Capitalism Is for the Other Guy 14 comments
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The 30 Year bond auction was a bit disappointing. According to Bloomberg:
Treasury 30-year bonds declined after a record $16 billion sale of the debt, the last of this week’s three offerings totaling $81 billion, drew the weakest demand since May.
The bid-to-cover ratio, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount of securities offered, was 2.26, the least since May and below an average of 2.39 at the last 10 auctions. The bonds drew a yield of 4.469 percent, higher than the forecast of 4.424 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of five of the Federal Reserve’s 18 primary dealers.
The fact that the US has roughly a 4 year debt duration with north of 40% due to mature within a year is a serious issue. The world's bond markets aren't quite used to the $100b in auctions week in and week out. This figure is equivalent to $5.1 trillion for next's years issuance. This supply could seriously challenge the demand for more US debt.
Current US cultural behaviors and beliefs strongly indicate that more economic trouble will beget more stimulus, etc. The flawed stimulus doom loop will keep going until the world decides to stop funding the party.
Shock and awe no longer accompany domestic bailouts, stimulus, etc. Every new announcement of federal activity seems to create the belief in the public that we all need a bailout - so get in line. The rhetoric is capitalism is for the other guy. I am a victim.
The new Identity politics is defined by SIC code .
Trained as an anthropologist, I treat economics as a bounded belief system.
The US is now challenged as many actors in the culture are rapidly adopting defeatist and self-defeating beliefs. Accountability and a sense of responsibility go out the window. The dangerous doom loop thinking goes like this:
I am a member of industry/group X. I am important or at least my local representative tells me this when I fund his/her campaign.
Everyone else got bailed out, why not me. Soon the positive feedback loop will accelerate as people feel "cheated" for not being stimulated. I am a victim.
The heart of the Keynesian argument for counter cyclical injections of liquidity and stimulus is based on loose assumptions of the multiplier effects.
In my opinion the Keynesian stimulus thesis rests on one of two flawed assumptions.
1. Officials are expert at stimulating or allocating efficiently.
2. It doesn't matter where liquidity goes as it will multiply and create demand.
The only paper I trust these days is either labeled Charmin or produced by the Norwegian central bank. Good luck with those insured munis - the fun isn't going to stop at the federal level, it could bubble up as well. MBIA (MBI), AMBAC (ABK) and others' bond insurance may not be a backstop; of course the state of New York can help out.
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The US (and many other countries) need to run a primary budget surplus on a multi-decade timescale. The result will be economic stagnation as experienced in Japan and eventual global government debt default - called "restructuring".
Concentration of wealth and power at the expense of the other is the governing creed of the Ruling Troika.
It is not capitalism that is for the other but feudalism.
Unlimited rights for themselves, limitless obligations for others.
Hubris (/hjuːbrɪs/) (ancient Greek ὕβρις) is a term used in modern English to indicate overweening pride, haughtiness, or arrogance, often resulting in fatal retribution or Nemesis. In ancient Greece, hubris referred to actions which, intentionally or not, shamed and humiliated the victim, and frequently the perpetrator as well. It was most evident in the public and private actions of the powerful and rich. The word was also used to describe actions of those who challenged the gods or their laws, especially in Greek tragedy, resulting in the protagonist's downfall.
Hubris, though not specifically defined, was a legal term and was considered a crime in classical Athens. It was also considered the greatest sin of the ancient Greek world. That was so because it was not only proof of excessive pride, but also resulted in violent acts by or to those involved. The category of acts constituting hubris for the ancient Greeks apparently broadened from the original specific reference to mutilation of a corpse, or a humiliation of a defeated foe, or irreverent "outrageous treatment" in general.
The meaning was eventually further generalized in its modern English usage to apply to any outrageous act or exhibition of pride or disregard for basic moral laws. Such an act may be referred to as an "act of hubris", or the person committing the act may be said to be hubristic. Ate|Atë, ancient Greek for "ruin, folly, delusion," is the action performed by the hero, usually because of his/her hubris, or great pride, that leads to his/her death or downfall.
Ancient Greece
Violations of the law against hubris included what might today be termed assault and battery; sex crimes ranging from rape of women or children to consensual but improper activities or the theft of public or sacred property. Two well-known cases are found in the speeches of Demosthenes, a prominent statesman and orator in ancient Greece. These two examples occurred when first, Midias punched Demosthenes in the face in the theater (Against Midias), and second when (in Against Conon) a defendant allegedly assaulted a man and crowed over the victim. Yet another example of hubris appears in Aechines "Against Timarchus," where the defendant, Timarchus, is accused of breaking the law of hubris by submitting himself to prostitution and adult male intercourse. Aeschines brought this suit against Timarchus to bar him from the rights of political office and his case succeeded.
