The Blaisdell Blog

Desperate times call for desperate measures.   October of 1929 saw the Stock Market crash, followed by a succession of bank failures and the start of the Great Depression.   As if nature didn’t think man had done enough to man, there was also the Dust Bowl, the loss of subsistence family farms and the migration of the farmers to California.   Probably the only good things to came out of this monochromatic gray landscape of misery were John Steinbeck’s book The Grapes of Wrath and a redirection of America’s legislative outlook.   While The Grapes of Wrath is so painfully beautiful to read that everyone should take it up—just once (!)—the legislation needs to be revisited on a regular basis.   It is not painfully beautiful.   Legislation is not supposed to be beautiful, it is supposed to be functional and functionality changes with time and circumstance. Enter the Banking Act of 1933, commonly called the Glass-Steagall Act.   This was signed with...

The Federal Reserve system may be our country’s second greatest achievement after the Northwest Ordinance.   But each of the twelve districts have their own personality.   Of all of them, and probably typical of the Nordic influence of its environs, the Minneapolis Fed is probably the most taciturn.   It is also one of the most scholarly.   Much of the information on this and following blogs is taken from their April symposium: Ending Too Big to Fail.  While the Republicans are busy with their circular firing squad, I thought I would look at what the Democrats are offering up as an alternative to this meager repast called “election year.”   I think it is time to take a look at Bernie’s constant comment (the bromide, not the tea) about banks.    Sanders the Socialist Simpleton loves to talk about breaking up the banks.   It is a trite rallying cry dating back to Jacksonian times and always appeals to the ignorant, the jealous and thos...

The Washington Post published an article today about what people think constitutes “creepiness.”   They started the whole thing with a reference to the concept of “creep” being an evolved ability to alert us to possible (though covert) danger and a trigger to our fight or flight response.   They pointed to a study involving well over 1,000 participants.   Most of these participants were women.   I guess that was the psychologist’s latent sexism giving its nod to horror films where the girls panic and the brunette gets killed.   Things that hit the creepiness hit parade, included those that could not be helped (being extraordinarily thin) and those that could (greasy hair).   Professions that hit the creepiness top ten included funeral director (do you know how much those guys make????), sex shop operator (duh!!!), taxidermists and taxi drivers.   But when asked about activities that made a person creepy, guess what showed up right behind hoarder...