drevno

Washington's Dilemma: This Isn't a Recession, It's a Collapse

Recession, Deflation, Collapse...? They are all happening. The current situation, the events leading to it, and a host of economic statistics show that the whole world economic system is changing. It is re-balancing and hopefully, resetting. It may take many more months. The result will be a changed world. How and when, hard to tell. It depends on all of us.

It seems that the practices that we have named "globalization" have contributed hugely to the speed, magnitude and extent of the changes in the previous status quo. But it is not the only factor. The questionable practices of excessive lending, inordinate amounts of debt both public and private debt, micro-second trading on stock exchanges making mockery of traditional investing , multi-bilion dollar swindles that nobody seemed to notice until too late, experiments by various schools of economists in various countries both big and small placidly accepted by their populations with no way of having meaningful inputs into the process, the ineffective politicians seeking re-election rather than service to their constituents, and the list can go on and on. There is a lot that need to be corrected. And the correction will take its time.

And yes, there will be - as they are already - bright spots along the way. And I d not think that there will be some kind of universal paradise at the end of the process that we are witnessing, given the growing imbalance between the populations and resources, and the growing damage to the environment. Moreover, a lot of things need to be done by all the participants in the economy - and that means everybody - before the turbulence of the current situation subsides. The discussion of the depression, recession, deflation or a collapse - and we have them all - shows the enormity of the task of repairing the local and world economy. Using common sense in implementing sound economic principles in running AND using these economies for a quality life for all people rather than a privileged or lucky minority is needed more than anything else.