Censorship update (3)

[the Net economy] – Today’s [tNe] posts were truncated due to network disruptions by Net carrier.

Censorship Attack (definition)

Action or actions to prevent or inhibit free exercise of First Amendment rights.

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• Censorship update (2) ←
• Censorship update (4) →
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The Fiscal Game in Washington Is at Odds with Reality

US annual federal deficits 1901 to 2006
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Henry J. Aaron – Let’s play a game.

You are a legislator in a fictional country. You pride yourself on being fiscally responsible. Under current law, the government will run a small budget deficit …

Now, as a legislator, you are asked to cut taxes and raise spending—a lot! If you comply, huge and growing budget deficits will result. Debt will grow faster than income. Eventually, the debt will become so large that lenders will lose faith that the nation will have the will or ability to service the debt. When that happens, interest rates will spike and investment will collapse. What position do you take on these proposed tax cuts and spending increases?

Easy question, you say. You vote “no.” To do otherwise would be irresponsible.

If that is your position, you have just shown that you would not get very far in current U.S. politics. more> http://tinyurl.com/c5p6crf

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Eurozone crisis: democracy trumps austerity but will the euro survive?

By Larry Elliott – For two years, Europe has been force-fed a diet of unrelenting austerity. The crisis began in the private sector – in over-leveraged banks and wild financial speculation – but such was its impact on consumer spending, investment and trade that governments have seen their public finances dive deep into the red. Spending cuts have been imposed, pensions have been made less generous, and taxes have gone up. The policy has been an economic disaster. Growth has collapsed, unemployment has soared and – unsurprisingly – budget deficits have been much bigger than forecast. Election results from France and Greece show that it has also been a political disaster: voters have decisively rejected Euro-sadism and made it clear they want their politicians to chart a different course. Democracy has trumped austerity.

In the fantasy world of policymakers in Brussels, the eurozone would fast-track to full fiscal union, but there is no realistic chance of this happening any time soon. more> http://tinyurl.com/6srwlqq

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• Eurozone crisis: Merkel tells Athens and Paris to stick to spending limits | Business | The Guardian (2012indyinfo.com)
• Mish/ Mike Shedlock – Voters Punish New Democracy And Pasok; New Election, Euro Exit Coming Up? Best Thing For Greece is Tell The Troika “Go To Hell” – 7 May 2012 (lucas2012infos.wordpress.com)
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• Looming Large: The Euro Crisis Is Back, Ed Conway, Sky News
• Krugman: Revolting Europeans, Paul Krugman, New York Times/Salt Lake Tribune
• Euro Area Must Take Austerity Pain Now, Dombrovskis Says, Kim McLaughlin, Bloomberg
• Eurozone crisis: Merkel tells Athens and Paris to stick to spending limits, Ian Traynor, Guardian
• A workable solution is a (relatively) cheap solution, Economist
• Hope, Stupidity and Other Causes of Your Own Financial Crises, Carl Richards, NYTImes.com
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AT&T to Sell Home Automation and Security Services Nationwide

Associated Press – AT&T Inc. will start selling home automation and security services nationwide, taking on incumbents led by Tyco International Ltd.’s ADT.

Several of AT&T’s competitors, including cable TV company Comcast Corp. and phone company Verizon Communications Inc., have ventured into the home automation and security field. Dallas-based AT&T is showing more ambition with its stated goal of selling nationwide, rather than sticking to its landline service territory, as Verizon does.

The biggest player in the field is ADT, but it has only 25 percent of the market. more> http://tinyurl.com/blh9nab

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Is Cybersecurity a Public Good?

By David Henderson – In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Everyone Should Pay for Cyber Defense,” April 22, Harvard University economics professor Martin Feldstein, makes a case for government intervention in the area of cybersecurity.

“The attackers use computer programs to look for openings in the computer systems of companies. They also send seemingly harmless emails to company employees which, when opened, provide entry to the company’s internal networks. The attackers may be foreign governments or the foreign companies that those governments assist …”

But how does this case differ in principle from that of thieves who want to enter a company’s building? When companies feel threatened, they tend to hire security guards and set up security systems. There’s no public good. more> http://tinyurl.com/dyo4cjt

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