The Economic Way of Thinking

Our Keith Richards Economy

 

The Rolling Stones are, hands down, my favorite band.  I often surf around the Web in search of new tour rumors, and I'm proud to say I own merchandise like What Would Keith Richards Do? (a birthday gift from Anemone).  One of my favorite Keefism's from the book is his explanation of why he takes a turn as front-man: "The only joy I got out of being a front-man was I didn't have to look at [Mick Jagger's] *ss."     

My love for the Stones makes it all the more satisfying (no pun intended!) to report to you all that I worked in a Stones reference on the radio this morning.  When talking about America's current growth path with Kenny & Charles, I referenced an old comment by Pete and described the US economy as "the Keith Richards economy." 

The real GDP growth of 3.5% for the US, which was reported on Friday, is "totally fake."  More injections are ahead, and I just hope the US can make it as long as Keith has in our experiment of "better living through chemistry."    

Deciphering Bono: Actions Sometimes Speak Louder Than Words

Anemone and I had a blast last night rocking out to U2 in the Georgia Dome.  Their play list offered a nice combination of new tunes and classics like "Beautiful Day" and "With or Without You," and their light show was spectacular.  The 71,000+ seat stadium was packed, which is a feat only a few bands could pull off. 

Seeing U2 perform is something we've wanted to do for years because we both love listening to Bono when he has a microphone in hand and Edge behind him.  However, I tend to push the "Mute" button on my remote whenever U2's front-man is on Oprah or without Edge.  While I'm sure Bono's heart is in the right place, good intentions, ill-informed economic reasoning, and tremendous international appeal make for a dangerous combination when it comes to some of his activist efforts.  In other words, unless he's singing, I try to tune out his words as much as possible.

His actions, on the other hand, are sometimes worth paying attention to because they demonstrate that even the great humanitarian, Bono, responds to economic incentives (additional stories here and here).  The Rolling Stones also appear unable to get no satisfaction, and, as a result, they have followed Bono's move to The Netherlands. 

Scary

This sure is a lot different than my elementary school music classes, where in addition to having my hair pulled by the teacher (seriously!), we sang "Home, Home on the Range," "We Are the World," and "The Greatest Love of All."

HT: My student, the other Ben Powell.

Sitting *On* The Dock Of The Bay

Along with Little Richard Penniman and The Allman Brothers, Otis Redding is one of Macon's sons.  A few years back, the following statue of Otis was built along the Ocmulgee River at Gateway Park:

You can see water in the background, but it's distant and far from Otis.  Over the last week, the water has come over the bank and is slowly creeping up towards Otis.  Let's hope Otis continues to sit on dry land instead of inthe bay.  (When the Ocmulgee crests later this week, I will try get y'all a picture of the "after" to compare to this one!). 

Otis's problems, of course, pale in comparison to the problems real people in the floodplain around Georgia are actually experiencing.  Here are a few folks who it looks like it'd be fun to meet:

My iPod 20

1.  Andy Griffith, Flop Eared Mule

2.  The Bing Brothers, Red Rocking Chair

3.  Art Stamper, Barndance Polka

4.  Tchaikovsky, 1812 Overture

5.  America, Horse With No Name

6.  Dr. John, Stack-a-Lee

7.  Lowell Fulson, Reconsider Baby

8.  John Hartford, Rebel Raid

9.  John Hartford, Brownlow's Dream

10.  Neil Young, Southern Man

11.  St. Louis Jimmy, Florida Hurricane

12.  John Hartford, Front Porch

13.  Handel, Water Music Suite

14.  Willie Nelson, Stardust

15.  Dave Bing, Cumberland Gap

16.  Muddy Waters, Long Distance Call

17.  Jimmy Triplett, Shanghai

18.  Crosby, Stills & Nash, In My Dreams

19.  Johnny Winter, Forty-Four

20.  John Denver, Poems, Prayers and Promises

John Hartford must be trying to tell me something.  Long live John Hartford.

iPod 20

My friend and co-author, Josh Hall, invited me to share my "iPod 20" a while ago on Facebook.  The exercise involves pushing SHUFFLE on your MP3/iPod and sharing the first 20 songs that appear.  Here's what my list looked like:

1. Omaha, The Counting Crows
2. Everything to Everyone, Everclear
3. Until the End of the World, U2
4. Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Bob Dylan
5. Hypnotize, The White Stripes
6. What's My Age Again?, Blink 182
7. Extra Ordinary, Better Than Ezra
8. I Take My Chances, Mary Chapin Carpenter
9. Breathless, The Corrs
10. Unemployed Boyfriend, Everclear
11. Wrong Way, Sublime
12. Steve McQueen, Sheryl Crow
13. Long Time Gone, Dixie Chicks
14. Homecoming/The Death of St. Jimmy, Green Day
15. Daydream, The Lovin' Spoonful
16. Seven Nation Army, The White Stripes
17. Get Together, The Youngbloods
18. Minority, Green Day
19. Home, Sheryl Crow
20. Ordinary World, Duran Duran

If You Had a Million Dollars

While listening to my I-pod this morning and thinking about a consumption theory question for the exam I'm giving tonight in MBA Macro, the Barenaked Ladies song, "If I Had a Million Dollars" came on.  The song's catchy and lists some of the things that could be bought for $1 million; at the end of the song, the writer says he'd even be able to buy love with his million. 

