Umair Haque / Bubblegeneration

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

The New New Thing

"...That said, none of this means the bailout is a mistake. "My own view is that the world isn't fair," says Zvi Bodie, finance professor at Boston University. "But would it be fair to put the economy into a deep recession or depression? I don't think so."

There's the rub. If the monetary and fiscal authorities are right in their judgment that the risk of an economic plunge of frightening proportions is real, then the Herculean actions they're taking are fair to all of us. What's more, if innovation is the core dynamic in a capitalist economy, the engine of growth and higher living standards, then there will be booms and busts, especially during periods of rapid technological change. It's in the nature of the beast. Like it or not, limiting the downside damage when the boom goes bust is a critical part of the monetary authorities job."

Wow. Are you joking?

That this logic is actually somehow reasonable is fairly depressing. The logic of collective responsibility is actually the logic of anti-markets: the more we invest in bailing banks out, the longer and nastier the crisis is gonna be, and the less productive the economy is going to remain.

Honestly, I don't even wanna write about any of this much anymore. It's almost inexpressibly lame.

-- umair // 6:28 PM // 2 comments

Comments:

i cannot blame you at all. these people simply have to die off.

business as usual until the ship goes under.

people do not want to change. you have to factor this into your work.

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gregory // 1:12 PM

Maybe the crisis is not that bad: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NmQ5ZGE1YWFhOTMwYTdiNzRiODljZmQwODBmZDlmYzQ

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zby // 3:04 PM