This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
A Small Printed Note Saying "Wait!"
Submitted by Mark J. Grant, author of Out of the Box,
The Mothers of Intervention
To me, the world is running down a quite slippery slope in its attempt to avoid calamity. The political machines in Europe and the United States and to a real but lesser extent in China have passed the hat to their central banks because either they cannot or will not face up to the severity of their problems. Some have called it lack of leadership which may well be true and I have categorized it past that where there is a decided lack of agreement about how to settle important issues so that the three central banks are all that stand between farce and tragedy. The investment community, so long used to the invincibility of the Fed in particular, recognize the dire straits but continue to rally in equities or compress in bonds based upon their almost dogmatic faith that each central bank can cure the problems by adding liquidity in ever increasing amounts to deal with the solvency issues that won’t go away. I would say that this “faith based initiative” is misplaced based first upon the caveat that the nations in question all have liability for their central banks, that one day, someday, the size of the national liabilities for their central bank will get counted and recognized and finally that the printing of money whether recognized or unrecognized eventually has consequences.
I have often heard it asked, and by some of the largest professional money managers in the world, why the markets are behaving in their current fashion. We get bad economic news, poor earnings, fiscal crisis in Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and perhaps in Italy and still the markets rise. The reason for all of this is “intervention” which has resulted not just in liquidity but in the notion that the central banks will do anything/everything to cure the problems so that worse is better, white is black and rational judgment is transformed into lunacy. It is liquidity and faith that are driving the boat and derelict accounting that is providing the fuel.
The problems in the United States are clear enough. We find two distinct visions of the world. Forget the parties; we have one contender who is presenting a socialist viewpoint of the world which is actually quite similar to what is taking place in Europe. Then we have a candidate that is espousing a more traditional American value where people stand on their own two feet and make their way based upon their initiative. When I grew up in the 1950’s we applauded and respected the achiever and the successful. Today Mr. Obama bashes Wall Street and wants those who have attained some success to hand over their money to those that have languished. This is far past the “safety net” that has always been in place in the United States and his vision is the cousin to France, Italy and other nations mired in Socialism where the population is dollar cost averaged by the taxes and political system that is in place. While I would personally contend that the traditional American values have merit I would also agree with the proposition that the people in the United States are faced with a very real choice between Socialism and Capitalism that will be decided in the coming weeks. This is not, in my opinion, the traditional five degrees to the left or right choice but a fundamental difference in values.
In Europe the problems are also of a fundamental nature. It is not just North versus South or the nations with money as opposed to the nations without it but a demand by those nations in trouble to have access to the capital and the savings of the nations that are economically solid. The definition of “More Europe” in Germany is decidedly different than the definition in Spain and the fight for a European definition is at the center of the rancor in Europe which has left the ECB as the only real functioning institution in Europe past the drivel that flows out of Brussels like so much manure to sod the farms outside of Antwerp.
The problem is exemplified by both Spain and Greece. Bank stress tests that were a joke, economic projections that had all of the reality of a Grimm’s Fairy Tale, and economies that are diving off the cliff. Spain reports out this morning that the bad loans at their banks jumped to a record 10.5% which is coming off of a baseline of 0.72% in December 2006. The worst case scenario forecast of Oliver Wyman has taken on all of the reality of the economic projections of each country provided by the IMF which must have been constructed by some folks in the land of Winkin, Blinkin’ & Nod. The fantasy continues; inaccurate data, fanciful projections, grand arm waving assurances by the European politicians and then months or quarters out real numbers which lay the scheme out naked and finally the fantastical belief that the central bank will wave its magic wand and make everything all good again. This is the stuff of Mommy kissing the boo-boo and everything will be just fine but the scrape is now a gash and I am afraid that the machinations of Mommy Central Bank cannot cure the problems much longer because surgery is required.
Many countries in Europe have reached the point where they are saying “No.” We see it this morning in pronouncements from Sweden and Finland. Euro-zone nations “need to do some things now that we maybe can’t be a part of,” was the common statement. Austria and the Netherlands have lined up stating no more of their citizen’s money for other countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called for more integration within the European
Union by giving EU's top economic official the veto power on national budgets of member states.
This, I assure you, will not fly in the Parliaments of many European nations and “More Europe” not only lacks a common European definition but it lacks agreement from one nation to the next. We are just not reaching some sort of crunch time but we are reaching a point and perhaps the point where the European Muddle ends and the division begins.
