tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102429195693595750.post4864802221512201734..comments2024-03-22T05:15:17.042+02:00Comments on Sudden Debt: Hellasioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03564511281240682625noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102429195693595750.post-198359609045871602007-05-04T14:48:00.000+03:002007-05-04T14:48:00.000+03:00Dear anonymous,This was an excellent comment and I...Dear anonymous,<BR/><BR/>This was an excellent comment and I thank you for posting it. Maybe human society has advanced to a stage that it can recognize the danger before it has to suffer the consequences in order to change its ways.<BR/><BR/>The US model of perpetual consumption is increasingly getting questioned in Europe. Unfortunately there is the matter of 1.3 billion Chinese who have bought the US model... oh, well...Hellasioushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03564511281240682625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102429195693595750.post-89432939189062846252007-05-03T19:27:00.000+03:002007-05-03T19:27:00.000+03:00I guess it all comes down to what type of socio-ec...I guess it all comes down to what type of socio-economic and political model you have in mind. <BR/><BR/>In my own opinion, many of the problems we face are in part the result of excessive government and corporate intervention, manipulation and regulation of our lives. Therefore, I distrust any top down solution predicated on the notion that some "in-crowd" knows better and will decide the rules for the rest of us, e.g. cultural revolution.<BR/><BR/>Basically we are conditioned from an early age, primarily through commmercials and other means of indoctrination, that material consumption and aspirations are the ultimate good. The problem is that material aspirations can never be fully satisfied and, in fact, only induce further craving. It is an endless cycle of wanting, getting then wanting again. <BR/><BR/>As long as we as individuals don't recognize the futility of the endless craving and wanting of material goods, there really is no long term political solution that will not ultimately result in war, environmental destruction and human misery. <BR/><BR/>In light of the fact that there is little correlation between the wealth of a society and the happiness of its citizenry, as attested to by the widespread depression, drug use and violence in the US, a more efficient or productive economy is not really the answer.<BR/><BR/>Ultimately, we as a society and as individuals suffer from a spiritual disease that is only made worse by our heedless pursuit of material wealth. Since suffering is the touchstone for all spiritual growth, I guess we will just have to suffer some more before, hopefully, we learn our lesson.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102429195693595750.post-18199113785481615512007-05-03T09:20:00.000+03:002007-05-03T09:20:00.000+03:00Is it the apex? From a long-term perspective measu...Is it the apex? From a long-term perspective measured in years or 2-3 decades, yes I think it is. Your analogy to unsustainable farming is extremely apt: we are borrowing prosperity from the future to consume it today. Brain power has nothing to do with it - it's pure greed, combined with indifference and ignorance from the great mass of the people.<BR/><BR/>How do you wake the people up? Logic cannot do it; when addressing the masses one has to use pure emotion. How about this: "Stop consuming NOW because your children will die of starvation and infectious disease in 20 years". Alarmist? Irresponsible? You bet... But how do you fight against the even more irresponsible system that "urge(s) everyone to go shopping more"(GWB)?<BR/><BR/>ross: He, he... yes it is convoluted. When I was writing the first draft I had inserted an explanatory part, but I took it out. I should't have...<BR/><BR/>OK, here's what I mean: prices for goods are so high in relation to how much cash people have on hand, that the only way to afford them is to borrow at ridiculous terms. And if they are reduced to doing so for such cheap items, they must also have difficulty with all items (housing, energy, etc).<BR/><BR/>There are many "hints" that this is so: the negative saving rate, the record-high debt/GDP and debt/personal income, the huge requirement for added debt for each added unit of GDP and other metrics I have written about in previous posts.<BR/><BR/>RegardsHellasioushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03564511281240682625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102429195693595750.post-57329339241119470752007-05-03T04:53:00.000+03:002007-05-03T04:53:00.000+03:00I second the plaudit from the first poster, but yo...I second the plaudit from the first poster, but you lost me here,<BR/><BR/>"Therefore, the current Price/Supply relationship for goods is such that Demand can only be covered by borrowing at ridiculous 60- month terms. And if that holds for frying pans, it also points to supply problems for more day-to-day, essential goods."<BR/><BR/>Could you clarify the last sentence. Supply problems for more essential goods, how does that follow from what you've described? Forgive me if I am being dense.rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14623898829606026818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102429195693595750.post-42805915274764957152007-05-03T02:32:00.000+03:002007-05-03T02:32:00.000+03:00Brilliant post. Our American consumer driven soci...Brilliant post. Our American consumer driven society has hit a new extreme. I think this begs the question, is this the apex? Is it down from here? The ability and ingenuity to create new debt instruments, basically to create new infrastructure to prop up the consumer (credit cards, payday loans, easy mortgage loans, and so on) is astounding. It is like the agricultural 'green revolution' where massive inputs of energy and chemicals allows us to extract more and more productivity from farmland. All the while the soil of our breadbasket piles up at the end of the Mississippi delta. How long can it go on? I am done predicting. I have been astounded so many times I don't dare guess anymore. I just keep underestimating the amount of brainpower and energy that goes in to financial engineering ( and agriculture) But I do know that the longer it stretches on, the worse it will have to snap back.<BR/>Jason BAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com