tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post4668025033035343822..comments2024-03-19T07:13:54.443-04:00Comments on the daily howler: A BASIC LACK OF SKILL: Drums along the NAEP scores!<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-58804768773565612542011-11-21T20:40:58.568-05:002011-11-21T20:40:58.568-05:00Amounts matter, David. Solyndra, your anecdote du...Amounts matter, David. Solyndra, your anecdote du jour, is a rounding error if we want to discuss matters of substance. But you know that.<br /><br />With regard to AIG of course it should be obvious that the extent of government involvement in banking hardly begins with "getting into bed" in the form of bailouts, David.<br /><br />Your market ideology apparently demands that the banking system should have been destroyed in 2008. Okay, you're in the minority with that view. But it's hardly a thoroughgoing anti-government-intrusion position anyway.<br /><br />You ought also to oppose the idea of a government central bank setting rates in the first instance. And perhaps you do oppose that. But again, that does qualify as an insane, minority position. One that is fairly characterized belonging to the religion of market fundamentalism.<br /><br />The idea that markets would solve all our problems if only they were finally and fully free of all government intrusion, is your religion -- we get that.<br /><br />But the sane 99% have moved on from that kindergarten view.<br /><br />We know your markets have failed us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-54533745315673226342011-11-21T19:58:05.003-05:002011-11-21T19:58:05.003-05:00Another gift based on crony capitalism:
Obama...<a href="http://nation.foxnews.com/solyndra/2011/11/21/obamas-labor-department-approves-deal-giving-ex-solyndra-staff-13000-each-federal-aid" rel="nofollow">Another gift based on crony capitalism:<br /></a> <br /><i><b>Obama's Labor Department Approves Deal Giving Ex-Solyndra Staff $13,000 Each In Federal Aid</b><br /><br />The Labor Department today announced that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance for the former employees of the bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra.<br /><br />That means all of the firm’s 1,100 ex-employees are eligible for federal aid packages, including job retraining and income assistance. The department has valued packages at about $13,000 a head.<br /><br />Taxpayers will have to cough up yet another $14.3 million as a result of Solyndra’s bankruptcy. They are already on the hook for $528 million in federal loan guarantees to the company that are unlikely to ever be paid back.</i><br /><br />My daughter worked for an internet startup company that went bankrupt owing her two weeks salary. She didn't get a gift of $13,000.David in Calnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-70209125432102034352011-11-21T19:51:24.879-05:002011-11-21T19:51:24.879-05:00Another example is AIG. It paid out generous mana...Another example is AIG. It paid out generous management bonuses after the government bailed it out. Had the government not gotten into bed with AIG, the company would likely have gone into some form of bankruptcy and no bonuses would have been paidDavid in Calnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-62025552704660458082011-11-21T18:27:00.869-05:002011-11-21T18:27:00.869-05:00Well then, case proven.
Unless facts matter.
In...Well then, case proven.<br /><br />Unless facts matter. <br /><br />In which case, anecdotes such as you've provided would be irrelevant. We would need to treat seriously not just the companies you've "been with," but the real world.<br /><br />In that world, we are all aware that companies of serious size and impact on the global economy or environment have distributed large bonuses at times when their performance was disastrous. It's a truism, and it's true.<br /><br />Your "private" "market" hobbyhorse is a failure. <br /><br />The world has noticed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-13367533988888412432011-11-21T16:37:35.538-05:002011-11-21T16:37:35.538-05:00You got it, Anonymous. My assertion is that this ...You got it, Anonymous. My assertion is that this sort of thing is much more common in companies that are in bed with the government like the two I mentioned. <br /><br />Another company near me that's not well-managed, but which pays high executive salaries, is Pacific Gas & Electricity. They've been granted a monopoly by the government.<br /><br />Then there Vivian Schiller, the f*ckup CEO of National Public Radio, whose hijinks finally managed to get her fired. She was paid $450,000 per year with a $125,000 bonus.<br /><br />OTOH I've been with two truly private companies that had periods where they were doing badly. Managements in both were fired.David in Calnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-86127621610789376572011-11-21T15:35:32.566-05:002011-11-21T15:35:32.566-05:00Yes, David.
Thank goodness, in private industry,...Yes, David. <br /><br />Thank goodness, in private industry, management doesn't walk away with huge bonuses while presiding over failure. [/sarcasm]<br /><br />Are you actually human?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-71745355672654017122011-11-21T09:58:58.357-05:002011-11-21T09:58:58.357-05:00The insurance companies I worked for do pretty muc...The insurance companies I worked for do pretty much live in rational world. As an actuary, I literally did the math. I also persuaded top management not to ignore the math. In one case, the CEO booked my figures, even though booking my calculations led to his being fired.<br /><br />I think my experience was fairly typical of private industry. Sure, some private companies falsify their results. But, Enron is the exception. Furthermore, the management of Enron went to prison. <br /><br />OTOH it's routine for government not to do the math (or to ignore the math.) Why should they do the math? If they get caught, there's no punishment. Also, as Bob points out, pundits don't get punished for failure to do the math.<br /><br />The same is true of companies protected by crony capitalism, like Solydra and Fannie Mae. Their managements didn't go to jail. On the contrary. Even though they spectacularly failed to heed the math, their managements got large bonuses -- tens of millions of dollars in the case of Fannie Mae!David in Calnoreply@blogger.com