15 Responses to “The Waste-Free Stimulus”

Telling Lies says:

October 1st, 2010 at 11:47 am

That last sentence is badly garbled. Automatic stabilizers (UI etc.) reduce the need for decision making on the fly, but have nothing to do with state/local budget crises. Those are about inability to borrow. Unless your automatic stabiliser is automatic, debt financed, Fed grants to states which have budget problems, which isn’t a good idea. Son, Homosex

Alan says:

October 1st, 2010 at 11:51 am

I think you mean ARRA, right? not TARP.

Freddie says:

October 1st, 2010 at 11:56 am

For the people who are interested in the endless back and forth about Matt’s change, his neoliberalism, and his utter disdain for anybody who refuses to worship at the cult of the Serious as defined by Jacob Weisberg and Nial Ferguson– just look over to the right at Matt’s public Twitter feed, and check out the “ten years ago I was a giant puppet person” one. It tells you all you will ever need to know about Big Media Matt, what he values, who he thinks he is, and who he thinks he is better than without having to say why.

3

Telling Lies says:

October 1st, 2010 at 11:57 am

And as I’m being picky, German style job maintanance schemes would have a higher multiplier than the corrupt mayor plan, as corrupt mayor distributes randomly, job maintanance targets people who would otherwise reduce their spending markedly if laid off. And bridges to nowhere take time to design, acquire land and permitting etc, while the Interstates need pretty major resurfacing which you can start tomorrow, that’s macroeconomic bang for your buck. 8 FIX IT!!!!!!!!!

Nate says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:10 pm

@Telling Lies beat me to it. The margin is really not that difficult of a concept. If in the baseline, people would lose their jobs and have to cut back abruptly and deeply on spending, but in the control people keep their jobs and don’t, that is a net positive for consumer spending. NOT DIFFICULT.

Don Williams says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:12 pm

I think Michael Foucault would have cracked up at the idea of stimulus money being spent to pay someone to make signs touting the benefits of stimulus money.

But what would have really have put Michael in stitches is Herb Sandler bankrupting Wachovia by selling it a subprime mortgage business named Golden West, helping to throw the country into a Great Recession, and then using the proceeds from the sale to pay Matthew to photograph and praise the stimulus sign.

soullite says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:13 pm

Too many people mentioned the non-TARP baillouts so Matt needed a new thread,

7 years ago, Matt was a pro-war hack who hated liberals. I seriously doubt he was ever ‘a giant puppet person’. He’s just a liar who perpetually pretends to be further left than he really is so he can stab the rest of us in the back.

2

soullite says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:16 pm

I guess too many people mentioned all the other bank bailouts on the other thread, so Matt needed a new one.

Given that 7 years ago, Matt was a corrupt pro-war hack who hated liberals (indeed, he cited annoying ‘liberal’ opposition as the primary reason he was pro-war, I seriously doubt that he was ever a ‘giant puppet person’. He has perpetually claimed to be further left than he really is in order to gain enough credibility to stab the rest of us in the back.

3 times

B says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:51 pm

I drove past this sign two weeks before Matt did!

Freddie: I don’t actually understand that tweet.

kafka says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:55 pm

Wall Street’s Greatest Heist: TARP

FROM: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/20/tarp-bailout-banks-wall-street?source=patrick.net#history-link-box

“Now, the same crew that tapped our pockets two years ago is eagerly pitching the line that their bailout was good for us. It may be the case that the history books are written by the winners, but that doesn’t prevent the rest of us from telling the truth.”

Note you have to go to the foreign media to get stuff like this. Our MSM is too busy whoring for Wall Street.

Led says:

October 1st, 2010 at 1:36 pm

Odd to see this post follow immediately after the last. Isn’t there some potential for serious ideological instruction based on the fact that yes, Virginia, the government can invest in infrastructure and public works on a massive scale in a competent, non-corrupt, cost-effective way? And yet not even Yglesias is enthusiastic about making that case because he things (correctly) the stimulus wasn’t as effective as it could have been.

Liberals: Making the Perfect the Enemy of the Good Since 1968.

Paulie Carbone says:

October 1st, 2010 at 1:39 pm

This blog has dicks for quality.

ds says:

October 1st, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Given that 7 years ago, Matt was a corrupt pro-war hack who hated liberals (indeed, he cited annoying ‘liberal’ opposition as the primary reason he was pro-war, I seriously doubt that he was ever a ‘giant puppet person’. He has perpetually claimed to be further left than he really is in order to gain enough credibility to stab the rest of us in the back.

Matt has always been a centrist technocrat, at least until his current glibertarian phase. I don’t think he ever pretended to be anything else. He talked about voting for Mitt Romney back in 2002, and liked Obama because he seemed like the most conservative of the three Democrats.

I think right now Matt is angling for an “Even the liberal Matt Yglesias says…” role. That sort of thing can be very lucrative.

To get there I suppose he has to boost his non-existent liberal bona fides.

joe from Lowell says:

October 1st, 2010 at 4:07 pm

Christ, no wonder Matt stopped reading the comments.