“On the delivery plate of the Nutri-Matic Drink Synthesizer was a small tray, on which sat three bone china cups and saucers, a bone china jug of milk, a silver teapot full of the best tea Arthur had ever tasted and a small printed note saying "Wait.”
-Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
- 12436 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -


Print Print Print
Seems true that
« There is no functional tool in any central [bank] toolbox other than QE to deal with national insolvencies. »
- Jim Sinclair, MineSet
US Budget Dilema explained in 5min: http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/EW5IdwltaAc?rel=0
Don't panic!
“On the kitchen table was a small tray, on which sat two bone china cups and saucers, a bone china creamer, a silver french press full of the best coffee the visitor from Europe had ever tasted, and a small blue Post-It note saying..."
"HH"----so, is the note signed "Hugh Hendry" or hedgeless horseman?
Would you recommend we panic? I mean, it's only money......er, not even that. It's only CB credit.
With 1% reserves, you won't have long to "wait" once depositors start pulling money out of ECB member banks. He that panics first panics best.
Do you work around the farm in those nice suits you wear on TV?
When tilling make sure to wear some slicks.
"With 1% reserves, you won't have long to "wait" once depositors start pulling money out of ECB member banks. He that panics first panics best."
Seems like an acknowledgement that the reserves are already irrelevant and they'll be plenty (more) o'printing.
Once you're handing out $1T a yr to member banks, asking them to give you back $50B or $200B is really a question of how much you'll print not how much they'll pay.
"Seems true that
« There is no functional tool in any central [bank] toolbox other than QE to deal with national insolvencies. »
- Jim Sinclair, MineSet"
And in reality there's never been any other...
"Then we have a candidate that is espousing a more traditional American value..."
Really? Where is that candidate? If Mark is articulating Romney as that guy, then he is a bit off base. Bailout Romney? Really?
Agree.
The real big picture: one candidate represents the welfare state. The other represents the corporate welfare state.
Ultimately, there is no spoon....I mean capitalism, anymore
Hear hear!.. And, I would add, they Both represent the media, advertising, propaganda welfare state!
The LAST THING any of them represent is the people....
Luuv the pimp hat! :>D
"The real big picture: one candidate represents the welfare state. The other represents the corporate welfare state"
Really? Specify. If you think they are different even on that larger point you have not been paying attention Obama just trash talks to his bitches, he still sleeps with them. Romney will sleep with both sides too.
Same shitty cereal different packaging.
Catsup or mustard on your shit sandwich?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Gnr6dYS2Y
An interpretive dance of the situation with Jim Carrey.
More like traditional american delusion. God is on our side, so anything we do is right.
"we have a candidate that is espousing a more traditional American value where people stand on their own two feet and grab bailouts based on their connections." Fixed it for ya.
When has Romney ever represented anything other than seeking advantage by tilting the playing field in one's own favor? He's a private-equity guy. It's Obama that respresents the traditional American value of There's A Sucker Born Every Minute. Choice of cancer or ebola.
You mean its too late to pick Bunga Bunga? Death by Bunga Bunga would be preferable to cancer or ebola. Especially if its some hot babe wielding a strap on. Might as well go out with a smile on your face.
Exactly. Grant really loses me with this essay. His praise for Romney shows he either doesn't know or doesn't care what is going on.
Plus, his assertion that Wall Street is being criticized for their success, rather than their fraud, shows someone who isn't operating in the real world.
If this system collapses of the two candidates who do you think is the lesser of two evils?
I believe one person will establish a dictatorship and the other candidate just may have the faith in humanity to let the individual figure it out
What time is Honey Boo Boo on tonight???
Dumb faith is certainly a large part of the problem:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/12044-blind-faith-as-profit-engine-how-fr...
Wow. Great article! That is what editorial journalism should be.. Even if one doesn't agree, it is well thought out and supported argument. I only would say that, sadly, it is over the heads of a lot of people who would benefit from the perspective...
I don't think the problem is either intelligence or education, but religiously fanatical indoctrination and tragically shortsighted, obsessive self-interest/greed.
Not to mention how the program deeply satisfies an intensely misanthropic passion among finance-types and wannabe's.
This appears to be a more comprehensive version of the same article, btw:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/how-propagandists-1-are-manipulati...
Exactly as planned - the Zionistas have won.
.
If the game itself is subverted, inverted and broken, should the winners be admired and celebrated?
