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Guest Post: Bread, Circuses, Cake And Markets
From Peter Tchir of TF Market Advisors
Bread, Circuses, Cake and Markets
The decline of the Roman Empire is captured by the simple concept of bread and circuses. Rather than focusing on the issues, the leaders tried to placate the masses. The disdain in the simple phrase 'let them eat cake' so clearly brings to mind all the reasons for the French revolution. Rather than placating the masses, the aristocracy almost took pleasure in flaunting their wealth and privilege. I am not convinced America has reached it's apex and is in decline, but more and more I believe that if we have peaked history will equate our decline with two simple words - "the market".
The stock market has always been part of American society and became even more prominent with the Internet boom, but never did it seem to dominate government the way it does now. The Fed Chairman brags that the rally in the Russell 2000 justifies his policies. Roman's receiving tribute rode a chariot with a slave whispering in their ear "you are mortal". Ben testifies before congress with the rally monkey sitting on his shoulders. (I couldn't find the rally monkey link). If it was only the fed and treasury that worried about the daily gyrations of the market, that would be one thing, but it has become pervasive at every level of politics.
Politicians brought up the need to solve the debt ceiling issue 'before the markets open is Asia" Boehner scheduled his press conference for "after the market closed". These are just a couple of recent examples but without a doubt trying to please the market has become the national pastime for politicians and the only box score they care about. The market is not the economy. Pandering to the markets does not help or fix the economy in the long run.
Ironically, fixing the economy would lead to long term gains for stocks. Maybe politicians should schedule their announcements for when it is convenient for soldiers in Iraq to watch, or at times that senior citizens find convenient. Those of us in the markets know how addicting the instant results of the market are. There is no waiting. The gratification is instant. That is a good way to run a portfolio, it is not a good way to run a country.
Since the government seems to be trying to cater to wall street, how come it has had such mediocre results? Why do record bailouts typically lead to more bailouts? Why didn't QE fix the economy? Why can't politicians bend the economy to their will? Because in the economy not everyone has the same vote. Whether it is war or healthcare or any other big issue, the politicians have a standard game plan. It generally works because very few people have much power. There may be some well respected or popular people in favor but the other side can usually find people to counter them. You get Springsteen and I get Eastwood. Head of mayo clinic says one thing, head of Harvard says another. In the end one set of politicians wins and their policy takes shape over time.
The problem with the markets is that some people have much more voting power. People vote with their money so it isn't about the number of people behind your policy, it is the amount of money. Actually it is even more difficult than that because money changes direction faster than anything else. People who want unions tend to want unions all their life. Traders who buy stocks may sell tomorrow. If we don't want out epitaph to be "we the people, for the markets" we should get back to addressing the economy and making tough decisions and letting the market take care of itself. I would rather fight through adversity to come out on top with a sense of accomplishment, rather than collect a bunch of participation awards and wonder where it all went wrong.
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Off Topic, sorry, Ron Paul audio only, today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN0nM6D73iY
Nothing there.
Well said. Yes stop trying to pander to the markets, you can't control what it does. Just fix the god damn economy and the market will reward you. Idiot partisans. Get rid of them all.
Just a couple of little things - the US doesn't have soldiers any more, it has contractors. Contractors making a lot of money; 'soldiers' is so ... 20th century poetry. Contractors are embedded into this 'market'. Congress doesn't please Wall Street since Congress IS Wall Street. Revolving doors to the revolving market.
Rinse, repeat.
I have a nephew in Japan "working" as a contractor that makes about 150K a year as a security guard ........... he is 25 years old. Hilarious!
Really? My young adult son is looking for a job and having a hard time finding anything. Maybe he can get the 'ol Zero Hedgie buddy hook-up for an apprentice security paying just half what your son gets? At least until the S gets really close to HTF and he needs to get back to the States before the borders are closed... :)
Why would he want to get back before the borders are closed? 150K/year outside of the US sounds like the perfect gig. I didnt see many people rushing to get back to East Germany before the Wall was erected.
