Wackonomics

[Flacolaco]

...one of the high points of the semester, if you’re a teacher of introductory macroeconomics, comes when you explain how individual virtue can be public vice, how attempts by consumers to do the right thing by saving more can leave everyone worse off. The point is that if consumers cut their spending, and nothing else takes the place of that spending, the economy will slide into a recession, reducing everyone’s income.

Well it just has to be done. We can't keep spending at the ridiculous standard that has been set in recent years. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs in the process, but the economy needs to kind of reset.

And by the way Alex, is there a discount for ordering 3 whole years of ASS magazine?

[alexamenos]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Well it just has to be done. We can't keep spending at the ridiculous standard that has been set in recent years. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs in the process, but the economy needs to kind of reset.

And by the way Alex, is there a discount for ordering 3 whole years of ASS magazine?

Exactly what the economy needs is a kind of reset, IMO....I think, and I've hardly the ability to explain it adequately, but I think one of the consequences of the manner in which our monetary / fiscal situation has been managed over the last 15 years is that it leads to all manner of "mal-investments" -- we get people heavily employed in building mcmansions, investments in companies dedicated to providing pet owners with an internet portal to purchase dog food, etc.... it's going to take time to unwind these bad investments and get people employed in more productive endeavors, and I think it will unavoidably be a painful time.

as for the ASS magazine subscription, yes, it's like 50% off the newsstand price...

...i mean, my friend tells me it's a big discount.

[kg_veteran]

Originally Posted by alexamenos

Exactly what the economy needs is a kind of reset, IMO....I think, and I've hardly the ability to explain it adequately, but I think one of the consequences of the manner in which our monetary / fiscal situation has been managed over the last 15 years is that it leads to all manner of "mal-investments" -- we get people heavily employed in building mcmansions, investments in companies dedicated to providing pet owners with an internet portal to purchase dog food, etc.... it's going to take time to unwind these bad investments and get people employed in more productive endeavors, and I think it will unavoidably be a painful time.

Yes, it will be painful, but it is undoubtedly necessary. That's one of the reasons that I was opposed to the bailout. The country (and the government) needs to learn to live within its means, not be bailed out.