A Government Too Big To Fail

So much bother and bluster about bonuses to scoundrels, it's enough to be distracted from other more important aspects to our continuing economic debacle. Like the Fed (architects of the AIG bonus fiasco) announcing it will print up 1.2 trillion bucks so it can "purchase" more Treasury and mortgage bonds. What will happen when this action works its way through the economic system? Dollar death? Weimar-style inflation? Ugh.

At this point, I believe that the Fed is simply throwing stuff up onto the wall to see what sticks. It reminds me of when Mikhail Gorbachev was issuing rapid, wide-ranging, and system-changing policies during the heady Perestroika days. Turns out he was trying to shove his country out of the collapsing house of Communism before its rotten timbers buried them all. It is all so reminescent of today, where there are no more playbooks. And it may be that the system has to be destroyed in order to save the system.

Speaking of systems, here is a fun, even thoughtful, take on Obama's selections of the upcoming NCAA tournament:

A Bracket You Can Believe In - The Atlantic Politics Channel

It kinda cracks me up to read the comments. Some people have no sense of humor. And speaking of humor, here is a sorely-needed humor break, featuring Old Jews Telling Jokes!!

Old Jews Telling Jokes

Oh, what can be funnier? Well, how about this timely piece of economic satire?

YouTube - SponsorAnExecutive

Ho, ho. If it weren't so true, I'd really be laughing. Is it time for the pitchforks yet?

Quote of the Day:
"No amount of political freedom will satisfy the hungry masses." -- Vladimir Lenin

The Economy as Illusion

As I recall, there was a nifty moment within Kurt Vonnegut's neglected book, "Galapagos" where the narrator spoke about the long-past days of human civilization, and commerce. Money, he said, was not a concrete thing, not a set value, but existed because "we" as society gave it thought and ephemeral value. It wasn't real; it was an idea, a concept that required transparency and consent. But it was never more than an illusion.

In the book, the whole of human civilization came crashing down, creating a pandemic of panic and chaos, accompanied by a wicked plague that wiped out every person on Earth... except for a handful of survivors on the Galapagos Islands. Here is what the NY Times said about the book:

NYTimes

Ponzi schemes are constructed on illusion. Investors think they are getting something that is not. There is no transparency, only consent. All economic bubbles are based on the illusion that their growth will continue against all odds and timelines. "Bubble" investors think they are getting something, hoping onto the gravy train with everyone else. There often is transparency with Bubbles, but the eagerness of investors brush them past sober reality and into the realm of delusion and unsustainability.

Ponzi schemes. Bubbles. Scams (Enron and Worldcom take the cake for creating near-worlds of faux financial dynamics; but the future champions of the world may yet be revealed when the public gets its glimpse into Wall Street Banks). These are the viruses, the cancers that debilitate our economic structures. When they coincide, like they have over the last few years, the result is truly catastrophic.

So now we are poised at the precipice. The bulwarks of our economy indicate that there is no "there" there. Our major banks are zombies. Insurance companies are discovering they are wiped out. Pension funds/401Ks are dead. Firm after firm are examining their net worth and shuddering. What was once real is not real.

So where do we go from here? A further unveiling of fraud and stupendous, egregious awful judgments rendered by a smorgasbord of business execs who chose to pursue unsustainable profits via opaque financial techniques. As we all get pulled down into the maelstrom, it may come as a small comfort to know that... it's all an illusion.

And now, to lighten up a bit, here is a piece of anti-capitalism by those old agitators, The Clash:

YouTube - The clash - Police and Thieves

And the Quote of the Day:
"Nothing can have value without being an object of utility."
-- Karl Marx