The Koreans 'shoot the messenger'!

WTF?_2

from the beeb:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/business/7839375.stm

Taking the Roman goddess of wisdom's name as his nom-de-plume, Minerva became a one-man oracle for these troubled economic times.
Or bloggacle perhaps.
In hundreds of internet postings over the past year the blogger has spent his days pounding the keys, pouring forth his opinions on where he felt the South Korean economy was heading.
"Downwards" and "fast" would probably be two of the best words to sum up his view.
But what appears to have really catapulted him to fame were a number of specific predictions.
A week before the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers, there was the uncanny prophet, predicting exactly that.
And as the government fought to shore up the value of the Korean currency, there was Minerva accurately predicting its subsequent, dramatic slide.
Public interest
At the height of his blogging bonanza, Minerva was pulling in more than 100,000 online viewers for each of his postings.
But the government had him in their sights.
It argued that much of what he wrote was misleading or wrong.
The final straw came with his report that the authorities had ordered big business to stop buying dollars, an allegation the government denies.
But such was Minerva's following that his statements were themselves affecting the money markets.
He was traced and arrested under a rarely used law; the offence of spreading false information with the intent of harming the public interest.

Looks like this is the way the world is going ..... are we going to see 'thoughtcrime' introduced as an offence here?

1echidna

Robert Peston next. There are a number of people who would like to see him strung up.

bubblesmoney

then i guess denninger is screwed as well since much of his 2008 predictions came true and his 2009 predictions are interesting as well

but then they might just want people to shut up and not ask questions when billions are being spent in secrecy and people claim they dont know where the billions are being spent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Associated Press found that after receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks can't say exactly how they're spending the money. Some wouldn't even talk about it.

Government officials overseeing a $700 billion bailout have acknowledged difficulties tracking the money and assessing the program's effectiveness.
..............................
The officials also noted the "difficulties associated with monitoring the use of specific funds" provided to individual financial institutions, according to the document.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Economic_Stabilization_Act_of_2008#cite_note-193

A December 21, 2008 Associated Press article stated, "Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals. The rewards came even at banks where poor results last year foretold the economic crisis that sent them to Washington for a government rescue... Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management, the AP review of federal securities documents found. The total amount given to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of the 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost their bottom lines."

ps: has anyone found out where exactly the bailout money given to uk banks was spent and how much of it went to funding balls and parties and bonuses

Lotus-eater

bubblesmoney wrote: »

then i guess denninger is screwed as well since much of his 2008 predictions came true and his 2009 predictions are interesting as well

One of the predictions for this year

"The City" (London to be precise, Britain generally) will be recognized as getting it "worse than we are" (in America.) This will be the first of many validations of my thesis "we're screwed, they're gang-raped."

Sounds like an interesting year ahead :eek:

WTF?_2

If you add up the total debt that is being carried in the UK (public, private and corporate) and consider how heavily leveraged the banks are plus the damage they took pre-recession from US sub-prime, plus the dependence on imports (incl. energy and food) then Britain really does look like the worst of the lost causes.......

lethal0r

from 2/3 down http://market-ticker.org/archives/689-Where-We-Are,-Where-Were-Heading-2009.html

Deflation, not inflation, will become evident well beyond housing. Other capital goods beyond housing will see real price declines for the first time since the 1930s. Debt is inherently deflationary; the "hyperinflationists" will once again be shown to be wrong (how many years running will it be now?)

can someone tell me why debt is inherently deflationary?

scousethife

lethal0r wrote: »

from 2/3 down http://market-ticker.org/archives/689-Where-We-Are,-Where-Were-Heading-2009.html



can someone tell me why debt is inherently deflationary?

I havent got a bleeding clue mate.

So that puts me up there with about 80% of so called "economists"

harryhound

!!!!!!? wrote: »

from the beeb:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/business/7839375.stm

Looks like this is the way the world is going ..... are we going to see 'thoughtcrime' introduced as an offence here?

It already has been introduced. Those early versions of The Sun are illegal unless you remove page 3. Big fuss at the moment about "non adult" teenage girls posting images of themselves on the net.

1echidna wrote: »

Robert Peston next. There are a number of people who would like to see him strung up.

Do we all remember when "persons unknown" (?) tried to "string up" this site over one weekend, with a denial of service attack?

zappahey

lethal0r wrote: »

can someone tell me why debt is inherently deflationary?

If I've understood him properly, it's because we've spent tomorrow's money plus a bit more and, of course, it has to be paid back so there's less available to buy stuff with.

No doubt Generali will be along shortly to explain it properly.

mewbie_2

I'm a bit worried. Do you think that my contributions may attract the attention of government wanting to close me down? No more penis jokes mewbie, there's an economic war on.