Yesterday may have been President′s Day, but today is the ′reel′ holiday as Atlas Shrugged II – The Strike is now available on DVD. Yes! The saga continues as Ayn Rand′s exceptional novel comes to life. Part 2 of the film takes up where we last left our heroes as they wonder ′Who is John Galt?′ The movie begins as Ellis Wyatt′s oil field is still burning away in Colorado after the government passes the Fair Share law. Amazing that Rand foresaw the current Obama agenda more than 50 years ago. But then, Socialism was already creeping its way more and more into our society through the school systems and government bureaucracies.
The world continues to sink as Capitalism dies. Gasoline is now over $40 a gallon, leaving train travel as the only way for most people and goods to get around. Despite the success of Dagny Taggart and Henry Reardon in building the John Galt Line, the economy is too depressed for any long-term profits. Freight trains that had been running several times per week are now only going twice a month with half the load. Meanwhile, Dagny continues her quest to unravel the mystery of a curious machine capable of turning the Earth′s static electricity into a usable energy source.
Henry Reardon is also under more pressure as the Fair Share law attempts to force him into submission. Refusing to fill an order to the government for his Reardon Metal, Henry is brought up on charges and faces 10 years in prison. A kangaroo court finds him guilty of being too greedy and independent, but since he is one of the last producers left around for the ′socially just′ looters to feast upon, his sentence is suspended.
By now the economy is so bad that the government in Washington enacts Directive 10-289, a decree that essentially ends Capitalism once and for all. Companies may not fire any employees, wages and prices are frozen, and consumers are mandated to spend the same as they did a year ago. Dagny has had enough and walks away, but not far enough. A train derailment brings her back into the game as Reardon is forced by blackmail to hand over his patents to the government.
When Dagny′s train to the crash site breaks down, she meets one of her technicians who still wears a ballcap from his last job as an employee of 20th Century Motors. The old company where Hank and her discovered the mysterious energy machine. Jeff Allen, the former employee, tells Dagny that he is the person responsible for the saying, ″Who is John Galt?″ He explains how Galt rebelled when the company adopted a ′socially just′ method of paying employees based on their needs instead of their productivity. Galt swore he would stop the motor of the world, so, whenever Allen hears about another factory closing, he wonders if John Galt is somehow responsible?
The history lesson is interrupted as a gifted engineer, Quentin Daniels, whom Dagny hired to work on the energy machine, calls her to resign from his task. She borrows Allen′s truck and heads for Utah to try to talk Daniels into staying. Dagny buys an old Lear Jet to expedite her journey, but she is already too late. Just as she prepares to land, she sees Daniels board a futuristic VSTOL jet and gives chase as it flies away. The VSTOL jet suddenly vanishes while apparently heading towards a mountain range. Dagny′s jet enters an energy field, disabling her plane and forcing her to crash. A man comes to help remove her from the debris and identifies himself as none other than John Galt!
All in all, a good flick! I still wonder how the producers intend to do Atlas Shrugged in just three movies? Back in the heyday of TV mini-series in the 1980s, there were plans to film a 6-part, 12-hour production. So far, the current team of film makers have given us about 4-hours worth and maybe half the book at best. The first film did remarkably well considering how few theaters actually showed it. This second offering had more screens when it was in the theaters, but had a fairly short run.
Thankfully, Atlas Shrugged II – The Strike, is now out on DVD and is also available via On Demand, too! Part 3 of the movie adaptation of Ayn Rand′s novel is set to be released in theaters on July 4, 2014. Hopefully, we′ll still have a country then despite the policies of Barack Obama. Unfortunately, the clock is ticking on America. As Ayn Rand once said, ″Money is the barometer of a society′s virtues. But when you see that in order to produce it, you need to obtain permission from those who produce nothing…You will know that your society is doomed.″ Well, thanks to Obama, we′re getting pretty close to that point in history. Some will argue that we′ve already passed it. So it might be time for all of us to ask, Who is John Galt?
February 19th, 2013 at 9:33 am
Looking forward to seeing part 2. Missed it while it played in the theaters.
A new book on Coolidge just came out. Same author who wrote “Forgotten Man”.
Atlas Shrugged and Coolidge should be on every one list to do this spring.
We have to put more Tea Party, Republicans and Libertarians in congress for 2014. Maybe we can save the republic.
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February 20th, 2013 at 12:47 am
“Well, thanks to Obama, we′re getting pretty close to that point in history.”
