As I sit here on the cusp between semi-retirement and full-fledged geezerhood (assuming I still receive some pittance of a pension, social security, and/or Medicare, and am not living under a bridge over a creek, chewing on watercress and duck droppings), I can’t at all understand why governments and financial institutions can’t just come out and say what is perfectly obvious: No one knows anything about how the economy (U.S. or world) works and thus have no way of affecting it, one way or the other. Consider these quotes from a current Time magazine article:
“The fact is, even the world's savviest investors don't seem to know how to play the latest bout of market gloom.”
“The Federal Reserve's promise to keep interest rates low until mid-2013 – a move meant to coax consumers and businesses to lend and spend – failed to juice markets. That sent confused investors into a tug-of-war between those who think global growth will tank and those who see stocks as a bargain.”
“The bottom line? We are entering an age of austerity, and no one – not the Fed, not China, not a unified Europe – seems able to save us from that fact.”
The economy (or maybe it should be Economy) is an entity in and of itself, beyond human control, a beast from a 1950s sci-fi movie that stomps around the globe at will, crushing throngs of fleeing, screaming people, flicking off the fiscal missiles of the Fed or Treasury like pesky gnats. Don’t believe any politician who says they can do anything about it. They can’t, and that’s the fact. The best to do is find a politician who will admit to this reality and just say, “Weather the storm and see how many of us are left alive at the end.” Or just run screaming through the streets. Good luck.
THE END?
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