We spend a lot of time debating the welfare state here on WSO. Though the financial community is naturally geared to lean to the right on fiscal issues, we get a good bit of sentiment leaning the other way, as well. I myself often side with those who rabidly oppose any free lunches for anyone. But I have to say that if in making an illustrative equation "me" is to represent the OPEC nations and if "King Kong" is to represent the United States. Well then, KING KONG ain't got shit on ME.

$1 Trillion. That's right, 1T in 1Y. That is how much the combined OPEC nation kings, mullahs and oligarchs will be spending this year on welfare state politics. Whether it is $43 billion on "poor Saudis" and the kingdom's religious institutions. Free food for all Kuwaitis for a year. Or a 34% wage increase for Algerian civil servants, all of MENA now shows signs of bending to the inevitability brought about by the Arab Spring of 2011.

As we approach the supposed doomsday of capitalism and the victory of Marx, welfare and all other utopian pan handling, mentally masturbatory theorems I have but one question… what if this is all a front?

What if the day America goes bankrupt is just an ingenious Washingtonian plot to achieve their tax hike without ever actually having to implement it? Follow me into the land of tin foil hats and black helicopters…it may not be sane or logical, but it is so much more fun on this side of the coin.

Money. To spend or to save? That is today's question.

I thought that it was pretty a safe assumption to make that most people look at spending as a fun luxury and saving as a tedious necessity, but for the first time in my life I met someone who felt differently. Someone who genuinely finds it fun to save his money and even looks at it as his personal hobby and interest. I have to say that I was dumbfounded and couldn't understand his views...Why am I not surprised that he is a banker?

Though I am by no means a proponent of a return to the Gold Standard, I definitely like debating the merits of fiat currency. A few months back, South Carolina Senator Lee Bright proposed that the state develop its own gold and silver based currency. Not shockingly, the story wasn't big news and has largely gone on ignored. Every day a different pundit tells us that the dollar is going down and it still has not happened.

Presumably, we will continue to send notions like Mr. Bright's to the back of the line. Though I don't think that Bright's Bretton Woods redux is a great plan, I do think the underlying assumption is more than worthy of a public debate. Namely, is America capable of carrying on into the future with a single currency? More accurately, do living standards and economic outputs across various states combine to fit under the neat little notion of the dollar?

Today we're going to play a fun little game. I know it's been played before but I'd like to give it front page attention and a more formalized structure. It might not seem like a big deal, but I think part of being a community is being able to look at ourselves and laugh.

Time to get your roasting sticks out...because it's time to flame some fools!

That's why this Weekend Wars is a battle to determine...

Who is the top Wall Street Oasis troll of all-time?

Contest Rules

It couldn't be Weekend Wars if we didn't take a week for a cease fire every now and then. It also couldn't be Weekend Wars if we didn't address actual tangible conflict every now and then. The recent ruckus in Egypt and the forthcoming Lucky #13 episode of NSFW motivate my desire to hear your thoughts on the subject at hand.

This week I want us to get macro. I want to hear your short, medium and long range views on the MENA region. The Middle East and North Africa have been a focus of the market oriented world for over half a century...yet we don't really talk about the region all that much.

If you've never heard of Li-Ning before, open up your ears and get ready for the revolution.

This is for all of those Google groupies, Facebook fruitcakes and Apple acolytes who believe that standing atop the mountain means you are forever destined to rule.

Is Nike in trouble? Is The Check about to get straightened out?

I know it's early, but imagine the possibilities and be weary that there's a new player in the game...a game which soon enough, may not ever be the same.

Start Li-Ning in the right direction...and tell me, is it possible that the global overlord of athletic shoe dominance will soon have a serious fight on its hands?

Dear Monkeys,

I am sorely disappointed in you...Well, not really. I don't care all that much. But I haven't ripped anybody a new one in a while and I do feel like hurling a few gentle insults while dispensing some useful advice to those who are willing to take it.

Join me on a journey, together we shall explore...

The Magical...The Mysterious...The Majestic

The Search Function!!!

You see guys, the search function here on Wall Street Oasis (once upon a time), was indeed a tedious tool. Too many pages, too much irrelevant info, too hard to sort. But now, it works pretty darn well. I suggest you use it... until you find what you are looking for.

We spend a lot of time dreaming. If you slept just 5 hours a night and lived to 60 you would spend over 4500 days asleep. That's 12.5 years or over 20% of your lifetime.

For the typical monkey, we could argue that dreaming happens even while he's awake...
Building the future empire of wealth, power and prestige in his mind. For one reason or another our dreams have led us here.

But what if your dreams couldn't come true? What if the goal you've had your mind set on wasn't an option?

Do our dreams actually have anything to do with who we really are or are they just ideas put in our head by the volatile combo of societal pressures, ego and idols?

Today, we finally have a "Weekend Wars" worthy of its title...

In spite of the ignorance and ignoring on the part of my dear Keynesians we finally have a practical solution to the Global Financial Crisis...

A real war

This week's been interesting in terms of topics and responses, on WSO. I almost feel like I can compete with Zuckerberg. Yes, I know...he has 500,000 million users under his thumb. But I am starting to get a good idea of what some of you monkeys are all about. So tell me just one more thing so I can know precisely what sort of irrelevant product to spam you with.

Today, we're going to hit on another pulse node of seemingly irrelevant, but all together potentially monumental monkey crap...

No idea's original, there's nothing new under the sun...it's never what you do but how IT'S DONE

The dream and desolation of the high finance world. Which path to the upper crust of middle-class suburban boredom do I take? Do I jump to the buy side? Do I stick it out in this simian hell of pitch books and Excel? Which is really right for me? A friendly look in the rearview at how simply the decision was.

Nowadays, however, simply breaking in is hard enough. With the layers upon layers of applications piling up at HBS, Wharton, Booth and the like, an advanced degree doesn't guarantee what it once may have. The landscape is different, but the question remains:

Sell side or buy side?