Predator State & Getting Screwed

Enormously good read from Liberal Economist and former Obama Advisor and son of another Keynesian Legend, James Galbraith. One cannot but have a feeling though that the book deserves more than its divisive title ("How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market, and why Liberals should too")


The books pace readers through the history of neo-con economic theory and the rise of Reaganism, and death of Keynesian economics. No doubt, the writer feels a need to defend his enterprise (and his father's). But he unveils the truth about neo-con economics which can be summarized as "High on Rhetoric, Low on evidence", and ultimately reveals the fact that even the practitioners hardly believe in what they profess in the face of mounting evidence that it does not work. 


The later part of the book focuses on debunking economic myths ranging from inflation, deficit spending (of which he agrees with Dick Cheney is no big deal..yeah Cheney) , deregulation to free trade, and ultimately examines the premise of the "market". He profers central planning as an effective tool in the kit of a proactive government wanting to act in the best interest of the "most". Indeed, James assumes that his altruistic readers were for more equity and less disparity...this may or may not be true ambition or goal of everyone. If that is the case however, this book shows how best to achieve what the Nordic countries achieved in post-world war economy. A sort of compromise between socialism and capitalism. 


This is a must-read submission for anyone interested in contemporary economic theories and their practical real life effects and responses. You cannot but be amazed by the amount of media garbage you've been fed all this while, and how untrue most of those are.


Well free market, that is for those doing the screwing. Don't get screwed. 


UP GHANA! I guess now  Ghana and Brazil (lol) are Africa's best hope...stop laughing at the Brazil thing, it is the second largest black nation on earth. lol

Aloha Sweden! Nordia, Awo & Socio-Economic Musings

In front of the Swedish Parliament Building at Stockholm

The conference ended yesterday, but I have stayed behind to tour and see Sweden the country. Stockholm is a beautiful city as you can imagine. I am staying at a nice little hostel (after checking out from the 5-Star expensive hotel World Bank paid for until yesterday) behind their Royal Palace. 

The city epitomizes everything about the Nordic/Scandinavian economic model or miracle as some in Western Europe and America like to say. With some of the highest standards of living in the world, these high tax, low inflation, big but effective government, strong social protection but high employment states defy conventional economic models used by the West or even the Eastern Bloc nations. In a careful melding of capitalism and communism, they've created a society that is open enough but walled off from the troubles of the rest of the world. 

I tell you this Nordic socioeconomic model is interesting. Now I see why Pa Awolowo wanted to model the Western Region of Nigeria after their system, and I also see why he failed. 

Speaking about social, the Swedish or Nordic generally have been able to preserve their language/culture, while using English effectively as a tool to reach the world. Their streets are labeled in Swedish, everyone speak Swedish generally (unless they realize you are a foreigner) but also English. 

Also, their women are so Yoruba-women like it is crazy. They like putting up a "front" even though it is just that: “a front”. Open and pervasive sexuality is still largely frown upon in this society, while people tend to be self conscious and speak from two sides of their mouth (tact, and foxy in the same vein). It appears their basic social structure of cohesiveness and communality has been intact for generations due to the natural separation by geography from the rest of Europe.

Also, if their women want to tell you thank you, they will kneel like we do when greeting. Respect is at the center of their culture much like ours. Also, don't mistake the timidity of the Swedic/Nordic woman for submissiveness. Much like the Yoruba woman, she will get you in trouble in a heart beat (my Swedish male friends I made told me as much, and shared horror stories). Their women like (the Yoruba) can be notoriously unpredictable, high maintenance and devious. That is where the difference stops; because Swedish women are gorgeous, and you know what I think of the beauty of an average Yoruba girl.

Speaking about departures and differences, Awo's model failed principally because the social cohesion and sense of communality that is central to the Scandinavian model was preserved, while that of Yoruba land has been lost due basically to Geography. The moment a bridge could cross both sides of the Niger, those ethos that holds up the Nordic countries have been breached by other cultural elements and most especially by colonization by the British 

Indeed, the Yorubas & the Nordic countries share similar history of intra-tribal warfare, shared or borrowed royal families between constituent states/tribes (Danes gave Norway their Royal Family), assimilation of foreign groups by royal lending (Finnish for Nordic, Edo for the Yorubas) as well as periodic domination by one or more of the constituent states (Swedes, then Danes, then Swedes much like Oyo then Ibadan in Yoruba history) . 

However, they as a group never got colonized (avoiding the Napoleon, the Czars and Hitler in that order).

In all, am enjoying Stockholm; it is a beautiful city with gorgeous but complicated people with complicated sensibilities but well evolved economic model of high taxes, expensive goods and tastes and full employment! And it doesn't even ever get dark here. Well there you go, all nighters!

The Big Short & the Big Apple

I have refrained from picking up any of the Monday morning quarterbacking books that invaded the market after the global financial crisis of 2008 fall. However, author Michael Lewis is hard to resist for the very same reasons I have sought to resist the rest. A compelling story teller, his tell all tale focuses on the "good" shorts and the characters that pulled it off.

There was no John Paulson, widely featured in another amateurish tale I learn (Called the Greatest Trade Ever) or their likes in this tale. Rather, the author focused on roughly four groups characters- Steve Eisman and his motley crew of fatalists, Greg Lippmann the propagator , Michael Burry- medical doctor turned hedge fund guy and unlikely originator, and the motley crew of Charlie & Jamie and their pro helper in Cornwell Mgmt. that basically made it big by betting big and acting big. In all these four were right...and America was wrong, AIG was wrong, Wall Street was even wronger and damn the bond market too!

It is a tale of Wall Street gone crazy, conflicts of interests (double plural mine for emphasis), belly churning risks, Goldman Sachs will screw you (check out how they quickly figured the trade and froze the market), and why firms going public basically set us all up for this disaster. Too big to fail? Well why are they public? Too small to help? Well, that is the suckers like Lehman Brothers. That angle was less explored.

No doubt, in a combination of the mastery of the underlying instruments with good story telling, Author Lewis beats the competition out there who rushed to the stable with their half baked stories thereafter. A compelling read that validates my theory of screwing and getting screwed. Wonder why Lehman go screwed, and the rest of the street made out like a bandits. Anyone? Long Term Capital? I betcha you didn't know that...

Spent time in NYC this weekend ..always a good time in the big apple...Went to Broadway to see Fela! My reviews are in...and AIG was correctly yabbed at the event! LOL..