Texas > California

[DaShi]

You know it won't be that simple. What if it took making investment bankers behave ethically with money? We'd be screwed.

[Lefty Scaevola]

BTW: Remind me how wonderful it is to live in Texas the next time there temperature there exceeds 100 degrees

Its great, we have 100+ in San Antonio around 30 times this summer, and I am still making lots of money, and you are are barely scraping by.

[Ben Kenobi]

When the article asserts lower governmental regulation was the way to avoid the economic downturn when any reasonably economic analyist will tell you that it was a lack of economic regulations that led to the banking and real estate bubbles and thus to the horrific problems we have today.

Taxes are a different beast. Fewer taxes will lead to greater economic growth and prosperity.

Loose lender laws are just the opposite.

High taxes and cheap money are a disastrous combination.

[Ben Kenobi]

I sure wish BC had no personal income tax. I suggest it as a way to close the deficit and folks look at me strangely.

[Whoha]

When gasoline hit $4.00/gallon, many East Texas oilfields were reopened because it was again economical to pump oil from them. This fueled an economic boom, which cushioned to impact of the recession.

The solution is clearly offshore drilling.

Offshore Drilling

[Sava]

Sava:

a) No economist is "right about everything" when it comes to forecasting.
b) There is NO consensus among serious academic economists that a lack of regulation "caused" this recession. Some think so, some do not.
c) I have no idea why you think that skill in economic forecasting (insofar as such a thing exists at all) leads to insightfulness on the question of government regulation of the financial sector.

You seem to
a) enjoy splitting hairs about things that are taken out of context
b) craft inane responses to arguments I didn't make
c) make leaps in logic (I use this loosely) that might not be so sadly pedestrian if the effort to attain a semblance of sardonic discourse was tempered by something that resembled thought

[Dinner]

Taxes are a different beast. Fewer taxes will lead to greater economic growth and prosperity.

Wow, Somalia must be the most dynamic economy on Earth then because for around 20 years there has been no government and no taxes. Hell, Mexico has the lowest tax rate in the western hemisphere (even Haiti, the second lowest in taxes, has a much higher tax rate) and has for around 50 years so it must be heaven on Earth. What is that? You say neither place is?

Why that must mean there are several other factors at play in the economy besides the tax rate and any one of those factors either alone or in combination must be far more important then the just the tax rate.

[KrazyHorse]

enjoy splitting hairs about things that are taken out of context

I'm not splitting hairs, you twit. Forecasters are only marginally better than monkeys throwing darts at a board.

craft inane responses to an argument I didn't make

Really? You weren't making the argument that serious academic economists are generally in agreement over the role that lack of regulation had in causing the current recession?

most analysts (that I've seen on TV, read in the papers, etc) that reject the idea of regulation are the same ones that were singing the praises of the economy to the run up of the collapse

most of the smart economists (those that tended to be right about everything) usually have strong backgrounds in academia. The dumb ones tend to appear on cable news more often and support a more right leaning set of policies

make leaps in logic (I use this loosely) that might not be so sadly pedestrian if the effort to attain a semblance of sardonic discourse was tempered by something that resembled thought

Do you even know what "pedestrian" means, you ****ing ******? Try to use words that actually fit instead of ones you think will disguise your utter stupidity.

[Dinner]

The solution is clearly offshore drilling.

Offshore Drilling

I do wish they'd allow more off shore drilling here. I mean we have some fairly large reserves in California and some very large natural gas reserves but the hippies keep preventing us from drilling. It won't magically solve the recession and it would take around a decade to really get production up but it would add $5-$10 billion a year in royalty payments to the state which has to help. Not to mention it will create lots of high pay jobs building the platforms, building pipelines, hiring drilling crews & manning the facilities, etc...

That just has to be a good thing.

[Sava]

I'm not splitting hairs, you twit. Forecasters are only marginally better than monkeys throwing darts at a board.

I don't recall discussing forecasting at all. But okay, I'll play.

Really? You weren't making the argument that serious academic economists are generally in agreement over the role that lack of regulation had in causing the current recession?

I don't see the word agreement, or any derivation thereof, in my post. So... no.

Do you even know what "pedestrian" means, you ****ing ******? Try to use words that actually fit instead of ones you think will disguise your utter stupidity.

Oh, I'm sorry. You seem to be under the impression that your rants are somehow above the usual garbage that can be found on any number of internet forums. I guess the whole "physics rockstar" persona you've got going on here has really gone to your head.

Where's Kuci? I'm sure he can provide you with the nurturing comfort you need right now... the kind that only a younger man can give you.

[DaShi]

Poor Drake.

[KrazyHorse]

I don't recall discussing forecasting at all

the same ones that were singing the praises of the economy to the run up of the collapse

I don't see the word agreement, or any derivation thereof, in my post

Yes, because English gives us only one way to express a given idea.

In this case, agreement among serious academic economists was implied by the characterization of those who disagreed as not being serious academic economists.

Oh, I'm sorry [...]

The rest of this is simply avoidance of the discussion of the fact that, while trying to type up what you thought sounded like an erudite insult, you managed to misuse the word "pedestrian". Tossing together a collection of five dollar words into an awkward insult doesn't impress me. It's something an asthmatic twelve year-old might do.

[KrazyHorse]

You have 3-4 hours to come up with something a bit closer to hurtful, by the way. Good luck!

[Sava]

Yes, because English gives us only one way to express a given idea.

In this case, agreement among serious academic economists was implied by the characterization of those who disagreed as not being serious academic economists.

I'm not to blame for any inferences you made.

The rest of this is simply avoidance of the discussion of the fact that, while trying to type up what you thought sounded like an erudite insult, you managed to misuse the word "pedestrian". Tossing together a collection of five dollar words into an awkward insult doesn't impress me. It's something an asthmatic twelve year-old might do.

Twelve year old? So that's how old I need to be for me to impress you. I should have known.

I don't think that I made a mistake with my word choice. I wished to described your thought process as "lacking in vitality, imagination, distinction, etc.; commonplace; prosaic or dull". The insult seems awkward I suppose, but only if you don't understand it.

I try to insult people on a level they are capable of understanding. I'll be sure to lower the bar for you next time... maybe put on some training wheels... raise the bumpers... let you choke up... tie a hand behind my back... give you a head start. Whatever I can do to lend a hand. I'm nothing if not fair to the less-abled.

I'll just pretend I'm insulting a child.

[Ben Kenobi]

Wow, Somalia must be the most dynamic economy on Earth then because for around 20 years there has been no government and no taxes.

I believe I said, "all else being equal".

Why that must mean there are several other factors at play in the economy besides the tax rate and any one of those factors either alone or in combination must be far more important then the just the tax rate.

You are right that some nations are blessed with an abundance of natural resources. CA for example. The question as to why Texas is more prosperous currently than California, the major difference is the lower taxation rate in TX.