In the old days — from the Venetian Republic to, oh, the Bear Stearns rescue — if you wanted to get rich, you did it the Warren Buffett way: You learned to read balance sheets. Today you learn to read political tea leaves. If you want to make money on Wall Street (or keep from losing your shirt), you do it not by anticipating Intel’s third-quarter earnings but by guessing instead what side of the bed Henry Paulson will wake up on tomorrow.
Today’s extreme stock market volatility is not just a symptom of fear — fear cannot account for days of wild market swings upward — but a reaction to meta-economic events: political decisions that have vast economic effects.
As economist Irwin Stelzer argues, we have gone from a market-driven economy to a politically driven economy….
Mr. Krauthammer has it spot on:
Good politics is bad economics. Good economics is bad politics.
Which the politicians will go with, good economics or good politics? Tough call? I don’t think so.
We’re so screwed. But don’t worry. Our political masters will assure us their unworthy programs, painful and awful as they will be, have to be done because they are for the good of the children. (Or some other heart-tuggingly craptastic reason we should all get misty-eyed over and do the sheep thing. Again.)
Don’t forget the struggle between wishful thinking and unpleasant realities.
Dilbertnomore [#1]: Cynicism surrenders the field to scoundrels.
I, looks to me just like the situation Samuel faced. The people want to go in the direction that itches them even though they can’t concretely express why or describe what will be gained by the solution they selected. God’s answer to Samuel was the people will just have to grow their way through the mess they have made by their choice until they are ready to be redeemed.
History is repeating, IMO.