I would help if I could - sorry. My young son is in the same situation.
US citizens make a lot of money out of army opportunities. Keep it a hush hush though. US citizens want to believe in their sacrificed youth cheap propaganda so much...
In the US, poor youth has no other future than flipping burgers or taking up military opportunities, to make 150k per year, how sad and harsh on the poor US youth. Worse fate possible.
American debt slaves, that's all we are.
" Rather than focusing on the issues, the leaders tried to placate the masses."
This dood posting doesn't seem to know much, if anything, about world history.
I would strongly advise him to read the following:
http://dieoff.org/page134.htm
A leeetle bit of knowledge goes a long way......
The problem is that it is not going to be a 20-40 year event -- we're talking a nuclear-bomb like scenario (as in an instantaneous loss of order, and all of the things it implies).
An excellent suggested read. I was particularly struck by the following footnote:
It takes protracted hardship to convince people that the world to which they have been accustomed has changed irrevocably. Hardship that is minor or episodic merely allows leaders to exploit popular discontent for personal gain. Economic growth has become mythologized as part of our ideology, which makes it particularly difficult to discuss objectively in the public arena (Giarini and Louberge 1978).
As uncle Milton would advise, "There is no such thing as a free lunch".
"I am not convinced America has reached it's apex and is in decline"
HA!! HAHA!! HAHA!!! HAHAHA!!!
+14,000,000,000. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!
How can "the economy" be broken? It's an interlocked network comprised of every participant and his actions. What is it we think it's "supposed to be like" that someone thinks it can be fixed, let alone by government?
-Allen Thornton, Laws of the Jungle
Ain't today ironic!
Bread and Circus:http://lhmarketwatch.blogspot.com/2011/07/bread-and-circus.html
the power. the power. the sovereign. the power to create
money out of the power to create money, it is banking in fiat land.
now or then it will fail to feed and then turn to murder for its survival
and required expansion. oh well, tomorrow is another day ... except
that depends on a time frame of nature and immune from the delusional
temporal dictates of banksters and their zombie tribes.
.
The War You Don’t See
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/war-you-dont-see/
.
and this ...
Peterjbolton
July 26, 2011 at 12:13 am | #
Listen and consider: The Final Moments Arrive!
I am of the firm intellectual belief, that the state of ‘Economics’ as it is practiced, is nothing but a totally fraudulent persuasion,and has been been for at least 300 years, or more, with its fundamentals rooted in the US demand for exogenous spoils through looting, by the continuity of war activities and diplomatic imposed national intimidation – fully, a priori, and necessarily supported by the largest and most sophisticated military force – that exists, which just cannot, incompetently and managerially, win a war –because, that is the intention and purpose of its own National ‘economic practice’.
All this, while the so called US Gold Standard was a Central Bank fraud — as is the whole Global Banking system.
The World has been conned and fooled!
All – “Economic Theory” and “Economics” is “store high in transit” – it is opinion; nothing more and nothing less but preferential opinion and nothing more than convenient opine and ignorance that allows it to be propaganda-ized through the whole public socio-economic spectrum of human action. That is to say, the education demand which, upon realization, in order to survive, must be immediately forgotten.
Economics is a Profession of Prostitutes, without Ethics and or Morality!
The ruling socio-economic force is Banking — which controls by the establishment of Central Banks which projects its controls by franchised political power and centralizes a major “interest” on all productivity, ad infinitum. It is a parasite which is predatorial, a priori! Banking is the Giant Squid and feral fungi Candida; it is the end!
There is no “Economic Theory” per se, only control through inflation of Central Banks.!
There is a need for Human Consciousness to evolve to the point of exposing this Economic Fraud of organized crime by political being and Policy on the human economy!
Sadly, we will not believe these words. But, if we do, humanity may survive!
