Formal education, yeah, but they never taught us big words down here like "loss aversion" and "myopia". They just dumbed us down with stuff like Thermodynamics and Statics.
And the person responsible for National Security on 9/11 got promoted to Secretary of State. ETA: Oops, didn't see WaveStrider's post.
Exactly....and so it's business-as-usual in Washington, DC with profligate spending, low productivity of gov't workers who are just collecting a pay check, etc. Yet in the private sector, it's horrid cost-cutting and now layoffs that will really shake the very foundation of capitalism IMHO. Hillary will be given the "keys to the kingdom of socialism" if the economy continues to tank up to the election. France, HERE WE COME !
Your average Frenchman has a higher quality of life than your average stressed out American. He is not worried that he will be identified as Low quartile and managed out if he goes home before 7pm. Your average Brit is not plagued by nightmares about medical care costs. Many in Europe resent the way US corporate values have come to dominate the workplace. I am not saying that Socilaism is good or sustainable, or even right, it just makes me wonder when I see Americans attacking anything other then free markets when the negative impact of this on their quakity of life is so obvious. Americans are so against anything that has even a hint of socilaism but they work their butts off for a dream of the "golden years". Just look at a catalogue from the companies that supply living aids for the elderly to see how "golden" those years are. I am not saying US values are bad from a business or national economic survival stanpoint, I am just wondering if they deliver what they are believed to in terms of quality of life and happiness.
I don't doubt that many folk like ourselves will be asking the same questions when their portfolios blow out and supposedly "safe" investements are not so "safe". IMHO, its all been tied to the velocity of money - running faster and faster to increase productivity and wealth but requiring increased utilization of outside services. It helps to mask a lot, you know? But... looks like the merry go round is gonna slow down soon. Maybe not this year, but soon.
Wednesdays Retail Sales will give us a good idea of whether we are in fact currently in a recession or not...