The last greatest hope: technology
I was shopping for a new computer and office chair a few weeks ago and was struck by how absurd prices have become. I bought a fully loaded quad-core PC for about $500 and was stunned to find the best office chairs cost even more! What kind of crazy world do we live in? Consider all the research, engineering, design, manufacturing, assembly, shipping from the four corners of the earth… required to build a computer, then compare that process to a few pieces of plastic/metal with a cushion wrapped in some cloth or leather. Are you kidding me? That’s an astounding testament to the incredible productivity of the technology sector and those who work in it. Every other industry sucks in comparison, you heard me. Government steals money from bankrupt people to waste on frivolous projects
This is my entry to Nick Rowe’s challenge to come up with a model demonstrating the damages of fiscal stimulus. The belief in government stimulus requires us to believe the previous level of demand is sustainable, desirable and not declining for some fundamental reason. That isn’t necessarily a question of economics, you can’t plot culture on a chart. If people were comfortable in previous decades living with more debt-based consumption and a bias towards equities instead of savings, but the culture changes and people are no longer comfortable with that formula, the economy has changed for a very real and fundamental reason. If people want less, why should the government force feed us things we don’t want? If people are determined to save and the government threatens to destroy savings (with negative interest rates or some other stupid ideas) people will simply find alternate means to save. Maybe they will hoard food or gold and cause other problems like shortages and hunger. Commanding Heights (PBS)
The Battle for the World Economy – Part 1 of 3 Eight people sipping wine
The most interesting part of this documentary, in my opinion, is Robert Reich’s conclusion that if we will concede to a consumer based politics, we might as well let business run the show because they can do it better. I’m sure he meant that statement as a joke, but is it not exactly where we have ended up? Was it a joke or an unconscious admission of guilt, a Freudian slip? I’m sure everybody will take from these videos whatever re-enforces their own pre-existing beliefs. I see evidence that big government politics, regardless of old or new, by Robert Reich’s own admission, leads inevitably to corporatist fascism. If you want to get elected you must appeal to desires and nobody does it better than Madison Avenue, hence the alliance of government and business we’re suffering from today that strangles capitalism and innovation. If you want to punish irresponsible big business executives, you must first defeat their foot soldiers in government manning the front lines. They are together, defending their power, against our best interests. part 1 Overview of America
The documentary is from the John Birch society. It’s a bit extreme on some fronts, but an interesting perspective. part 1 Is Keynes the true father of the Venus Project ideology?
Arthur Keynes is the man largely responsible for creating the economic theories that justify our current form of big government capitalism. He is the man most commonly cited to defend fiscal stimulus and bailout packages and is followed by most modern economists, but is he the true father of abundance, and the current economic collapse the attempt to create abundance has created? You are a slave to the government
This video looks to be a few decades old, I have no idea who this guy is. Rising prices do not mean recovery
Everyone is looking for convincing evidence that prices have bottomed before concluding the recession is on the way out. I strongly disagree with that approach. Rising prices in the stock market reflect the speculative mood of investors and the lack of alternatives, it’s not a measure of new productive jobs. Rising prices for housing should actually be considered a negative given the millions of homes still waiting to be sold, if anything we should hope for lower prices so the market can clear and construction can resume. Rising prices for consumer goods or commodities can just as easily reflect a reduction in supply as an increase in demand. Prices are not irrelevant, but almost. Irrationally Predictably Irrational – Part 4
The power of self-selection The reason people enjoy moneyless events like Burning Man is likely because those who attend are those most likely to find meaning in its message. Obviously, people are attracted to things they like and pursue positive re-enforcement of ideas they already hold. It’s called the confirmation bias, and its the same reason actors uproot their lives for a chance at glory in Los Angeles, or high-tech entrepreneurs network in San Jose, or retirees gather in Florida. People with means are willing to re-locate (temporarily or permanently) to areas more suitable to the lifestyles they wish to live and values they hold dear. It’s usually counter-productive trying to convert an actor into an engineer, or convince a committed socialist to accept libertarian principles, or force a square peg through a round hole, let people discover and explore, let them be. |
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