On the monetary front, we have a 12-year-old mega-bubble of fiat credit, stock buybacks, bloated balance sheets, and “infinite liquidity”. On the “real” front, we have a global economy with record forced unemployment, decimated supply chains, and whole industries on the verge of bankruptcy.
Tag: business
What I’m Doing
Most smart people aren’t doing what I’m doing. Shouldn’t I be worried? Only slightly. Even smart people are prone to herding and hysteria. I’ve now spent three months listening to smart defenders of the conventional view. Their herding and hysteria are hard to miss. Granted, non-smart contrarians sound even worse. But smart contrarians make the most sense of all.
What I’m Thinking
1. Getting people to be rational about politics is an uphill battle during the best of times. During a global hysteria, it’s hopeless. 2. Due to this doleful realization, I refrained from discussing the lockdown when it first emerged. The best course, I deemed, was to wait for readers to simmer down. 3. Since many have now simmered down, here’s what I was thinking three months ago.
Market Needs Freedom to Flourish
The world’s economy is being damaged by this pandemic, or, more accurately, it’s being damaged by government reactions to the pandemic. The damage is adding up; getting worse with time. The only questions are: How bad is the damage going to be? And how long will it take to recover? I don’t know the answers;…
Is It Better To Be Public or Private In an Age of Surveillance?
I don’t know which is the right answer, but I have considered (and lived) both approaches in my own small way. Right now I lean toward privacy – before I leaned toward publicity. But whatever the case, I hope to maintain the freedom to choose either.
Curiosity: The Master Impulse
Curiosity is the greatest threat to concentrated power and prestige, so those who have power and prestige labor endlessly to create the mind-killing opposite of all curiosity. Consensus. Obedience. Being seen as “normal”, “in the know”, “respectable”.
Time to Let People Take Own Risks
I would expect, given the record of failure, this coronavirus experience would cause people to reconsider their belief in the credibility of government. From past experience, I know hope — or something darker — springs eternal. Most people are desperate to believe government is capable and credible in spite of 5,000-plus years of evidence to the contrary.
Morbidly Obtuse: Pelosi and the Media versus Hydroxychloroquine
When US president Donald Trump mentioned that he’s taking hydroxychloroquine, he immediately got an extra dose of flak from both the mainstream media and noted medical experts such as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Ready or Not, the Lockdown Season is Coming to an End
Americans, it seems, are collectively deciding amongst ourselves that COVID-19 lockdown time is over. Our decision isn’t up for debate or subject to appeal. Politicians and their pet “experts” are fresh out of veto power. For better or worse — almost certainly some of both — America is opening back up.
Reopening isn’t Politicians’ Call
To open or not to open; that is the question. But it’s the wrong question. While there’s plenty of debate and disagreement over allowing businesses to re-open; when and how it should be done, the discussion misses the point completely.