Economic absurdity - no its Bush's fault (well not all of it)

I used to think I understood economics - after all I got an "A" in my A-level and that was in the days when "A"s" meant something in the English education system. Now you seem to get A's for turning up never mind spelling your name correctly.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I have been pondering the implications of the hedge fund/sub-prime/private equity/dollar declining/SIV/CDO meltdown or whatever its called and its clear to me that economic intelligence has finally descended to the level political intelligence in becoming an obvious oxy-moron. Consider the evidence:

- In most countries bottled water is considerably more expensive than beer. In the UK this is being cited as a reason why young people drink too much. I am not sure I buy it; I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that its tough to get drunk on water but who am I to say?
- due to the comatose nature of the American peso, sorry dollar, a pint of Guinness in New york costs 39 percent less than it does in Dublin! Apparently the only place where the dark stuff is cheaper than the Big Apple is Sydney, Australia!
- We Americans are paying over $3 a gallon for gas (see I can sound Yankee when I want) and its not enough! Are we getting a volume discount or something? Incentives to develop alternatives will only occur when the price hits $10 a gallon - see how fast people get their act together then!
- Airlines have taken pricing to further extremes of lunacy. For example:
- A roundtrip from Cleveland to London via Newark can be had for $399; while a roundtrip from Cleveland to Newark costs $819!
- On Thursday I will be making a one-way trip from Prague to Frankfurt on Lufthansa - the price of the one way ticket is $690; a return costs $235. Guess which one I bought?
- I am charged 41 cents to send a letter to my next door neighbour but nothing to have a one hour phone call with an old college friend in New Zealand

Now if only we could get great healthcare, education and pensions by paying less in taxes instead of the exact reverse then I would place more faith in the black art of economics; as it is, have no faith, its all gobbleygook.