Perhaps one of the most vivid examples of hubris in ancient Greek literature is demonstrated by Achilles and his treatment of Hector's corpse in Homer's Iliad. Achilles killed Hector in revenge. Not only did he kill him, but he stripped Hector's corpse and dragged it around behind his chariot, threading leather thongs through Hector's ankles. Although the Greek forces were appalled by his treatment of this other hero's corpse, he was unrelenting. Priam, king of Troy, had to come and kneel at Achilles's feet and offer him Hector's weight in gold before he could convince him to give up the body. Once the body was gone, Achilles had time to ponder the fact that it was prophesied his own death would come soon after Hector's..[citation needed] Similarly, Creon commits hubris in refusing to bury Polynices in Sophocles' Antigone.[citation needed] Another example is in the tragedy Agamemnon, by Aeschylus.[citation needed] Agamemnon initially rejects the hubris of walking on the fine purple tapestry, an act which is suggested by Clytemnestra, in hopes of bringing his ruin. This act may be seen as a desecration of a divinely woven tapestry, as a general flouting of the strictures imposed by the gods, or simply as an act of extreme pride and lack of humility before the gods, tempting them to retribution. One other example is that of Oedipus.[citation needed] In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, while on the road to Thebes, Oedipus meets King Laius of Thebes who is unknown to him as his biological father. Oedipus kills King Laius in a dispute over which of them has the right of way, thereby fulfilling the prophecy that Oedipus is destined to murder his own father. Ikarus, flying too close to the sun despite warning, has been interpreted by ancient authors as hubris, leading to swift retribution. In Odyssey, the behaviour of Penelope's suitors is called hubris by Homer, possibly still in a broader meaning than was later applied. The blinding and mocking of Polyphemos called down the nemesis of Poseidon upon Odysseus; Poseidon already bore Odysseus a grudge for not giving him a sacrifice when Poseidon prevented the Greeks from being discovered inside the Trojan Horse. Specifically, Odysseus' telling Polyphemos his true name after having already escaped was an act of hubris.
Hubris against the gods is often attributed as a character flaw of the heroes in Greek tragedy, and the cause of the "nemesis", or destruction, which befalls these characters. However, this represents only a small proportion of occurrences of hubris in Greek literature, and for the most part hubris refers to infractions by mortals against other mortals. Therefore, it is now generally agreed that the Greeks did not generally think of hubris as a religious matter, still less that it was normally punished by the gods. Herodotus made it clear in a passage [2],
“ Seest thou how God with his lightning smites always the bigger animals, and will not suffer them to wax insolent, while those of a lesser bulk chafe him not? How likewise his bolts fall ever on the highest houses and the tallest trees? So plainly does He love to bring down everything that exalts itself. Thus ofttimes a mighty host is discomfited by a few men, when God in his jealousy sends fear or storm from heaven, and they perish in a way unworthy of them. For God allows no one to have high thoughts but Himself. ”
(Think of Ahab in Moby Dick, an Archetypal American character prototyype; this of Greenspan-Bernanke; think of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton (who were two sides of the same coin).)
Aristotle defined hubris as shaming the victim, not because anything happened to you or might happen to you, but merely for your own gratification. Hubris is not the requital of past injuries—that's revenge. As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater.
Crucial to this definition are the ancient Greek concepts of honor (τιμή, timē) and shame (αἰδώς, aidōs). The concept of τιμή included not only the exaltation of the one receiving honor, but also the shaming of the one overcome by the act of hubris. This concept of honor is akin to a zero-sum game. Rush Rehm simplifies this definition to the contemporary concept of "insolence, contempt, and excessive violence".
I have a couple of modern American examples of Hubris: Wall Street Masters of the Universe who have recently destroyed the universe and been reduced to begging for billions from their consort, the American Government -- this picture is SO Roman. And Muhammed Ali. Remember him: I loved him as a boxer. But his "I am the Greatest' and his standing over his defeated opponents mocking them (Sonny Liston comes to mind) were clear acts of hubis; when Ali's power sank it really sank.
On Nov 13 06:16 AM User 353732 wrote:
> WashDc, Wall St and MSM are profoundly anti-capitalist now.They are
> consumed by their insatiable appetites, which cannot be satisfied
> by free, fair and true markets but only by systematic economic abuse.
> They believe in manipulation, financial, social and emotional, via
> false promises, fake money and deceitful "statistics".
>
> Concentration of wealth and power at the expense of the other is
> the governing creed of the Ruling Troika.
>
> It is not capitalism that is for the other but feudalism.
>
> Unlimited rights for themselves, limitless obligations for others.
It will be a lot worse now for the entire world (Japan also) as exports are going to dry up and return to the seed: exports will be the size of the pit before they are the size of the watermelon again.