Any explanation for the performance of the “Obama stock market”? The investor class sure seems bullish about their future profits.
February 20th, 2013 at 6:20 am
That is an easy one, BTT, especially since I had the same question put forth by Buzzbee a week or two ago…
INFLATION! Yes! You Liberals keep forgetting that the Dow Jones Industrial Index is a FUTURES MARKET! Ever notice how it always goes up whenever the Federal Reserve announces that it is going to pump more cash into The System? As far as a barometer for the economy, ever notice how individual stocks usually go up whenever a company announces a new round of lay-offs? How the Dow usually ticks up when bad unemployment numbers are announced?
Funny how just a few years ago Progressive economists are all negative about the Dow’s high numbers, chastising Alan Greenspan for his observations about the stock bubble’s “irrational exuberance.” But now everything is just fine and wonderful with the Obama Bubble. You guys make me laugh!
February 20th, 2013 at 4:37 pm
Yeah, makes as much sense as Biden saying he keeps shotguns in his house.
If anyone ever sees him holding a gun it’ll prolly be in his mouth, and he’ll miss.
And even that, on his part, would be another honest mistake. Whatever, if you ever see Joe grab a gun, run like hell.
I dont know, maybe he feels he cant trust the Secret Service.
Or maybe he puked, crapped, whistled and pee’d himself so many times now they decided to give him his own gun
February 21st, 2013 at 1:16 am
Hi Andy:
I learned in your discussion of social security that the folks around here tend to use “inflation” as a general-purpose fog machine to block their view of awkward facts. (Somehow 12.4% wouldn’t be 12.4% because of “inflation”.)
1. No, the Dow Index is not a “futures market”. It is an index of SPOT PRICES for financial assets (stocks) whose prices reflect expected future benefits to investors. Investors pay for these stocks today, in today’s dollars, not in future dollars.
2. No, prices of financial assets do not reflect anything other than moderate expected inflation. The yield on 30-year inflation-indexed Treasuries is about 0.6% lately. The yield on traditional (non-inflation-indexed) 30-year Treasuries is about 3.2%. The difference (2.6%) is an approximate measure of the market’s expected average inflation rate over the next THIRTY YEARS.
3. Yes, the stock market is a barometer of investors’ expectations of future financial benefits, which may include increased profits from reorganization. A rising market means investors are bullish about the future (their future, not necessarily yours or mine). And maybe expectations can be foolish at times.
4. No, you offered no support for “Obama bubble” claim, and people who feared the tech bubble years ago are not being inconsistent in their current complacency. At the peak of the tech bubble in 2000, the price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 index was about 27. Today it is about 14. (Compare with the long-run average PE ratio since 19th century: about 15.)
5. Yes, maybe the high stock markets reflects that fact that corporate profits are at an all-time high, GDP is at an all-time high, interest rates are low, employment is growing, the economy is not falling apart, the worst case is maybe a recession in the near term. No “ticking clock” no “doom” no “point of no return”. Get a grip on yourselves!
February 21st, 2013 at 7:53 am
BTT,
1) The Dow Jones IS a futures market! Which is why I said you Liberal Moonbats know ZERO about economics! Just look at the link below and tell me what the difference is?
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/futures/
2) If you think the inflation rate over the next 30 years will average out to just 2.6%, then I suggest you buy plenty.
I won’t even bother wasting my time on points 3-5 since you are so horribly wrong on the first 2. When the Obama Bubble bursts and you are starving, perhaps some friendly God-based, church charity will provide you with some free food, since the government will be bankrupt.
February 21st, 2013 at 2:30 pm
“No “ticking clock” no “doom” no “point of no return”. Get a grip on yourselves!”
Funny, Obama was screaming chicken little all during his campaigns and first couple years in office.
“I inherited the worst depression/mess/deficit since the great depression”
Gimme 3 trillion to fix it.
Well, we all know how that worked out and liberals say “get a grip” ? (I understand, it snot your money, right BTT ?)
Figures,from Hawaii I can see the Middle East burning, little Chinese fckers running around inside Pentagon computers,rooster tails from N. Korean missiles, and Iran has taken on a curious green glow…and now everythings okay if we just cut military spending.
February 21st, 2013 at 10:03 pm
Andy,
Your link was to a futures contract on the DJIA. Futures contracts settle based on spot markets, so the DJIA must be a spot market for the futures contract to make any sense. You can buy futures on wheat also…
But let’s say you misspoke and really meant futures contracts on the DJIA rather than the Dow Jones Industrial Index that we see quoted in the news all the time. Can you please explain your point again? It makes even less sense this new way.
