Comments on: A Smart Economist

By: tio

tio — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:00:35 +0000

i have a life boat and jackets just in case.

By: Debora Thompson

Debora Thompson — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:02:33 +0000

I think we need to pay attention here and keep track of this guy.I think he is correct in what he’s talking about. Most of what lies ahead will be out of our control- all we can do is try to prepare for the consequences. (Ron and I watched the whole thing, too)Thanks Sam, for sharing this.

By: A1

A1 — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:43:23 +0000

Oh, don’t worry – we’re still going. He was just making us think about where we would want to be if we did have hyperinflation. Anyway, and I guess if we fall into the ocean, we’ll still be fine, since we’re so righteous (and humble)! Now all those wicked people out there, they better shape up…

What he was saying about renting was very interesting though. We’ve had a mortgage now for about 8 years, so it’s hard to get into the “rent” mentality again, but we do realize that’s the smartest thing to do right now – and maybe for a while.

By: WhiteEyebrows

WhiteEyebrows — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:22:39 +0000

Personally, I think he goes off the rails at around 1:00:00. I don’t think we are headed toward hyperinflation or currency devaluation. At that point I think he goes into alarmism (see my post about alarmists). I think we aren’t headed in that direction because the FED and Government is now SOOO hyper-sensitive and knee-jerk right now. I think the drunken stupor is over.

The most interesting thing in here is when he talks about gauging how much a piece of real estate is REALLY worth by its rent values, not its market value, and how “throwing away money on rent” a lot of the time isn’t really throwing away money. In markets where home values are SOOO inflated, renting is the best thing you can do!

Either way, I don’t see why it should make you doubt your move. I mean, Cali is going to fall into the ocean someday… but other than that… it will be awesome!

By: A1

A1 — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:58:18 +0000

Alex and I sat and watched the whole thing – I thought I’d listen to a few minutes, but it was very enjoyable so we listened to all of it. His point about letting things fail that should fail is right on – bailing out just makes things worse. Anyway, his predictions do make us doubt our upcoming move though.

By: Big Bro

Big Bro — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:49:29 +0000

I was quite impressed by a lecture he gave on CSPAN’S BookTV about a month ago. I believe he is a very intelligent economist and addresses a lot of good points about our economy and the world’s economy.