StupidityAndGreed

Financial Crisis: Getting Old

Ps.
The preponderance of investment professionals desperately trying to spin this crisis, as they sense their careers going down the dumper, is pathetic.

The End of U.S. Financial Domination

Finally, someone calling it like it is. Unfortunately people still seem to be missing the big picture. The US government (through the Fed) has, over the last 2-3 decades, fabricated the illusion of massive American wealth. By playing on the fundamental greed of the American citizen they lulled them into a sense of complacent disinterest which allowed the government to pursue a reckless and immoral foreign policy that would otherwise have been untenable. Now, as the structure collapses, it is trying to "spin" this whole stinking cancerous system as fundamentally healthy. In a desperate attempt to convince people that the "shit don't stink" they are using every means at their disposal , from bandaid Fed intervention to CNBC media hype (manipulated by spin artists like Hank Paulson and corporate CEOs who have gotten rich on this ponsy scheme). It doesn't matter one bit. The entire US economy is a house of cards and no matter how much it is spun the "intrinsic value" of the US will eventually be reflected in the market, massive deficit and the failures of foreign adventures included.

BTW, this is virtually the same strategy used by Hitler when he lulled the German people to sleep by appearing to build the economy as he consolidated power.

Nassim Taleb and the Ubiquity of Moral Hazard

The big problem is that people think of moral hazard as some kind of abstract "righteousness". It's not, it is a direct and real consequence of trying to manipulate the economy. The latest manipulations by the Fed cannot simply, and by magic, erase the consequences of previous bad decisions that created an illusion of wealth and lulled Americans into a sense of complacency while their government pursued reckless foreign policies that would have otherwise never have flown. The piper must be paid and trying to create the illusion that this can be avoided will only make the impending collapse of the system that much more catastrophic. Good luck Aholes.