Capitalism 1, War on Drugs 0 (Sort Of)

November 12th, 2007 | by Craig |

The financial tables have turned, and global economics have done what U.S. law enforcement could not: Capitalism has stopped the smugglers in their tracks.

While the article mostly gets it right, the author can’t resist a little political screed in the middle:

America borrows itself deep into the hole, ratchets up its trade deficits, buries itself beneath subprime mortgage debt, devalues its dollar with interest-rate cuts, and the currency plunges.

Meanwhile, Canada’s economy booms on oil, foreign investors turn north for stability, and the “Loonie” - Canada’s dollar, named for the bird on the coin - hits a 50-year high.

I’m sure that other people would have better insight into the many and varied reasons that the dollar is low against the loonie, but I’m fairly certain that the causes aren’t anywhere near as simplistic as the writer asserts.

The article meanders a little bit, but is an interesting read.

  1. 4 Responses to “Capitalism 1, War on Drugs 0 (Sort Of)”

  2. By Mark Tokarski on Nov 12, 2007 | Reply

    Why settle for a simple explanation when a complex one will absolve the Bush Administration of guilt? I mean, what are we, political hacks?

  3. By Craig on Nov 13, 2007 | Reply

    Simple explanations are OK, except when they’re wrong.

    Plus, I don’t know where you get the idea that I’m defending the Bush administration from this post, but I guess in your world “anti-left” must mean “pro-Bush.” (Please have a look at my “Terms of Use” page, although I know how much you hate reading links.)

    1.) Trade deficits are a nothing more than a boogeyman designed to scare sheeple. OMGWTFBBQ!!111! We have a trade deficit!!11!!1! Sure, but has it caused our GDP to go down? Nah, not so much.

    2.) How, exactly, is the subprime lending problem a making of the Bush administration? It’s private lenders making private loans to private citizens. Was the Dot Com collapse a making of Clinton’s?

    Budge could certainly talk with more knowledge about how interest rate cuts affect currency valuation, and that point may very well be valid, but the other two aren’t. It’s prototypical leftist pabulum passed off as journalism.

  4. By Mark T on Nov 13, 2007 | Reply

    Some days you eat the bear …

    Is Budge now your official thinker/spokesperson?

  5. By Craig on Nov 13, 2007 | Reply

    >Is Budge now your official thinker/spokesperson?

    Nope. Since his area of expertise is finance, I defer to him in this area, much as I assume he would defer to me in my own field of expertise.

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