₦airaland Forum

@ Tayo and Doyin,

I have been following your conversation and you guys make many salient points.

Tayo is correct that most Africans are conservatives. I certainly am.

The problem is that the RNC does not know how to define itself. There is a civil war going on in the RNC.

RNC absorbed many anti-civil rights whites and they have come to define the party more and more which is what puts off black voters. Nothing to do with welfare handouts. As Doyin rightly pointed out, many (maybe most) of those welfare recipients do not even bother to vote.

I do not know what RNC stands for anymore.

Is it the party of fiscal conservatism anymore?

Is it the party of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh or is it the party of the Rocefeller Republicans?

Too many extremists have found a strong voice within the Republican party.

I think the Republican party is split in two, between true conservatives and rabid warmongers and rednecks.

Akolawole:
White british are believed to be a good brand for companies. How many advert has Rio done?

Maybe Marijuana sales in Brixton or Holloway road.

Yes, Terry is not the same Terry.

O boy, old stereotypes are over. Na black dey reign for jand these days. Every nicca from Tiger Woods to Michael Jordan to Lewis Hamilton to Barrack Obama is proving a formidable success.

Ferdinand has always had more commerical value than Terry. Terry is a well known gambler.

chamotex:
“No one on the corner have swagga like u” cuzz u be d only one wearing native on Timberland boots

LMAO!!!!

chamotex:
I make you rhyme by yourself . . . cuzz your skill level is Solo

Nice line!

They should accept it jo. . . . Terry back don break

Igbos are Bantu's mixed with Oru people of Sudan/Egypt, mixed with Igala.

Look at this idiot. Do you see me involving myself in nonsense Israel-Palestine debates? Besides, how does 1500 people equate to 300,000? Do you know the meaning of genocide? If Israel is intent on genocide, it will take less than 30 minutes to dump the whole of Gaza into the sea. Look at this olodo supporting his Arab killers over his black brothers in the name of religion. Idiot!

I now believe this auwal is mentally stunted. Yes, lets blame the rebels who are fighting for their peoples survival instead of the Government who are carrying out GENOCIDE!

Better pesin like Cristalz dey yarn, this Switch47 virus just enter thread.

Cristalz, abeg is this guy one of you scumtwats? Abeg warn am o!

Just passing a bit of information about the refreshing celebration by Drogba and Kalou on Wednesday:



[center]FA To Investigate Kalou & Drogba's Chelsea Celebrations[/center]


Chelsea forwards Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba could be in trouble, as the Football Association are set to launch an enquiry into their gestures whilst celebrating Chelsea goals against Middlesbrough yesterday evening.

Kalou scored both goals in the 2-0 Stamford Bridge victory over the Teessiders, and celebrated them alongside fellow Ivorian Drogba by making a crossed fist, 'handcuffs' type gesture, which was widely believed to be a reference to activist Antoine Assale Tiemoko, recently freed from a year-long jail term in the Ivory Coast.

A Chelsea spokesman was quick to refute such speculation though, claiming that the gesture was perfectly harmless.

"Salomon says there was nothing in it," The London Evening Standard reports the spokesman as saying.

"He was just trying out a new celebration and it was a crossing of the arms. He also sometimes puts his hand over his face like a mask."

The FA do not take kindly to gestures, political or otherwise, made by players celebrating goals. Players were banned from making any political statements on the pitch in 2002, and players such as Tim Cahill, who showed support for his jailed brother last year with a similar 'handcuff' gesture after scoring a goal, received fierce censure and criticism from various significant personalities, including the police officer investigating his brother's case.

Kalou was at pains to stress that his gesture was merely an innocent expression of joy.

"People are always going to think there is something in what you do, but it didn’t mean anything," he told Setanta Sports.

"I was just happy. I don’t even know the guy – it has nothing to do with football. It wasn’t for him, I don’t know him so I don’t know why I should celebrate for him?"

Despite the denials from club and player, the FA will still investigate the matter, and will examine the incident closely using television images.

"We are going to look at the relevant footage," an FA spokesman confirmed earlier.



