OT .... Thoughts on ..

"Ken Fortenberry" wrote


I don't think a lot of people realize the magnitude of the impending
disaster.

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Aside: I'd guess that the words "wealth" and "money" have precise meanings
to
economists that I may abuse here. I welcome learning on the subject and
will try to correct further comments if I do learn better usage. :EndAside

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Actually, Ken, I agree. Those that criticise "spending" beyond what it
seems "short term stimulus" requires are the ones that, I believe, need to
consider that 'creating" and "sustaining" are NOT the same word.
National security demands both.

I, personally, have the remainer of a small mortgage but zero debt beyond
that and I've never, ever, bought what I couldn't pay for very quickly by
our cultural standards. Therefore the amount of 'money' I have has gone
down a lot lately, but my 'wealth' is about the same ... i.e. I own roughly
the same percentage of the same home, the same other goods, the same % of
the same companies, via stocks, and those companies largely have the same
percentage of market share and the same real products etc. The value of
that wealth has changed ... as measured in $$$, for sure .... I was once
'fairly well off' in dollars, now I'm not, but actually I'm pretty much the
same, and dollar value, market wide, will follow real value, eventually.


Too many jobs, and lives, have been built on adman bubble. Many people
( it's a cultural failing, not a politically inspired thing, imho ) have
built a lifestyle based on debt and never really had any wealth.
Regardless of what they drove or lived in, they didn't own squat.

Our "economy" has been largely based on illusion and mirror tricks for some
time now. It must go back to being based on real things, real production,
real goods, real services, real products. Sadly, there is no where near
enough of said "reality" to support the massive consumptavitis people have
grown to expect, so some very real pain is coming soon. ( hell it's here, 2
out of the last 5 businesses I've tried to contact locally have gone BK )

One thing 'investment money' CAN do is attempt to create new 'real' wealth,
i.e. new products, new markets, better uses of raw materials so that those
materials grow in value, etc.

Much of what Obama proposes ( from what I hear from both sides ) aims to do
just that, but only the one side hears it that way. We desparately need
some new things besides paper deals and mirrors behind our ecomomy and I,
for one, think that spending on 'green biz', 'education', and public
infastructure make great sense as ways to get dollars flowing over a fairly
long term while Mr Average readjusts his personal economy to more match his
personal reality, not his bubble. And when things start to turn around
we'll have good things to show for it, new industries, better schooled
workers, and levees less likely to break in a storm ( saving money on
disasters, btw, wingnuts ;-).

I don't think that the next several decades will see as much blind
consumption as what we've seen the last few, and I believe that anyone that
thinks we 'should" see it is dead wrong. IMHO, 'stimulus" as a word
misses the point. Yes we must act quickly and stimulate, but as a nation
we need readjusted expectations ... and a less grossly painful way to get
there, than 'market forces' alone will allow.

One thing this country is facing, politically, is a, more or less silly,
harping on exact wordage ... i.e. "stimulus" as an example,

This leads me to believe that arguing is more important than even trying to
understand in some circles. Let me add that anyone, in THESE times, that
is more interested in arguing for political gain, than understanding and
honestly working to solve our problems is ...... very unpatriotic


Let me quickly add, I don't believe anyone REALLY understands all of this
hugely complex mess ... and pretending to is nearly as dangerous as just
arguing for argument's sake. This is not a 'sound bite' level situation,
it's an intensely complicated one. Sound bite radio shows and politicians
( all sides ) are an enemy not a friend of a brighter future.

Those few Senators that went into a room together to try and hammer out a
'compromise,' each one undoubtedly aware that his or her own ideas may or
may not be the best or most useful, but that something had to be done, are
the heroes of the "stimulus" thus far, imho.

Those that COULD HAVE opened that door and joined them, but chose to stay
outside and chant politics about being 'left out' to the TV cameras
......... deserve our contempt. They have mine.

..