The Glade 4.0

So, I've just recently started reading this book. I'm not even done with the first chapter. I haven't even gotten to the part that actually deals with the Great Depression itself. So far it's just outlining the basic general theory of the "business cycle". And yet...

Mind.

****.

Blown.

Understand that I already had a least a basic grasp on the cause-and-effect of monetary inflation. Even so, when I really start digging into the specifics of how that inflation manifests itself in the various supply/demand relationships and equillibriums...

It is entirely fair to say that every action and aim of this administration, like the many that came before it are totally wrong. I don't mean merely "incorrect", either. That would be bad enough. No, I mean they are doing (and will almost certainly continue do) the exact opposite of what should be done to bring the economy back into a healthy equilibrium.

What's more, I'm starting see that rampart consumerism and negative savings aren't just an unintended consequence of the Fed **** around. It's absolutely intentional. Let me spell that out for you: the only way that the "powers that be" can hide their ineptitude in blowing up the *supply* of money is to also blow up the *demand* for money. That is, inflate both sides of the equation and hope no one notices. And here's an interesting thought: what can you do if you've already pushed that model as far as it can go -- that is, you managed to maximize consumerism to the point that people simply can't spend any more money because they don't have any (which is where we are today)?

If you can't make the people you already have demand more money, then you only have two options:

1) Get more people. But oh, wait -- we're just barely languishing at replenishment rate as is, so we can't count on making new people. And that takes too long anyway. We need a fix *now*. So what do you do? You start importing people, any way you can. But importing people who already have money won't help. No, you need these people to be as penniless as possible.

*wait for it*

"Oh fffuuuuuuu-"

Oh, it gets better. What do most illegal immigrants do with the money they earn here? That's right, they send it back to their families in Central and South America. It doesn't get any better than that for the Fed -- not only do they drive up demand for the dollar, most of the demand is towards exporting it out of the country.

Ever wonder why there's no political will to stop illegal immigration?

2) You need to export all that extra cash to anywhere that isn't here. When the administration ***** about trade imbalances with China because they manipulate the Yen, it's not only hilariously hypocritical when you consider how much we manipulate the dollar through the Fed, it's a blatant lie. The Fed and its coherts love massive trade imbalances. They *need* them. They don't give a damn what the exchange rate is just so long as people keep selling dollars to China.

And if the people won't do it, the government will. People are understandably quite upset about how much U.S. government debt is held by the Chinese, but our government truly gives no ****. The important thing to them is keeping up the shell game by piping as much worthless currency as we can out of the country.

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

You give the government far too much credit, unless you are subscribing to the Bilderberg theory? The hundreds of thousands of peons in Federal employ don't get it and I would argue that 90% of the elected officials in Congress or the members of administration couldn't explain the basics of supply and demand, let alone espouse any actual economic theory.

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True enough, but most of them have (intentionally or not) drunken the Keynesian coolaid. Or if not that, then they're all too happy to pursue the Fed's ends because it means "free money" to them. Monetary inflation (particularly with respect to monetizing the debt) is essentially taxation without the appearance taxation. It's largely the only thing that keeps the pork machine going, so ...

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

I agree completely, I've been saying that wage stagnation in the face of rampant inflation is what actually killed the middle-class in America.

However, your posit begs the question: Which came first the spend-spend-spend mentality or the monetary supply to do so? More to the point I am trying to make I guess would be the question: Does anyone in power even remember which came first?

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The monetary expansion came first. They've been doing that ever since they got the power to do it. The shift away from capital goods and the decimation of savings is a relatively recent phenomenon. Back when we still had population growth, it wasn't as necessary. But with population stagnating, there's no other way to hide the inflation.

I'm sure that's something of an over-simplification, though.

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

Would you argue then that the boom and bust economy is a natural outcropping of too much monetary supply or a way to contain it and keep the ball rolling by cannibalizing foreign currency?

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The booms...well, they're not really a result of "too much monetary supply", per se, but the natural result of artificially inflating it. Even with a hard money standard like, say, gold, the monetary supply can be inflated (by mining and processing more gold, for instance). As long as this being done in response to real market pressures, everything is cool. But when you just inflate the monetary supply by magic, it wreaks all kinds of havoc. The boom cycle may seem beneficial at the moment, but if you look at what it really does to the capital structure, it's actually making the economy worse (less efficient).

As for the bust, it's really just a return to the previous, stable position of the economy. Only not quite, because a certain portion of real wealth vanishes during each cycle, in addition to the other problems they cause.

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

I haven't read this yet either. I'll have to pick up a copy. Thanks for the post, Stathol.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Just got the book sent to my phone. Will be reading it in my spare time over the next week or so. Thanks for the rec.

...

What the ****, people ...

What THE **** ...

*bangs head on wall*

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Oh yeah that clears it up Khross. Makes perfect sense now.

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

I think Khross is implying that he has been saying this the entire time.. but feels he gets poo poo'ed about it. But then another source talks about it and there is intelligent discourse on the subject.

Please correct me if I am wrong Khross.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Been talking with Elmo and friends about this for quite some time now. Tipping points being reached and whatnot. Any book that puts this difficult to comprehend concept in an easier form for people is worthwile. And the more people who can discuss this, the less tinfoil hat like it becomes to those who don't fully grasp how much poo is flying at the fan atm.

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

How about I've been saying read the damn book for a decade

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Say whaaaaaaaat?

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

What a coincidence, I am preparing to go to the Philly End the Fed rally right now with a Zimbabwe 100 trillion dollar bill in my pocket.


Honestly most Congress critters and Presidents consider the Fed's heads to be experts and defer to their"expert opinion"

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

OC I hope.

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

Khross is right. And has been, for a long time.

I've had a lot of respect for his knowledge of economics, and have agreed with most of it, if not all. Don't ask me about the parts with which I don't agree - I can't recall.

Anyways - Khross: I heard your headbanging from Michigan.

Unfortunately, I hold out little hope for an intelligent government, so I guess we're Doomed, right?

No, no. If we were Doomed (capital D), we'd *have* an intelligent government.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Yes you have, and I've read some of it, been waiting for a time when I could really focus on it. I'll also actually have to pick up a copy rather than read it standing around the bookstore.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Pretty much this. I don't agree with everything but respect the knowledge and opinions.


But that's where the babes are

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Nah I was CC because its cold out. Rob Pepe was OC though and he was on the float.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

How about I've been saying "send me my damn books" for the last 2 years?

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The Dude abides.

I hate the friggin' post office.

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I hate to break this to you, but carrying a concealed weapon won't keep you any warmer.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."