On Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, the astonished leadership of the U.S. Congress was told in a private session by the chairman of the Federal Reserve that the American economy was in grave danger of a complete meltdown within a matter of days. “There was literally a pause in that room where the oxygen left,” says Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). [1]
So tomorrow we’re upgrading from a Paul Kanjorski rant to an NPR documentary (where we presumably will learn that voting for Bush in 2004 wasn’t a really bright idea).
I’ve been thinking about this, and it would now appear that the meeting of Congressional leaders with Fed and Treasury officials on the evening of September 18, 2008 constituted the bookend event to the Fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. It’s funny how the end of World Communism (a closed system) took place in public, while the end of World Capitalism (an open system) took place behind closed doors. Since the night Hank & Ben scared the daylights out of Nancy & Chris we have had a de facto command economy. Just look at this slightly absurd headline [2] from over the weekend. It tells how the local hospital in East Patchogue NY (along with other small medical institutions on Long Island) require essential infusions of money from the alphabet soup of programs now dispersing federal dollars from Washington. As much as Geithner and the new Treasury team would like to keep the customary level of entitlement money flowing to their friends on Wall Street, they now hold a nationalized banking system in trust for the American people and must act first of all in their interests.
UPDATE: Time Magazine in an article today [3] has semi-seriously put complete nationalization of the US economy on the table. Looks like preparing Americans for the inevitable shock is underway. That article cites Roubini, who is credited in another article [4] with the following thought:
Roubini, one of the world’s foremost experts on the current banking crisis, argues that until now, the US government, like many of its European counterparts, has been busy "trying to provide manna to everyone" without actually working out who needs what.
Doomers who have been reading the top of our home page will recognize that sentiment as one expressed a few centuries ago by a crafty old king.
Capitalism died 7 years and 7 days after the September 2001 attacks (Chris Dodds actually called the events of that 2008 week "the economic equivalent of 9/11" in the preview above). Some of the numerological and synchronistic aspects of this story arc have been pretty funky.
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[1]: "FRONTLINE INVESTIGATES HOW THE ECONOMY WENT SO BAD SO FAST" (FRONTLINE Presents Inside the Meltdown Tuesday, February 17, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS), Promotional Press Release, NPR.
[2]: "LI hospitals seek relief from stimulus package", by Ridgely Ochs, Newsday, February 14, 2009.
[3]: "The Case for Nationalizing the Entire Economy", by Douglas A. McIntyre, TIME, February 16, 2009.
[4]: "Nouriel Roubini trusts Timothy Geithner to get it right on US banks: Nouriel Roubini can see that the ‘N’ word might be a little difficult for Western governments to swallow right now. But for him, it’s the right – indeed, the only – route to follow.", by James Quinn, Telegraph, Februrary 16, 2009.
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I think this airing of frontline is really going to get people thinking for a change, but alas, since it’s educational few will understand it.
I was happy as a clam to see things finally start to crash out, my property taxes went up nearly $500 between 07-08, this last time they only went up $90. But even that’s a good deal, my home is the junkiest on the block which I am glad for, many homeowners around me were taxed out of their homes in recent years.
You could go so far as to say property taxes are effecting the value of larger homes in Wisconsin.
Now Duncan gets to see how well his theories and thought games match reality.
http://books.google.com/books?id=QFlVVERTd-MC&dq=prisoners+dilema+six+degrees&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=Z32ZSY7zAde4tweCkIifCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=11&ct=result
Hutch -
Nice dig! The preview includes a long run starting at “REINTRODUCING GROUP STRUCTURE” (p. 114ff). I’m wondering if Duncan & Harrison might be interested in the group structure I discovered that arises out of Isabel Briggs Meyers’ “auxiliary hypothesis” and the mandala-shaped di-graph you get when you draw arrows between matching primary and auxiliary cognitive functions in the set of 16 MBTI types. Seeing as they’re multi-disciplinary types they might be tickled by the idea this comes out of studies in theoretical chemistry.
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LATER: I see from reading deeper into the following section the obvious detail that Duncan’s groups are actually equivalence classes or cliques (that is, “group” in the sense that most people think of it) and not the algebraic structure I thought he was speaking to. Oh well, not the first time I’ve tripped over that one
John M.
I am definitely getting a copy, chapters 7 and 8 intrigue me. I recall you posting that diagram once before. I should have paid more attention but group structure and networks are usually touted as a pathway to “success”. Being an integral part of a group and striving to meet their model of success is contrary to my basic hermit desire to be self sufficient. On the other hand a loose connection like this site; I can enjoy.
Hutch -
The diagram is here and the discussion continued here. Back in the early 1970s I encountered Ivan Illich’s books on subjects like gender, conviviality and useful unemployment. These appear to go counter to the Hobbes model of the Social Contract, and as such provide a supplement to George Parkin Grant’s criticism of John Rawls’ theory of justice.
What I find exciting about the diagram is that I think it provides a basis for Illich’s conviviality in a way analogous to (although at a much less splendid level than) how Watson-Crick backs up Mendel.
I used to think that this would blow the liberal project out of the water, but a contact at St Mary’s has introduced me to some of the modern liberals like Richard Rorty who go beyond Rawls. Sorting out Isaiah Berlin and neo-liberalism is a whole other ball game, and puzzling out the implications of the Harper vs Ignatieff confrontation here in Canada is proving a bit complicated.
Maybe it’s just because it’s late, but I thought this was kind of funny:
twist -
I like it
Meanwhile, I call “FNORD!” on this one. There’s some pretty heavy hitters at this site who for some reason are invested in the idea that the above never happened.
“The Kanjorski Meme, Mark II”, by Felix Salmon, Seeking Alpha, February 16, 2009.
… by the way, just noticed that the Soviet Union’s 9/11 was — 11/9
“Astounded,” says Igor, evidently grumpy and hung over after the long weekend (not a holiday in Canada, alas).