Radball/ What's 75 Trillion Between Friends Edition

Update: 10:30AM, 10/28:

- There were 44 arrests last night in San Diego, pics and details here.

- There were about 25 arrests last night in Nashville, info here. Total arrests counting these, since the start of the occupations: 2750.

Hey, thanks for checking in. You’re probably wondering what the hell is “Radball”. I’ll have you know that it’s the best new thing in my simple little world. It’s actually a form of cycling/soccer. The name “Radball” is what it’s called in Germany. The name is “cycle ball” in English and that name kinda sucks. I think the sport is amazing. It’s strangely entertaining. And, a bad job by me not knowing about it, this sport has been around since 1893. The first World Championships were played in 1929. I can’t believe this has been going my whole life, and I’m just finding out about it.
This is a new addition to my bucket list. It is now a goal to make sure I see a Radball game in person. Check it out. After seeing this, you’ll either think I’m crazy or want me to get you a ticket. And, I have no idea how they just don’t fall over each other, crash the bikes, etc.

And, to get serious before checking out for the weekend. You may remember from my “Fake Debate” post, the mention of a financial transaction tax. It would create about 200 Billion dollars per year in extra revenue. Some lawmakers even wanted to put part of that revenue aside to have a fund ready, if some of these banks get in trouble. So, that’s the backdrop of this story. You may remember our Congresswoman not being in favor of this tax. She said a company like “Bank of America” would pass the costs onto consumers.

With that being said, US taxpayers are now on the hook for about 75 Trillion dollars (yup with a T) of Bank of America loans and derivatives. These investments and derivatives don’t usually fall to a zero value. But, what if they fall 50% in value? The US will have to make up for 37 Trillion dollars in Bank of America losses, because these investments are now FDIC insured. If they lose “only” 10%, that’s 7.5 Trillion that would be made up.

So, make that make sense in your head, when any politician tells you a financial transaction tax is not needed. And, just for reference, the size of the US economy as a whole, is in the 14-15 Trillion dollar/year range. We now have 5 times the value of our whole economy, in one banks bets. We shall see how it turns out. Every time I see an awful bank story, I think of this quote:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” – Thomas Jefferson

Two more things, before we get out of here, a study was done by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). CBO is a non-partisan group in Washington, that basically score the cost/economic impact of laws and policy changes. They are an arm of the US Government. The other day, they released their findings on income growth in the US. The study covered 1979-2007. Over that time, the lowest 20% of earners had their incomes go up by only 18% over 28 years. The top 1% had their incomes go up by….(wait for it) 275%! All of the lower income earner’s  gains are more than eaten up by inflation. According to the Labor Department’s figures, $10.00 of goods in 1979, cost $27.54 in 2011. All info can be found here.

Fitting in with the income inequality talk, the US ranks pretty poorly compared to the rest of the world. But, from the above graphs, you probably guessed that. According to a measure, called the Gini coefficient, which is too wonky to even get into. The US scored a 45 in 2010. I know that number means nothing to you. It basically measures a country’s income inequality. It uses loads of complex formulas and statistics to get the final numerical measurement. But, countries that scored near 45 are: Uruguay (45.2), Uganda (45.7), Rwanda (46.8), Mozambique (47.3) and Madagascar (47.5). Probably not the best list to be on.

If you’re curious about some of the best ranked countries (lower numbers are better with the Gini Coefficient): Czech Republic, Austria, Luxembourg (all w/ 26), Albania (26.7), and Germany (27). When at your next party, bring up the Gini coefficient and bore impress your friends! Every country’s score can be seen here, if you were curious about other nations.

An announcement to finish up today. One of my favorites, Amy Goodman, host of “Democracy Now” is speaking next Thursday (Nov. 3rd) in Syracuse. Tickets are free. I’m definitely going, get in touch if you’re interested. Ms. Goodman and “Democracy Now” got a nice writeup in yesterday’s New York Times as well. See it here.

We’ll leave it there for the week. And, I haven’t done any self-promotion in a while. If you enjoy the blog, use the “share” buttons underneath each post, tell friends, etc. You can post any particular write-up instantly to Facebook or Twitter through the share buttons. All of that helps to spread the word. Thanks so much.

Have a good weekend,

James