Sunday, January 25, 2009

Relax!

Steven Landsburg is worried about the ''Brave New Deal'' being proposed to save us from the econolypse...
''In the long run we have nothing to fear but fear itself--and the rush to poor judgment that is the spawn of fear. Poor judgment makes people say things like "Hey! This new guy in town seems likable and right-minded. Let's give him everything he's asking for so he can take care of us." We've been down that road before. I'm hoping for some change I can believe in.''
Amen. I'm really starting to wonder about this economic ''crisis''. It seems to me that it really amounts to a wildly overinflated standard of living and all-too-easy access to credit being deflated after a painful run-in with reality. But, so what! What we're seeing now is possibly just what happens with bubbles- they pop. Life returns to normal. Markets go up; markets go down. I do think Landsburg is way too optimistic about the endless march of GDP into the heavens- step with us now, into the future! But, again, so what! Is it crazy to think that maybe the world's economies are just going to reach a more reality-based level of liquidity, GDP, standard of living, etc. and that what's crazy is acting like that's a catastrophe?

4 comments:

SecondComingOfBast said...

There's a lot of reasons for the concerns from the top. Less tax revenue is one thing, but also, since this is the much touted Global Economy, it too is affected very adversely, and we, we meaning the US and it's financial institutions-and the regulatory agencies that are SUPPOSED to watch over them-are catching the blame for it.

And for once in a blue moon, rightly so, in a way-in another way, well, the bums should have known better themselves.

Rufus said...

I think more of them should have seen this coming for sure.

One thing that's freaking people out, which really can't be helped either, is that some of the countries on the rise have rates of annual growth that the US doesn't equal, regardless of whether or not there's a recession. The US is still ahead in terms of overall economy, but with the rate of growth that places like India and China are having, eventually they'll pass into the lead. So, people get freaked out about that, but honestly, I think it'll be more relaxing than anything.

SecondComingOfBast said...

That may be true of India, but China is having a pretty rough time now, or was the last I heard. Orders are down across the board, from the US and elsewhere, and its having a very adverse effect on their economic growth. Not to say they can't pull out of it, but they are certainly feeling the pinch as well.

Rufus said...

Right, but even there, it's a matter of smaller growth than normal- for the US, it's actually a contraction. Of course, China wants to maintain a certain level of growth- and actually could face serious social unrest if they don't- so the stakes are actually higher for them.