On Nov 13 06:14 AM Denis Gould wrote:
> The only way you can sell all that debt is to make it compelling
> value at a reasonable yield. That means keeping interest rates at
> zero forever.
>
> The US (and many other countries) need to run a primary budget surplus
> on a multi-decade timescale. The result will be economic stagnation
> as experienced in Japan and eventual global government debt default
> - called "restructuring".
The title brings to mind Milton Friedman's maxim: There are two enemies of freedom. Businessmen who want controls for themselves and freedom for everyone else and intellectuals who want freedom for themselves and controls for everyone else.
Let's promote freedom for everyone including freedom from being coerced into bailing out businesses.
Abraham Lincoln
Giving in to pessimism is the wrong way to go here (and it has been a portfolio killer for most of the last eight months). We might lose faith in government officials or bankers, but we can't lose faith in ourselves. Let's see what happens going forward, but in a cultural sense, failure of courage to confront large challenges is not how modern civilization was built. Marx, Spengler, Toynbee and others have gotten it wrong, repeatedly.
3. Those who are being taxed more and more to pay for government and its stimulus efforts will not revolt.
On Nov 13 09:20 AM The Geoffster wrote:
> Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the
> right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form
> a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most
> sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate
> the world.
> Abraham Lincoln
History will always rhyme until mankind has perfected genetic engineering, something that will not occur in our lifetime. For now, this episode of history is easily predictable. Care for one another these next few years gentlemen. After the dark night always comes a new dawn. The next dawn is worth surviving for. This period is an end to an era and the start of a new one.
On Nov 13 07:13 AM Michael Clark wrote:
> As many have pointed out on this site, Japan's lost 18 years came
> when the rest of the world was firing mostly on all cylinders, when
> Americans and Europeans were saddling themselves gladly to the Debt
> Rack...Japan continued selling manufactured products during its deflation
> decline. But now no one is really buy on full cylinders, and I can't
> imagine anyone ever buying on the same full throttle program as 2007-8.
> People in the world took on debt like it was a religion, that debt
> slavery brought them closer to God.
>
> It will be a lot worse now for the entire world (Japan also) as exports
> are going to dry up and return to the seed: exports will be the size
> of the pit before they are the size of the watermelon again.
You pose a hypothesis without any arguments to support the claim or produce details or evidence.
It's like saying "United States is becoming a Nazi country",
and then moving on to provide a Wikipedia definition of Naziism.
In any event, thank you for this senseless drivel.
On Nov 13 07:00 AM Michael Clark wrote:
> It's a form of fascism, state capitalism. The state and big business
> have a symbiotic relationship now, each needs the other to survive.
> The American public is a secondary thought now -- the spectre of
> the collapse of American pride and power is what is happening. Read
> Greek mythology about Hubris. (I'll post this from Wikipedia, thanks
> to them:)
>
> Hubris (/hjuːbrɪs/) (ancient Greek ὕβρις) is a term used in modern
> English to indicate overweening pride, haughtiness, or arrogance,
> often resulting in fatal retribution or Nemesis. In ancient Greece,
> hubris referred to actions which, intentionally or not, shamed and
> humiliated the victim, and frequently the perpetrator as well. It
> was most evident in the public and private actions of the powerful
> and rich. The word was also used to describe actions of those who
> challenged the gods or their laws, especially in Greek tragedy, resulting
> in the protagonist's downfall.
>
> Hubris, though not specifically defined, was a legal term and was
> considered a crime in classical Athens. It was also considered the
> greatest sin of the ancient Greek world. That was so because it was
> not only proof of excessive pride, but also resulted in violent acts
> by or to those involved. The category of acts constituting hubris
> for the ancient Greeks apparently broadened from the original specific
> reference to mutilation of a corpse, or a humiliation of a defeated
> foe, or irreverent "outrageous treatment" in general.
>
> The meaning was eventually further generalized in its modern English
> usage to apply to any outrageous act or exhibition of pride or disregard
> for basic moral laws. Such an act may be referred to as an "act of
> hubris", or the person committing the act may be said to be hubristic.
> Ate|Atë, ancient Greek for "ruin, folly, delusion," is the action
> performed by the hero, usually because of his/her hubris, or great
> pride, that leads to his/her death or downfall.
>
> Ancient Greece
>
> Violations of the law against hubris included what might today be
> termed assault and battery; sex crimes ranging from rape of women
> or children to consensual but improper activities or the theft of
> public or sacred property. Two well-known cases are found in the
> speeches of Demosthenes, a prominent statesman and orator in ancient
> Greece. These two examples occurred when first, Midias punched Demosthenes
> in the face in the theater (Against Midias), and second when (in
> Against Conon) a defendant allegedly assaulted a man and crowed over
> the victim. Yet another example of hubris appears in Aechines "Against
> Timarchus," where the defendant, Timarchus, is accused of breaking
> the law of hubris by submitting himself to prostitution and adult
> male intercourse. Aeschines brought this suit against Timarchus to
> bar him from the rights of political office and his case succeeded.