On target, but sad to say sir you are whistling in the wind....the situation is I believe beyond any reasonable recovery.........I don't much care for swear words, but think we will just continue to be fucked over, simply because it is the least line of resistance....
whistle i whistle the wind blows the wind blows i whistle. soon the wind will change and someone will whistle into that new wind with the same old whistle. and the wind will then change, again, and a new whistler will find the right tune. a song that resonates in the heart and mind, to satisfy the soul of humanity. ....... anon.
We are far beyond any reasoned recovery -- so do we end it now or let the market end it for us?
Thank God for food stamps.........people can now have so much more than cake.
Well, not exactly cake.
Twinkies, Suzy Qs, Big Gulps, Ding Dongs, Doritos, and maybe a couple of Slim Jims for protien.
+1 kito
I,am with you...
People will soon discover that IOU does not mean I WILL PAY YOU. In the end the only thing that is stopping the US from defaulting is the fear that China will confiscate every single US subsidiary in China as payback. That will absolutely screw US corporate earnings to say the least.
And there is your excuse for another war.........
...and as we all know, war is often a means used to "stimulate" a sluggish economy. And I'm not talking about a childish public smackdown like we gave to Libya recently. That wasn't a real war. I'm talking a full-blown gearing up for takeovers of entire sovereign nations (or the full-blown defense of our American soil from an invasion).
Maybe the Libyans think otherwise. But who cares? This is a US world order and only matters the opinion of the new nobility in the world, US citizens.
Default sounds better and better each passing day..
the market?
banking and "money".
Bankers, according to the London Times, launder about 400 billion dollars a year or more in illegal weapons sales.
Posted on July 25, 2011 by maxkeiser
http://maxkeiser.com/2011/07/25/bankers-according-to-the-london-times-la...
somewhere else on ZH i thought i saw that less than 40% of sales, and even less of revenues come from America for S&P 500 companies, and yet that is all the government worries about!
the politicians don't give a crap about the markets... all that matters is they suck out enough money from your pockets and the deluded financiers that buy Govt debt that they keep their sponsors (parasites) pockets lined with money
...everything else is a charade
Good post. I found it interesting and revealing that Reid quoted two market 'experts' during his press conference.
Who are these experts? Did we vote them in? Are they going to talk their book? Yes! So, aren't they conflicted?
It represented a clear and crass representation of who's really in charge of this country...
I noticed that too...I find it absurd that politicians and market watchers hang on bernankes every word as though he were the oracle at Delphi...He is a bearded button pusher...unelected no less...pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...
i wish there was a like button :) +100
"food stamps" and "golden parachutes" that's how america of today will be remembered
No Glass-Steagall, no recovery, everything else, including all the lame-o plans put forth in congress is just tossing off into ones own ass via a funnel.
By the way, should we expect the msrket to jump by 150 points once the political masters reach an agreement on the debt ceiling? Haven't news replaced fundamentals? The Dow's reading is nothing more than the mortician's make up powder on what is otherwise just a corpse.
Ok, now that default is imminent, who will forgive us first for not paying them China or Japan? I think Japan only because they need our support to keep North Korea locked up. China wants Taiwan and will probably request it as payment for our defaulting on their U.S. bonds they bought. Secondly, it was a very bad precident to set when Germany and France let Greece roll over its bonds. Now, they have to let all the PIIGS plus Belgium roll their debt over. Ditto USA. Should be interesting next week seeing how the world markets react. My guess is that default is already priced into markets. Noone cares anymore except Tax-Cheat Tim, Bernoccio and Obama.
Tyler Durden looks like Billy Idol with black hair. Cool!
Conan's Father: Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky. But Crom is your god, Crom and he lives in the earth. Once, giants lived in the Earth, Conan. And in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered. And the Earth shook. Fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters, but in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield. We who found it are just men. Not gods. Not giants. Just men. The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Conan. You must learn its discipline. For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts.
[Points to sword]
Conan's Father: This you can trust.
Don't worry. Be happy.
They have 'em a high-powered Kentucky blue-hemp super-congress.