Antoine Assalé Tiémoko

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN protests the one-year prison sentence imposed on activist Antoine Assalé Tiémoko on charges of ‘libel' and ‘contempt of court' on 4 January 2008. International PEN considers Tiémko's imprisonment to be in direct contravention of his right to freedom of expression and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.

Antoine Assalé Tiémoko, activist and occasional contributor to the daily Le Nouveau Réveil, was arrested on 28 December 2007. On 14 December 2007, the newspaper had published an opinion piece by Tiémoko on judicial corruption, entitled ‘Justice, criminals, and corruption'. In the piece, Tiémoko used an imaginary country called Mastodon Coast, as well as coded words and innuendo, to question the Ivorian minister of justice (whose photo accompanied the piece), the state prosecutor, and various judges, and to accuse them of corruption.

Tiémoko was condemned to one year in prison for ‘libelling the prosecutor's office' and ‘contempt of court' on 4 January 2008, and is serving his prison sentence in Abdijan prison. According to Reporters Without Borders, he did not produce any evidence to support his allegations during his trial. An activist and the president of the association MVPC (Ma vie est dans ma prise de conscience), which fights against unemployment and social injustice, Tiémoko is not a journalist but has apparently been given a prison sentence simply for expressing his opinion in print.

Auwal is simply a pseudo-Arab idiot.

Crying up and down about Palestine, yet denying the mass Genocide on his doorstep.

It doesn't matter to him anyway, the 300,000 Sudanese killed are all 'infidels'.

How dare those Sudanese blacks fight for their land rights against Arab nomads fleeing desertification?

E be like say those Arab nomads suffer from the same Sokugo wandering disease wey dey worry our brothers from Northern Nigeria.

Sagamite:
Whether you are from Abia, Oyo, Benue, Kano, Ogun, Rivers or whereever, get the hell out of Lagos if you cannot afford it instead of flooding there and destroying the vicinity by putting up illegal structures and sleeping 10-to-a-room in Ajegunle.

Abeg comot Rivers for your list. Any Rivers man in Lagos is there on serious business. We no dey travel like that, when oil money dey for our side.

A million people in France are rioting that they did not get their own Keynesian 'bailout'. At least they know the difference between a Keynesian stimulus and a bank bailout, unlike Negro.

A Keynesian stimulus is the closest thing to a 'bailout of the poor'. Shebi Negro always loves fighting for the poor and oppressed. In his confusion, he mistakes a Keynesian stimulus for a bank bailout.

Negro Ntns has been caught with his pants down again. 


[quote author=Negro_Ntns link=topic=221488.msg3363945#msg3363945 date=1232437742]Do you believe Blago will be removed from office? Lol, Chi-Town politics in full swing, from Springfield to Washington DC. Yes, he has been impeached and he is set to go on trial end of this month. So what, what's next? Chicago politics is not for the meek, you gotta have some balls and they better be blue. Well, don't worry the chill in Windy City will help speed up the color for ya!

Here is what's going on. . . Blago is having a blast! I have never before seen a criminal sleep peacefully while his accusers are loosing theirs, but Blago is the true model of a M'th mess'er in the American sense. His defense will hinge on three angles, two of which so far is working in his advantage.

1. collateral damage to Rahm Emmanuel
2. encounter over trade offs and the subsequent public drama with Reid over Burris appointment.
3. political liabilities for SEIU

Pay attention to number 2. You have not heard all the episodes of that drama, there is more to come. It is no news to say you will be shocked when its told. At the end of the day, powerful interests in 1 and 2, coming out of Washington DC will overide Springfield and Blago will retain his governorship. He will be convicted but he will not be deposed. . .symbolic but nonetheless defining!

Of course the Dems do not want another White House Chief of Staff convicted for perjury and obstruction of justice, which ironically was the ruling given to Libby by Patrick Fitzgerald, same Attorney investigating Blago. They are also ambitious and all around the nation they need to diminish political losses on ideological grounds. Removing Blago could shift Illinois to Republican in 2010 mid term election. Republicans would love that Blago is removed, that will open a big can of worms and you can bet that the Repubs will exploit that to the misfortune of the Dems in mid-term. It is unacceptable that President Obama should loose his home state to Republicans.