>
>
> Perhaps one of the most vivid examples of hubris in ancient Greek
> literature is demonstrated by Achilles and his treatment of Hector's
> corpse in Homer's Iliad. Achilles killed Hector in revenge. Not only
> did he kill him, but he stripped Hector's corpse and dragged it around
> behind his chariot, threading leather thongs through Hector's ankles.
> Although the Greek forces were appalled by his treatment of this
> other hero's corpse, he was unrelenting. Priam, king of Troy, had
> to come and kneel at Achilles's feet and offer him Hector's weight
> in gold before he could convince him to give up the body. Once the
> body was gone, Achilles had time to ponder the fact that it was prophesied
> his own death would come soon after Hector's..[citation needed] Similarly,
> Creon commits hubris in refusing to bury Polynices in Sophocles'
> Antigone.[citation needed] Another example is in the tragedy Agamemnon,
> by Aeschylus.[citation needed] Agamemnon initially rejects the hubris
> of walking on the fine purple tapestry, an act which is suggested
> by Clytemnestra, in hopes of bringing his ruin. This act may be seen
> as a desecration of a divinely woven tapestry, as a general flouting
> of the strictures imposed by the gods, or simply as an act of extreme
> pride and lack of humility before the gods, tempting them to retribution.
> One other example is that of Oedipus.[citation needed] In Sophocles'
> Oedipus the King, while on the road to Thebes, Oedipus meets King
> Laius of Thebes who is unknown to him as his biological father. Oedipus
> kills King Laius in a dispute over which of them has the right of
> way, thereby fulfilling the prophecy that Oedipus is destined to
> murder his own father. Ikarus, flying too close to the sun despite
> warning, has been interpreted by ancient authors as hubris, leading
> to swift retribution. In Odyssey, the behaviour of Penelope's suitors
> is called hubris by Homer, possibly still in a broader meaning than
> was later applied. The blinding and mocking of Polyphemos called
> down the nemesis of Poseidon upon Odysseus; Poseidon already bore
> Odysseus a grudge for not giving him a sacrifice when Poseidon prevented
> the Greeks from being discovered inside the Trojan Horse. Specifically,
> Odysseus' telling Polyphemos his true name after having already escaped
> was an act of hubris.
>
> Hubris against the gods is often attributed as a character flaw of
> the heroes in Greek tragedy, and the cause of the "nemesis", or destruction,
> which befalls these characters. However, this represents only a small
> proportion of occurrences of hubris in Greek literature, and for
> the most part hubris refers to infractions by mortals against other
> mortals. Therefore, it is now generally agreed that the Greeks did
> not generally think of hubris as a religious matter, still less that
> it was normally punished by the gods. Herodotus made it clear in
> a passage [2],
> “ Seest thou how God with his lightning smites always the bigger
> animals, and will not suffer them to wax insolent, while those of
> a lesser bulk chafe him not? How likewise his bolts fall ever on
> the highest houses and the tallest trees? So plainly does He love
> to bring down everything that exalts itself. Thus ofttimes a mighty
> host is discomfited by a few men, when God in his jealousy sends
> fear or storm from heaven, and they perish in a way unworthy of them.
> For God allows no one to have high thoughts but Himself. ”
>
> (Think of Ahab in Moby Dick, an Archetypal American character prototyype;
> this of Greenspan-Bernanke; think of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton
> (who were two sides of the same coin).)
>
> Aristotle defined hubris as shaming the victim, not because anything
> happened to you or might happen to you, but merely for your own gratification.
> Hubris is not the requital of past injuries—that's revenge. As for
> the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating
> others they make their own superiority the greater.
>
> Crucial to this definition are the ancient Greek concepts of honor
> (τιμή, timē) and shame (αἰδώς, aidōs). The concept of τιμή included
> not only the exaltation of the one receiving honor, but also the
> shaming of the one overcome by the act of hubris. This concept of
> honor is akin to a zero-sum game. Rush Rehm simplifies this definition
> to the contemporary concept of "insolence, contempt, and excessive
> violence".
>
> I have a couple of modern American examples of Hubris: Wall Street
> Masters of the Universe who have recently destroyed the universe
> and been reduced to begging for billions from their consort, the
> American Government -- this picture is SO Roman. And Muhammed Ali.
> Remember him: I loved him as a boxer. But his "I am the Greatest'
> and his standing over his defeated opponents mocking them (Sonny
> Liston comes to mind) were clear acts of hubis; when Ali's power
> sank it really sank.