Comments on: Economists’ expert wisdom: An oxymoron?

By: Richard Neva Norwich, NY

Richard Neva Norwich, NY — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:17:04 +0000

It is a depression! Can you spell that or even say it? Why hide the truth, capitalism is dead at last and Socialism is on the horizon thank God! Let the markets crumble and may the rich jump again from the sky scrapers to their death!

By: ken long, dallas, texas

ken long, dallas, texas — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:48:51 +0000

warren buffet is the second richest man on earth so he should also be the second most depressed man on earth.
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ken long
dual-diagnosis.net

By: Phyllis, Peabody, MA

Phyllis, Peabody, MA — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:20:28 +0000

Finally, reason and common sense have taken a hold instead rhetoric and so called intelligent fuzziness. Today, everything has to be complicated and difficult. So have we learned nothing from history and past economic mistakes? And we did all of this with a modern society more smart people! Congratulations, my father and his generation that built this country after the wart who grew up in the depression noticed the excessive spending and waste by the government after World War II will tell about the hard times and the depression. My dad graduated Northeastern with a two year degree and worked in blue collar in Tool and Dye. He didn’t have the Internet or WU and his news came from local papers and his neighborhood. He will tell you that his dad who owned a bakery and pizza shop and they were better shape than many others . Also, that his family helped many in his neighborhood to proud to ask for handouts but were too poor feed their families. They made up food packages and pretended they won a prize. And others who knew my grandfather bought on credit ( not to be confused with credit cards) but an IOU. That was a time when your word meant something. And yes, my dad told me further that the backbone of this government were founded on the blocks and the stoops in the neighborhood he grew up in. He wells me the poor man and the rich man could sit at the same stoop and no one was treated with special preference. And he said that the best minds came from the streets. So could we be finally entering the age of common sense? And now would the crisis this country and the world faces I would agree on your with article but I would take it out just a little further. When the economy takes another hard knock and I think it will. My gut and my wallet points in that direction and even with careful savings no one mentions to tell the American people that even if you save for retirement you need find a rate of return that meets or beats inflation. So good luck! So when the next crisis hits and the very few left in this country pull everything out from their retirement and investment accounts to pay off their debt or just in panic to keep liquidity will the elitist and the few major corporations pay attention as they decline. And then and only then will the people of this country be able to reclaim their country!.

By: Josh, Tucson, AZ

Josh, Tucson, AZ — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:40:13 +0000

Eloquent as always Bing! Your wit is downright sexy!

By: Jack Hammond Canada

Jack Hammond Canada — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:53:02 +0000

Buffet is doing the right thing by going to europe to invest, he can see that investing in the US is not safe, given it’s downward trend.
So spreading the investment load to Europe insures that he will have a chance to survive and thrive.
Having a lot of US cash in a US bank is not good when you consider that a European bank will pay twice the interest and when the big crunch comes the Europeans and their companies are better positioned to weather the storm than Americans are.
Their infastructure and lifestyle doesn’t have large travel distances and huge energy requirements that the North American life style has.

We need to go green and make a new industry out of going green, either we do it or the chinese will do it and sell it to us.

Bottom line: Lead the world going green or follow others as they develop and reap the rewards for inventing new technology and products.

By: Doreen Awiti, Bayonne, NJ

Doreen Awiti, Bayonne, NJ — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:30:21 +0000

“I think we should all take as much money out of the bank as we can, every day, and spend it on something other than gasoline. Shop at places whose owners need our money to pay their rent. Press the politicians and the banks to work out some alternative to foreclosures.” TRUE TRUE TRUE

By: Dave, Philadelphia, PA

Dave, Philadelphia, PA — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:25:02 +0000

Nostradamus predicted that there would be a recession this year.

By: AC Portland, Oregon

AC Portland, Oregon — Wed, 28 May 2008 07:45:37 +0000

“decrepitudination” – wow – in my opinion, a very terrific word.

Well Bing, I am going to do my small part this year to spread good cheer in Europe.

I bought my two RT 9/08 coach tickets to Europe for $2100 in 11/07 – I wanted to use some of the 350K FF Miles earned over years of hard travel:

1)Even in 11/07 there were no FF eligible seats available for any itineraries +/-7 days

2)To use them for upgrades I would need to buy TWO $3000 coach seats, the only ones available for mileage upgrades.

Okey dokee – Even though flying coach, we will still have lots of additional fun with the $15 USD gain I made on a purchase of Euros a few months ago that are safely stashed in the mattress.

The balance of the summer prior to our trip will be a series of profit-center “staycation” events known as the yard/tag sale to help pay for those foreign martinis.

..and I will donate those FF miles to a needy cause as …even as bad as it seems per these econ visionaries, we still have it pretty good.

By: Bing

Bing — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:43:23 +0000

To my constant reader: Hello. Thanks for all you do. But I must ask, with all kindness and humility of spirit, that your comments for the most part be more brief than my blog postings. I’m sure you see what I mean. Thanks again. Look for you soon.

By: ghost, Denver CO

ghost, Denver CO — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:58:49 +0000

I find over-educated people who are paid a lot money to know stuff to be full of opinions.

Me, I’m a slightly under-educated monkey in a cubicle who doesn’t have much of an opinion on things.

But I do have some facts. I know what my bank account says. And it’s of my opinion I need to go to the locally owned coffee shop up the street and use some of that stuff in my bank account to buy myself a nice hot Chai Tea for this rainy day out here. Which is, quite frankly, the most useful opinion I’ve gotten all month.

By: Jim P., Philadelphia, PA

Jim P., Philadelphia, PA — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:19:42 +0000

Well stated. Opinion, speculation, second-guessing, all of which lend to some strange chain of some other “expert” either stating a conflicting opinion, or stating a concurring opinion but somehow paraphrasing enough not to somehow sound original. And if two “experts” state it, then it must be true. The only time in recent memory these “experts” seem to be right is when they state what to most, is already painfully obvious…like spending more to fill up your tank is preventing you from spending the money in other areas which is adversely effecting the economy. Really?