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edward long

Association of Old Crows

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The Dow is steadily improving while the national quality of life is consistently worsening.

Barack Hussein Obama's first term is over. The numbers are: 1) National Debt up 54.7%. 2) Unemployment up 0.7%. 3) Poverty up 6%. 4) Approval rating down 18%. 5) Dow Jones Industrial Average up 72%!! Explain this disconnect between America's vital signs.

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Closing Statement from edward long

25 contributors offered these points to ponder
~ we need new goals
~distribution of wealth is broken
~it's a bubble and it's going to burst soon
~statistics are inherently deceptive
~we are printing too much unbacked money
~the government is spending too much
~It's Barack Hussein Obama's fault
~5 folks said there is no more connection between Wall Street and Main Street
~we are loading debt onto future generations
~small investor confidence is at all time low
~younger folks American dream includes tech toys but no home ownership
~money can't but happiness
~the top secret TPP is to blame
~Big Pharma is parasitic
~the Military is a budget buster
~ It's NAFTA's fault
~we are living in the New World Order
~Deflation Depression
~Exessive China trade for shoddy merchandise
~Free Trade is good
~US corporate tax is world's highest
~the Landlord Bubble
~youth becoming deluded narcissists
~middle class being strangled by inflation
~the Media is way off target
~poor getting poorer is new phenomenon
~US is too big to fail
~need term limits for Representatives
~need to repeal the 17th Amendment
~need to revise the 16th Amendment
~need to reduce Cabinet positions to seven
~need to go Isolationist
~stop paying Dictators for permission to feed their starving masses
~we have a Placebo Democracy
~all profit comes from someone's pocket
~leaders are corrupt
~Government creates no wealth
~copyright laws benefit the elite only
~people are the whole problem
~Quantitave Easing
~Debt=Money
~all should read "The Creature From Jeckyl Island"
~only Economists can understand
~we elect politicians rather than people
~Debt and the Dow are proportional
~debt can be invested
~unemployment and wages are inversely proportional
~poverty causes wage reduction
~low wages stimulate profit and productivity
What was not mentioned, surprisingly to me, was if the DJIA got Barack Hussein Obama re-elected
Have a look at the 9 links in the post
Conclusion?. . . Wall Street and Main Street are independent!!

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  • Bob Stiglitz

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    Jan 25 2013: Human beings are ultimately the problem in the system, the economy no longer serves the net good of human beings. i.e. letting human beings allocate capital does not lead to a public good any longer.

    I've been thinking about this for a long time - in our current model money flow is "stopped" or "started" based on "return on investment". I think that whole dogma is fundamentally flawed when you look at the laws of nature. In nature there is no perpetual motion machine, how could there be perpetual profit machine?

    I've been thinking we should have money automatically flowing through peoples accounts by a certain percentage whether they are working or not and test fine tune this model by testing it out.

    Human beings are the problem ultimately in the system, I've become keen on 'computer managed' capital flows where you get a group of scientists/experts to design a 'flow model' economy. In our bodies the blood just doesn't stop and start at random, if our bodies worked how our current world works we'd be dead.
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      edward long 100+

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      Jan 25 2013: You are right sir, economics is not biology. If there were no people there would be no problem. Who can argue with that? I think people should be free to pursue all the wealth they want through legal AND ethical means. If some want a mansion on the hill and others are happy with a country cottage, fine. But if you take unethical (even though legal) advantage of me to add to your own treasure then we have gone awry. I agree with you about human selfishness and greed being the root cause of this, and every, problem we have. I do not agree with you about "we should have money automatically flowing through peoples accounts by a certain percentage. . . ". I would need to surrender certain inalienable rights in order to participate in such a system, wouldn't I? Thank you!

      • Bob Stiglitz

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        Jan 26 2013: Problem is human beings are not equal in terms of their ethics or understanding, look at copyright laws infinite extension. People are not good/intelligent enough to keep people with lots of money in check. i.e. as soon as mots people get some money they go about transforming the laws and peoples morality.

        I've seen this in the game industry with DRM. No one should need permission to use the games and products they've bought. Right now the game industry has taken games hostage on the other side of the internet, you can google "diablo 3 auction house" for more info.
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          edward long 100+

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          Jan 26 2013: It is too bad all of our laws do not defend and promote ethical behavior. Something like perpetual copyright laws can be made lawful by influencing legislators to pass certain laws, but it is still not ethical, or moral. The most prevalent way to influence legislators is a very expensive process so we have become an oligarchy. We fell asleep at the wheel and "they" took control. I am ashamed.

      • Bob Stiglitz

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        Jan 26 2013: ": You are right sir, economics is not biology"

        You're wrong, the body is an economy. Decisions must be made about biological resources on the cellular level all the time.
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          edward long 100+

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          Jan 26 2013: I submit that Biology, a Science, always behaves in accordance with natural laws. Not so Economics, which is not a Science.

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