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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Economy The Spitting Distance

Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 8:32 AM

Here we go again:

Dow nears 10,000
The Dow industrials surged at the open, nearly crossing 10,000 for the first time in a year, fueled by upbeat results from finance firm JPMorgan Chase and chipmaker Intel, and weak September retail sales that still beat forecasts. CNNMoney reports the Dow is within spitting distance of 10,000 — a level not seen since October 3, 2008, when it reached 10,124 during the trading session. full story

I fear we missed our chance to change this society in any meaningful way. The market will continue its domination of the state. We will forget TARP and its secret heart: socialism.

Comments (16) RSS

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Good riddance. Let's get rid of capitalism while we're at it and design a system that works? Maybe some sort of strange unfathomable combination of the two.

Posted by Slor on October 14, 2009 at 8:53 AM

My secret heart is Early Romanticism. You know, the fairy-tale kind where the authors had orgies.

Posted by PedestrianMe

on October 14, 2009 at 8:58 AM

It's not socialism, it's fascism. The government works to socialize the risks and privatize the rewards.

Posted by The Amazing Jim

on October 14, 2009 at 9:00 AM

Yep, and I'll retire on a yacht. SUCKIT Mudede.

Posted by heywhatsit!? on October 14, 2009 at 9:30 AM

10,000 and 10% unemployment. feels like something of a disconnect there.

don't worry though, another crisis is looming, i'm sure.

Posted by Max Solomon on October 14, 2009 at 9:31 AM

So, we're either heading into a double-dip recession, or unemployment is (and has traditionally been) a lagging indicator.

Posted by Banna

on October 14, 2009 at 9:44 AM

Charles you are a masochist. You want to market to fail so you can work for socialism? You would rather be shot then use a gun to defend yourself? Get a grip man.

You are exactly what the right fears and rallies against. You are exactly the kind of extremist who holds back the pragmatic and moderate left from getting anything done.

Posted by anonanonanon on October 14, 2009 at 10:13 AM

@7: fearing that "extremists" like charles will take over the US and force socialism on it is IRRATIONAL. the "far left", i.e. actual Socialists, have NO POWER WHATSOEVER in the US. even progressive liberals have trouble getting their concerns and ideas recognized as legitimate by the "moderate left", AKA the center right. literally NOTHING but fear of a theoretical filibuster in the senate is standing in their way.

the far right should stop being so afraid - but given that fear is their raison d'etre, that's unlikely.

Posted by Max Solomon on October 14, 2009 at 10:48 AM

So we're back to where we were nine years ago. Thanks for nothing, George.

Posted by keshmeshi on October 14, 2009 at 11:02 AM

I really don't understand how people can still think that numbers like the Dow or a nation's GDP are indicators of anything meaningful. Unless you're at the top, playing world politico-economics like a game of Civilization, you might as well cast auguries by the patterns of flocks of birds in the sky. Meaningless - in fact, worse than meaningless. These numbers only serve to abstract and dehumanize.

Posted by balderdash

on October 14, 2009 at 11:06 AM

Charles, you're nuts. You should try saving and investing. Practice breeds understanding. It's great that you can play with words and write from a disconnected, inexperienced vantage point, but please understand that there are vast holes in your knowledge and understanding of the world.

As for the DOW, it's just a number. Unemployment will go higher than 10%, by the way.

Posted by chong on October 14, 2009 at 11:10 AM

@3 is correct. Externalizing risks to the public and privatizing profits is fascism, not socialism. Which is why they called themselves National Socialists.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on October 14, 2009 at 11:43 AM

11, my god, i do read without end thinkers like Doug Henwood and David Harvey. i'm familiar with the 150-year tradition of political economy. i have an idea of how these things work. sorry, i just do.

Posted by Charles Mudede on October 14, 2009 at 12:11 PM

It's easy to be a socialist when you have no assets....

Posted by Ian Smith on October 14, 2009 at 1:07 PM

No, no, Charles! Don't you understand? This time it's different. The market will never drop again, and it's Dow 30,000 by 2015!

Posted by Gitai on October 14, 2009 at 2:17 PM

I know it's an unpopular idea here, but the Dow does matter. Retirement and pension plans are heavily invested in the stock market. The Dow is not the end-all be-all, but don't pretend like it doesn't matter either.

Posted by The Amazing Jim

on October 14, 2009 at 4:08 PM