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Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Truth or Consequences

I last wrote about complexity and shortcuts.

Let's start with a big shortcut: truth.

What is truth? What is true to you? Are these the same... sometimes, always, don't know...?

Bush is lying to the American people. True or false? Kerry's voting record belies his debate statements? True or false? Oh, those are too easy. One can find specific examples that support assertions, but does that represent "truth"?

Republicans are those who support big business instead of the common person; Democrats are those who make the common man dependent upon the largess of the government. Ah, now we are getting somewhere. Generalizations based on... trends? mission statements? posturing? hyperbole?

The U.S. is liberty's last great hope; the French are pansies; the Iranians are maniacal religionists who will send the world into chaos. Great! Bigger generalizations based on "my truth is bigger than your truth." But how can the U.S. be "the great Satan" and "liberty's last great hope" at the same time? More believers? More powerful weapons?

So how about "We are all dependent upon the sun for our lives." No one arguing? Terrific. Well, that may be a truth now, but perhaps there will be a time in the future when mankind has moved beyond the solar system and it will no longer be an "absolute" truth.

There is a God and he is Allah! Don't like that one? He is Jesus! Don't like that one? He is Jehovah (Yahweh). Don't like that one? Name your own, dammit. Did you hear about the dyslexic, atheist, insomniac? He stayed up all night wondering if there really was a Dog.

We are all somewhat dyslexic when it comes to "truth". My wife tells me she thinks I'm especially handsome. I think her perceptions may be affected by her 20/400 vision.

Okay, so maybe we can't agree on the TRUTH. Some of us seem to agree on some things... our shortcuts align. Not necessarily because we discovered the shortcuts by ourselves. More likely because someone in authority in our life passed on a shortcut that they had learned from someone else. The shortcuts seem to work... or at least didn't interfere with our lives too much... so we accepted them as valid (truth?).

Oh, oh, this sounds too much like relativistic thinking. One truth is as good as another. Maybe not. Let's take the approach that within the dynamic interactions of humans among humans and humans within their environment, there are some approaches that are more functional than others. There are some shortcuts that work and some that do not within specific circumstances. There are some shortcuts that may affect our behavior but perhaps not our outcome (praying to God to save our immortal soul).

So, let's set aside truth. Not because it isn't important to us, but because we just can't quite get there. What then? Logic? That requires presumption. Fact? Ouch! Go back and read the spin links from yesterday's post. No, even data is disputable or "means" different things to different people; reflects different "truths". Only 1,000+ dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq and only sporadic resistence: a resoundingly successful military campaign. 1,000 dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq and there is still fighting: a failed policy.

Next time: going beyond the truth.

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There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.
Henry Louis Mencken (1880–1956)
“The Divine Afflatus,” A Mencken Chrestomathy, chapter 25, p. 443 (1949)
... and one could add "not all human problems really are."
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
- O. Henry
... The Government is on course for an embarrassing showdown with the European Union, business groups and environmental charities after refusing to guarantee that billions of pounds of revenue it stands to earn from carbon-permit trading will be spent on combating climate change.
The Independent (UK)

Tracking Interest Rates

Tracking Interest Rates

FEDERAL RESERVE & HOUSING

SEARCH BLOG: FEDERAL RESERVE for full versions... or use the Blog Archive pulldown menu.

February 3, 2006 Go back to 1999-2000 and see what the Fed did. They are following the same pattern for 2005-06. If it ain't broke, the Fed will fix it... and good!
August 29, 2006 The Federal Reserve always acts on old information... and is the only cause of U.S. recessions.
December 5, 2006 Last spring I wrote about what I saw to be a sharp downturn in the economy in the "rustbelt" states, particularly Michigan.
March 28, 2007
The Federal Reserve sees no need to cut interest rates in the light of adverse recent economic data, Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.
The Fed chairman said ”to date, the incoming data have supported the view that the current stance of policy is likely to foster sustainable economic growth and a gradual ebbing in core inflation”.

July 21, 2007 My guess is that if there is an interest rate change, a cut is more likely than an increase. The key variables to be watching at this point are real estate prices and the inventory of unsold homes.
August 11, 2007 I suspect that within 6 months the Federal Reserve will be forced to lower interest rates before housing becomes a black hole.
September 11, 2007 It only means that the overall process has flaws guaranteeing it will be slow in responding to changes in the economy... and tend to over-react as a result.
September 18, 2007 I think a 4% rate is really what is needed to turn the economy back on the right course. The rate may not get there, but more cuts will be needed with employment rates down and foreclosure rates up.
October 25, 2007 How long will it be before I will be able to write: "The Federal Reserve lowered its lending rate to 4% in response to the collapse of the U.S. housing market and massive numbers of foreclosures that threaten the banking and mortgage sectors."
November 28, 2007 FED VICE CHAIRMAN DONALD KOHN
"Should the elevated turbulence persist, it would increase the possibility of further tightening in financial conditions for households and businesses," he said.

"Uncertainties about the economic outlook are unusually high right now," he said. "These uncertainties require flexible and pragmatic policymaking -- nimble is the adjective I used a few weeks ago."
http://www.reuters.com/

December 11, 2007 Somehow the Fed misses the obvious.
fed_rate_moves_425_small.gif
[Image from: CNNMoney.com]
December 13, 2007 [from The Christian Science Monitor]
"The odds of a recession are now above 50 percent," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "We are right on the edge of a recession in part because of the Fed's reluctance to reduce interest rates more aggressively." [see my comments of September 11]
January 7, 2008 The real problem now is that consumers can't rescue the economy and manufacturing, which is already weakening, will continue to weaken. We've gutted the forces that could avoid a downturn. The question is not whether there will be a recession, but can it be dampened sufficiently so that it is very short.
January 11, 2008 This is death by a thousand cuts.
January 13, 2008 [N.Y. Times]
“The question is not whether we will have a recession, but how deep and prolonged it will be,” said David Rosenberg, the chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch. “Even if the Fed’s moves are going to work, it will not show up until the later part of 2008 or 2009.”
January 17, 2008 A few days ago, Anna Schwartz, nonagenarian economist, implicated the Federal Reserve as the cause of the present lending crisis [from the Telegraph - UK]:
The high priestess of US monetarism - a revered figure at the Fed - says the central bank is itself the chief cause of the credit bubble, and now seems stunned as the consequences of its own actions engulf the financial system. "The new group at the Fed is not equal to the problem that faces it," she says, daring to utter a thought that fellow critics mostly utter sotto voce.
January 22, 2008 The cut has become infected and a limb is in danger. Ben Bernanke is panicking and the Fed has its emergency triage team cutting rates... this time by 3/4%. ...

What should the Federal Reserve do now? Step back... and don't be so anxious to raise rates at the first sign of economic improvement.
Individuals and businesses need stability in their financial cost structures so that they can plan effectively and keep their ships afloat. Wildly fluctuating rates... regardless of what the absolute levels are... create problems. Either too much spending or too much fear. It's just not that difficult to comprehend. Why has it been so difficult for the Fed?

About Me

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Michigan, United States
Air Force (SAC) captain 1968-72. Retired after 35 years of business and logistical planning, including running a small business. Two sons with advanced degrees; one with a business and pre-law degree. Beautiful wife who has put up with me for 4 decades. Education: B.A. (Sociology major; minors in philosopy, English literature, and German) M.S. Operations Management (like a mixture of an MBA with logistical planning)