I did not say anything about my expectations of inflation. I simply proved, with evidence, that you were wrong in claiming that prices in financial markets reflect lots of expected inflation. They expect about 2.6% over the next thirty years.
So I was not “horribly wrong” about points 1 and 2. We’ll repeat the next 3 right now:
3. Yes, the stock market is a barometer of investors’ expectations of future financial benefits, which may include increased profits from reorganization. A rising market means investors are bullish about the future (their future, not necessarily yours or mine). And maybe expectations can be foolish at times.
4. No, you offered no support for “Obama bubble” claim, and people who feared the tech bubble years ago are not being inconsistent in their current complacency. At the peak of the tech bubble in 2000, the price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 index was about 27. Today it is about 14. (Compare with the long-run average PE ratio since 19th century: about 15.)
5. Yes, maybe the high stock markets reflects that fact that corporate profits are at an all-time high, GDP is at an all-time high, interest rates are low, employment is growing, the economy is not falling apart, the worst case is maybe a recession in the near term. No “ticking clock” no “doom” no “point of no return”. Get a grip on yourselves!
February 21st, 2013 at 10:36 pm
“No, prices of financial assets do not reflect anything other than moderate expected inflation.”
Depends what you own Einstein, and what your assets are invested in…401s are a financial asset whos “value” (price?) is not determined by inflation as much as the stocks performance
Or did you mean to say “value” and not “price” ?
You’re out of your league again and dragging irrelevant crap into the discussion as a smoke screen to hide your ignorance…
its getting old
February 22nd, 2013 at 7:10 am
BTT,
I was not in error in response to your assertion that the Dow is an indicator that the economy is doing just fine. When you and others like to throw up this issue of, “Look at the Dow, it’s over 14,000 points!”, we are talking about a futures market.
As for individual stocks, if you really did follow the market, then you would know that less than 10% of stocks have recovered or exceeded their ‘values’ since the 2008 Crash. For that matter, a whole bunch have never recovered from the Dot-Com Bubble Burst in 1999!
Therefore, your points 3 through 5 are wrong as the stock prices of individual companies themselves give no indication of an economic recovery. In the past, about 3-4 years ago when I was railing steadily about the bailouts and phony stimulus programs, I often referred to the markets as ‘Casino Economics’, since ‘investors’ are basically just buying stocks, betting that they will increase in value. Just as in Vegas, the game is rigged, thanks to the symbiotic relationship between Wall Street and Washington.
February 22nd, 2013 at 7:15 am
P.S., BTT,
Micky, as usual, scores points for understanding the difference between ;value’ and ‘price.’ Given that the ‘price’ of nearly every commodity has doubled or more since the Federal Reserve began dumping cash into the system in 2008, slashing the ‘value’ of our money, all of the numbers are juiced more than Lance Armstrong.
February 22nd, 2013 at 9:37 am
According to tinker, if the performance (value)of our financial assets, such as our 401Ks and homes were tied to inflation they would be reflecting the same gains.
In the last 3 years inflation for essentials such as gas, food and healthcare have skyrocketed.
Yet millions of 401s are still in the red, many are being rolled over to gold and silver.
Home equities are still pretty much a joke.
I’m no green shade pro, but I do own a small business and home,insurance policies etc…
and can tell you with confidence that the largest indicators in this economy paint a pretty dim future.
One can only wish that BTT knew what he was saying. If his case were true my assets values would of increased upwards of 20% in the last 3 year.
Wow, if my assets rose at the same levels of real inflation and not the stupid 2% projection I’d be partying my ass off.
A 5lb. box of chicken thighs was 5 bucks in 2910, 4 bucks on sale. Today its 9,00, 7 when on sale.
According to tinker, my 401 worth 100K in 2010 should be worth 180K today.
Hey Andy, how hard would it be to launch a line of post apocalyptic survival gear under the brand of “Ayn Rand” ?
February 22nd, 2013 at 10:21 am
The responses are amazing.
1) Are you guys willing to concede that pricing in bond markets imply an expected long-term inflation rate by investors of about 2.6%? Or are you in denial of this easily verified calculation?
1a) Even more amazing: You guys seem in denial about actual (not expected) inflation rates: So are you willing to concede that the rate of price inflation by any broad measure has averaged less than 3% since 2008?
