What is Digg?89 Comments
- rpi22, on 05/03/2008, -5/+87At this point, the Fed is using Enron style accounting to hide losses in the financial industry. The U.S. government has been systematically distorting the economic numbers it reports to make things appear A-OK. The government no longer releases M3 money supply numbers because M3 growth is around 20%. The CPI numbers are a joke, food and energy are not included because they are 'volatile'. But when that volatility is all in one direction, UP, that's not volatility, THAT'S INFLATION!
- luminus, on 05/03/2008, -3/+23This is the most important article you will read this year.
- imacommi, on 05/03/2008, -4/+24I wish I could digg you up more than once. rpi22 hit the nail right on the head with this one; do some research and see for yourself. We need to take our country back over starting with the grass roots...the revolution will not be televised, the revolution is now!
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -9/+29See, this is what happens when you elect an idiot for a president.
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -2/+21Buy gold and build a bunker.
- eryximachus, on 05/03/2008, -2/+21This is a fabulous essay written by the founder of iTulip, one of the best economics websites on the web. Please digg this article up! Many people have to read this!
- PeppermintPig, on 05/03/2008, -0/+16Unfortunately, this is likely to continue with the next administration.
- phybere, on 05/03/2008, -0/+13Our economy has turned into a roller-coaster of ups and downs (bubbles rising then being popped). The next bubble is probably alternative energy.
1. Invest in alternative energy
2. Sell before the bubble pops.
3. PROFIT!!!!1 - inactive, on 05/03/2008, -1/+14And don't buy the "grassroots" movements get you nowhere. They're scared to death of them.
- DeFex, on 05/03/2008, -1/+13Its OK, soon all the bubbles will overlap and it will balance out, it will be called "froth"
- Murrabbit, on 05/03/2008, -2/+14Oh hey, when we send all our jobs to 3rd world nations then we ourselves slowly become a 3rd world nation, who would have thought!
- pak314, on 05/03/2008, -0/+10Privatize the gains, socialize the losses.
- Mindzai, on 05/03/2008, -2/+11It was going to happen anyways. Electing the idiot just sped things up because he took the country to war, which put federal spending through the roof.
- AlwaysAwake, on 05/03/2008, -2/+11Not just paper shuffling, but Big Mac flipping too. This "new" bubble is an old one with a shorter shelf life than most will want to imagine. In fact, it is already crashing as we can see by paying attention to what is happening all around us in our daily lives now. Forget the media and the politicians, just stop; look, and listen.
- ewhac, on 05/03/2008, -0/+8A very enlightening article. But lately I find my mind more occupied with practical matters. Such as, how do I A) avoid losing my job, and B) pay the rising prices of food and energy?
- ewhac, on 05/03/2008, -1/+9You are referring, of course, to Reagan. Many of the policies that enabled this mess started with him.
And while I'm absolutely no fan of Boy George, Clinton was not blameless, either. The dot-com run-up happened on his watch, and Greenspan was extolling the virtues of ARMs well into the 2000's. - Ratteler, on 05/03/2008, -0/+7This is what happens when you let Billionaires force you to choose between Millionaires as your "Elected" representatives.
Grow and raise your own food.
Set up Windmills to make your own power.
Set up a AlterNET over HAM radio.
Abandon their system because it is now only for them. - jf317820, on 05/03/2008, -2/+9401k russian roulette FTW
- Qong, on 05/03/2008, -2/+8What's the problem?
Bubbles are a part of a free market. When people have the freedom to do with their resources as they wish, they can and do create bubbles that will most certainly burst at some point. The question that you have to ask yourself is this: What is more regulation going to do for us?
Regulation restricts the freedom of individuals and lets those with power and political pull to have their way. It also leads to an even more bloated and wasteful government than we have now. It also adds an immense amount of stress on businesses that operate outside of those bubbles, businesses that play no part in them, yet they still have their businesses restricted and regulated. - eryximachus, on 05/03/2008, -1/+7Neither you nor the OP even read the article. I realize Harper's is a bit of a challenge for high school students, but ditch the MTV politics for just 30 minutes, take some ritalin, and try to learn SOMETHING.
- louiebaur, on 05/03/2008, -1/+7Good read
- phybere, on 05/03/2008, -0/+5Luckily all the smart people still have food left over from Y2K.
- WaldoX, on 05/03/2008, -2/+7war = inflation (to pay for it)
- silikon2, on 05/03/2008, -5/+10Are Diggers a magnet for "omg we are doomed" stories? Maybe I'm just old enough to have seen enough sky is falling stories to realize no one knows what the future will bring. Call me after the collapse has happened to let me know. Predictions like this are little better than reading your horoscope.
- lusenok2, on 05/03/2008, -1/+6Finally I can read a sane article about finances.
Thank you for posting it here. - Hangly, on 05/03/2008, -0/+5That was astoundingly well-written.
- franksalvo, on 05/03/2008, -0/+4So, basically, we generate a cycle of booming wealth followed by recession, then back to booming wealth. Alternative energy (or "sustainability") is the next big thing. They hope to drive the market toward energy investments as quickly as possible. This will create growth to offset the current economic decline.
So, we know that after we have tapped out the alternative energy market, we need to find a new boom. Maybe it will be health care or space exploration. Who knows. The thing is, the markets would grow on their own given strict supply and demand economics. Growth would be much slower, but in the end, if the author is correct in saying the markets "return to the mean," we will end up where we would have ended up naturally without all the manipulation.