This mofo called Blagojevich got some BLUE BAWLLS and he is ready to swing it!

Tell everyone you know that Blago may be impeached and convicted but he is keeping his seat and will remain the governor till 2010. The dude should move to Nigeria, he acts like one. [/quote]

Ibime:
This guy is nothing but a conspiracy theorist.

Make one prediction this week, next week it falls flat.

Thats what happens when you claim to be 'ahead' of the news.

Shepherd indeed!

What is Negro claiming here now?


His link from timesonline.co.uk (which he is trying to use to prove a point) is talking about the balance to be had between inflation and interest-rate cuts. The premise is that low interest rates encourage high inflation and vice-versa. Some central-bank policy makers are more hawkish on inflation, whilst others are hawkish on 'stimulating demand by cutting interest-rates'. The decision whether or not to cut interest-rates are made from economic forecasts which change all the time. Somehow, Negro thinks he can take points from a totally different debate and use them to buttress his points on this debate. WTF does interest-rate policy have to do with our current discussion?.

BTW, I never argued that economic forecasts do not change, so I don't know what point you are trying to prove. I hope you are not arguing with yourself.

This guy doesn't even know the difference between one debate and another. He is having three debates all in his mind whilst we are focused on a single topic.


Tayo said one thing:

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=223342.msg3402026#msg3402026 date=1233263004]I believe it was Ibime who talked about govt buying bad assets with the hope it brings a return in the future! If such assets have potential for such, investors and enterprenuers will go for them big time. That the govt has to buy the assets reveal one of two things. Either the assets have not yet reached their bottom in the opinion of investors, or investors are not willing to take a risk knowing that the govt's actions suggests unfair competition and an undue interference by the govt.  Enterprenueship does not thrive in a situation where the govt picks winners and losers.[/quote]and Negro replied thus:


[quote author=Negro_Ntns link=topic=223342.msg3402139#msg3402139 date=1233264873]Tayo,

END OF STORY! I'm done with it!! But I promise to give him the link when his news pundits come around to common sense and admit what you and I see in their rhetorical analysis of[b] Keynesian [/b] theory. They act like if you don't support Keynesian then you don't understand it. What is complex about Keynesian theory? 

Our economic problem is not understanding Keynesian theory but rather understanding human behavior that will be responsible to implement the spending and making sure that the methods go ahead of the allocations. Simple![/quote]At which I ask:

What does a 'bad bank' approach have to do with Keynesian theory?

One has to do with societal spending and the other has to do with returning confidence to the markets.

4Play, see me see trouble o!

Whats that word I learnt on this thread? - sciolism!  


You don't have to be an economist to be able to make clear arguments. I did minor in Economics but everything I know about finance was not learnt in school. No two economists can agree on a single topic, however, we should all know what we are talking about when we come to the table, not couching our ignorance in flowery words.  .  This is not politics where you just express our personal opinion without a substantial knowledge of the underlying issues. This is a science, not an art; and verbosity will not cover the gaps in your knowledge.


I have not supported Obama's stimulus as an immediate solution to the problem. First of all, no one knows what is contained in it. However, I am a fan of Keynesian economics during long-term economic crisis. I believe this stimulus is an excuse to reorientate America's economy toward Green initiatives and create a new Green industry for the future, as well as tie up a few loose ends such as computerising the Health system etc. It does have some economic benefit for sure, but I am waiting to see how Paulson's bailout is spent to see whether he is going to take the 'bad bank' approach that I favour.


Now, let me address Tayo's post.

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=223342.msg3402026#msg3402026 date=1233263004]I believe it was Ibime who talked about govt buying bad assets with the hope it brings a return in the future! If such assets have potential for such, investors and enterprenuers will go for them big time. That the govt has to buy the assets reveal one of two things. Either the assets have not yet reached their bottom in the opinion of investors, or investors are not willing to take a risk knowing that the govt's actions suggests unfair competition and an undue interference by the govt.  Enterprenueship does not thrive in a situation where the govt picks winners and losers.[/quote]The 'bad bank' approach is EXACTLY to encourage private investment.

