Wednesday, June 22, 2011

japan-style deflation

Was deflation the cause or the symptom of the weak economy?  I suspect it was more a reinforcing symptom but that, even without deflation, the economy would still have been moribund.  Just thinking about QE2 and its purported goal of avoiding deflation (rather than pumping up asset prices, especially housing and equities).

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

batman themed lego sets

Lego stopped making Batman themed sets a while ago (2006-2008).  It's hard to find good information on why they stopped.  I thought of this because the website for the upcoming (October 2011) LegoLand in Florida has the following:  "Studio Store – Visit this store to pick-up all your favorite LEGO licensed products, like Clutch Powers ... Star Wars™ and Batman™".  If this doesn't just mean the videogame or t-shirts, it could be a sign that there will finally be new Batman sets again.  I know some people who would be very excited about that.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

turmoil

Startling that there seem to be three relatively full-fledged civil wars going on in the middle east - all either in or directly adjacent to large oil producers - and yet no sense of impending doom or panic.  Am I missing something?  For example, not to see conspiracies, but that these are somewhat regulated conflicts where the ending is both preordained and better for the west?