China was not in a recession in the 1990's. Do you not even know what a recession is?

You gave China as an example of a country that had used austerity to get out of a recession, but China wasn't in a recession. Not recently and not in the 1990's. Do you even comprehend that a country that is not in a recession can not use austerity to get out of a recession? This is like arguing with a retarded dude who is on angel dust.

Germany IS currently "slipping to malaise of the rest of the west" as you so eloquently put it. It grew at 0.1% last quarter which is a rounding error away from a recession. It was growing at 2% a year in the summer of 2010. Then it implemented austerity measures. Now it is near a recession. Do you comprehend that a country that isn't in a recession that implements austerity measures and then is near a recession isn't an example of using austerity to get out of a recession?

Fucking idiot.

Krugman could have predicted what would happen to Germany. I think he did, actually.

You are an idiot.

Shrinking government spending (while deregulating private activity) caused a boom in China.

China did not shrink government spending. It massively increased spending in 2009 when its economy began to slow down. It also was not in a recession, it was growing by at least 6% a year throughout the world economic crisis. So you are citing non-existent Chinese austerity to claim that a boom in China, which wasn't in a recession, is evidence that austerity has gotten someone out of a recession. That is idiotic. You are an idiot. Anyone who thinks anything you are saying makes any sense at all is an idiot.

As for Germany, it implemented austerity measures a year ago, after it had seen its GDP growth go from negative to around 2%. After it adopted the austerity measures, when it was not in a recession, its GDP growth trended down and last quarter it grew at a rate of only 0.1%, which is almost a recessionary level. So you point to austerity measures that have gotten a country close to being in a recession as evidence that austerity has gotten someone out of a recession. That is an idiotic argument. You are an idiot.

Yes, people still use vacuum tubes, typewriters, vinyl records, CRT's, and incandescent lightbulbs. But I'd argue that with the exception of lightbulbs, they're all seeing dramatically reduced usage these days.

VINYL SALES up 55% in first half of 2011
...
The UK numbers follow hot on the heels of figures from Nielsen which showed vinyl sales up 41% in the US in the same period.

2010 marked the fourth successive year of growth in vinyl album sales in the UK.

link

30 to 50% sales growth for half a decade isn't what I would call a dramatic reduction.

And that's just new sales. Vinyl lasts for generations, it's not going away any time soon.

Entitlement happy? Paying money out of every paycheck you get your whole life so that you have income and health care when you are old or sick isn't an entitlement. It's called insurance, you stupid asshole.

If Judith Miller isn't an example of "state-controlled media" I don't know what is.

this is a cruel position to take

It's a cruel position to take.

It it also the least cruel position to take.

The government of North Korea has been threatening nuclear attacks against other countries.

The citizens of North Korea are responsible for the actions of their government, just as you are responsible for the actions of yours.

The leaders of every government on earth are the literal embodiment of Orwell's Animal Farm. What is it when the US government praises Press Freedom Day while at the same time leaders of that government are calling for the assassination of a particularly inconvenient member of the press? Every government on earth. Real change starts at home.

I'll do you a favour and take yours off your hands then. Let me know where to pick them up.

Many people also like the idea of raising kids in a more rural setting, and a slower pace of life once you get home.

Stadtluft macht frei.

If you take up smoking, they would improve.

Solopsism?

From the wired article:

The music you download is going to be mastered the same crappy way that CDs are. As for the belief that:

The belief that quality is everywhere and always subjective is cheap nihilism of the grade school variety.

A couple weeks ago sunlight from the skylight in my apartment got to the records left out in front of the record player and irreparably warped a few hundred dollars worth of them...

A fad that's been around since 1894 so far.
What are the odds that music compact discs will be a growth industry in 2098?