Week 1, January 2010
From this week’s New Yorker Magazine: Raghuram Rajan, an Indian-born Chicago professor, is one of the few economists who warned about the dangers of the financial crisis. In 2005, he said that deregulation, trading in complex financial products, and the proliferation of bonuses for traders had greatly increased the risk of a blowup. In a new book he’s working on, “Fault Lines,” Rajan argues that the initial causes of the breakdown were stagnant wages and rising inequality. With the purchasing power of many middle-class households lagging behind the cost of living, there was an urgent demand for credit. The side effects of unrestrained credit growth turned out to be devastating. The impact of the financial crisis shouldn’t be underestimated, especially for Chicago-style economics. “Keynes is back,” Posner said, “and behavioral finance is on the march.” Also from the article: Now one of the University of Chicago’s leading economics thinkers, Judge Posner, is quoted: “We are learning that we need a more active and intelligent government to keep our model of a capitalist economy from running off the rails. The movement to deregulate the financial industry went too far by exaggerating the self-healing power of laissez-faire capitalism.” I point these out along with this article here, which indicates that the 2000s netted ZERO job growth for the American economy, because I hope Americans will enter the next decade with a new, yet old fashioned, spirit of how we define success. In the coming decade, may we ALL rise together and recognize how THAT is legitimate success.
See here for more on this Chicago School of Economics Mea Culpa
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Weekend Wanderer’s Events
…finding the treasures in your town and beyond.
Two for This Weekend:
Une Grande Curiosité in San Francisco: A quote by the artist Leonor Fini: “It’s hard to define talent. Where does it come from? I think it’s the product of a type of revolt. A strong need to make your mark.” Now that it’s maybe safe to head back to Union Square in San Francisco (just kidding shoppers) it’s a great time to check out this exhibition of paintings by this wonderful 20th century artist. Have a fun visit to the MANY other Union Square galleries too!
Street Utopia North Beach 2010: Saturday in North Beach: Films depicting “livable city” policies around the world; food by San Francisco street –cart vendors; public speakers on urban sustainability and the “public space” movement; artwork displayed by Lutzka Zivny and Chris Ferris; presentation of a variety of utopian designs that reclaim and enhance North Beach streets. Wow! Looks like a good excuse to get down to North Beach to me! Plenty of other fun and great food to be had there too!
Help Your Fellow Living Beings:
One Warm Coat: Their simple mission: Our goal is to provide any person in need with a warm coat, free of charge. Providing this simple yet vital need helps people live productive lives year round. Their origin: One Warm Coat started out in 1992 as a Thanksgiving Weekend coat drive in San Francisco. Since then, more than 1 Million coats have been donated in thousands of local communities across North America. Each coat drive has the same intent — to collect coats that will be GIVEN to those in need. I’m a fan of that. Check ‘em out.
Two Weekends from Now:
In the Name of Love: Musical Tribute to MLK in Oakland: Sunday the 17th you can join in this musical commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Oakland. Acts such as the Oakland Inter-Faith Gospel Choir, Ledisi, and the John Santos Sextet make up the billing and a rousing revival atmosphere is sure to occur. Looks like a great show for a holiday weekend!
Pic of the Week… from my phone camera:
Envisioning the future…