The "winners" certainly won't be the ones that rectify the broken game. You can't possibly suggest the winners of the current game can be trusted to self enforce rules adverse to them.
Divide and conquer is the preferred tool of the status quo.
As for Venice and her people, merely born to bloom and drop,
Here on Earth she bore her fruitage, mirth and folly were the crop,
What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to stop?
Browning
"When I grew up in the 1950’s we applauded and respected the achiever and the successful."
Of course, the 1950s were also a time when blacks and native Americans--who were (and continue to be) the victims of America's TRUE values: murder, theft, slavery and mendacity--were still routinely being shit upon by "successful" white achievers. I don't imagine that those subjects were touched upon too often in your 1950s household, now, were they?
That's a bullshit argument. We're just as racist as we've ever been, but we fucked the country up in the bargain with all the bullshit socialism, multiculturalism, and the celebration of victimhood. And as a bonus, black racism is the worst it has ever been. Why don't you walk your lily-white ass through a black neighborhood at night and see how long it takes before you get a beat-down. Or even walk it through a downtown area at night and walk towards a group of black teenagers, maybe they'll be playing one of their "knock out whitey" games and you'll be the guest of honor.
Thanks to dipshits like you, this country is walking into a buzzsaw.
This statment should be posted on the home page of ZH
Well stated
LOL...I live in the Bronx, you fucking idiot. I live, work, and travel with black people EVERY SINGLE DAY. Where do you live?
When "respect for achievement" includes respect for the guys running crooked and/or government-bailed businesses, you really have to wonder what "values" this guy thinks he's talking about in the first place.
Does anyone really think we should respect someone like Vikram Panda for his "achievement"? How many of the really big income earners have ever done *anything* worthy of respect?
'Americans' prefer fantasy over reality.
Their nature leans to that. The pang grows sourer when the 'american' middle class that is being dissociated is being involved...
When i was in College the rowing team held the moniker "our wake...your funeral." the fact of the matter is while the bulk of the Western World is careening towards insolvency and possibly even bankruptcy itself (wouldn't that be a sight to behold)...not ALL of it. indeed...entirely NEW wealth aggregators have already emerged....ready to react...LIKE VULTURES...picking the bones of the wrecked ideas of this latest "experiment in capitalism." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffxiPjncOPY
People are lined up in cues longer than an apple store to buy Spanish debt. See? Fixed!
the real choice is not between the current form of capitalism we have today - call it Vampire Capitalism versus Socialism
but between todays System and a Mercantilist State that is citizen centric wherein the constititutional duties of the state: "Provide for the General Welfare" - is expressed by a partnership between business and the state to create an engine for the provision and development of its citizens - which doesnt mean "outsourcing" everything
corporations are not people and people are citizens and they are provided for in the constitution
only thru a Mercantilist State of governance will the overwhelming number of people survive when the marginal cost of labor disintermediated to the far east is $1.00 or $2.00 per hour - there is NO One in the USA that can survive on their own: heat/roof/clothes/food/transportation @ $1.00 per hour unless a state sponsored policy of Murder by Neglect eliminates at least 160 million people .....very quickly!
stupidity and dishonesty are always popular.
http://covert.ias3.com/expose/
The Lord says He can get me out of this mess, but He's pretty sure you're fooked.
lol Nice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwx2ce_AyOE
Don't worry Money Boo Boo....errrr Im mean Bernanke will make it all better with a little warm milk and cookies for everyone.
"we have one contender who is presenting a socialist viewpoint of the world which is actually quite similar to what is taking place in Europe. Then we have a candidate that is espousing a more traditional American value where people stand on their own two feet and make their way based upon their initiative."
We have one contender, who having a track record, cannot hide the truth very well. The other is largely lying at least about crony capitalists "standing on their own two feet and making their way based upon their initiative."
I'm not voting for Romney.
"But Obama wants to takie our guns away!"
I'm not voting for Romney.
"The Supreme Court hangs in the balance."
I'm not voting for Romney.
"Obama will make abortion mandatory"
I'm not voting for Romney.
"If Obama wins the Muslims win"
I'm not voting for Romney.
"Obama wasn't even born on this planet"
I'm not voting for Romney
"Obama has sex with aliens"
I'm not voting for Romney.
If you don't vote for Romney, I'll shoot this dog.
Nevermind, it's too late. I never could stand that dog. Carlos, the fuckin' totally blind chihuahua with some kind of skin condition.
If it matters to you, I was going to cave to save the dog.
