Wrong Side of the Bed?

I sometimes wonder if it is only that I feel out of sorts this morning, but I read several Pieces which gave me a bad attitude. Mark Thoma examines the behavior pattern of the Poor. My own take, maybe being Poor myself helps, states Poor people do not trust people who they cannot identify with, and make their economic decisions so as to be able to deal with People who they can understand and be understood. It is worth any added Charges involved, and they realize the People they deal with are just trying to get by as well; no one expecting to become wealthy.

Mark Thoma again provides access to the Cost of the Iraq War to Iraq. These type of Studies remain basically flawed, because they ignore the basic realities of the warfare itself. One cannot determine losses in terms of what mature labor could have accomplished in pre-war Iraqi society. The destruction of infrastructure by the War precludes the same Income-earning capacity. Loss of lives, at this point, generates actual Savings to the Iraqi economy with a reduction of Services which must be provisioned; this is not to say Iraqi infrastructure should have been destroyed. It is simply to state brutally that the elimination of labor assets generates a higher Labor return for the remaining labor assets under current economic conditions.

Greg Mankiw gives access to discussion of the Libertarian swing vote. I think they, and Greg, make a fundamental mistake: they think that a significant number of Voters are fed up with the expansion of government. This is very true, but the number of actual Libertarians is very small. What People are fed up with consists of too much being done: there are too many Government programs, there are too many social programs, there are too many social associations, there are too many family problems, there are too many social problems, and there are too many Products on Retail shelves. They are tired of all the Junk, of all types, and most especially of rising Prices for Products they don’t want in the first place. There is a basic thirst for Peace and Quiet, of which All could attest there is an acute Shortage.

Maybe the real injury I feel comes from the seeming celebration of the fact that Sweet Crude has dropped below $57/barrel, for the first time this Year. The Production mechanics still attest that Oil is overpriced by some $13/barrel. I get a malacious joy at the thought of the OPEC ineffectiveness in imposition of a Production Cut. Could it be this ineffectiveness will reign until Oil drops another $13/barrel? lgl