Haystacks Calhoun on 04/03/09
Last updated 04/03/09

One summer afternoon Bobby Fisher was playing on the beach with his friends.

Bobby moved his little shovel in the sand while the others were searching for seashells.

He said to the others, "Let's play a game. Let's have a contest to see who will be the Leader."

The others looked at Bobby and thought "Why not? Things are very boring and Bobby is trying to make things interesting."

Bobby said, "OK, I will go first. I would be the best Leader for all of you because I am big and tough, and I can scare away any other kids who want to get in the way as we look for seashells."

Here Bobby blew up his cheeks, and puffed out his chest, until he looked like a big pink ball ready to explode. The other kids were very impressed and did not dare to compete with him. 

"OK, you can be our Leader," they said. "What does this mean for us?"

"Well," Bobby said, "I will be standing guard all day. Watching and watching and fighting and fighting... And because I am of such help, you should give me one of every five seashells you have found -- and will find." 

The kids looked at each other, and were grateful that Bobby was going to keep them safe. They all handed him one of every five seashells they had already collected, and went to gather more.

While they worked, Bobby sat moving around his little shovel and counting his seashells. He was so proud of his efforts to keep all the kids safe. Since he didn't have to look for seashells himself (as they were giving him plenty already), he had time to think about other things. 

Bobby went to the other kids, some of whom were chatting and playing in the sand, and said, "You know that I have kept you safe from the boogeymen. But I can do more. You are all gathering seashells, but you are going about it without a plan.

"I shall help you. Some of you will gather seashells, while some of you rest and talk. I shall tell you when and how to do this. That way we can gather the most seashells in the most orderly way."

Bobby thought for a moment.

"But for this you will have to give me another seashell out of every five you collect," he said.

The other kids looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders. Indeed, Bobby had kept them safe; not one bully or cheat had come over to them to take their seashells while the Leader was standing guard.

So when Bobby told them to, they all stood in a line and got their directions for when and how to gather the seashells and when to rest. And off they went to follow the instructions.

As the day began to wane and bright sun became solemn dusk, some of the kids who were gathering seashells began to get weak and tired, and took a break when it was not their turn.

Bobby, who was not gathering any seashells of his own, was watching them; and came over to them and told them it was not their time for a break.

The kids, taken aback, looked at one another, with darkening eyes.

"Dear Leader, we have been gathering seashells all day, and we are tired. Perhaps if we had taken a little break earlier, we would have more energy now and be able to continue working. But it was not our turn then. And so we kept going, but now we have nothing left. We want to play."

Bobby looked at them with dark displeasure. He could not believe what he was hearing.

"Here I have been, standing guard all day as Leader to keep you safe, and here I gave you a plan to make sure you would gather seashells in the best way possible, and now all you can do is break a rule? You are being disobedient to your Leader and will have to pay!"

Here he puffed up his chest and lifted up his arms, and glowered at the kids under the starlight.

This time the other children did not shrug their shoulders. They did not say "OK." They did not know how they had gotten to this point -- all they knew was that they were here.

It was too late. Their Leader already had many of their seashells, and a day of sitting in the sun staring at the waves and clouds while they had been working, but still there was time to think about tomorrow.

"Dear friend," they said. "We said it was OK for you to play at Leader in the beginning, because we thought it was just a game. But somehow it has turned into something more. You promised to keep us safe, and now you are threatening us. You promised to help us with a plan to gather seashells, but all you do is take them away."

"If you do not obey me," Bobby huffed, "I will take all of the seashells you have gathered and throw them into the ocean! What will you have to say then? What will you have to say to your Supreme Leader?" At this Bobby grabbed a few of the seashells closest to the children and tossed them high and far onto the waves.

One of the other children began to cry. They watched the loud, gushing water, which had quickly eaten the seashells they had worked so hard to find.

After a moment of silence, all of the other kids gathered around Bobby. "No no no no!," they cried. "No no no no no! Those were OUR seashells, and you have done away with them. If we let you go on, what else will you take and throw away?"

Bobby could see the whites of their eyes in the moonlight.

At this he became very fearful. He ran to the pile of seashells they had given him earlier in the day, and began to gather them up. As he did so, he could see them standing side by side by side, together in a line, saying "No no no!"

Bobby ran all the way home, tucking in his shirt all of the seashells they had given him.

He knew that he had many more than he had started the day out with. He knew he could put the seashells on his bookshelf and have quite a collection in the morning.

But, he thought, he would not go back to the beach tomorrow.

He would not go back to the beach for a long time.