And have a big, fat T-bone steak before the big government bans that too.

Regards,
Dan

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop!

Good point - over complexity and neat mathematical models tidy up things just good enough to hoodwink the masses.

What do you think is going to happen to all the public and private retirement and pension funds invested in the complex derivatives and private equity and hedge fund charlatans? My guess is that life is going to be drastically different for those beneficiaries.

I can’t help but wonder what lost city of gold will be chased after next.

In less than four weeks I will be in Omaha, at perhaps the last bastion of capitalism left. My hope is to be recharged when I return.

Adam

Your post and my response to it last night has been on my mind till this morning.

I don’t have much to add except to say that I thankfully found something you said which I disagree with. Specifically, “They will perhaps wonder: ‘what were they thinking?’ The overwhelming answer will be: “they weren’t”

I think the overwhelming answer will actually be that they were OVERthinking.

Overthinking is what got us into this mess and will continue to make it worse.

Overthinking by overeducated ivy league theoreticians who concoct overly complicated theories that have no basis in reality.

If you DON’T think too much, you realize, immediately, that you can’t solve a problem of too much leverage and debt with even more of it.

But if you OVERthink, you can come up with a million bogus complicated schemes to “fix” the problems we face.

So, there, I now feel better that we disagree on at least SOMETHING.

Dan

It’s really hard not to get pissed–indeed, livid–in this current environment if:

1) You’re an honest guy who cares about this country, or, indeed, the state of the world.

2) You actually understand some economics. (The real stuff, not fenced in party ideology)

3) You are a small entrepreneur and see the rampant corruption in all quarters and how you are getting absolutely shafted by working your ass off trying to make a better life for yourself, your family, and indeed the world, through your actions.

As you and I both know a lot of people who are in favor of these morally bankrupt shenanigans like the Wall streeter you heard on NPR or the auto union guy, or the politician, knows full well that what they’re proposing isn’t really good for the country. It simply benefits them at the expense of everyone else.

On the other hand, I’m sure some of these people really are just clueless nitwits and perhaps honestly think what they are advocating is actually good for the country; but for the most part, let’s not kid ourselves. They’re mostly just going with whatever argument sounds logical on the surface to justify putting other people’s money (or power/votes) into their own filthy pockets.

I unfortunately agree with everything you’ve said in this post. I wish I had a more sanguine view, but I’d have to drink spiked kool-aid first.

Personally, I don’t think you’re/we’re whining at all. We’re seeing what’s really going on, and acknowledging it. Indeed, anyone who doesn’t feel sick to their stomach is either dishonest or needs to understand the issues better (i.e., get a clue).

(Ayn Rand wrote an essay once called “Why Businessmen Need Philosophy” in the book “Essays in Objectivist Thought.” There hasn’t been a more apropos time in US history that that’s been more true).

Here’s an article I read the other day that sent my blood pressure up a few notches because it said pretty well exactly how I’ve been feeling. I despise how the government just arbitrarily determines what “rich” is, so they can stir up envy and jealousy, even when a lot of the so-called “rich” are hardly that. (Yours truly included).

http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts264.html

Now that my bitchfest is over, on a more personal level, I hope business is going well for you, even if the government intends to r*pe you the moment your success blossoms.

Regards,
Dan

Thanks.

Email me back if you’re interested.