The John Batchelor Show

Friday 16 August 2013

Air Date: 
August 16, 2013

 

 

Photo, above: Women sell food in front of a poster for presidential candidate Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in Bamako, July 16, 2013. The poster reads, "For the happiness of Mali." See: Hour 2, Block B,  Adam Nossiter, NYT, in re: In Mali’s Election, Dashes of Optimism and Realism

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 1, Block A: Sebastian Gorka, FDD, in re:

5:38 PM
 Muslim Brotherhood Calls for Nationwide Week of Protest

4:34 PM
 Curfew Brings Tense Quiet to Cairo

3:30 PM
 More Visual Evidence Emerges of Violence on Wednesday

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 1, Block B: Liz Peek, The Fiscal Times & Fox, in re: Labor rights, animal rights, prisoners’ rights – all are considered sacrosanct these days. Not so investor rights; they are being trampled left and right. Given the animus towards the “one percenters” whipped up by President Obama, this comes as no surprise. However, it could come with a cost – to taxpayers. Starting with the upsetting of age-old bankruptcy law in wiping out bondholders in the GM and Chrysler reorganizations, and moving onto the eminent domain fight now going on in California and the treatment of bondholders by Detroit’s emergency manager – investors’ rights have been upended. The fall-out from the authorities not “playing by the rules,” as Mr. Obama is so fond of saying, could be significant. The Detroit mess, especially, could have wide repercussions.  In Detroit’s bankruptcy, for the first time in the history of the $3.7 trillion muni market, general obligation bondholders are being treated like ordinary creditors. Normally, GO bonds rank at the top of the creditor pile, due to very specific guarantees. The issuing documents for the 2008 bonds, for instance, describe the securities as “secured by a pledge of the full faith and credit of the city.” 
It goes in to note, “The City is authorized and required by law to levy and collect…property taxes without limitation” to pay off bondholders. That should mean that the city’s resources are first and foremost owed to investors who have funded the city’s operations. However, in trying to put the city back in working order, the authorities have decided to demote bondholders to “unsecured creditor” status, along with retirees and many others.

RELATED: SIX MUNI BOND MYTHS ROCKING THE MARKET

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 1, Block C: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Defining Ideas, & Chicago Law, in re: Richmond’s Mortgage Heist  Right now, Wells Fargo Bank is on a collision course with the City of Richmond, California. Wells Fargo objects to the city’s plan to use its eminent domain power to condemn private mortgages secured by Richmond homes. The proposed program does not target the homes themselves, but only mortgages that are now held by a large number of residential mortgage-backed securitization (“RMBS”) trusts, for which Wells Fargo serves as trustee. Most of the targeted mortgages are “performing assets.” The borrowers are current on their payments, even for mortgages that are technically “underwater” so that the market value of the property is below the amount owed on the mortgage debt.  (1 of 2)

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 1, Block D: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Defining Ideas, & Chicago Law, in re: Richmond’s Mortgage Heist  Right now, Wells Fargo Bank is on a collision course with the City of Richmond, California. Wells Fargo objects to the city’s plan to use its eminent domain power to condemn private mortgages secured by Richmond homes. The proposed program does not target the homes themselves, but only mortgages that are now held by a large number of residential mortgage-backed securitization (“RMBS”) trusts, for which Wells Fargo serves as trustee. Most of the targeted mortgages are “performing assets.” The borrowers are current on their payments, even for mortgages that are technically “underwater” so that the market value of the property is below the amount owed on the mortgage debt.  (2 of 2)

Hour Two

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 2, Block A: ALEX POLLOCK, AEI, in re: Fed's dual mandate should be six, and Fed initially had three mandates: - stable prices (which the Fed has thrown overboard and replaced w 2% inflation; over 80 years, prices will quintuple!)

- max employment

- moderate, long-term interest rates (which now gets forgotten; were recently 15%, now 2% [see above])

- required "an elastic currency"- meaning you can print up money when you care to, esp in a panic, such as 1913.

-  The class of training of central bankers: shd be not as an economist but as a financial person.

Summers has 2 in 3 chance for Fed Chair: Source - CNBC
 A source at the White House says they think Larry Summers has a 2 in 3 chance for Fed Chair, with CNBC's John Harwood.

Twitter is going crazy with Larry Summers Fed buzz - CNBC.com
 Twitter went abuzz with chatter that the campaign to get Larry Summers named the next Fed chairman may be succeeding.

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 2, Block B:  Adam Nossiter, NYT, in re: In Mali’s Election, Dashes of Optimism and Realism

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 2, Block C: Sid Perkins, Science magazine; in re: a summary of the factors that helped spare creatures in freshwater ecosystems at the end of the Cretaceous 66 MYA when the dinos and marine creatures died out in much higher proportions . . . [more]

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 2, Block D:  Venessa Wong, in re: WHAT IF FAST-FOOD JOBS REALLY PAID $15 AN HOUR? 
About 3.6 million Americans work in fast-food jobs. Some are striking for a raise to $15 an hour, up from an average of $9. Restaurant owners say their businesses already operate on slim margins and would be forced to increase menu prices, resulting in fewer customers--and jobs. But supporters of higher wages argue that at a time when corporate profits are higher than ever, there’s room to pay restaurant workers more.

Hour Three

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 3, Block A:  Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: George Washington's views on the French Revolution (1789)  Writing to a correspondent in October 1789, the newly-elected US president George Washington gave his opinion of the French Revolution.

His Options Few, Obama Rebukes Egypt's Leaders 1 day ago ... Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who just returned from a trip to Cairo at Mr. Obama's request, was sharply critical of the ... "His Options Few, Obama Rebukes Egypt’s Leader

New Bloodshed in Egypt as Islamists Defy Threat of Force Dozens of Egyptians were reportedly killed in street battles between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, responding to a call for a “Friday of rage,” and a police force authorized to use lethal force if endangered.

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 3, Block B:  Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: Israel Gazes Warily at Egypt’s Turmoil  Israel has remained quiet in public about the bloodshed, but it has a huge stake in the outcome.

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 3, Block C:  Fernanda Santos, NYT, in re: On Fate of Wild Horses, Stars and Indians Spar

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 3, Block D: Phil Mattingly, Bloomberg, in re:  Once a U.S. political issue central to Republican campaign attacks against Democrats, the push to be “tough on crime” has transformed -- from statehouses to Washington -- into being “smart on crime.” The shift -- driven by economic and social costs -- has created unlikely political allies, with Democrats and President Barack Obama’s administration lining up with Republicans. Both sides are searching for alternatives to a criminal sentencing system that has the U.S. prisons housing 1.5 million inmates. 

Hour Four

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 4, Block A: The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream by Thomas Dyja  (1 of 4)

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 4, Block B: The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream by Thomas Dyja  (2 of 4)

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 4, Block C: The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream by Thomas Dyja  (3 of 4)

Friday  16 August  2013 / Hour 4, Block D: The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream by Thomas Dyja  (4 of 4)

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Music

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Hour 2:

Hour 3:

Hour 4: