Friday, March 30, 2012
Lottery mania
The idiot mania over MegaBalls or whatever impels me to reprint this thought from a few months ago, leaving off an initial part referring to then-current news.
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Since 2006 our economy has been trying to run on the counterfeit Wealth Effect generated by homeowners borrowing against a nonexistent increase in fictional value. At the same time we have completely canceled and deleted the honest Wealth Effect of stability and frugality.
In a civilized economy, storage of value allows people, businesses and governments to feel secure and confident. When you feel secure and confident, you're willing to spend money in sensible ways. You're less likely to gamble.
In a chaotic 'bets and debts' economy, with no storage of anything, you're always on the edge. You're vulnerable to every exigency of nature, to every scam and fraud, to every loss and expense. You're ready to risk it all on one roll of the dice.
The song, of course, expressed the attitude of a working man in Gilded Age Version 1, which we see repeated now in Gilded Age v2. Cynical and utterly realistic. The working man knew damn well that a Little Bit wouldn't help. When you owe your soul to the company store, when every dollar of income has to outgo immediately, only a one-in-a-billion Superball is enough blooming luck.
However: In a civilized economy where jobs are stable, money is constant, storage is secure and saving yields a meaningful return, you only need a Little Bit of luck. When your money goes into savings first, each small bonus, each slight increase in sales, gives you a permanent gain.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Since 2006 our economy has been trying to run on the counterfeit Wealth Effect generated by homeowners borrowing against a nonexistent increase in fictional value. At the same time we have completely canceled and deleted the honest Wealth Effect of stability and frugality.
In a civilized economy, storage of value allows people, businesses and governments to feel secure and confident. When you feel secure and confident, you're willing to spend money in sensible ways. You're less likely to gamble.
In a chaotic 'bets and debts' economy, with no storage of anything, you're always on the edge. You're vulnerable to every exigency of nature, to every scam and fraud, to every loss and expense. You're ready to risk it all on one roll of the dice.
The song, of course, expressed the attitude of a working man in Gilded Age Version 1, which we see repeated now in Gilded Age v2. Cynical and utterly realistic. The working man knew damn well that a Little Bit wouldn't help. When you owe your soul to the company store, when every dollar of income has to outgo immediately, only a one-in-a-billion Superball is enough blooming luck.
However: In a civilized economy where jobs are stable, money is constant, storage is secure and saving yields a meaningful return, you only need a Little Bit of luck. When your money goes into savings first, each small bonus, each slight increase in sales, gives you a permanent gain.
Labels: the broken circle
¶ 5:23 PM