I did not say that Govt will make money from it in the future. It is possible, as happened in Sweden when the Swedish Government set up a bad bank in 1992, however, I doubt they will make much from the kind of assets we are talking about here. Govt will get their returns through tax receipts when they enact a desirable solution. Anything else na jara.

It is exactly the nature of these assets that makes me favour a 'bad bank' approach.

The very nature of these assets mean that their value is time-variable and underlying-variable, hence, investors do not know what is contained within them. They could contain nuclear-bombs, and no investor will invest in the major banks until these assets are taken off the books. These assets are of course OTC's.

It just so happens that I wrote my last thesis on Finite-Difference and Monte-Carlo solutions to Basket Options, so I think I am 'in the know' about the risk contained within these OTC's.

I am not saying that Govt should buy ALL the underlying assets upon which these OTC's are written. Govt should give an option to buy them, upon scrutiny of the books. What Govt can afford to buy, it should. What it cannot afford to buy should be left to collapse or be taken-over.

That way, investors can seperate the weak from the strong. Money will pour back into the strong institutions and credit can start to flow again.

Until then, we are slowly drifting into this crisis, hostages to time. Everybody is waiting for clarity. It is not like there is no money to invest. There is money, we just don't know who has chicken-pox and who doesn't. Soon as we find out, the banks will be recapitalised.

Now, Negro, what does this have to do with Keynesian theory?

More bla bla bla. . . . what do the CEO's of Merrill and Lehman have to do with Keynesian theory? Do they need Keynesian theory for anything? Keynesian stimulus is the preserve of Government, not financial institutions.

Please, we are waiting to hear your preferred approach to this crisis, not some long narrative about you being a realist. This argument is not about you.

All ya talk about regulations is something we discussed last year. That is before the fact. What approach would you take after the fact to reverse disinvestment, both in the financial markets and in the high street?

[quote author=Negro_Ntns link=topic=223342.msg3401225#msg3401225 date=1233250821]lmao! Don't worry, when your authoritative news pundits publish my opinion I will share the link with you; as I did with the two previous and erased your doubts. It's only a matter of time before you take your foot out of your mouth and swallow your pride in its place.[/quote]I don't know what you are talking about. . . . you produce links that have nothing to do with the argument and then claim it supports your argument . . . eg: producing a link questioning the 'profitability' of Obama's project, whilst we are discussing the spending multipliers. . . .you are one confusing fella. . . .

[quote author=Negro_Ntns link=topic=223342.msg3401225#msg3401225 date=1233250821]You take your lack of political understanding and try to substitute it with economic wizardry, you joker![/quote]You try to insert your political views into economic debates you know nothing about. Speaking of political views, you think I have time to start discussing 'reparations' with you? I only involve myself in political arguments which are worth my while. Most of yours are not.

[quote author=Negro_Ntns link=topic=223342.msg3401225#msg3401225 date=1233250821]Go back to our topic on "bailout". Every one of my projection has come true. Go and review the thread and update yourself on reality on the ground. Sheep! [/quote]Did your predictions come true retroactively? Most of the bailout money has not been dispensed.

Experts are saying the bailout doesn't go far enough, this guy is telling us there is no need for any bailout.

If anything, the decline in economic conditions since our debate should highlight just how important the bailout is.

You don't support the 'bailout' approach, nor the Keynesian stimulus, nor the 'bad bank' approach. Please tell us what scheme you support. This should be interesting.

debosky:
Negro might have a point.

Increased draw down of funds by Sovereign Wealth Entities or by these cash rich foreign investors might have contributed a great deal to the increased illiquidity in the money markets, causing the financial system to freeze up.

He has no point.

It is completely off-topic and completely irrelevant to our discussion.

