Lions, Tigers, and Bears - Oh My!

First, the $2 Trillion in federal bailout loans that the Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of. The only justified reason I can think of, off the top of my head, that they would have for not releasing the data is that the recipients are businesses that investors would be shocked and disturbed to learn were in need of a bailout. Butttttt..... It seems that if it is illegal for a company to misrepresent its earnings, it is at least shady for the purchasing of that companies stock by the government in a bailout fashion - or even emergency loans from the FED. Also, shouldn't the very fact that the FED isn't being transparent in their actions make investors less secure?

Second - Obama has appointed Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm to his council of economic advisers. Yes, that's right, the same Granholm who has demolished the Michigan economy in six years. She thought it was smart to "close" a state budget shortfall by raising the tax on gas this summer, raising the taxes on small businesses, and expanding the scope of the sales tax.

No wonder it costs 300% as much to hire a moving service to move you out of Michigan as to move you in. Supply and demand and all that.

More later. Sure is a lot of stupidness going on right now.

Median Voter Theory

So, one of the primary theories in Public Choice Economics is the Median Voter Theory. Basically, this says that politicians will move toward the center in an attempt to garner votes. In the past this has typically meant that hard-left politicians moved away from socialist ideas. However, this entire election cycle I have been struck with the realization and fact that this has not in fact happened. Sure, the candidates have moved toward the center on certain, key, issues, but overall they have taken great pains to be very far apart. In fact, the Democrat as even taken great pains to proclaim his allegiance to socialist ideals on many occasions.

This doesn't mean that MVT is dead, but rather I think it means that the American electorate is deeply divided. Yeah, I know, big surprise. But it also means problems for stability and business climate. See, businesses and investors like stability. They like knowing what to expect. But having such a close election and two candidates saying and planning such very different things is the antithesis of stability.

Interesting.