Dawn in Tucumcari, New Mexico, queen of old Route 66. It was warmer than usual, temperature already in the 80s with bright sunshine and cloudless sky. After huevos rancheros at the Pow Wow Inn, Tom and I climbed into my GMC, headed for old Mesilla.
It was I-40 over to Santa Rosa, then US 54 south over rolling range country, through Vaughn, Corona, and to Carrizozo. I don't remember the range country ever being so dry. It is slim pickings for the cattle dotting the rolling range.
At Carrizozo, I like to have a green chile cheeseburger at the Outpost and/or a malt at Roy's Old Fashioned ice cream parlor. We weren't hungry enough for the green chile cheeseburger so we opted for Roy's.
Nuts. The joint was closed. A sign posted on the door read, "Closed for siesta till 2:30." So we drove the remaining distance to Tularosa, Alamogordo, across White Sands Missile Range, up the east side of the Organ Mountains, over St. Augustine Pass, and down the west side of the Organs to Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley of the Rio Grande.
We get to my guesthouse in old Mesilla, sweep out the cobwebs, and get the swamp cooler going. We light the water heater, not that we need it. With temperatures in the triple digits, the "cold" water remains warm.
My tenant, house manager, and everyone else down there is amazed that we would come to New Mexico in this heat. I assure them that 104 and dry is more comfortable than the 85 and humid that we had escaped.
I make several phone calls to friends and former colleagues. Then it's dinner at El Comedor in old Mesilla. Next morning it's light breakfast at "The Bean," a coffee house in old Mesilla where I can fire up my computer. I dislike computers almost as much as I detest television and everything associated with it. But I can't function without my computer while I can function very well with the 100-percent absence of television. It sounds obstinate, but I choose to live life rather than watch what passes for life on the idiot box.
Lunch is with friend and former colleague NMSU Regents Professor of Economics, Jim Peach. Economists are notorious for disagreement, but Jim and I are on the same page here. The problem with this economy is not lack of supply, but lack of demand - specifically lack of purchasing power of the shrinking American middle class, resulting in lack of incentive for businesses, large and small, to hire people and produce.
Cut taxes for corporations? They are already sitting on mountains of cash. Why would they produce if they can't sell the goods?
Cut interest rates? They are already at record lows. Why invest in new plant and equipment if they can't sell the goods?
Cut mortgage rates? Doesn't matter. If potential buyers have no job security - or no jobs, they can't buy homes.
Eliminate regulations on banks and Wall Street? It was unregulated financial markets gone wild, especially sub-prime lending and "creative" financial instruments - credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, including synthetic CDOs, not backed by tangible assets - that were largely responsible for this fix.
Bernanke's expansionary monetary policy is correct medicine. But this is not the typical recession that will respond to monetary policy alone. Unemployment and the plight of the middle class are far more serious problems than the federal deficit. An expansionary fiscal policy - yes, including federal spending on needed infrastructure, counterintuitive though it may seem - would increase employment. The current push for federal austerity during recession will only shrink employment and the economy.
Until politicians understand that the problem is lack of demand, not supply, they will apply the wrong prescription. I would like to be optimistic, but on this I'm not. Our middle class on which a sound economy depends has been decimated, is shrinking, and this economy will continue to languish.
Afternoon, I visit with Jacque next door who manages my house. I trim some hedges and attend to some lawn work. Apricot season is over. Judging from the seeds on the ground, it was a good crop from the two trees.
Evening, and the dry air cools down - really comfortable. Former colleague and pal Willie drops by, and the three of us drive through pecan groves and fields of chile, cotton and alfalfa, down to La Mesa. Irrigation water is in short supply and the ditches normally flowing this time of year are dry. After using their allocation of water from the Rio Grande, farmers are relying on what ground water they can pump. The remaining water in the Rio Grande is allocated to Texas and Mexico.
At Chopes in La Mesa, we enjoy some unbeatable Mexican food, including my favorite, chiles rellenos along with green chile stew.
Next day, we have breakfast with another friend and former colleague, Clyde - huevos rancheros at the Village Inn. Tom and I head over to Albertson's and check out the cheese counter. I'm pleased that there are some items from our Green County factories.
Then it's some miscellaneous errands and a trip with old pal Doc's friend, Linda, up to Truth or Consequences and the Veterans' Hospital where Doc is recovering from a stroke. It is sobering to see once young and vigorous vets in various stages of declining health. But it's some consolation that Doc is in good care.
Evening, Tom and I have a beer at an Irish Pub, then dinner at Andale's in old Mesilla. Later, I fire up my computer, relieved to find that editor Mary Jane has received my column for Friday.
Tomorrow, its some more work on my hedges, then off - anticipating that green chile cheeseburger we missed coming through Carrizozo.
