Easter Gaiety

There was once a bowl of jelly beans. Most of the jelly beans were either red or black, in roughly equal numbers. As time passed, the jelly beans grew bigger. Once in a while, a giant would reach into the bowl, take out a jelly bean, and pop it into his mouth. However, the jelly beans found that if a red jelly bean squeezed really close to a black jelly bean, they would stick together. The giant preferred to eat the largest jelly beans, especially if they were not paired, as he didn't like to mix the sweet red flavor with the licorice flavor of the black jelly beans. Consequently, pairs of jelly beans survived in the bowl longer on average than unpaired jelly beans. Moreover, once in a while, a new, small jelly bean would emerge from a pair. Generally speaking, the new beans were either red or black in roughly equal numbers. The giant's appetite was such that the total number of jelly beans in the bowl tended to increase over time. However, it was a very large bowl.

In addition to the red and black beans, there were a few green jelly beans and a few lavender jelly beans. Green and lavender jelly beans sometimes squeezed together like their red and black friends, usually two lavender beans together or two green beans together. However, no matter how hard they squeezed, they couldn't produce new beans. Also, the giant liked to eat the green beans and especially the lavender beans, so their number remained small. Sometimes, the green jelly beans would be jealous of the black jelly beans and try to paint themselves a darker shade. But there was always a slight tint of green to them. Some of the lavender beans tried to paint themselves red, but they ended up looking spotty and the giant still found them tasty.

Sometimes, clusters of black jelly beans would get together and make mischief in the bowl. Although this was a problem at times, whenever there were red jelly beans around, especially if they were paired with black jelly beans, the mischief was reduced.

As the bowl got fuller and fuller, the jelly beans got together and elected a ruling council to organize their activities. The ruling council noticed the advantages that the paired jelly beans had, surviving the giant's snacking, producing new beans, and keeping the black beans out of trouble. The ruling council decided to give special privileges to paired jelly beans, so long as they were black and red. This made the green and lavender beans even more jealous, but the ruling council argued that the individual black beans and individual red beans weren't given any privileges either. There were many disputes between the various colored jelly beans to try to expand the privileges to include other colored pairs. In the long run, the ruling council was persuaded. Pairs of green jelly beans began to appear quickest, with a few lavender pairs. Unfortunately, the green and especially the lavender pairs didn't stick together very well and the giant kept eating them, not having to worry about mixing flavors. Meanwhile, black jelly beans began to switch from one red bean to another and performing all sorts of mischief, sometimes leaving the red beans just after a new jelly bean had emerged. Strange new colors of jelly beans began to be seen. The giant liked all the new colors and eating them seemed to increase his appetite. Pretty soon, the number of jelly beans in the bowl began to decrease. It decreased until there weren't enough jelly beans to serve on the ruling council anymore. The ruling council was disbanded. Shortly, it became clear that there was no one left to provide the privileges everyone wanted. Eventually the giant picked up the bowl and dumped all the remaining jelly beans into his mouth. Then, he opened a new bag and filled the bowl with only red and black beans, starting the whole process over again.

Obama economy tanking faster than expected

President Obama has moved so aggressively to insert the federal government into your life that we are already seeing the signs of stagflation. Why would you start a new business when he is already talking about raising taxes on small business? Why would you risk your savings when you know you will have to pay your share of the ballooning deficit before long? Why would you buy that new car, computer, or refrigerator when your savings are evaporating? To add insult to injury, you are criticized for saving too much. But isn't it prudent to save when your job isn't safe and your retirement account is all but gone?

The Democrats see the economy as a black box. They seem to think that if you inject a certain amount of spending into the box, you get a certain level of GDP out the other end. This is a form of static analysis that doesn't work well even for small amounts of spending, let alone spending in the trillions. It is just as bad as the static analysis that is behind Democrats' objections to supply side tax cuts. Both ignore the way government actions change free citizens' behavior. Right now, we are feeling a bit of an Atlas Shrugged effect. This economy will not improve until Obama's spendorama and socialistic programs alienate enough people that they elect a Republican President and Congress who pass a large tax cut. Until then, save what you can and take care of each other.