2) I offered some simple fundamentals about the current level of the stock market in comparison with previous benchmarks. No response other than bluster.
Andy wants to compare stock prices today to their *peak* in 2007, but then wants to compare commodity prices to their *trough* in 2008/9 and then use only commodity prices as his measure of “inflation”. It is like walking with Alice through Wonderland.
February 22nd, 2013 at 1:52 pm
“1) Are you guys willing to concede that pricing in bond markets imply an expected long-term inflation rate by investors of about 2.6%? Or are you in denial of this easily verified calculation?”
Speaking for myself I know for a fact that your 2.6% is another irrelevant factor you’re attempting to use as some barometer of truth.
Inflation, in fact,is way past this number.
As an “investor” myself,as are many who invest in 401s and real estate I would be foolish to invest using your guides.
Since you cant seem to fathom the difference between an investments value and “price” the whole conversation with you is rendered moot.
Nor are you able to explain why these investments anchored by stocks are not reflecting true inflation as their values have gone in the opposite direction of inflation.
“1a) Even more amazing: You guys seem in denial about actual (not expected) inflation rates: So are you willing to concede that the rate of price inflation by any broad measure has averaged less than 3% since 2008?”
Awww, sht the fck up. would you ?
That 3% in no way represents the rise in the cost of living.
Any average housewife who has to run a household would call you an idiot.
“2) I offered some simple fundamentals about the current level of the stock market in comparison with previous benchmarks. No response other than bluster.”
Bullsht gets bullsht answers.
You’re fundamental understanding of the market, how its daily numbers effect the economy, is flawed.
“Andy wants to compare stock prices today to their *peak* in 2007, but then wants to compare commodity prices to their *trough* in 2008/9 and then use only commodity prices as his measure of “inflation”. It is like walking with Alice through Wonderland.”
Commodities are the best gauge of projection since they supply the most basic elements of any industry.
You’ve obviously been to Wonderland, or you wouldnt know what its like.
I’ll take your word for it, say hi to Alice.
February 23rd, 2013 at 1:53 am
Andy, I dare you to agree with Micky.
February 23rd, 2013 at 2:49 am
When Gumby and Pokey disagree, always best to get out of the way.
February 23rd, 2013 at 7:01 am
BTT,
Simply regurgitating the State-controlled Media’s ‘news’ that the rate of inflation is less than 3% per year since 2008 is like saying the U-3 unemployment rate is only 7.9%, despite the numbers being fudged by reducing the labor participation pool by 8 million people. Sure, the ultra narrow criteria for what the government bases the inflation rate is about 3%. But they do not include food, gasoline and other essential commodities like cotton or metal ores. The sort of stuff that people use on a daily basis.
As for the bond markets, I suppose you have not been following the race-to-the-bottom being perpetrated by gov’ts like us and China to manipulate our currencies. Heck, if you actually followed the real news this week, then you would know that this issue is one of the prime matters to be discussed at the next G-20 summit.
Nor have you been paying attention as the Federal Reserve loans money to large banks at 0.5% so they can buy bonds paying 3.2%. It is called Quantitative Easing. The banks don’t care if the yields turn out to be too little since thanks to Dodd-Frank, they will be bailed out by Uncle Sugar.
February 23rd, 2013 at 1:17 pm
“Simply regurgitating the State-controlled Media’s ‘news’ that the rate of inflation is less than 3% per year since 2008 is like saying the U-3 unemployment rate is only 7.9%, despite the numbers being fudged by reducing the labor participation pool by 8 million people.”
ITS 2.6 ANDY !!!
GET IT RIGHT !!!
I’ve been told by McCain not to call RPs commenters “idiots”.
So, I frankly dont know what to call anyone who thinks inflation has only increased 2.6 every year for the last 4 years.
February 23rd, 2013 at 1:38 pm
BTT;
“Andy, I dare you to agree with Micky.”
I dare you to actually put forth an argument, in which even if you win, would matter.
I’ll take the risque and assume you’re talking about commodities being linked to inflation via the government.
I’ll simply point you to “ethanol” and the commodity known as “corn” which is subsidized by the fed/you and I. (a cost to taxpayers effecting consumers as much as any retail inflation)
Because of this one example we see everything brought to market reliant on corn seeing rates of inflation way past your bullsht 2.6%.
Andy sees things along the same line as he mentioned other commodities such as cotton and raw mrtals.
Hell, even pork bellies, another commodity id dependent on corn.