Not sure why we do this. My instict is to believe this is how "rich get richer,: but there may be a more elegant explanation. - XmenArt, on 05/03/2008, -0/+4http://www.helocbasics.com mentioned that there is over $1 trillion in home equity loansbeing used by americans with too much debt and means to pay that will dissapear as soon as rates go up. We're not talking pocket change any more.
- ewhac, on 05/03/2008, -0/+4One might have argued at the time that the real estate run-up was constructive. New homes were being built, and new people were enjoying the benefits of home ownership -- one of the concrete manifestations of the American Dream(TM). Trouble was, it was all paid for by fake money.
I can't immediately imagine what an alternative energy sector paid for with fake money will look like after that bubble pops, but history suggests it, too, will not be pretty. - contezmc, on 05/03/2008, -0/+44. Then invest in Health care as the Baby-boomer bubble comes to fruition.
5. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. - PeppermintPig, on 05/03/2008, -0/+4We shouldn't all be in one big boat, where the idiots at the helm squander fuel and resources. Survival requires individuals to be responsible for their actions, and not be made responsible for the bad decisions of others.
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -0/+3Summary of the Article:
We're f*cked because what we're doing now makes Teapot Dome seem positively microscopic. - PeppermintPig, on 05/03/2008, -0/+3Immoral and foolish people use their guns to take from others what doesn't belong to them, because they couldn't reason to buy the food before it became scarce.
- matt77, on 05/03/2008, -1/+4Did you read the article? The "return to reality" is a "big crash".
- gergle, on 05/03/2008, -1/+4The article describes bubbles, but I never trust anyone who tells me about how they predicted history. I was immediately disturbed by this assertion:
Bubbles were once very rare—one every hundred years or so was enough to motivate politicians, bearing the post-bubble ire of their newly destitute citizenry, to enact legislation that would prevent subsequent occurrences.
The 18th and 19th century were replete with boom and bust US economies every few years. If he can't get the basic history right what else is wrong here? - Hillsfar, on 05/03/2008, -0/+3I read the article back in February. Re-read it at least twice. Just so informative. I just don't know if we'll actually have an alternative energy bubble unless we have the governmental impetus - Presidential and Congressional. (Personally, I don't think McCain would do it.) Unless oil just keeps going up and up... to $200 a barrel by 2012.
- twertyto, on 05/03/2008, -7/+10Attention smart people: The article is long with big words. Can someone summarize in terms stupid, lazy people can understand?
- temjrpgh, on 05/03/2008, -0/+3There's room for multiple bubbles, in fact they'll probably be stacked.
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -1/+3Play Wall Street like a PONZI SCHEME!
- gak001, on 05/03/2008, -0/+2Here's an idea... let's take all that money we're blowing on Iraq and spend it on improving our own infrastructure and alternative energy. Job creation and new production in America - it's a win-win for the economy.
- CallMeASeeker, on 05/03/2008, -1/+3Brilliant Article on speculation and bubbles and also how they relate to government spending and the money supply . Warren Buffet had predicted a bubble with mortgage based derivates in 2002 going as far describing them as financial weapons of mass destruction. Oracle of Omaha be damned the real estate mortage horse had bolted the stable. See this article at http://yourmoneyourworld.blogspot.com/2008/04/orac ... Also has the link to the 2002 annual report on the Berkshire Hathaway site. A green energy bubble is needed right now to get some money into green infrastructure. As an investor i would see this as awarning to know when to get in or out of green stocks/funds etc etc
- chemdiva, on 05/03/2008, -0/+2Maybe it'll look something like too many food crops being converted to corn for fuel?
- andy3109, on 05/03/2008, -1/+3A little doomsdayish...CPI wouldn't be as accurate if energy was counted 100%. And instead of making a blanket statement about how the FED is hiding money...show me the "cooked books"... and when did they stop reporting M3?
- Jassman, on 05/03/2008, -0/+2We see the iceberg from 15 miles away
The captain orders the ship to "stay the course"
"Full speed ahead" shouts the accurst
The next thing we heard was, "rich women and children first"
The ship is listing, the captain's placing blame on the iceberg
"That berg attacked us, I am declaring war on the Arctic"
Who could ever have predicted the greatest ship could so easily sink (duh)
-NOFX - eryximachus, on 05/03/2008, -0/+2umm, huh? wtf are you talking about?
- Hangly, on 05/03/2008, -0/+2Do people say stupid ***** like this because they're nervous, or what? Seriously, I'm baffled.
- ATCclears, on 05/03/2008, -0/+2Thx, that is a thought-provoking article. Who knows what the future will bring...
A tidbit on Wall Street and the financial-services firms. The firms like to promote "wealth preservation" with their clients, but a friend who used to work in the same firms said they were really promoting "wealth extraction" (ie., they will get a percentage of your money regardless of their performance). Ponder it when making future decisions on your 401k, investments, etc. - stealthc, on 05/03/2008, -1/+3Way to finally realize what people like Ron Paul have been telling you for decades. Isn't the little economist JUST SO SMART.
Pardon me for being just a *little* bitter that people didn't see this when the actual economists were warning them about it. - bc289, on 05/03/2008, -0/+1well, it's true that they stopped reporting M3. They stopped reporting M3 because it just isn't relevant and wasn't worth the cost of calculating the numbers. M2 is accurate enough.
- Airsoft1117, on 01/15/2009, -0/+1OH *****
-
Show 51 - 87 of 87 discussions
Browsing Digg on your phone just got easier with our enhancements to the 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is