10.29.09
Villains and the economy
Of all my working years, the tech industry which I belong to are mostly in recessions. The high tech bubble along with the fall of Nortel have shattered most engineer’s dreams in Canada. Still I plowed through, never thinking much about the adverse conditions that I am facing.
That’s probably why I am irritated at all the finger pointing that’s going on right now. Hindsight is 20/20, whoever is wielding it and pointing fingers right now should be taken down by a llama and spit on. On the other hand, all the ego trips and chest thumping by our elected political elite makes for a great movie. Even though the stupid dribbles that comes out of their mouth infuriates me to the point of giving up hope on our government.Then again, the dribbles and foams are probably what we wanted to hear.
What seem to skip most people’s mind right now is that the depression is not caused by bankers, predatory lenders or any political party. It is the pure consequence of you and your greed. It all started with a bunch of people defaulting and then gets exacerbated by a bunch of bad choices. What is it with people who sits on the sideline and vent their anger? Criticizing any and everyone who took what they believed at the moment to be necessary action?
If you don’t like it, do something about it. I am doing everything I can, are you?
Daniel Parisien said,
October 29, 2009 at 9:22 am
I disagree. I think it is all the result of bad education about money, what it is, where it comes from, how to manage it. I also blame some key bankers, for example those that repealed Glass–Steagall, that invented derivatives (represents a 100 quadrillion dollar bubble “foundation” that we are on today).
Here is a good video explaining money and debt:
http://vodpod.com/watch/1544492-money-as-debt
And for a good intro to managing money, I suggest the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
Daniel Parisien said,
October 29, 2009 at 9:23 am
http://consumerist.com/5391689/former-citigroup-head-waxes-nostalgic-for-glass+steagall-which-he-helped-kill
Dave Mac said,
October 29, 2009 at 9:32 am
I don’t think you should place the entire blame on greedy consumers. Let’s face it, most people are just dumb and don’t know any better. Â
The select few individuals that have control over the financial system are the most responsible. They fully understood the consequences of failed mortgages, easy credit, etc. Policy should have prevented this from ever happening.
The argument of responsibility is pointless anyway. It all comes down to the rich blaming the poor and vice versa. It’s the cycle of life.
Dave.
PS I enjoy the blog
Causalien said,
October 30, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Daniel: I understand the concept. Perhaps I should’ve worded it differently by saying that the full weight of the fault is not on these individuals we are pointing at, or any particular class of people. Derivatives are not bad and is essential for the proper functioning of modern finances. What I am trying to get at is that the underlying real assets of a derivative is actually people’s obligation to pay the loan which they agreed on. It is these people’s greed which led to the eventual default of the derivative which led to the default of the people writing the derivative due to their greed. So on and so fourth.
Dave: Glad you liked it. I am not placing blame just on consumers. It’s everyone’s greed. Not just the bankers nor the politicians. I am trying to dispel some people’s holier-than-thou attitude just because they don’t belong to those groups.