If I may wax philosophical for a moment, noodling on today's economy today, I had an ephiphany: Greed. Behind the steady flow of QE money, inflation, closed businesses, lockdowns, politics, bubbles, record-setting market highs, etc. It's greed at work again. We've seen it so many times before, and I think that we're seeing it again. Look for the greed, and there will be the answer. When we looked back upon the Mortgage crisis, and found the greed at heart. MBSs secured against baskets of sub-prime borrowers--loans that never should have been made, but were written out of greed. Greed is good, right? - I see it is in property. As QE money flows through the banks, it ends up buying property. Difficult, if not impossible, for a middle-class worker to afford a home now; the prices are through the roof. Investment companies, with ca$h in hand, are greedily snapping up properties, driving the prices up. - I see it in the death of small businesses. As McDonalds et alia take over the neighborhoods, and small restaurants etc. are squeezed out. - I see it in the markets. QE dollars are not trickling down to the people. It's ending up in the hands of bankers, and invested into the markets. Voila! New record highs. Funny how the financial and bank stocks have soared, eh? Financial Incest. - I can't help but wonder how much skimming is taking place. Look for the greed, peeps... it's there.
It's the same old song & dance for a few decades now, only now it has sharply accelerated. The big corporations control government - there policies squeezed $ from main street into the hands of the richest. Fed Powell in his 60 mins interview was asked about his policies in light of the huge explosion in the homeless & wipe out of small business, he replied that it was surely working well for the rich. Sounds like he intended for this to happen.
Humans by nature are greedy, we cant help ourselves, Even most socialists hoard wealth for themselves. The Fed has created one of the largest bubble ever. It always ends badly. But then people forget and the next greed cycle starts, the whole thing repeats. "It’s just money, it’s made up, pieces of paper with pictures on it so we don’t have to kill each other just to get something to eat. But it’s not wrong and it’s certainly not any different today than it’s ever been. Ever. 1637, 1797, 1819, ‘37, ‘57,‘84, 1901, ‘07, 1929, ‘37, ‘73, and 1987... Jesus didnt that fucker fuck me up good, 92, 97, 2000, and whatever we want to call this. They’re just the same thing over and over. We can’t help ourselves, and you and I can’t control it, stop it, slow it, or even ever so slightly alter it... We just react... and we get paid well for it if we’re right... and get left by the side of the road if we’re wrong. There’s always been and there’s always gonna be the same percentage of winners and losers, happy fucks and sad sacks, fat cats and starving dogs in this world... yes there may be more of us today... but the percentages... they stay exactly the same."
Greed is good? this 1987 film was supposed to repulse the viewers of the corporate raiders - the Carl Icahn's of the world, it backfired making many young people strive to be like Gordon Gekko.
I thought the movie "A beautiful mind" about the Noble prize winner, was about proving that Greed is NOT good for the group. Perhaps greed is good for the (greedy) individual only. OP did Wax on philosophically...
Bruce Jenner said the Economy is hurting private jet owners in California because they have to see homeless people.
The dictionary says greed is an "intense and selfish desire for something" and selfishness is a "lack of consideration for other people." Most fundamentally, greed is a primal survival instinct, tamed by centuries of evolution brought on by religions, economic safety and political philosophies, all aiming to find ways to live with each other without reverting to our basic instincts. However, we're never very far from our basic instincts and some revel in trying to convince us that indulging in them is not only acceptable but normal, human. America is the only country I know that culturally embraces the cult of "Me". The glorification of greed isn't much of an intellectual hop over, where even some religious groups have managed to modify their belief construct by absolving guilt from greed. Let's make no mistake about it, greed may be a basic human instinct, but it's not the most noble of them and a majority of people find its validation unacceptable. Those who embrace greed tend to look for careers that stimulate their drive, and the financial sector to them is what a middle school is to a pedophile. Our legal system and financial regulations are all meant to tame the most greedy among us, with more or less success and, if it's necessary at all to point out, wealth isn't a result of greed, greed is wanting wealth at all cost.
Taxes. Avoiding taxes. The first sign that you're dealing with a greedy person. Maybe, even a sociopath or psychopath. But usually it's just a fool. And the explanations that people create for themselves, to justify that, it's parallel to the one from officers of Auschwitz. ,,I did it because everyone was doing so" Or ,,I did it because i was ordered to do so"
As a purchaser of goods and services, mostly for trucking related business use, I can handle the greed. What I can’t handle are service failures, because it leads to my service failures, which in turn leads to service failures of my customers, which can end up going in a full circle. For example, mechanics. It has gotten so bad, my default now is to work on my own truck. Multiply this with others who feel the same way and that involve multiple industries, and the dynamics of our economy will change. Disintermediation in our modern economy will lead to economic stagnation or worse. Ethics, or the lack thereof, has a tangible effect on our economy in the long term. Another notable, recent development in US culture is decision making being weighted towards social considerations. Trying to get something done often involves a negotiation process between people of different personal needs, with considerable consideration given to the person potentially most inconvenienced rather than the task itself. Priority one seems to be avoiding cringeworthy situations, effectively reducing individual accountability. The number of people in the US who seem to feel “Entitled” to a certain standard of living just by “Being” is on the rise. It is like these people have no concept of what is ultimately behind wealth: Productivity. As a truck owner, I was fine with making $60k per year along with great flexibility with when I would work. I now am making around $400k servicing a client who is benefitting from stimulus money that is being, at least partially, passed through to me. Their customer service requirements are higher, but they are paying a huge premium, in my estimation. Even so, I will be leaving the industry in a matter of weeks to pursue an better opportunity in another field. A death of small businesses will lead to the death of many big businesses as US consumer discretionary spending declines, leaving us with a few oligopolies providing necessities, just like some notable Communist countries. Solutions to society ills ultimately requires individual efforts of many and coordinated leadership of our elected officials and our media. We are in the beginning of a new age. For better or worse.