Buyer's Remorse?

From Charles Gasparino in the New York Post, an article about how Obama did not turn out the way that those very smart senior executives on Wall Street thought he would:

The execs who had such hopes for the president are now wondering fearfully just how radical he really is.

Plus there is this bit of humor at the end:

The funniest story I've heard lately came from a former Wall Street executive and longtime Democrat who anxiously recounted a recent conversation with Obama.

The executive said he told the president that he's at a disadvantage because he's relatively inexperienced in economic matters during a time of economic crisis. "That's why I have Valerie," came Obama's reply.

"Valerie" is senior adviser Valerie Jarrett -- a Chicago real-estate attorney and one of Obama's closest friends, who has deep ties to the Windy City's Democratic political machine.

Now you know why Wall Street is so nervous.

Some people who get paid a lot of money for being smart did not see what was obvious to the hicks in the hinterland.

European socialism

The New York Times reports on the decline of the socialists parties of Europe, though it also notes what the conservative parties are conserving are existing socialist policies. The article notes:

The internecine squabbling in France and elsewhere has done little to position Socialist parties to answer the question of the moment: how to preserve the welfare state amid slower growth and rising deficits. The Socialists have, in this contest, become conservatives, fighting to preserve systems that voters think need to be improved, though not abandoned.

What the article and Europe do not recognize is that the welfare state is not sustainable when a country goes into demographic decline--a decline that the welfare state encourages. The European Union has a fertility rate of 1.51--they will gradually fade away.

Going green is the new socialism:

Mr. Winock, the historian, said, “I think the left and Socialism in Europe still have work to do; they have a raison d’être, and they will have to rely more on environment issues.” Combined with continuing efforts to reduce income disparity, he said, “going green” may give the left more life.

Distortions caused by regulations

The Wall Street Journal tells how Ford assembles vehicles in Turkey, ships them to the U.S., and then drastically alters them here as a way of avoiding tariff regulations that grew out of a chicken tax imposed by Europe on U.S. chickens. It is a good example of the mess that tariffs can cause. What are the costs of practices such as this one:

With the globalization of the auto industry, American companies have joined the game. Until recently, Chrysler Group LLC imported Dodge Sprinter vans made in Düsseldorf, Germany, by former owner Daimler AG. The engine, transmission, axles and wheels were removed, allowing the truck bodies to cross the border as auto components, which aren't subject to the tax. Daimler then reassembled the vehicles at a factory in Ladson, S.C.

What do want to be when you grow up?

From Carpe Diem.

Bush and the GOP

John Fund at The Wall Street Journal discusses an upcoming book by a Bush speechwriter. The interesting bit:

Mr. Latimer said he found it surprising that the president seemed to equate the conservative movement, which has a proud pedigree stretching back to Robert Taft and Barry Goldwater, with the candidacy of Mr. Bauer, a second-tier figure who had little impact on the 2000 presidential primaries. Mr. Bush, sensing his speechwriter was perplexed, finally filled in the blanks. "Look, I know this probably sounds arrogant to say," Mr. Bush said, "but I redefined the Republican Party."

That may explain a lot of what has been wrong with the Republican Party in the last few years.

Computers and ACORN

From Shannon Love at Chicagoboyz:"

Back when I did computer tech support, we had a rule of thumb for evaluating the significance of reports of unusual and previously unreported failures .

• One report of a failure is a fluke.
• Two reports of a failure is a coincidence. It might just be two users making the same error.
• Three reports indicates a pattern of failure that arises from the hardware or software itself.

She then applies that principle to the ACORN videos.

The ghost ships and the recession

From Mail Online:

The cost of chartering an entire bulk freighter suitable for carrying raw materials has plunged even further, from close to £185,000 ($300,000) last summer to an incredible £6,100 ($10,000) earlier this year.

The best columnist in American (or Canada)

Mark Steyn on Dominick Dunn, a writer of whom I had never heard.

De Soto on PBS

Hernando De Soto will have a documentary on PBS in October. It should be worth watching. Here is the preview:

Doing Business report

The World Bank publishes a ranking of countries by how easy it is to do business in each country. The new ranking is here.