“Duh, I can’t follow this economics stuff at all, so, uh, MATT’S A CAPITALIST RUNNIN DOG!”

Losers.

urgs says:

October 1st, 2010 at 9:44 pm

“Matt has always been a centrist technocrat, at least until his current glibertarian phase. ”

Centrist technocrats are no war mongers, he is. Read a bit of his old stuff.

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Label Complains That Amazon Devalues Artists By Making Music Cheap

from the you-got-it-backwards dept

This is unfortunate. Nearly two years ago, we wrote about the indie music label Asthmatic Kitty, which seemed to take a really forward looking attitude towards the new music market. In that interview, the label noted the reality of the new world, and why it was important to focus on reasons to buy, rather than assuming that people would just pay to hear music. This is what was said at the time:

I operate under the conviction that people buy records because they want to own them, not because they want to hear them. It is too easy these days to hear a record without having to buy it. I don't resent that fact, rather I feel we at Asthmatic Kitty embrace it through streaming albums and offering several free mp3s (even whole free albums). And why do they want to own it? They want it to illustrate to others their taste and identify who they are as a person. I also believe they want to be part of something bigger than themselves, they want to belong.

Our job is no longer to sell folks things they want to hear. They want an experience and to identify themselves as part of a community. Ownership then becomes a way of them supporting your community through investing in that community. Fostering that in an honest, transparent and "non-gross" way takes a combination of gracefulness, creativity and not taking oneself too seriously, while still taking art and music seriously.

Apparently, however, they do resent Amazon for making music available cheaply. Reader Colin points us to a recent article about how Asthmatic Kitty has sent out a letter to fans of artist Sufjan Stevens, complaining that Amazon's pricing is too low and asking people to go to Bandcamp and pay more instead. They do admit to being somewhat conflicted about this, at least:

"We have mixed feelings about discounted pricing," the label explained.

"Like we said, we love getting good music into the hands of good people, and when a price is low, more people buy. A low price will introduce a lot of people to Sufjan's music and to this wonderful album. For that, we're grateful.

But we also feel like the work that our artists produce is worth more than a cost of a latte. We value the skill, love, and time they've put into making their records. And we feel that our work too, in promotion and distribution, is also valuable and worthwhile."

While they're certainly not attacking Amazon or fans, the whole email does feel a little off. The simple fact is, if people want the music (as the label seemed to recognize last year), they can find it somewhere for free. Amazon's prices are meaningless when it comes to the "value" of the music. Price and value are not the same thing. Rather than complaining about the price that Amazon sets on the album, why not give people additional reasons to pay directly at Bandcamp -- such as providing valuable extras if they do. Or discounts on other merchandise. There are all sorts of positive ways to get people to find it worthwhile to spend money without making them feel guilty and bad for paying a price that is legitimately offered by a retailer.

47 Comments | Leave a Comment..

15 Responses to “The Waste-Free Stimulus”

Telling Lies says:

October 1st, 2010 at 11:47 am

That last sentence is badly garbled. Automatic stabilizers (UI etc.) reduce the need for decision making on the fly, but have nothing to do with state/local budget crises. Those are about inability to borrow. Unless your automatic stabiliser is automatic, debt financed, Fed grants to states which have budget problems, which isn’t a good idea. Son, Homosex

Alan says:

October 1st, 2010 at 11:51 am

I think you mean ARRA, right? not TARP.

Freddie says:

October 1st, 2010 at 11:56 am

For the people who are interested in the endless back and forth about Matt’s change, his neoliberalism, and his utter disdain for anybody who refuses to worship at the cult of the Serious as defined by Jacob Weisberg and Nial Ferguson– just look over to the right at Matt’s public Twitter feed, and check out the “ten years ago I was a giant puppet person” one. It tells you all you will ever need to know about Big Media Matt, what he values, who he thinks he is, and who he thinks he is better than without having to say why.

3

Telling Lies says:

October 1st, 2010 at 11:57 am

And as I’m being picky, German style job maintanance schemes would have a higher multiplier than the corrupt mayor plan, as corrupt mayor distributes randomly, job maintanance targets people who would otherwise reduce their spending markedly if laid off. And bridges to nowhere take time to design, acquire land and permitting etc, while the Interstates need pretty major resurfacing which you can start tomorrow, that’s macroeconomic bang for your buck. 8 FIX IT!!!!!!!!!

Nate says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:10 pm

@Telling Lies beat me to it. The margin is really not that difficult of a concept. If in the baseline, people would lose their jobs and have to cut back abruptly and deeply on spending, but in the control people keep their jobs and don’t, that is a net positive for consumer spending. NOT DIFFICULT.

Don Williams says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:12 pm

I think Michael Foucault would have cracked up at the idea of stimulus money being spent to pay someone to make signs touting the benefits of stimulus money.

But what would have really have put Michael in stitches is Herb Sandler bankrupting Wachovia by selling it a subprime mortgage business named Golden West, helping to throw the country into a Great Recession, and then using the proceeds from the sale to pay Matthew to photograph and praise the stimulus sign.

soullite says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:13 pm

Too many people mentioned the non-TARP baillouts so Matt needed a new thread,

7 years ago, Matt was a pro-war hack who hated liberals. I seriously doubt he was ever ‘a giant puppet person’. He’s just a liar who perpetually pretends to be further left than he really is so he can stab the rest of us in the back.