Readers: If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?  

RIP, Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Most of my memories of Michael Jackson are a combination of befuddlement about how a star can fall so far and a general feeling of being creeped out.  I must not be alone in having the creepy reaction: try Googling "creepy" and look at the third image result from the left. 

His Thriller album cover is the first record cover I can remember from my childhood (that's right, young readers, I grew up in the record/cassette tape era).  The Thriller video gave me nightmares as a kid.  Seriously.  "Smooth Criminal" and "Billie Jean" were, by far, his best songs, and the Alien Ant Farm remake of the former wasn't bad.

It was many years later in my life, particularly the summers of 2002 and 2003, when I came to really appreciate Michael Jackson.  I was in Prague and learned about the world's largest Stalin statue.  The statue stood until 1962, but it was then destroyed during deStalinization.  From then until the collapse of communism, the rock pile of the former Stalin statue was all that remained.  In the late 1980s and early in the 1990s, however, the site became a focal point for a Rolling Stones banner and then, in 1996, the 35 foot Michael Jackson statue you all saw at the beginning of this post was erected in advance of his concert in Prague  Here's more about the statue's history.  Here's a picture of the Stalin statue:

 

While I'll forever remain baffled by Jackson's personal and financial decisions, I'll tip my cap to the fact that a Stones banner and a large Jackson statue have stood on the spot where Stalin once stood. 

First Concert?

I was channel surfing a couple nights ago and caught Anderson Cooper asking viewers what concert was the first one they ever attended.  Some of the viewer replies were hilarious. 

I'm curious what kind of music fans we have at EWOT, so I'll follow Cooper and ask the same question: What was your first concert? 

My first concert was Marilyn Manson back in the year 2000 or so.  I wasn't even a fan of Manson--then or now!

She's So Much More Than "Just a Girl"

Gwen Stefani that is. 

Her song, "Hey Baby," remains my favorite song to listen to while running.  (During my last marathon, the song contributed to my fastest mile of the race--a 6:15 between Mile 13-14.  I had no business running that kind of mile split so late in the race.).  Her marriage to Bush front-man, Gavin Rossdale, is intriguing.  And, her song "Rich Girl" actually has a fairly coherent economic argument in the chorus.   

These are just some of the reasons we're off to Atlanta in a little while to rock out to Gwen and the rest of No Doubt tonight at the Lakewood.  I'm sure it'll be a great show!  Will any of our readers be there tonight?

Algorithms I Like, #1

I would never want to be forced into using a machine or model to guide my decisions.  However, in some walks of life there are algorithms that do a pretty good job of predicting my tastes.  In some cases, the algorithms are quite helpful in introducing me to new products that I otherwise would have overlooked.  In the weeks to come, I will introduce readers to a few of the algorithms that I really like.  Here's the first one:

Pandora Radio is a music algorithm that I really enjoy (my "Paint it Black" station is my personal favorite).  Check out this music project and let me know what you think! 

Five Most Influential Albums

A while back Facebook had an annoying "25 things" chain letter circulating, which then spawned a number of derivative chain letters.  One that caught my eye was "20 most influential albums."  Since 20 seems like overkill, I'm limiting myself to five.  Here they are (in alphabetical order):

(1) Green Day, American Idiot

(2) Nine Inch Nails, Downward Spiral

(3) Pink Floyd, Pulse

(4) The Rolling Stones, 40 Licks

(5) Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Greatest Hits

Some TARP Lyrics

Bill Zucker was kind enough to comment on our recent “I Want Some TARP” post and send along lyrics to his song.  Thanks, Bill!

TARP SONG c2008
words and music by Bill Zucker 

Well I am just a poor boy from the streets of Tennessee
I work real hard to pay my bills but its too much for me
I lost my job..they took my home...I’m down on my knees
but I heard about this place where money grows on trees

(Chorus)
I want some tarp
they're giving money away for free
I want some tarp
save a little bit for me
from Boston to Seattle ... across this great big land
tuck your head between your knees.....and take it like a MAN

I’m packing my belongings off to Washington D.C.
They’re printing money left and right
and I want a stack for me
I’ve got an idea that just might work with what they’ve gave the companies
Give everyone a brand new car ...insured by AIG 

(chorus)

What’s with all these bonuses they’re giving to the rich
they’re fillin' up their pockets walking way without a hitch
I’ve gotta grab myself some TARP
cause I hear its going fast
now I know why they call it fanny 'cause their heads are up their...
AS I WAS SAYING 

(chorus) 

I Want Some TARP

Those who got a kick out of Dave’s Grey Eagle tune from a couple of days ago might enjoy this little ditty by Bill Zucker titled, “The TARP Song.”   

The chorus repeats, "I want some TARP, they're giving money away for free…I want some TARP, save a little bit for me.”