Based on the 4 down arrows on each of my anti-Romney posts, I assume we only have 4 pro-Romney f-tards @ ZH. A sign of good mental health.
I'm for gun rights. They are inalienable and come from G-d. Romney doesn't agree and neither does Obama. And they are welcome to voice their opinions, because of another right that comes from G-d.
Voting for either of the two is a crime punishable by impoverishment and possible starvation, depending on how big your hump is.
Come on, Rmoney knows all about jobs, balancing budgets and standing on his own feet:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-federal-bailout-that-saved-mitt-romney-20120829
http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-04-18/news/Mitt-Romney-american-parasite/
Don't be a hater, you commie: Be a Believer!
As for the other empty suit slut to the plutocrats:
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/10319-barack-obama-changeling
One day, someone, some how will drive a stake through the heart of the 'money printing' meme. This may this will do it: "the printing of money whether recognized or unrecognized eventually has consequences ..." If the central banks were 'printing money' there would be no liabilities therefore no consequences'.
Central banks are either pregnant or not.
Central banks cannot issue currency-without-liability they can only offer loans ... which are supposed to be repaid ... that are added to the bounty of existing loans ... which themselves can never be repaid ... so the central banks' loans can never be repaid either.
If the government issues currency ... and it is used to repay debts ... the debts and the currency are extinguished at the same time. For the government to do this would destroy the banks ... so the government does not print money, either.
This remark is almost too dumb to warrant a reply. Mr Grant, you and your kind have been getting steady doses of market pricing of capital since 1999 and it has been bankrupting you. The consequence has been 'capitalists' racing to Washington hats in hand looking for a way to make the pain stop.
Guess what? Your precious friends in Washington cannot help you! The problem is at the end of your driveway ... not in Washington. Your toy has guzzled your capital leaving you with nothing but an empty bag. Either the capital shortage emerges from the scrim of Big Business propaganda or the cost of bailout credit bankrupts you. It is 'either/or', there is no third way.
The outcome? You don't wanna know ... something to do with bankers and lampposts ...
All the politicians are learning from Clinton, his boom was created by printing money.
Do you want to be the politician known for killing GDP because you raised rates?
It's a no win situation. It's like being a heroin addict.
I say dont feed the beast with higher taxes let it starve.
With the growth of government these central planners will end up starving themselves due to no revenue
All the politicians are learning from Clinton, his boom was created by printing money.
Where'd you get that idea?
Congratulations on knowing that the situation in the U.S. so clear. It is not clear to me. The U.S. economy has been “socialist” since before Marx and Engels invented socialism. Public roads? Socialist. Public libraries, public schools, public universities, ditto. Land grants to railroads? Yep, socialism through government subsidies to business 150 years ago. It is all a matter of degree and there are no viable political parties or movements that don't support de facto socialism. Whining as if there is some choice between pure capitalism and pure socialism is either deceitful or ignorant. I guarantee nobody wants to function in a purely capitalist economy. Even die-hard capitalists (especially die-hard capitalists) want their “Economic Development.”
"Yep, socialism through government subsidies to business 150 years ago."
The Whig party platform, I believe.
I'd agree with you. However, I'd rather be more toward the capitalist end of the spectrum, than where we are heading now toward the socialist end of the spectrum. Why work for $50k/yr when the gubbamint will pay you $40k/yr to stay home?
"Why work for $50k/yr when the gubbamint will pay you $40k/yr to stay home?"
I don't know. You could work for the gubbamint for $80K.
[quote] I don't know. You could work for the gubbamint for $80K. [/quote]
"That ain't workin' -- munny for nothin' and yer chickz for freeeee!"
Ah, there is one 'american' candidate, acknowledged as being an 'american' by 'americans'.
Looking forward to November, 6th.
Since you grew up in the 50s, Mr. Grant, you must certainly be aware that the rich were taxed at a much greater percentage, for the very top brackets over 90%, and they still managed to enjoy lives of sybaritic excess.
Bunk. No one paid 90% effective tax rates. There were exemptions and loop holes all over the place. Who on earth would work 10 days a week to give the government 9 days of your pay? If taxes were that high, I'd just stay home too. All of you people sitting in the wagon enjoying the ride and the scenery will be in for a big surprise when the horses pulling the wagon decide to come sit in it with you.
Frank Sinatra paid that rate and still lived better than 90% of the population.
So, as an IRS agent, how much did I pay last year?
Cool story, Bro!
