Once upon a time I had an ABBA earworm. I cought myself humming Dancing Queen at the supermarket checkout. That's when I knew I had a serious problem.

Never thought I'd see Dredd singing Abba, but there ya go...

Abba was pretty dope when i was around ten So many great pop hits.

Well, I think that depends on how highly you rate ABBA! I think it's really about the entertainment rather than looking for the next great talent.

You can check out the list of previous winners at Jimbo's big bag'o'trivia here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Eurovision_Song_Contest_winners

Of course some of them were already well known before entering the competition.

*doublepromote (as a Melbournite, I'm basically obliged to)

Not in any way an abba [cringe] fan ... THIS I loved! *quality made me look

*livemusic

Yay for ABBA's Dancing Queen.

Apologies, I got carried away... wall of text incoming.

@RedSky

I agree, monetary policy at low rates has very little to offer in terms of economic stimulus. Then again, the focus almost solely on monetary policy is part of the problem. Fiscal policy can have a massive impact, both directly (government purchases of goods and services) and indirectly (increase in automatic stabilizers). But for that you either need to be in control of your central bank, so that you can engage in Overt Monetary Financing ("printing" money). Or you need the blessing of the private banks, which is particularly true for a Vollgeld system.

The budget is the core of a parliamentary democracy, and to be at the whim of the folks at Deutsche Bank, HSBC or Credit Suisse -- no, thank you very much. We saw how that played out in Greece.

Anyway, the central bank can do miraculous things: if it provides funds to the democratically elected body in charge of the budget, aka parliament/the government. Trying to "motivate" the private banks to stock up on cheap reserves to stimulate lending is just a sign of ideology.

The great Michal Kalecki, in his essay The Political Aspects of Full Employment, summarized the general issue of government spending quite clearly. The industrial leaders stand in opposition to government spending aimed at full employment for three distinct reasons: a) dislike of government interference in the problem of employment as such; b) dislike of the direction of government spending (public investment and subsidizing consumption); c) dislike of the social and political changes resulting from the maintenance of full employment.

I'd say control over your currency is too great a tool to leave it in the hands of unelected managers. Clement Attlee knew very well why he had to nationalize the Bank of England in '46.

Back to the issue of inflation, I'd like to make two points. First, how big a role should inflation really play when talking policy. Second, what's the influence of a central bank on inflation.

Where does it come from, this focus on inflation. People usually talk about government spending when discussing inflation. Private spending is rarely brought up, even though it can be just as inflationary. So let's ignore private spending for a moment and talk purely government spending: should a deficit/surplus not be judged primarily by how well it helps us achieve our macroeconomic goals? Or more clearly, why should we sacrifice full employment or our general welfare on the altar of inflation? Yes, that's over the top. But so is the angst of inflation.

I'd say let's stick with Abba Lerner's concept of functional finance and judge deficits/surpluses purely by how well they help us achieve our macroeconomic goals. Besides, the US has run massive deficits during the GFC, so much in fact, that a great number of monetarists saw hyperinflation just around the corner. Still waiting for it. Same for Japan. Massive deficits... and deflation.

As long as spending, both private and government, doesn't push the economy beyond its limits (full employment, real resources, production capacity), out-of-control inflation just doesn't materialize. Plus, suppressing inflation is actually one thing central banks can do quite well. Unlike causing inflation, which both Japan and the EU are showcases off. Draghi can dance naked on the table, monetary policy (QE, mainly) won't push inflation upwards.

Which brings me to the second point: what's inflation, what's the cause of inflation, how can central banks manipulate it.

CPI is often used as a measure of inflation, but I prefer the GDP deflator. CPI doesn't account for externalities that you cannot influence, whatever you do. Prime case: the price of oil. Monetary policy of the Bank of Sweden has no influence on the price of oil. The GDP inflator, however, accounts for every economic activity within your currency zone -- much more useful.

General theory says, this measure of inflation goes up when demand surpasses supply. And vice versa. The primary factor of demand is domestic purchasing power, therefore wages. If you suppress wages, you suppress inflation. If you push wages, you push inflation. More specifically, you can see a direct correlation between unit labour costs and the GDP deflator in every country at any time. Here's a general graph for multiple countries, and the St. Louis FED provides a beauty for the US.

That's why it's easy for central banks to combat inflation, but almost impossible to fight deflation.

Nice watch but very pop centric. SO many huge riffs never even got a mention. Case in point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBetudbtRto

My first real introduction to metal when they charts were full of Abba and Boney M.

It's seems weird this is a BBC documentary yet you're as likely to hear of Iron Maiden's achievement's as you to hear of The Prodigy.

Story of the discussion of the riff? They jump from Nivarna (1991) to 7 nation army (2003). But somehow they missed the fact The Prodigy went from a underground dance ground to a rock festival headliner on the basis of this riff back in '95: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l62UTsRQ6qY

Yes "walk this way" was a rap/rock crossover - but this is afaik the first proper metal/underground dance mashup. I honestly hate the fact The Prodigy never get the credit they deserve for bringing so much.

Final point - this UK documentary goes from Nivarna to White Stripes and ignores:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNWCclOqUHw

Your video, Top 10 Abba Songs, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

I grew up listening to ABBA. I think Satan would play them for me on an endless loop in Hell.

Hung Up - Madonna. Samples from ABBA's Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! has been added as a related post - related requested by braschlosan.

LOL paste fail I related the video back to itself.
I meant THIS is *related=http://videosift.com/video/Hung-Up-Madonna-Samples-from-ABBAs-Gimme-Gimme-Gimme

Abba-solutely great!

HAH!
Sooooo, it was Swedes who invented the mullet, eh??

What was the question everyone asked when they saw ABBA for the first time???
What are those two smokin' Amazons doing with those tiny geeks?

I fucking hate ABBA, and I really wanted to hate this.

But I just can't. Upvote for cheering me up on an otherwise sucky day.