August 2005

Via Jay Jardine comes a few posts from Mises Blog, Cafe Hayek and Bastiat’s Window on whether or not Katrina actually benefits the economy in Louisiana. These blogs, Jay claims, are watching out for ‘economic ignorance’. Of course, it is to be expected that a small subset of the discipline of economics (Austrians) would point out that any other doctrine is false. Just like churches. After all, Austrians have an economic incentive to present the prevailing theories as wrong and theirs as true. Just sayin’.

Jay writes:

laying waste to a major metropolitan area and killing / injuring hundreds of people is no way to “boost your regional economy”

In all politeness, and morals aside, it actually is a good way. In the short term, capital stocks and infrastructure fall below their steady-state levels. The steady-state level of capital corresponds tot he steady-state level of economic growth. When capital falls below this level, the marginal product of capital increases, which increases yields on new investment. Growth rates below this level are higher, so Katrina will lead to a higher growth rate down the road.

But as Bastiat’s Window points out: “this might simply give more credence to argument that GDP doesn’t measure true wealth very well.”. I agree.

Wealth is defined generally as the conditions of well-being. Even though Katrina will call forward higher regional growth rates as capital is replaced, and even though this will translate into a higher level of GDP, people will not be better off for having lost their jobs, assets and even lives. It will be interesting to see how Katrina spikes the GDP in coming years, and hopefully this will illustrate the futility of measuring economic well-being with GDP.

It’s not the journalists’ fault for being economically ignorant; the very tool used (GDP) to measure wealth has a faulty assumption: that increases in GDP correlate directly with increases in human welfare.

I wonder what incentive (if any) the US Federal Government has in covering up the death toll from Katrina. Some Freeper claims that this is the case:

freerepublic.com

It is with heavy heart I write this…

I have finally reconnected with my best friend who is a paramedic who was sent from Georgia 2 days ago to Gulf Port, Mississippi before the hurricane hit.

He just reached me within the last 10 mins via emergency cell phone to tell me he was alive.

Thousands of bodies have been discovered throughout Mississippi in Gulf Port, Waveland,Hancock County,Bay of St.Louis.

They are hanging in trees and they are pulling them out 30 at a time. Entire families found drowned in their homes and washing up on shore.

The stories he could tell me were brief. National Guard is on the scene and arresting anyone seen on the streets.

The numbers are staggering and what I have been told tonight will shake people to their foundation as the numbers will be coming out in the next 24-hours of just how many people have actually perished in these and 3 other beach communities.

More to follow….

I guess I’ll use the US Government’s trusty “Misinfo Detection System”.

* Does the story fit the pattern of a conspiracy theory?

Yes, because it’s on freerepublic.com

* Does the story fit the pattern of an “urban legend?”

Define “urban legend”.

Is the story startlingly good, bad, amazing, horrifying, or otherwise seemingly “too good” or “too terrible” to be true? If so, it may be an “urban legend.”

Yes. It is “startlingly bad”.

* Does the story contain a shocking revelation about a highly controversial issue?

Yes, because the death toll should be accurate in order to respect the dead.

* Is the source trustworthy?

No. Because some random guy from a webboard reported it. He could be drunk on Lysol.

* What does further research tell you?

That the government is always right and I should place my blind trust in them at each opportunity.

Gawd Bless ‘Merikuh, and Death to Chavez! Kick his ass and take his gas!

Thank you, Big Brother.

The guy certainly has a flair or the use of the Engrish language.

Read: Iraq Success ‘Catastrophic’: Bush

A little Johnny Cash’ll make it aaaaaallllllriiiiight. Allright.

Artist/Band: Cash, Johnny
Lyrics for Song: Five Feet High And Rising
Lyrics for Album: The Essential Johnny Cash

My mama always taught me that good things come from adversity if we put our faith in the Lord.
We couldn’t see much good in the flood waters when they
were causing us to have to leave home,
But when the water went down,
We found that it had washed a load of rich black bottom dirt across our land.
The following year we had the best cotton crop we’d ever had.

I remember hearing:

How high’s the water, mama?
Two feet high and risin’
How high’s the water, papa?
Two feet high and risin’

We can make it to the road in a homemade boat
That’s the only thing we got left that’ll float
It’s already over all the wheat and the oats,
Two feet high and risin’

How high’s the water, mama?
Three feet high and risin’
How high’s the water, papa?
Three feet high and risin’

Well, the hives are gone,
I’ve lost my bees
The chickens are sleepin’
In the willow trees
Cow’s in water up past her knees,
Three feet high and risin’

How high’s the water, mama?
Four feet high and risin’
How high’s the water, papa?
Four feet high and risin’

Hey, come look through the window pane,
The bus is comin’, gonna take us to the train
Looks like we’ll be blessed with a little more rain,
4 feet high and risin’

How high’s the water, mama?
Five feet high and risin’
How high’s the water, papa?
Five feet high and risin’

Well, the rails are washed out north of town
We gotta head for higher ground
We can’t come back till the water comes down,
Five feet high and risin’

Well, it’s five feet high and risin’

An interesting thought. I wonder how many preachers will be preaching this message rather than trying to blame the hurricane on foreigners.

From Jerusalem NewsWire:

On August 14, citizens in the United States, like people around the world, heard about the issuing of an order for the forced evacuation of Jews from parts of Israel’s biblical land.

For six days they watched as thousands of weeping people were pulled and carried from their homes, forced to leave their gardens, parks, communities, schools, towns and synagogues, everything they had spent decades building; banned from ever returning again. Those scenes were soon followed by pictures of bulldozers and other earth-moving machinery pulverizing the just-vacated homes into heaps of dust.

While this was taking place, a small tropical depression was forming near the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean. Slowly, as the air began to revolve, the nonthreatening weather system began moving in the direction of Florida.

Yesterday, we in Israel watched as American officials, including President George W. Bush, ordered the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans and its surrounds. That small depression had turned into a frightening fiend. Now we are seeing on our television screens up to a million people being forced to leave their homes. People are weeping on camera, mourning that they are going to lose “everything we own; everything we have worked for.”

As today unfolds we are bracing to see wind and water pounding homes, whole communities, into the ground.

Is this some sort of bizarre coincidence? Not for those who believe in the God of the Bible and the immutability of His Word.

What America is about to experience is the lifting of God’s hand of protection; the implementation of His judgment on the nation most responsible for endangering the land and people of Israel.

Geez. This is comforting. Thanks, Big Brother Blog.

How to Identify Misinformation

How can a journalist or a news consumer tell if a story is true or false? There are no exact rules, but the following clues can help indicate if a story or allegation is true.

* Does the story fit the pattern of a conspiracy theory?
* Does the story fit the pattern of an “urban legend?”
* Does the story contain a shocking revelation about a highly controversial issue?
* Is the source trustworthy?
* What does further research tell you?

Does the story claim that vast, powerful, evil forces are secretly manipulating events? If so, this fits the profile of a conspiracy theory. Conspiracy theories are rarely true, even though they have great appeal and are often widely believed. In reality, events usually have much less exciting explanations.

The U.S. military or intelligence community is a favorite villain in many conspiracy theories.

Cool and cool.

Check out the ‘how to fold a shirt’ video. It’s old, but it’s still cool. Or click HERE.

Something interesting from BoingBoing. I recall these same pics being on Drudge earlier in the day.

A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005.

Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.