Check out the currently running series "The Men Who Built America". Real eye opener. Those "pure capitalism" times were great....if you were Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, or Ford. For the rest of the people? Work real hard and don't break a leg or an arm.
The Story of Henry Ford's $5 a Day Wages: It's Not What You Think
snip
There’s an argument you see around sometimes about Henry Ford’s decision to pay his workers those famed $5 a day wages. It was that he realised that he should pay his workers sufficiently large sums to that they could afford the products they were making. In this manner he could expand the market for his products.
It should be obvious that this story doesn’t work: Boeing would most certainly be in trouble if they had to pay their workers sufficient to afford a new jetliner. It’s also obviously true that you want every other employer to be paying their workers sufficient that they can afford your products: but that’s very much not the same as claiming that Ford should pay his workers so that they can afford Fords.
So, if creating that blue collar middle class that could afford the cars wasn’t why Ford brought in his $5 a day wages, what was the reason?
Actually, it was the turnover of his staff.
Bankers should have known better than to run everyone through the ringer because of their greed. Arrest them.
This forum posting is by someone who does NOT know what Socialism or Capitalism is. This person does not have any grasp of reality and so I am guessing has been watching re-runs of the three 'debates'.
I am advocating that the last 'debate' be given a special Emmy award for best unreal Reality show, special event. Capitalism may exist in Germany, but to continue to assert that capitalism exists in the U.S. is a clear indication that an employee of Romney's, tell-as-many-BIG-lies-as-you-can campaign wrote this.
Greg Palast: "Mitt Romney’s Bailout Bonanza: How He Made Millions from the Rescue of Detroit"
We turn now to a major new exposé on the cover of The Nation magazine called "Mitt Romney’s Bailout Bonanza: How He Made Millions from the Rescue of Detroit." Investigative..
Greg Palast, investigative reporter who has tracked Romney’s "vulture" fund partners for five years for BBC Television’s Newsnight. He is the author of the recently released New York Times bestseller, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps. His new Nation exposé is called "Mitt Romney’s Bailout Bonanza: How Mitt and Ann Made Millions — and Mitt’s Hedge Fund Donors Made Billions — from the Auto-Industry Rescue that He Condemned."
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/18/greg_palast_mitt_romneys_bailout_...
How many millions and how many votes do you think Obama got from the Detroit bailouts? Its all about buying the votes.
I suppose capitalism in it's most pure form might involve warlords. I'm disappointed that our most ardent capitalists nonetheless lined up at the discount window when the shit hit the fan. Capitalists are capitalists as long as it suits them. Whatever it takes....
"Today Mr. Obama bashes Wall Street and wants those who have attained some success to hand over their money to those that have languished. "
Cardiodoc, I was wanting to express the same sentiment but your post did it so much more effectively! I'm as much a free-market capitalist as the next blue Democrat, but I find it hard to justify a system that rewards risk taking with a blank check to the upside, and a government funded safety net on the down. We can't hold ourselves out as the as the last bastion of Capitalism, while relying on Government bailouts to keep us solvent. I don't recall hypocrisy being one of the rights enshrined in the Constitution.
The right of free speech is so enshrined (Bill of Rights, Article I)
Being a hypocritical asshole is a God Given Privilege which some abuse.
After all, God gave us assholes to use.
Why thanks... of course it's "Socialism for the capitalists, capitalism for everyone else" (Robert Reich?)... the realizations that our form of capitalism allows for privatization of profits, while socializing losses has been around for more than 50 years. This didn't begin with current administration and won't end with a change in administrations, and the idea that we can revert to some form of idealized economy that existed (when, under Reagan?) is absurd. The content found here informs to an astonishing degree my understanding of global economy, but sometimes the editorialists check their bullshit filters at the door. We're engaged (the fed) in desperate struggle to delay the day of reckoning, when this empire in the sand meets the big wave....
Why thanks... of course it's "Socialism for the capitalists, capitalism for everyone else" (Robert Reich?)... the realizations that our form of capitalism allows for privatization of profits, while socializing losses has been around for more than 50 years. This didn't begin with current administration and won't end with a change in administrations, and the idea that we can revert to some form of idealized economy that existed (when, under Reagan?) is absurd. The content found here informs to an astonishing degree my understanding of global economy, but sometimes the editorialists check their bullshit filters at the door. We're engaged (the fed) in desperate struggle to delay the day of reckoning, when this empire in the sand meets the big wave....