The Last Pig
I hosted a dinner the other night with the ex-CEO of Carnival Cruise and an ex-executive officer of Merril Lynch. The conversation turned to gold, it's history and current use/exchange value. The arcane debates about currency and inflation seem circular and abstract but what intrigued me was when Carnival noted that he owned a great deal of gold as a hedge against catastrophic collapse.
His grandparents had got their way out of Poland during the war using gold and he thought that if/when worse came to worse, his gold would help him survive as well. Because it is so shiny he could trade it to me for some gasoline and I could then trade it for some apples.
Then he started talking about Italian debt as the next shoe about to drop. Merrill-Lynch looked around the table and said "We're all capitalists here." ( he doesn't know anything about my politics) "The sooner we get it over with the better."
I assume he was talking about the "creative destruction" which must occur eventually to clear out the toxic debt. The capitalists appeared tired of dragging this thing out, massaging numbers, bribing governments and tear-gassing people. It was time to be done with it. Because capitalism works, it's just a bit brutal. Those at the table will be hurt in terms of luxury consumption certainly. They may even have to break out the gold reserves. But it did not shake their faith in the system any more than a tornado turns a Christian against God.
It is unclear to me whether the European masses are ready to bring it all down or how many Tea Party folks on this side of the pond are ready. But all this brinkmanship is certainly a sign of things to come. And Italian debt is being discussed more and more in the mainstream news. Break out the ducats and Krugerrands.
posted by troutsky @ 5:40 AM
15 comments
15 Comments:
It's ironic that it might be Europe which brings it down since for all their faults they have done some things right and have managed to get through more serious times than we would here.
The world is going to have to do a lot more with less and Mr. "We're all capitalists here" from Wall Street ain't no help there. Yeah, let's get it done. And the freakin' casino shills on Wall St. think they have a perpetual motion machine. Morons.
Just drop the socialistic regulatory regimes and everything will be fine. That and lower taxes is the only way businesses are going to grow and expand, and new businesses start. They are the game changers. They're tired of playing the same old game as before. Down with the EPA and the FDA. Once those monkeyshines are over with the economy will grow sufficiently, and to the point that the debt will become a smaller percentage of GDP. With a few minor tweaks here and there spread over a period of a couple of decades it might even be paid off, provided we can convince people that Democrats and Socialists (sorry, redundant) shouldn't be allowed any closer to the halls of power than the guided tour. And that only under armed escort.
If your country is bankrupt thank a lefty. FYI The European countries managed to do this with almost no military spending.
If you were smart enough to read the hand writting on the wall you wouldn't be a commie in the first place.
Its the benefits stupid.
Beak-Its partially the benefits, but its also the taxes and especially the regulations, especially since in Europe some businesses are subsidized, which limits competition. The awful truth is, the European system has grown all it can grow, and the only way it will improve involve reforming entitlements. Unfortunately, that in itself isn't going to solve the problem unless they drastically cut regulations and knock off the subsidies, and they're not about to do that. Thus, no matter how much cuts they apply to entitlements, there's still no place to go but down. They know that, but instead of cutting regulations, they leave them in place, and on top of that push tax increases. When Europe falls down and goes boom, who's going to pick up the pieces?
Pagan
As stated earlier if your country is near bankruptcy thank a lefty.
In essence we should look to the wonderful example in Caracas.
Even Gnome Chimpanzee is now critical of that mess long after the rest of us knew what the Cocanut was about. Apparently mental illnes, Marx and Coacaine is
not good for thug rulers or their crack den countries.
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Happy 4th, Beak.
I hope you sent Hugo Chavez a get well card. I know he'd appreciate the thought.
Ducky
Hugo should meet his end like Saddam.
Cancer will beat the hangman, too bad.
Wouldn't it be funnier than hell if Castro's world-class doctors killed Chavez through malpractice? Come to think of it, they came close to doing just that, they misdiagnosed him and perforated his rectum. HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa
I've got my gold. Let her rip!
Wish I could have been at the table! "Let's get it over with," indeed! As long as someone else pays. They'd be singing a different tune if the government weren't insuring they were too big to fail.
Trout,
Merrill-Lynch looked around the table and said "We're all capitalists here." ( he doesn't know anything about my politics)
Sorry to burst your bubble, but unless you live in North Korea (or on a completely self-sufficient commune in United States), you're a capitalist too. A self-hating one, certainly, but a capitalist nonetheless.
Well whatever the behavior forced by the system it is hardly the same as "loving Big Brother" which is what these two mamalucs were on about.
Pitch till you win.
Toleration = Love
Whodathunkit?
minibus reklamlari
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