36th Chamber's Profile
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Entry: Opening Bell: 2.26.08
posted by 36th Chamber
Feb 27, 2008 10:16AM
1. Not only are you missing the thrust of my argument (which is absolutely not that there is some inherent difference in intelligence between people based on the color of their skin), but you’re then calling me a racist. It’s just asinine and it ignores the basic fact that standardized tests do tend to look like proxies for race and income. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, and I’m not saying there’s any inherent difference in intelligence between people based on race or income, but you just can’t determine someone’s access to basic constitutional rights based on a test that looks like a proxy for race.
2. Thanks for not addressing the constitutional argument. It seemed cogent and based on something we all like.
3. Maybe you should take some econ that goes beyond macro 101. Life isn’t a perfectly competitive utopia. There are all sorts of externalities that impact the effectiveness of a competitive market as a method of determining an optimal solution. When you vote with your wallet great, but if your only option is agreeing to their terms or walking and you’re voting Ford instead of GM or Coke instead of Pepsi then it’s not a whole hell of a lot of vote and it’s certainly not the kind of negotiation that econ 101 assumes is happening. Consumer products are, for the most part, oligopolies. I happen to like this because I want to know that if I go to the vending machine tomorrow on the other side of the country I can still get exactly the same bottle of pepsi, but I don’t delude myself into thinking that pepsi cares about what I as an individual do. They could care less if I vote with my wallet. Also, have you read the Wealth of Nations? Just curious.
4. I agree that people are, for the most part, pretty smart and that they should be held accountable for what they do. But, I also think that companies are pretty smart and should be held responsible for what they do. I also think that some people are bad and steal stuff. Same with companies. That’s why I like the rule of law. I think it should apply to companies too.
5. Yes, I was serious. The purpose of regulating the banks that lend money to people buying houses is to regulate the banks that lend people money to buy houses, not to make sure a dead beat doesn’t take out a loan. Um, duh? Anyway, there are separate laws that deal with fraud that apply to dead beats taking out a loan.
6. Can we stop with the incredulous “ZOMG PON1ES I can’t blv u think taht!” responses? Instead of “[inflammatory example]” how about “[hey, the purpose of regulating the mortgage industry may be to regulate the banks giving mortgages but shouldn’t we be equally concerned with dead beats?” Thanks.
7. Fucking DB comment system.
Entry: Another Alphabet Soup Ready To Run Off The Rails
posted by 36th Chamber
Feb 27, 2008 10:27AM
VIEs are backed by a letter of credit from the bank.
Also, notch a mark up for Carney trying to use the E*Trade sale as some form of mark to market with this from the end of the article:
"The securities in the VIEs may be worth as little as 27 cents on the dollar once they're put back on balance sheets, according to David Hendler, an analyst at New York-based CreditSights. Hendler based his estimate on the recent sale of $800 million of bonds by E*Trade Financial Corp."
Entry: Opening Bell: 2.26.08
posted by 36th Chamber
Feb 27, 2008 6:44PM
I think your original question was "hey, someone provide me with an argument about why we shouldn't regulate voting." I said "here are a bunch of reasons including that standardized tests tend to look like proxies for race and you can't use proxies for race when you're dealing with a big important right like voting."
I'm not sure how you interpreted this as me supporting some body of super smart folks sitting around with questionnaires or regulating the hell out of people. I do want some regulation of politics, just like I want some regulation of society generally. I like to call it “the rule of law.” Anyway, I think it’s fairly obvious that some regulation is necessary (if only to enforce property rights and stop people from voting 84 times).
The answer to how the questions look like a proxy for race is this: http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/cb/testing-social-stratification
Look up series 7 data and see who passes and who fails and how well they do on it and I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts white and affluent means a higher passage rate than poor and not-white. It’s not about how someone answers each individual question it’s about who passes the test and who fails and how often they do it. And no, it’s still not a reflection on whether or not there’s some inherent difference in intelligence that’s based on skin color.
On a positive note I’ve been upgraded from a racist to a Nazi. Thanks.