The whole grain market is screwed because of that one little government intervention that says we need to fck up everything for alternative fuels that suck,and farmers that have been bribed to not participate in the demands the market truly creates.
As far as the market being some sign of our economy picking up we need to remember that the only reason we see many of these gains in because inflation/raising prices has indeed added to many companies bottom line.
Less hiring, more streamlined and efficient systems have been implemented,less overhead, non essentials have been eliminated from many budgets.
For example.
I have much more cash on hand now, because I’ve been eating spam twice a week instead of once.
February 23rd, 2013 at 1:41 pm
Hi Andy,
My inflation benchmark was the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which certainly include many hundreds of items including the end-products of every commodity that you mention (gas, food, etc.).
Prices paid by consumers (including the housewives that Micky mentions) have averaged less than 3% inflation.
RIGHT? (I am trying to gauge the extent of your denial of basic facts. This is a test that Micky failed.)
But your posts suggest that you prefer we don’t look at what consumers pay for goods and services. OK, let’s look at the Producer Price Index (PPI) series, broad measures that track prices received for goods by farmers, miners, manufacturers, processors, and other producers. Below are compound annual changes through Dec 2012 since Dec 2008 (the first number) and Dec 2007 (the second number). The starting point makes a big difference since prices for many items crashed during 2008. (my calcs from data available at http://www.bls.gov)
PPI for Finished goods 3.5% / 2.6%
PPI for Capital equipment 1.0% / 1.7%
PPI for Intermediate materials 3.8% / 2.5%
PPI for Crude materials 9.3% / 1.4%
So, still generally moderate inflation for goods in recent years, with the exception of crude materials measured from their 2008 trough.
RIGHT?
Andy, it seems you are not really looking for a “broad” measure of inflation, but rather a narrow one that just looks at a few commodities that have recovered their pricing since their 2008 crash, and you want to think that a recovery in revenues to producers (from a crash) is an extraordinary and disastrous thing, and means that “inflation” is out of control.
Regarding Treasury rates, I am still waiting for you to address the difference between the inflation-indexed yield and non-inflation-indexed yield, and what that tell us about the market’s expectations of inflation over the next 30 years.
(Hint: it suggests approximately 2.6%. This is another test that Micky failed.)
February 24th, 2013 at 8:05 am
BTT,
You say I am not looking for a “broad” measure of inflation. I say you are buying a misleading measure of inflation.
http://dailybail.com/home/chart-the-real-inflation-rate-is-11-according-to-cpi-calcula.html
Here is a key quote from the article I am linking you to…
“Since 1980, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has changed the way it calculates the CPI in order to account for the substitution of products, improvements in quality (i.e. iPad 2 costing the same as original iPad) and other things. Backing out more methods implemented in 1990 by the BLS still puts inflation at a 5.5 percent rate and getting worse, according to the calculations by the newsletter’s web site, Shadowstats.com.”
For methodology, you may look here:
http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts
I am not alone in questioning the true rate of inflation.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/4952/is-america-hiding-its-true-inflation-rate-and-could-the-u-s-be-as-insolvent-as-greece/category_list
“CBS News recently reported that the rate of inflation, as calculated by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), clocked in at a whopping 8% over the past year. This number is in stark contrast to the relatively modest inflation rate of 3.1% being reported by the government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The AIER calculates what they refer to as an Every Day Price Index (EPI). The EPI only looks at the cost of goods the average household buys every month and factors in only those costs which are subject to price fluctuation. For example, mortgages are typically stable over the course of a year so those numbers are ignored. They wouldn’t change unless a person moves or refinances, so they don’t act as a good measure of inflation from month to month.”
So, the issue here is what constitutes a proper method of determining the rate of inflation. The BLS method generally ignores items purchased by consumers on a regular basis, since that is where we feel the actual impact of inflation. Focusing mainly on industries whose prices for products and services are generally locked in for long-term contracts is a ridiculous method. As our Dear Leader would say, we need a “balanced approach.”
February 24th, 2013 at 8:16 am
Yes, Micky,
As Bill Clinton would say, “I feel your pain!” Perhaps we should be more like Captain Renault from “Casablanca.” Instead of calling people idiots, we’ll call them misinformed, since that is more polite.
February 24th, 2013 at 12:54 pm
“Prices paid by consumers (including the housewives that Micky mentions) have averaged less than 3% inflation.
RIGHT? (I am trying to gauge the extent of your denial of basic facts. This is a test that Micky failed.)”
Obviously this morons mom still buys everything for him.