2

soullite says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:16 pm

I guess too many people mentioned all the other bank bailouts on the other thread, so Matt needed a new one.

Given that 7 years ago, Matt was a corrupt pro-war hack who hated liberals (indeed, he cited annoying ‘liberal’ opposition as the primary reason he was pro-war, I seriously doubt that he was ever a ‘giant puppet person’. He has perpetually claimed to be further left than he really is in order to gain enough credibility to stab the rest of us in the back.

3 times

B says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:51 pm

I drove past this sign two weeks before Matt did!

Freddie: I don’t actually understand that tweet.

kafka says:

October 1st, 2010 at 12:55 pm

Wall Street’s Greatest Heist: TARP

FROM: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/20/tarp-bailout-banks-wall-street?source=patrick.net#history-link-box

“Now, the same crew that tapped our pockets two years ago is eagerly pitching the line that their bailout was good for us. It may be the case that the history books are written by the winners, but that doesn’t prevent the rest of us from telling the truth.”

Note you have to go to the foreign media to get stuff like this. Our MSM is too busy whoring for Wall Street.

Led says:

October 1st, 2010 at 1:36 pm

Odd to see this post follow immediately after the last. Isn’t there some potential for serious ideological instruction based on the fact that yes, Virginia, the government can invest in infrastructure and public works on a massive scale in a competent, non-corrupt, cost-effective way? And yet not even Yglesias is enthusiastic about making that case because he things (correctly) the stimulus wasn’t as effective as it could have been.

Liberals: Making the Perfect the Enemy of the Good Since 1968.

Paulie Carbone says:

October 1st, 2010 at 1:39 pm

This blog has dicks for quality.

ds says:

October 1st, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Given that 7 years ago, Matt was a corrupt pro-war hack who hated liberals (indeed, he cited annoying ‘liberal’ opposition as the primary reason he was pro-war, I seriously doubt that he was ever a ‘giant puppet person’. He has perpetually claimed to be further left than he really is in order to gain enough credibility to stab the rest of us in the back.

Matt has always been a centrist technocrat, at least until his current glibertarian phase. I don’t think he ever pretended to be anything else. He talked about voting for Mitt Romney back in 2002, and liked Obama because he seemed like the most conservative of the three Democrats.

I think right now Matt is angling for an “Even the liberal Matt Yglesias says…” role. That sort of thing can be very lucrative.

To get there I suppose he has to boost his non-existent liberal bona fides.

joe from Lowell says:

October 1st, 2010 at 4:07 pm

Christ, no wonder Matt stopped reading the comments.

“Duh, I can’t follow this economics stuff at all, so, uh, MATT’S A CAPITALIST RUNNIN DOG!”

Losers.

urgs says:

October 1st, 2010 at 9:44 pm

“Matt has always been a centrist technocrat, at least until his current glibertarian phase. ”

Centrist technocrats are no war mongers, he is. Read a bit of his old stuff.

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Label Complains That Amazon Devalues Artists By Making Music Cheap

from the you-got-it-backwards dept

I operate under the conviction that people buy records because they want to own them, not because they want to hear them. It is too easy these days to hear a record without having to buy it. I don't resent that fact, rather I feel we at Asthmatic Kitty embrace it through streaming albums and offering several free mp3s (even whole free albums). And why do they want to own it? They want it to illustrate to others their taste and identify who they are as a person. I also believe they want to be part of something bigger than themselves, they want to belong.

Our job is no longer to sell folks things they want to hear. They want an experience and to identify themselves as part of a community. Ownership then becomes a way of them supporting your community through investing in that community. Fostering that in an honest, transparent and "non-gross" way takes a combination of gracefulness, creativity and not taking oneself too seriously, while still taking art and music seriously.

"We have mixed feelings about discounted pricing," the label explained.

"Like we said, we love getting good music into the hands of good people, and when a price is low, more people buy. A low price will introduce a lot of people to Sufjan's music and to this wonderful album. For that, we're grateful.

But we also feel like the work that our artists produce is worth more than a cost of a latte. We value the skill, love, and time they've put into making their records. And we feel that our work too, in promotion and distribution, is also valuable and worthwhile."

47 Comments | Leave a Comment..

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15 Responses to “The Waste-Free Stimulus”

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Label Complains That Amazon Devalues Artists By Making Music Cheap

from the you-got-it-backwards dept

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15 Responses to “The Waste-Free Stimulus”

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Label Complains That Amazon Devalues Artists By Making Music Cheap

from the you-got-it-backwards dept

New SSFIV costumes priced, dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/2 - Arrowhead Pride

Various <b>News</b> Tidbits - Lookout Landing

New SSFIV costumes priced, dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/2 - Arrowhead Pride

Various <b>News</b> Tidbits - Lookout Landing

New SSFIV costumes priced, dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/2 - Arrowhead Pride

Various <b>News</b> Tidbits - Lookout Landing

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