The Abyss Stares Back

Jonah's vanity project takes off.

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For your viewing pleasure, today’s Ruminant is accompanied by live footage of Jonah as he succumbs to the lure of multi-platform synergy. Those interested can find the additional content on our podcasts channel on YouTube.  Does this spell the end for “No you won’t, this is a podcast”? In response to having been so rudely dragged into the future, Jonah delivers an outright curmudgeonly diatribe on just about every topic under the sun. From Kamala Harris saying her stage directions out loud, to the dangerous mirage of “new” ideas, no subject is safe from his ire. What’s going on with Silicon Valley Bank? What’s the difference between an explanation and an excuse? And does Jonah wear a toupee? (He does not.)

Show Notes:

– Kamala Harris’ Late Show Appearance

-Watch: Jonah Goldberg on SVB Collapse

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  1. Paulkempf

    The bumper sticker is "Think globally, act locally." Which as I think about it, works just as well for free marketeers as it does for the socialists who coined it.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_globally,_act_locally

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  2. FreddySez

    Jonah, I hear you about feeling the occasional itch to get out on the road and do some reporting. Here's my solution: Trade jobs with Kevin for a month.

    He can hold down the fort while you gas up the car and mine the hinterlands for cool stories.

    The only caveat I see? Knowing whether Kevin can maintain an hour-long podcast monologue. But I have a solution. Just prop up a picture of Charlie Cooke trying to talk.

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    The Bell Tower

    The worst part about Warren (Woodrow Wilson in a pantsuit) and her inane diatribe is that the “risk” she sanctimoniously lectures the banks for taking is exactly the risk she herself and all her MMT and fat cat government spending comrades on the progressive left kept insisting did not exist.

    Warren:

    “Inflation isn’t a risk, silly! We have a sovereign currency!”

    Also Warren:

    “How dare these robber baron bankers risk their customer’s money on the crazy idea that inflation isn’t a risk!”

    Happy birthday, Jonah!

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    1. FreddySez

      Funny! I always call Warren "Huey Long in a pantsuit." But we're clearly aligned on the big picture.

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    Jim McC

    Jonah- I think you're correct to point out the distinction between depositors and shareholders, and to note that Elizabeth Warren is a buffoon (paraphrasing slightly). Strictly speaking, though, depositors are creditors, and thus investors of a type (especially when they have millions in deposits); the might not receive much in the way of interest but that is why banks have traditionally paid interest on deposits. The FDIC insurance limit of $250K should cover the "retail" depositors, but I don't see the moral hazard as being about executives not caring about how they came out of this...it's really about whether sophisticated depositors expect their banks to provide adequate risk management on their holdings going forward, or whether they blithely assume that all deposits will be covered, so they need not concern themselves. You're right (and Warren, again, wrong) when you say that long-term treasuries are not the highest risk asset when held to maturity, but managing duration risk is something we should expect banks will do. I'm not sure what to think about the contagion question, but I do think the general expectation depositors should have- that their deposits are not guaranteed above a certain level and are therefore at risk - is worth preserving.

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    Kit

    Not up for a diatribe, but suggest you think about two issues wrt oil:

    The Saudis may be turning their output up and down, but all existing wells are depleting and shale oil wells are depleting rapidly.

    THE primary issue with Biden and fossil fuels is that, because of lack of investment in exploration and production (political condemnation; long time to get a return on investment), and because green energy will not make up a majority of energy usage for decades, if ever, and because nuclear plants take decades to be approved and constructed, we have created at least years when we will be challenged to produce enough oil to support the economy. Those years probably begin on the other side of whatever recession is coming this year or next.

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    Denise Cote

    I loved the Bloom convo so much I bought his book. I agree with the take on the dispatch pod this week, and Steveish has to stick. I feel like I know you guys in real life. So fun.

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  7. PNWGail

    One of the things I like about you is your willingness to extend grace to others. Acknowledging that you could see yourself making the same mistake or you have made the same mistake is a quality I admire and try to emulate in my own life. I do, however, disagree with the statement "Could the same criticism be made of you?" when applied to the SVB depositors. Most people are not like these depositors. The median account balance in the US is around $5300. Individuals who have millions to deposit anywhere employ wealth managers who presumably are well paid to avoid this sort of risk. Ditto for companies. The idea that 'they didn't do anything wrong' is well, wrong. Someone didn't do the work they were paid to do - prudently manage the assets of their client/employer.
    Isn't this the same argument made by student borrowers? "I didn't do anything wrong", yet there seems to be far less grace and understanding coming their way.

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  8. TallCon

    OK, Jonah, when you were talking about Elizabeth Warren not coming with a warning label are you being sincere? Or are you VERY dryly referencing when someone indicated that your podcast has no indication that your it might have a rightward bent? (Oh, darn. Was that Jonah or Pod? If so then this is the first and hopefully only time that I have ever gotten them mixed up.) Anyway, same question? Because it sounds very sincere and I think my "dry humor RADAR" is very sharp. If it is a reference then I have to say that I only barely got it.

    Kobayahsi Maru: I think I've finally figured out that Johah is now using that as a verb to mean "Changing the conditions of the test (so that it is possible to rescue the ship)" and has removed any connotation of a "No Win Scenario". I get that now, but it's not the commonly accepted usage.

    Please bring back the Drive Time. Once a month? Every other month?

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    Ben Connelly

    The Paul Bloom episode was fantastic. I would have listened to another 3 hours of that (or a second episode in the near future…).

    Jonah, you’ve successfully convinced me that this SVB depositor bailout is more complex. I’m glad the shareholders and leaders/managers of the bank are facing serious consequences. Still, I do worry about moral hazard. I don’t completely see why the FDIC couldn’t have simply guaranteed the 250k. It seems to me that that would have provided enough backstop to quell the run and tide depositors over until they can be made whole via private means. I realize the Dispatch probably has more than 250k in the bank, but I don’t think in this scenario any depositor would lose their money in the long run (the 250k tides them over and keeps the bank from collapsing).

    It’s like the scene in It’s a Wonderful Life. The majority of Building and Loan customers do not receive 100% of their money, but they also don’t need it. They just need enough to tide them over and keep the Building and Loan solvent. This is the type of scenario I’m envisioning. I don’t see why private means couldn’t be used (other banks buying SVB etc.) to stem the tide and prevent a financial panic. Cooler heads don’t have to belong to government officials.

    Moreover, let’s say SVB did wipe out all accounts and the Dispatch suddenly needed to raise money. I’m not saying it would be easy, but I think it would happen. I’m not sitting on a bunch of money myself, but I would gladly contribute to a private effort to bail out TD and I’m sure hundreds or thousands of other subscribers would as well. Given that there are some well-heeled subscribers, I think we could absolutely raise the money you need (privately). Calling to mind another scene in Its a Wonderful Life. The Dispatch has a lot of friends. Some (like me) who might only be able to throw in a few dollars to bail out George Bailey. And others who could pull a Sam Wainwright and foot the whole bill.

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    Danyluk89

    We all seem to be glossing over the bigger question: When did the outline Jonah dude disappear from the remnant logo?

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