I'm sure they'll fix us good.
our apex was y2k.
All large societies that failed were led to their demise by stupid panjandra. Just like we're being led to our comeuppance by the stupid, pompous, pretentious assholes in Washington, DC & on Wall Street. Sad.
The GOVERMENT.... IS NOT...THE "Fed"
The "Fed",....is NOT..."The Goverment.
The second paragraph could be VERY misleading.
Thge "Fed"...is the Goverments"Boss"
how is the Fed not the government? appointed by the government....speaks to the government...not answerable to anyone but the government.....don't believe independence for a second...either he is bigger than government, then the government is the fed, or vice versa, but don't believe indpendence for a second!
The Fed...the de facto Fourth Branch of the government.
Take your "Bread and Circuses" and shove 'em right up your ass.
CHASE BANK - MODIFY FAIRLY OR FACE $100,000,000 LAWSUIT FOR FRAUD
DO NOT CIRCUMVENT OUR OFFICE - ALL CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING THIS MORTGAGE SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO US.
Dear Chase,
We have sent HUNDREDS of pages of documentation to you since November 2010.
The borrower came to us because they did the same and were ignored. We are going to try one more time to obtain a modification for our clients before we turn to the court system for relief.
Your company has run rough-shot over our state's title statutes, and violated them as if they did not exist [and not only with regard to this particular property]. Unless you offer our clients an acceptable loan modification with a principal write-down to a new balance of $100,000,000.00 within 45 days, our intent is to amend our existing complaint to include acting in bad faith and outright fraud. The way you have treated our clients is disgusting and you should be held accountable.
The concept of "fraud" no longer applies in the United States. You don't have enough money nor power to be defrauded.
Now that i have re read the second paragragh again,I see that it IS VERY deceptive....
Reason being...???
The bread and circuses are the reality shows and the govt. obfuscations.
We need to be as children and tell the Establishment: "You're not the boss of me!" That'll scare them shitless . . .
Yes, panem et circenses. Shh,...the mummer speaks.
OT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE JUNK BUTTONS?????
JUST ASKIN
AMD WHAT IS THIS SCORING? WHO IS KEEPING THE SCORE. AND WHOSE SCORE MATTERS TO WHOM?
I miss the Junk button, too, but I suppose I can live without it, because then we can perhaps submit/read comments without worrying about how many people *anonymously* dislike something we say.
But what's with the rating? I don't care about someone's rating. I just want to interact with comments. A higher rating would just make someone look superior to others somehow based on some vague criteria I'm not even clear about.
Webmaster...please consider getting rid of ratings. They don't add much value to the site (which is otherwise excellent in layout and format).
Is it like golf? Perhaps a negative number is desirable. Maybe it's the Stableford system.
I saw someone with a two, I think. Forget who though.
Ravens safety Ed Reed has publicly criticized the tactics of Hines Ward for years and he revealed last week that he has even criticized the Pittsburgh wide receiver to his face. "I love Hines as a player and I told him that," Reed wore Custom NFL Jerseys and said last week at his football camp. “But I told him also for a long time, ‘You are a dirty player because I know how you play.’” Reed and Ward have led the charge when it comes to this physical AFC North rivalry. The two pulled each other to the ground on the Steelers' first offensive play in last year's playoffs. "Ed and I, we have our battles," Ward wore Nike NFL Jerseys and said after that playoff game in January. "No disrespect to Ed, he probably takes it personal. If Ed takes it personal, so be it." Ward has built a reputation for delivering crack-back blocks on defenseless players. Reed wore Mitchell And Ness and said that his philosophy to playing the game differs with Ward. “I always play the game a certain way, regardless of what guys say,” Reed wore Throwback NFL Jerseys and said. “I have given some shots out there, but even those shots have been to where the guy can get up. I play a position where I know I have kill shots. I can really hurt somebody if I wanted to."
