The Sucker Bet

Is any Institution going to be a Salvation, or are We simply destined to further confuse an unreadable Situation? I will back Dani Rodrik over Simon Johnson that much, even though I think I am the only Traditionalist left. I have always believed that Bankruptcy was the best Instrument to adjudge the success of industry, and that Products should be slaughtered in the market. The whole Concept of ‘Too Big to Fail’ practically makes me vomit. The loss of Dollars and Livelihood is the only real Surety that Business is engaged in the wrong business. Regulation works for keeping Dog poop off the Sidewalk; no one sure of where else it achieved any goal. Neither Government or Society should be in the Protection business, and never should either deign to be a Banker; an aspect which degrades All, including the Banker. I once heard that Bankruptcy was the Risk one had to accept to learn Success–I still kind of believe that!

I am getting real tired of discussing the great Crisis, which never seems to go away; don’t you hate the paid focus of major News outlets, that will not let the Story go away. The Truth is that We are already through the Problem, else We have made a real mistake about how to handle it. I would tend to a belief in the Later, but no one will be interested in the draconian Solution of letting the Bomb explode, then cleaning up after the Explosion. The absence of Such will clear nothing, and a repetition of the Crisis will appear shortly, because no business practice will have altered. We have become like the ancient Romans, who insisted on their Circuses and Bread. We will Party as they did, until the Barbarians invade instead of accepting increasingly worthless payment to fight the odd Creatures of the Night. You have to be a Student of the fall of great Civilizations in order to understand my Words.

This Post only awakens my dread of the coming Days. No one really advocates balancing the Budget, but We talk ad infinitum about Cutting Taxes and Curtailing Spending. By the way, you cannot Tax too much and Spend too much at the same time; Taxes being insufficient to Spend at all, if deficit spending is the only Means. One Side would like to totally blame Government, the other Side would blame the lack of Tax revenues. I would blame two Groups of people, who both insist on going their own way, without any Concession made to the other position. Know your Enemy, and find your Friend! lgl