Comments on Decoupling is Dead; Invest in Your Head
The BRIC? To me, China, Russia, India and Brazil will always be The CRIB, know what I'm saying?
Wow, this is the market into which we were supposed to privatize social Security? I was supposed to retire in 8 years. I am glad that my job class is more stable than the markets because right now things aren't looking too rosy and I may need to keep working.
Wall Street is drying up but Main Street is flourishing.
A re-agrarianized super exurbian lifestyle is flourishing and leaving haphazard Lib planners building boondoggle Lite Rail systems with egg on their faces.
America is ahead in all the industries that count while Asia, Europe and South America continue to party like it's the 20th century.
I wish John Bailo was Mr. Poe, but then again...if that were the case he would actually be funny.
le sigh.
There is a fantasy among many left intellectuals, propagated by folks like Wallerstein and Arrighi, that America's "unravelling hegemony" will allow us to transition to a "multipolar" world.
The appeal of such a view is that the people don't have to rise up to overturn US militarism for new regional power blocs to be freed from the yoke of US imperialism (ie that pesky tendency for the US government to define the entire globe's affairs as within its own "national security").
The problem with the view is that it is wishful thinking on an economic level (see above). Though it is also naive to say "No inept or corrupt banker, no thieving politician, no political unrest."
The other problem with these views is that it is liberal-- that is to say it separates economic from military power. It is wishful thinking to assume that the nation with world's most powerful military will peacefully accept an IMF audit and its own structural adjustment. Economic catastrophe for a military superpower is a recipe for fascism. See Germany in the 1930s, or Russia in the 1990s.
exactly how will china decouple itself from the american economy? we are their largest market, and they basically own our debt. we go down, the whole planet comes with us.
i'm looking at YOU TOO, latin america.
Well done!
And erm... a second ago S&P lowered WAMU's credit rating to junk. Stock hitting $1.80 after hours. Bye bye market capitalization. Per your earlier fine posts...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awDjhtIfoz_Q
Great Post! As Jeffery Brown on theoildrum.com often says: Get thee to the non-discretionary side of the economy!
Damn it. I don't have any skills.
[i]"A re-agrarianized super exurbian lifestyle is flourishing and leaving haphazard Lib planners building boondoggle Lite Rail systems with egg on their faces."[/i]
Okay, but how's life in swinging Kent these days?
What do you think about have a backup supply of gold or other precious metals in a safe deposit box or mattress?
@12:
i) Someone can steal gold or precious metals. If they steal your head, well, you don't have much else to worry about anymore.
ii) Gold is worth less than a valuable skill or piece of knowledge, in a practical sense.
"I can treat your festering wound"
vs
"I have something shiny, yellow, ductile and malleable."
"I have something shiny, yellow, ductile and malleable."
you should have that checked out
Yeah, I'd rather have gold. With that you can hire any kind of specialist you need, but an education only works out if your skills are in demand. Lots of smart people pick a field that turns out to not be needed any more, and nobody cares about them when they get laid off. And even if your skills are in demand this second, you're only a hireling of somebody who has money. They call the shots.
But wealth. Wealth is fungible. You can buy ammunition, tanning beds, private armies to expand your fiefdom, you name it. It's always better to be rich than to be poor. Capital is power that lasts.
Hey Jonathan Golob
From Wikipedia:
On July 18, 2008 Gramm stepped down from his position with the McCain campaign. However, he often accompanies McCain during the campaign, and continues to be an unofficial adviser on economic and financial matters.
elenchos, It IS better to be rich than poor. But what is it about gold that makes it of some sort of intrinsic value? Hooray, I can decorate my festering wound!
Plus if you're useless but have gold, I have a feeling you may not get good value... if any. Ie theft, graft, your hired guns deciding they have the guns, they should do the hiring...
Marx didn't tell the workers to waste their time getting an education. Republicans always tell the poor to stay in school and eat cake. Those that know the score tell them to seize control of the engine that makes it all go. The machinery of production itself. Once you have that, you can afford nice things like teachers or DVDs or health care.
It's interesting that you often see self-indulgent fiction like Lost or Gilligan's Island where a doctor becomes the leader. Where in the real world power winds up in the hands of a soldier or a plutocrat. Philosopher kings are wishful thinking without a massive edifice of cosmopolitan culture to prop them up. Take that away and things get ugly.
It might also be good to stock up on booze, condoms & other barriers (you can get free condoms at planned parenthood) and/or anything else you could trade for food. Even if this isn't the next depression you could have an awesome party.
Get some good shoes too.
@18: Republicans always tell the poor to stay in school and don't do drugs. Isn't that the opposite of eating cake? By all means, seize control, but please don't become Josef Stalin.
Golob's right. Sorry to be serious, but I'm proof. Skills are worth more than gold, and easier to carry. Thanks for the short list.
@15: "The only sin is undercapitalization."
I'm an expat living in Holland. And I think it depends on where in the Euro zone you're in. For instance, Spain is gonna totally crash. Too much building, over priced, and no credit for potential buyers. While not on the Euro, England and Ireland have the same type of housing crisis as in the States.
But I can tell you in Holland, People don't consume nearly so much and credit was never extended willynilly to anything that could fog a mirror. So I think Holland is gonna fare just fine.
As far as investing. Who the hell knows. You can try your best and lose money all the same. Keep it all safe in T-bills? Then lose it's purchasing power due to inflation. Especially when Bernake lowers the rate to 0%. Buy and hold? Great if you don't need the money. But be ready to ride a rollercoaster with your statements. Don't even look at em, if you know what's good for you. Try to get a step ahead and earn on the volatility? You think you can pull off what the all-knowing minds at Lehman Bros, Wash Mu, et al couldn't?
Just hold on tight and be nice to your neighbors.
elenchos, gold doesn't have inherent value, only value other rubes place on it.
rapid inflation might solve some of our debt problems as consumers. it's like chemo.
Noodles, thats cause tulips gave a stern lesson in manias.
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