Krugman: "The International Finance Multiplier"

Paul Krugman posted a technical paper ("The International Finance Multiplier") on the current global financial interdependence. "Interdependence this time is real – and it seems to be operating through channels that are not yet part of standard international macro analysis."

we seem to be dealing with a phenomenon I'll call the international finance multiplier, in which changes in asset prices are transmitted internationally through their effects on the balance sheets of highly leveraged financial institutions.

( contagion through the balance sheets of financial intermediaries )

The International Political Multiplier

A thought about current political messages:

Owing to the Internet, information and misinformation propagates much more quickly than it previously had, which is how lies that are easily refutable such as Obama being Muslim nonetheless can gain traction and get wide play. However, what it also means is that messages that are tailored to a particular target audience can quickly find their way to other audiences. In times past if you ran an ad in Nebraska that you expected would appeal to swing voters in Nebraska but would alienate swing voters in New York, the ad was likely to stay in Nebraska. Now it might be on YouTube or in the blogosphere within the hour. If a McCain official in southwest Virginia writes a racist column about Obama, it can be internationally known in no time.

Of course, that doesn't mean everything will get propagated. Only a small amount of what gets said achieves critical mass and gets heard by more than a few. But it means that what happens in southwest Virginia doesn't necessarily stay in southwest Virginia.

Marit Larsen album preview, day five: "Is It Love?"

First of the tracks that seems relatively normal, but this proves deceptive, as 53 seconds in she asks "Is it love?" and the question rises in repeated little puffs above chimneys and tree tops. "I thought we just had the time of our lives/One word from her and you're back in her arms" is the entire situation. But an interesting side issue appears when introverted Marit confesses to the lengths she'll go for love: "Look at all that we've overcome/I was social, it wasn't for fun." (Reminds me of Shakira back on Laundry Service describing how her love affair had gotten her to face her kitchen phobia.)

http://www.myspace.com/maritlarsen