Daily Archives: November 8, 2014

Germany’s Passive-Aggressive “Stimulus” Program

By William K. Black
Kilkenny, Ireland: November 7, 2014

Kilkenomics, being a festival of economists and comedians, has long reflected the economic consensus that austerity in response to a Great Recession is economic malpractice akin to bleeding a patient to make him healthy. One of the great changes in Europe in the last month is that the number of economic voices willing to make this same point have grown rapidly. Germany’s “there is no alternative” (TINA) to austerity claims were always absurd, but now many more European voices are willing to point out that there are superb alternatives – in Germany. A recent Irish Times article provides a good example.

“Leading economists have criticised Germany on its public investment restraint which, at 18.4 per cent of GDP, is below the EU average of 19.2 per cent. A study by Berlin’s DIW economic think tank suggests a €1 trillion backlog has built up in Germany since 2000.”

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Let’s Call It What It Is – Murder

By William K. Black
Kilkenny, Ireland: November 8, 2014

Clarence Ditlow and Ralph Nader wrote a column in the New York Times on October 29, 2014 that should be reread in light of the November 6, 2014 NYT article’s subsequent revelations about the Takata’s cover up of sometimes lethal defects in its airbags – a cover up that reportedly continued for over a decade.

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The Euphemistic “White Collar Watch” is Addicted to Euphemism

By William K. Black
Kilkenny, Ireland: November 7, 2014

Kilkenomics pairs top professional comedians with economics contributors who share two characteristics: wide-ranging interests and knowledge and candor. This means that the contributors take clear positions and defend those positions with facts and logic. That refreshing willingness to actually be blunt about important things may be what set my teeth so on edge when I read the New York Times’ “White Collar Watch” feature. It is written by Peter J. Henning, who teaches, and writes about, white-collar crime. The problem is evident in the “brand” that Henning has chosen for his columns. Note the deliberate exclusion of the word “crime.” What is Henning doing – writing a column (from Detroit) on the lives of “white-collar” employees, professionals, and officers? His very brand is based on the bowdlerization of his academic specialty through euphemism.

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