There is significant logical and rational economic thinking in the blogosphere which does not percolate to mainstream media and opinion. Which only further bolsters my long-held belief and conviction that there is very little wisdom in consensus.
Critics of US economic system and policy are now berated as gloom-and-doomers. Maybe you are aware that the economist Nouriel Roubini is called Mr. Doom. Such is the deep-rooted 'positivism' in US public domain, it would seem that it is unable to see or learn anything constructive or reformative in the dire 'writings on the wall' that have appeared on its economic landscape over the past decade or more.
The current economic episode playing out has been mostly labelled a reccession and/or financial crisis. This can be called a gross understatement or even a misnomer.
Some economists and media persons call it a failure of capitalism. I tend to look at it differently. I would like to term this crisis as the come-uppance of crony capitalism which is practised in most of the developed world, nay almost the entire world. But in the sophistication with which private enterprise, markets, bereaucracy and monetary policy and systems are manipulated and subverted to the almost exclusive benefit of the wealthy and privilged elites, the US has no peer. I am not saying that the entire system in US is evil or has secured no benefit to its citizens. But income inequality in US has been continuously rising and is now assuming monstrous proportions. The existence of income/wealth inequality and its difficult social and political implications are universal. But in US, which has always been a role model for capitalism, all the semblance of economic equity is being trampled under the reckless march of the US brand of 'heads I win, Tails you lose' capitalism. The losers are of course the tax payers, middle class and poor who will pay for the excesses and sins of the financial, political and business elite
While the consequences of this crisis may mostly be social and economic, the genesis of it or for that matter any crisis is rarely that. Though it may appear paradoxical, there may be a philosophical reason or answer to this as history often bears out. It is the same lesson that one can decipher from the rubble of history which chronicles the rise and fall of empires and civilizations. Too much of a good thing is bad, so what if it is prosperity itself.
The philosopher Karl Marx, who on hindsight it seems was unfairly reviled for his critique of capitalism perhaps foresaw its descent into cronyism and moral collapse.
As for USA, it has been blinded by almost 3 decades of fake/stimulated prosperity that has been built on the foundations of rising consumption and rising asset prices supported by ever-increasing borrowing and loose monetary policy of low interest rates, currency debasement and little to no regulation of banking and financial entities, which has masked the real steady decline in income and wages, resulting in an economic edifice that enriches the asset-holding elites and stacks economic odds in their favor to the detriment of the income and wage earning masses.
If one were more laconic about this, it is not just fake prosperity, but borrowed or even expropriated prosperity. It will ofcourse take time and more blows to peel off the many varied layers of this veneer of excessive confidence that US has in its system and capabilities. But the clock of reckoning has already started ticking for it.
Not that this is of any consolation to many, but we must persist in our quest for those beacons of insight and wisdom, which though through their rays feeble may yet fortify our vigilance and foresight against the ravages of human folly
Critics of US economic system and policy are now berated as gloom-and-doomers. Maybe you are aware that the economist Nouriel Roubini is called Mr. Doom. Such is the deep-rooted 'positivism' in US public domain, it would seem that it is unable to see or learn anything constructive or reformative in the dire 'writings on the wall' that have appeared on its economic landscape over the past decade or more.
The current economic episode playing out has been mostly labelled a reccession and/or financial crisis. This can be called a gross understatement or even a misnomer.
Some economists and media persons call it a failure of capitalism. I tend to look at it differently. I would like to term this crisis as the come-uppance of crony capitalism which is practised in most of the developed world, nay almost the entire world. But in the sophistication with which private enterprise, markets, bereaucracy and monetary policy and systems are manipulated and subverted to the almost exclusive benefit of the wealthy and privilged elites, the US has no peer. I am not saying that the entire system in US is evil or has secured no benefit to its citizens. But income inequality in US has been continuously rising and is now assuming monstrous proportions. The existence of income/wealth inequality and its difficult social and political implications are universal. But in US, which has always been a role model for capitalism, all the semblance of economic equity is being trampled under the reckless march of the US brand of 'heads I win, Tails you lose' capitalism. The losers are of course the tax payers, middle class and poor who will pay for the excesses and sins of the financial, political and business elite
While the consequences of this crisis may mostly be social and economic, the genesis of it or for that matter any crisis is rarely that. Though it may appear paradoxical, there may be a philosophical reason or answer to this as history often bears out. It is the same lesson that one can decipher from the rubble of history which chronicles the rise and fall of empires and civilizations. Too much of a good thing is bad, so what if it is prosperity itself.
The philosopher Karl Marx, who on hindsight it seems was unfairly reviled for his critique of capitalism perhaps foresaw its descent into cronyism and moral collapse.
As for USA, it has been blinded by almost 3 decades of fake/stimulated prosperity that has been built on the foundations of rising consumption and rising asset prices supported by ever-increasing borrowing and loose monetary policy of low interest rates, currency debasement and little to no regulation of banking and financial entities, which has masked the real steady decline in income and wages, resulting in an economic edifice that enriches the asset-holding elites and stacks economic odds in their favor to the detriment of the income and wage earning masses.
If one were more laconic about this, it is not just fake prosperity, but borrowed or even expropriated prosperity. It will ofcourse take time and more blows to peel off the many varied layers of this veneer of excessive confidence that US has in its system and capabilities. But the clock of reckoning has already started ticking for it.
Not that this is of any consolation to many, but we must persist in our quest for those beacons of insight and wisdom, which though through their rays feeble may yet fortify our vigilance and foresight against the ravages of human folly
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