* * *
Girl, 20, goes to bar and gets drunk, then drives home. She has a one-car accident which paralyzes her. Then she sues the bar for not checking her ID.
...
Apparently it's not her fault that she:
1) Bought booze at age 20, knowing it was illegal...because the bar didn't card her.
2) Drank said booze, knowing it was illegal
3) Proceeded to drive home after illegally buying and drinking said booze, knowing that driving while intoxicated is illegal
*sigh*
* * *
Paul Krugman is still stupid. You don't have to be smart to win a Nobel prize, particularly in economics, as long as you vote the right way and advocate the right policies.
Incidentally, that Market Ticker post contains a complete definition of GDP and the stuff that goes into it:
GDP=C+I+G+(x-i)So: any time imports go down, or government spending increases (even if it's only due to inflation) GDP rises.
C is Consumption.
I is net private Investment.
G is Government spending.
(x-i) is net exports. (eXports minus Imports.)
In a crappy economy, imports drop. Obama has done more deficit spending in his one term than all the prior Presidents combined. Inflation is real and occuring and if it were figured the way it was 30 years ago it'd be around 10%.
All this combines to make GDP appear to have positive growth--but the economy is not expanding in anything like real terms.
* * *
...didn't get to bed until 8 AM and slept for eight hours plus; yet now I'm all tired again. I suck.