Broke...Ten Facts about the Financial Condition Of American Families That Will Blow Your Mind...
http://seenoevilspeaknoevilhearnoevil.blogspot.com/2011/07/broke-10-fact...
OT; Hilarious 2 Min Vid...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Uju3tYS2s
Well, that's two minutes of my life I won't get back. Not only "not funny", but downright confusing as to why anyone would want to link to it and share with others. Nothing to do with ZH.
You wrote : "The disdain in the simple phrase 'let them eat cake' so clearly brings to mind all the reasons for the French revolution."
If you want to draw a parallel with what could happens in the US, its interesting because the French revolution was only what is called in French a 'relais d'elite' Ie. one elite ( the aristocracy ) going down and one elite, "la bourgeoisie" ( the new richs ) going up. The later have used their money to remove the aristocracy from power ( they have actively financed the so called "revolution", like the US and NATO for the Lybian revolution ). Then what ? Then the poors got only poorer !
So, good luck !
US style of revolutions are class warfare: the middle class taking on the upper class using the lower class as a lever.
US world order.
"I am not convinced America has reached it's apex and is in decline..."
I didn't read past that. It should be obvious to anyone with a knowledge of history that America has reached it's apex. What part of that doesn't he understand?
The world will return to the historical mean. An elite mintority with no conscious feeding off a slave class. The main difference between 2030 and 1030 will be a much higher level of technological enslavement.
You are forgetting a more heavily armed peasantry this time. Some with automatic weapons and military skills.
Yes, but there is no obvious target. The system of slavery is systemic and attempts to reform it will socially isolate you.
This obsession with the market just shows to go you the extent to which Goldman et al.'s tentacles and ethos have found their way into every cranny and closet in Congress: Our government; their tool.
Long term gains is not their objective. Huge campaign funds they can convert into personal income down the road is where the big money is, i.e. Bill Clinton, who never had a pot to piss in. Now this great man of the people is worth how many millions?
Where is my bread, ciruses, and cake?
Not "the market" but rather "Socialist Welfare State".
my question has always been who asked them to interfere in the market to begin with...same question for the treaserve, who asked you to bailout stupidism?
they complain about people dragging their heels on raising the debt ceiling, if you listened to the population I think the majority would say no. besides, who asked them to spend beyond revenue levels?
so they bailout stupid when everyone said no and then act all surprised when people don't want to increase their credit limit.
if this goes on much longer we're all screwed.
They want to raise the debt ceiling because with the additional debt, the interest paid on that debt by the taxpayers goes directly to the top 0.1%. Nobody seems to be on to this scam. The whole point of QE and anything else that increases the interest paid on the national debt is to funnel money, via interest on the national debt, to the owners of the US. Seen from that perspective, which is essentially cui bono (who benefits) everything falls into place à la Ockam's razor (the simplest explanation that works is the best explanation).
Obama wants a debt increase, Boehner wants to cut back on Social Security and Medicare. For Boehner, the money that would have gone into paying recipients of these programs is now used to increase the amount of money that goes to pay interest on the debt. The whole thing is a ruse. The debt is so large that the principal can never even be reduced, nor will it ever stop growing (Antal Fekete has some valuable insights in this area. See http://www.professorfekete.com/articles%5CAEFGrowthAndDebt.pdf ). The American taxpayer is like someone with such a large balance on his credit cards that he will never be able to reduce the principal, and the interest that he fails to pay is added to the principal. Thus, either way--Obama or Boehner--the ultimate outcome is to funnel money to the top 0.1% which they then convert into assets of real value. It's all a scam. There is no point, at this point in time, in worrying about the size of the deficits (maybe Cheney was right in this sense and he knew it). I would guess that the only thing proping up the dollar is our military might, which our trading partners (partners in crime) fear, just as if it were like a very powerful mafia don.
I highly recommend reading the Fekete paper cited above. It is one of the most valuable keys to understanding the crisis were in. A little pre-calculus math, but nothing this crowd can't handle!
The American empire couldn't afford a wall, just a fence.
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