We are in for some disappointment.
- Monroe resident John Waelti's column appears each Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
It was I-40 over to Santa Rosa, then US 54 south over rolling range country, through Vaughn, Corona, and to Carrizozo. I don't remember the range country ever being so dry. It is slim pickings for the cattle dotting the rolling range.
At Carrizozo, I like to have a green chile cheeseburger at the Outpost and/or a malt at Roy's Old Fashioned ice cream parlor. We weren't hungry enough for the green chile cheeseburger so we opted for Roy's.
Nuts. The joint was closed. A sign posted on the door read, "Closed for siesta till 2:30." So we drove the remaining distance to Tularosa, Alamogordo, across White Sands Missile Range, up the east side of the Organ Mountains, over St. Augustine Pass, and down the west side of the Organs to Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley of the Rio Grande.
We get to my guesthouse in old Mesilla, sweep out the cobwebs, and get the swamp cooler going. We light the water heater, not that we need it. With temperatures in the triple digits, the "cold" water remains warm.
My tenant, house manager, and everyone else down there is amazed that we would come to New Mexico in this heat. I assure them that 104 and dry is more comfortable than the 85 and humid that we had escaped.
I make several phone calls to friends and former colleagues. Then it's dinner at El Comedor in old Mesilla. Next morning it's light breakfast at "The Bean," a coffee house in old Mesilla where I can fire up my computer. I dislike computers almost as much as I detest television and everything associated with it. But I can't function without my computer while I can function very well with the 100-percent absence of television. It sounds obstinate, but I choose to live life rather than watch what passes for life on the idiot box.
Lunch is with friend and former colleague NMSU Regents Professor of Economics, Jim Peach. Economists are notorious for disagreement, but Jim and I are on the same page here. The problem with this economy is not lack of supply, but lack of demand - specifically lack of purchasing power of the shrinking American middle class, resulting in lack of incentive for businesses, large and small, to hire people and produce.
Cut taxes for corporations? They are already sitting on mountains of cash. Why would they produce if they can't sell the goods?
Cut interest rates? They are already at record lows. Why invest in new plant and equipment if they can't sell the goods?
Cut mortgage rates? Doesn't matter. If potential buyers have no job security - or no jobs, they can't buy homes.
Eliminate regulations on banks and Wall Street? It was unregulated financial markets gone wild, especially sub-prime lending and "creative" financial instruments - credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, including synthetic CDOs, not backed by tangible assets - that were largely responsible for this fix.
Bernanke's expansionary monetary policy is correct medicine. But this is not the typical recession that will respond to monetary policy alone. Unemployment and the plight of the middle class are far more serious problems than the federal deficit. An expansionary fiscal policy - yes, including federal spending on needed infrastructure, counterintuitive though it may seem - would increase employment. The current push for federal austerity during recession will only shrink employment and the economy.
Until politicians understand that the problem is lack of demand, not supply, they will apply the wrong prescription. I would like to be optimistic, but on this I'm not. Our middle class on which a sound economy depends has been decimated, is shrinking, and this economy will continue to languish.
Afternoon, I visit with Jacque next door who manages my house. I trim some hedges and attend to some lawn work. Apricot season is over. Judging from the seeds on the ground, it was a good crop from the two trees.
Evening, and the dry air cools down - really comfortable. Former colleague and pal Willie drops by, and the three of us drive through pecan groves and fields of chile, cotton and alfalfa, down to La Mesa. Irrigation water is in short supply and the ditches normally flowing this time of year are dry. After using their allocation of water from the Rio Grande, farmers are relying on what ground water they can pump. The remaining water in the Rio Grande is allocated to Texas and Mexico.
At Chopes in La Mesa, we enjoy some unbeatable Mexican food, including my favorite, chiles rellenos along with green chile stew.
Next day, we have breakfast with another friend and former colleague, Clyde - huevos rancheros at the Village Inn. Tom and I head over to Albertson's and check out the cheese counter. I'm pleased that there are some items from our Green County factories.
Then it's some miscellaneous errands and a trip with old pal Doc's friend, Linda, up to Truth or Consequences and the Veterans' Hospital where Doc is recovering from a stroke. It is sobering to see once young and vigorous vets in various stages of declining health. But it's some consolation that Doc is in good care.
Evening, Tom and I have a beer at an Irish Pub, then dinner at Andale's in old Mesilla. Later, I fire up my computer, relieved to find that editor Mary Jane has received my column for Friday.
Tomorrow, its some more work on my hedges, then off - anticipating that green chile cheeseburger we missed coming through Carrizozo.
We are in for some disappointment.
- Monroe resident John Waelti's column appears each Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