Responding to your two final points:
1. You can opt out. Don’t sue. Look, I’m not saying that if you know what you’re doing you should be able to sue because transfats make you fat. If you knew what you were doing and went in with eyes wide open you should be held responsible (note earlier where I say “personal responsibility is awesome!”). It’s where you had no idea what was going on because you got scammed that I think someone needs to step in. Look at cigarettes – a company makes a ton of cash on a product that they’ve intentionally made addicting and know is very bad for you. The company has to have some responsibility for the people who were smoking before everyone found out cigarettes are bad for you, but I don’t think you can hold the company responsible for everyone smoking today now that we know cigarettes are bad for you. It’s their choice and I’ve got no problem with them making it. On the other hand, I’m also pretty happy with requiring cigarette companies to put warning labels on their products. I’m just not sure what’s so offensive about this result. It kind of seems like a happy medium to me.
2. That’s the question I was asking when I said who guards the guardians. It is a problem and it’s not one that we’ve solved. But, also see my post about Churchill – democracy is the worst form of government besides all the others. What we have isn’t ideal, but I still think it’s the best that’s out there right now. At least if we don’t like the people in power we can vote them out in a few years and if we don’t like laws we can vote for change.
Entry: Fed Meeting Today: Sources Say Rampant Emergency Rate Cut Speculation Unfounded
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 03, 2008 11:03AM
About 2/3 of the way through this article they talk about what happened: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120429486695502997.html
Entry: Jesse Jackson Stalks The Visa IPO
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 05, 2008 7:14PM
Sometimes I think famous people should hire someone whose only job is to tell them when they're being stupid. Apparently Jackson has not hired such a person.
Entry: Jesse Jackson Stalks The Visa IPO
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 05, 2008 7:15PM
7:10 - hey there are some WASPs in there too!
Entry: No Amount Of Atoning Can Make Up For This Sin, Eliot Spitzer
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 12, 2008 4:11PM
@ BSD - yes.
@ 2:05 - I'm going to pretend that the irony in suggesting that everyone stop vilifying Spitzer for going to a whore when Spitzer prosecuted several prostitution rings was intentional.
Entry: Goldman Quietly Warning Employees Of Another Round Of Layoffs
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 18, 2008 10:52AM
I'm still just not understanding how you're getting a 98 for shares of BSC? I think I'm missing something.
Entry: Opening Bell: 3.19.08
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 19, 2008 10:29AM
Sure, their book value is more than $2 if you take assets minus liabilities but that's assets when JPM sells them on the open market, not assets when Bear sells them in Chapter 7. If Bear filed for Chapter 11 shareholders would continue to own their Bear stock after (if?) Bear emerged from bankruptcy and wouldn't get paid anything because that's not how Chapter 11 works.
Entry: Bear Stearns T-Shirts: Now On Ebay!
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 20, 2008 12:11PM
11:42 - now that's funny!
youtube for reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2C07yRCdT8
Entry: Meredith Whitney Ups Her Own Ante
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 26, 2008 12:48PM
But there are so many synergies in citi! Synergies people! Seriously though, that place is a giant clusterfuck and dead horse is right - the only thing you can hope to do is delegate running the different groups to someone who knows what they're doing etc.
Entry: Opening Bell: 3.31.08
posted by 36th Chamber
Mar 31, 2008 9:36AM
totally agree with 9:21. Guava juice was great. Maybe they can switch to the $5/juice model other airlines have gone with instead of doing away with it entirely.
Entry: Debt Waves
posted by 36th Chamber
Apr 01, 2008 2:11PM
@2:02 - yeah but they're heavy and the melting process keeps ruining all my nice pots.
Entry: Write-Offs: 04.02.08
posted by 36th Chamber
Apr 02, 2008 7:16PM
That wallstrip has warped my fragile little mind.
Entry: Write-Offs: 04.02.08
posted by 36th Chamber
Apr 03, 2008 1:39PM
RB if you're the shitter, can we get some more details? Please?
Entry: Write-Offs: 04.09.08
posted by 36th Chamber
Apr 10, 2008 9:56AM
I think 8:31 is Cody or his publicist, but 9:44 is definitely legit.
Entry: "Closer To End," But Not Really
posted by 36th Chamber
Apr 29, 2008 10:26AM
Yeah, but he's still not putting any guarantees on his funds.
Entry: Erin Callan: CFO As Media Celebrity
posted by 36th Chamber
May 20, 2008 11:11AM
She was pretty brilliant as a trader and is just generally very smart. And while gay pimps and fat dead guys are great entertainment, there's still something to be said for showing a little leg.
Entry: Opening Bell: 2.26.08
posted by 36th Chamber
Feb 26, 2008 4:42PM
@ 2:53 - he was also right when he said democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.