When the bottom dropped out of the sub-prime market in July 2007, it was the Sovereign Wealth funds that propped up the market for a time-period. Money poured in from Norway to as far afield as Japan. They only started drawing down their funds in mid-2008 when it became apparent that this was no blip, but a full-scale crisis; with many hidden losses yet to be revealed.

Mentioning Iran and Venezuela when discussing the economic crisis is completely off-topic. Not surprising, thats just the way Negro's brain works - in off-topic tangents!

auwal87:
The Point is there is too much blame on the government of Sudan when there are 13 rebel groups terrorizing people of Darfur.

My friend, shut ya trap. The Government is the only terrorist organisation in Darfur; carrying out ethnic cleansing of black Africans in the name of Arab Imperialism.

Is it me or does this guy like to use long narratives to disguise the fact that his post has nothing to do with anything we are discussing?

From talking about the need for a global solution (as if Europe and Asia did not have their own 'bailouts') to talking about outliers and standard deviation, RACI and bla bla bla - what does all this have to do with anything? Now he is talking about Iranian and Venezuelan divestment being partly responsible for the crash.  . This guy, you dey crase ni? Are you on-topic at all?

Please stop spamming the thread. Your post should be sent to the recycle bin.

Debo, no need to defend Barkindo. His CV is a blatant falsehood.

Whether or not that college exists isn't the issue.

In 2006, I had to help a friend from Naija find a Masters in Petroleum over here. I found that Imperial College and Robert Gordon are the only universities that offer postgrads in Petroleum studies and we eventually enrolled him with Imperial.

If Barkindo studied a postgrad in Petroleum Studies, it definitely wasn't with Oxford cos they do not offer postgrads in Petroleum. I checked.

The guy is a blatant liar and even if he has become 'competent' in his field, it doesn't excuse the lie he told to get there.

[quote author=Negro_Ntns link=topic=223342.msg3397903#msg3397903 date=1233187391]No one of us is born with Keynesian theory, we learn about it. I have read it and I understand it but I still do not believe it is the best fit en blanche for the problem at hand.[/quote]So what is the best fit? Paulson's bailout which you opposed?

You cannot wriggle out of this by saying that you do not think this is the best fit. You will oppose any Govt intervention despite not knowing your ABC's or XYZ's.

The truth is, you have opposed ALL forms of Govt intervention in this crisis.

The height of your ignorance is that you do not see ANY need for Govt intervention. You stated as much during the Paulson debate. Your preferred option is to let the free-market have its way.

@ Negro


What is all this stuff about free-thinking? The tendency to think along radical tangents does not equate to free-thinking. You are just a deviant, not a free-thinker.

Opposing all forms of Govt intervention does not make you a free thinker. It makes you 'one of the majority' who's views are informed by their lazy grasp of macro-economics.

Rational thinkers do not argue the need for Govt intervention. There has never been an economic crisis without Govt intervention. Even when the economy is going smoothly, Govt intervenes through various measures such as interest-rate changes and tax-cuts. We argue more about "what type of Govt intervention is needed"? Sayian or Keynesian? 'Bad bank approach' or 'Nationalisation' ? etc

It took me a few minutes to make sense of your post because it is totally off-topic.

I think you misunderstand the point of a Keynesian stimulus.

It goes like this:

Govt spends $352 billion on projects.

Every single penny is spent on American-made goods and services. Therefore the Keynesian multiplier always starts at 1.

From that, we calculate how much of the initial outlay is 're-spent' within the economy.

The initial $352 billion is spent on raw materials, wages etc.

The recipients of these wages then spend it on other stuff, stimulating other areas of the economy. As they spend it on other stuff, the recipients also pass it on and so on and so forth. This is what the multipliers are about. When the economy is sufficiently stimulated, GDP grows.

The question is how much of the initial $352 billion is spent within the economy after the initial outlay. Obama's team say half of that will be respent. It may well have a 1.5 multiplier, but this depends on Americans propensity to consume and the percentage of this consumption spent on American-made goods and services. That is a mathematical debate not suited to a public forum. All we are saying is that it is not an immediate solution as the full amount cannot be spent immediately.

