Marc2b
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Joined: 8/7/2006
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quote:
Fiscal Cooling...Cyclic or Man made?
Both.
Man made in the sense that the economy consists of every interaction (and non-interaction) between human beings and their environment. One corporation buying another corporation for billions of dollars is the economy. You choosing to go to restaurant A instead of restaurant B is the economy. Me going to bed an hour earlier than usual (less electricity usage) is the economy. Seeksfemslave buying a blowup doll is the economy. Everyone on the CM Boards, just by being on the CM Boards, is the economy. All us and everything we do is the economy. It is a vast interconnected network of cause and effect, driven by needs (real and perceived); desires (or the lack thereof!) ranging from the mundane to the passionate; and happenstance (e.g. the weather). To truly try and comprehend it all is mind boggling.
It appears chaotic yet out of this seeming chaos there emerges order. This order is the product of human instincts, social mores, cultures, and laws. I want to make it clear that by order I do not mean that everything works perfectly for everyone all the time (obviously it doesn’t). Rather I mean that systems develop. The trillions of decisions and actions that the human race makes every minute of every day (the micro level, so to speak) become trends in the macro level of business and the economies of nations (and of the world). Your decision to buy Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream instead of Edy’s has a tiny ripple effect on the price of milk, the price of other ingredients, and even the availability of jobs (as a result of profitability) at both companies. Your one pint may not make that much of a difference but if you are one of millions who prefer Ben and Jerry’s...
Systems seek equilibrium (which is not the same thing as harmony). What is economic good news for some is likely to be economic bad news for others. An example: Not to long ago, Canadian money reached par with American money for the first time in a long time. I was in Stratford, Ontario at the time and the Canadian newspapers and news shows were positively gloating over it. They portrayed it as great economic news for Canada and bed economic news for America. I’m also quite sure that the waitress had a little smirk when she handed me back $4.50 in Canadian Money from a $20.00 American bill. I understand. Canada has had to listen to the jokes for years (I’m guilty of making some of them myself). Still, I was a little disappointed that so many failed to see the truth. Canadian money reaching par was good economic news for some Canadians (for importers it was a price drop for American goods) and bad economic news for other Canadians (for exporters it meant that their goods cost more for Americans). For Americans it was also a mixed blessing, for exactly the opposite reasons (good for the exporters, bad for the importers).
That’s just one example of many. Whenever something goes "wrong" in one place it usually means something is going "right" somewhere else. Of course, things going wrong for some people and going right for others affects their decisions. The process continues. What is often called the business cycle is merely these never ending fluctuations. The current economic "crisis" may, on the surface, appear to be one sided – wrong for everybody – but in fact the process is continuing even here. A gapping hole of money (so to speak) has appeared in the system. Other money is poised to fill the hole. The system is seeking equilibrium.
Could the system one day (hopefully not today) not achieve equilibrium and collapse? Certainly. First, the simple fact is that although systems seek equilibrium, there is no certainty that they will. Systems usually achieve equilibrium (or at least a semblance of it – in one sense they never can because change is the only constant in the universe) but there are no guarantees. One thing is certain. Even if the current economic system we call the American economy (and the world economy) does collapse, humans will keep on doing the things they do (eating sleeping, fucking, fighting, looking for entertainment) and new systems will develop to replace the old.
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Do you know what the most awesome thing about being an Atheist is? You're not required to hate anybody!
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RE: "rescue package"? voted down - 
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