We are not scrutinising the details of the stimulus package as we have not seen it and it has not been passed. Again, this is not about the 'profitability' of the projects and how much return on investments govt receives. This is the initial mistake I made when 4Play first raised the topic. This is a debate on how to stimulate spending, nothing else. Until people start spending money again, the economy will remain stagnant.

That is why 4Play said that a possible drawback with tax-cuts as a solution is that people may prefer to save rather than spend. I also believe they probably wouldn't spend those tax-savings on American-made goods and services. Rather, they will spend a large percentage on foreign goods and services without knowing it, as America is a net-importer. If this happens, American tax-cuts will be passed on to foreign producers and will defeat the purpose of the stimulus. This is why I favour a Keynesian approach to a Sayian approach because it is the only way to prevent leakage in the new Globalised world we live in.

My preferred solution to this crisis is a 'bad bank' approach coupled with a Keynesian stimulus.

Nateevs, abeg which TVU channel is the match on?

4 Play:
I don't think they have injected enough capital into banks, so I won't say the banks have nearly enough to lend.

They can only inject enough capital if the banks honestly tell us what they have lost.

4 Play:
Geithner needs to settle on a comprehensive and consistent approach that will encourage private investors to participate in the recapitalisation of these banks.

I don't see what more Geithner can do except force the banks to declare their true exposure to CD's and put out accurate balance sheets. That is nigh on impossible without Nationalisation, so how can we recapitalise the banks when investors are unable to assess the risk? Shebi that is why Gordon Brown and Fred Goodwin were fighting about, until a little dose of reality struck last week.

If Govt declare amnesty on all CD losses, you go see gold-rush. 

All those calling for free-market solutions should think again. This is not the time for ideology. A true free-market solution will change the way we live forever. I mean standards of living, social unrest and all that.

Babangida and Abacha ke. . . . we look further back to Obasanjo.

Mai-Suya thinks I am talking about the last 10 years alone.

If we see that Dan Etete who sold our oil-blocks to his masters, we will strangle him!

4 Play:
2009: 29.0
2010: 115.8
2011: 105.5
2012: 53.6
2013: 26.5
2014: 13.0
2015: 6.9
2016: 3.0
2017: 1.6
2018: 0.9
2019:0.4

Total: $356.0 billion


See what I was saying about the slowness of the appropriation process. That's the projected time frame for the spending, got the summary from Greg Mankiw's blog.

http://gregmankiw..com/2009/01/cbo-on-fiscal-policy-lags.html

Methinks Obama knows he is in it for the long haul, hence the drawn-out nature of the spending.

Saw Roubini on Bloomberg talking about an Asian-style recession. May not be right, but we are certainly in it for the long haul.

Even a Saysian approach of tax-cuts for producers will take months to go through the system, and comes with no guarantees at all. The problem in the West is that real wages have been going down for a few decades, and only cheap credit has kept consumption at an appropriate level for the economy to progress, so it is vital to stimulate main street. Obama's approach is not with disregard to Paulson's bailout. Supply has been stimulated, it is now time to stimulate demand. A 'bad bank' approach is still in the offing for Obama, as well as other measures, so this is not a unidirectional Keynesian approach

There is no instant fix unless you dash everybody money and force them to spend. The Keynesian approach at least leaves you with capital goods when the crisis is over.

Mai Suya:
BUAHAHA! So the Norhtern minister is now responsible for the Niger-Delta crisis, one that predated his appointment by more than five years? Really, you people, in your blind penchant for ascribing your patently self inflicted failures to the North, do make some truly ridculous accusations.

My friend, go and make me some suya

We regard anything North of Oka as Northern. We don tire!

I-Shine,

Whats up playa?

Its ya boy Spitzo.

You sef don decamp?

Tonim:
lmao

Correction:
Barkindo actually heads NNPC. Rilwan Lukeman heads the petroleum ministry

Whatever the case, he is still a charlatan. Who dash him NNPC with that fake degree?