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laodan

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laodan is a guy from Milford, Pennsylvania, USA

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THE WAY THINGS ARE: The meaning of life is to be found in thinking about what is reality and the beauty of reality is to be found in our DNA's memorization of all forms that have been successfully retained along the four billion years of evolution of the principle of life on Gaia our earth. In the end what I mean to say is that beauty is something objective and what we call ugliness is then simply our unconscientious feel of something evolution did not retain.
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  • Op-Ed Columnist - Has a 'Katrina Moment' Arrived? -...

    Rated Mar 22 2009 • 1 review • economics, society, finance, change • nytimes.com

    Has a "Katrina Moment" Arrived?
    in the NYT by FRANK RICH

    What made Jon Stewart's takedown of Jim Cramer resonate was less his specific brief against CNBC's cheerleading for bad stocks than his larger indictment of the gaping economic inequality that defined the bubble. As Stewart said, there were 'two markets' "the long-term market that Americans earnestly thought would sustain their 401(k)'s, and the fast-moving, short-term 'real market' in the back room where high-rolling insiders wagered 'giant piles of money' and brought down everyone with them.

    ... why has there been so little transparency and so much evasiveness so far? The answer, I fear, is that too many of the administration's officials are too marinated in the insiders' culture to police it, reform it or own up to their own past complicity with it.

    Has a "Katrina Moment" Arrived?
    The A.I.G. Bonuses: A National Furor



    Those of us who follow closely the developments of this economic and financial crisis have known since the first days of the Obama administration that, while the president is a smart guy, he just does not get the economic and financial reality. As Frank Rich writes ...too many of the administration's officials are too marinated in the insiders' culture to police it.

    Now that populist rage has intensified dramatically will Obama come to his senses? It does not seems so. The title of Rich's article asks the right question. Obama does not seem to be able to act forcefully which drives his administration straight into paralysis.

    It seems to me that the present financial crisis could have been transformed into one of those rare opportunities toward radical action but the ineffectuality of Obama's economic and financial team is destroying that opportunity. This could very well, in turn, destroy any other initiatives of this administration. What a shame!




    12 views
    Op-Ed Columnist - Has a 'Katrina Moment' Arrived? - NYTimes.com

  • Soros sees no bottom for world financial collapse|...

    Rated Feb 22 2009 • 1 review • economics, politics, finance • reuters.com

    Soros sees no bottom for world financial collapse
    in Reuters Reporting by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa and Juan Lagorio; Editing by Gary Hill

    Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis.

    Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.

    Soros sees no bottom for world financial "collapse"

    This is not just one guy. Soros is one of the most successful investors out there. And it is not only Soros. A consensus seems starting to form among economists that what is coming our way is a kind of economic tsunami that is going to inflict much pain all around the world before to stabilize on a radically changed landscape where the centers of economic power will have shifted drastically. It is my feel that the US shall be in the fore of economic recovery a few years down the road. But the daily life of its people shall not resemble what it is today. My post of yesterday about army interference within the US borders has to be seen along the lines exposed within the present post.
    With ghosts in the eyes Ilargi
    The Worst Economic and Financial Crisis Since the Great Depression Reveals the Weaknesses of the Laissez Faire Anglo-Saxon Model of Capitalism Roubini
    How to set up a new u2018good banku2019 Willem Buiter
    The return of capital controls Willem Buiter
    The Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depressions Irving Fisher
    CAUTION: October 87 Re-Run On Deck? Karl Denninger




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    Soros sees no bottom for world financial collapse| U.S.| Reuters

  • Culture Change - U.S. Govt Prepares for Collapse and...

    Rated Feb 21 2009 • 2 reviews • economics, politics, finance • culturechange.org

    U.S. Gov't Prepares for Collapse and Disruption
    in Culture Change by Jan Lundberg


    Hints of our brave new world seeped out Thursday when Washington's new director of national intelligence, retired Adm. Dennis Blair, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. He warned that the deepening economic crisis posed perhaps our gravest threat to stability and national security. It could trigger, he said, a return to the "violent extremism" of the 1920s and 1930s.
    ...
    Blair articulated the newest narrative of fear. As the economic unraveling accelerates we will be told it is not the bearded Islamic extremists, although those in power will drag them out of the Halloween closet when they need to give us an exotic shock, but instead the domestic riffraff, environmentalists, anarchists, unions and enraged members of our dispossessed working class who threaten us. Crime, as it always does in times of turmoil, will grow. Those who oppose the iron fist of the state security apparatus will be lumped together in slick, corporate news reports with the growing criminal underclass.

    U.S. Gov't Prepares for Collapse and Disruption
    "Bad News From Americau2019s Top Spy" by Chris Hedges
    "U.S. Military Preparing for Domestic Disturbances"
    "Congress Seeks To Authorize & Legalize FEMA Camp Facilities"
    Text of H.R. 645: National Emergency Centers Establishment Act
    "ACLU Demands Information On Military Deployment Within U.S. Borders: Deployment Erodes Longstanding Separation Between Civilian And Military Government"
    "US Army unit deployed to home front: Nonlethal force for civil unrest"



    Brrr...
    Logical development from the perspective of the establishment isn't it? The same story has repeated itself "ad nauseum" throughout the history of power societies and this same mechanism is now being reactivated. The real meaning of the present power talk is that the establishment is thinking that the complexity of our globalized world could be unraveling...




    23 views
    Culture Change - U.S. Govt Prepares for Collapse and Disruption

  • The Size of Derivatives Bubble = $190K Per Person on...

    Rated Feb 07 2009 • 6 reviews • economics, finance • siliconvalleywatcher.com

    The Size of Derivatives Bubble = $190K Per Person on Planet
    in Silicon Valley Watcher by Tom Foremski

    Whilst outstanding derivatives are notional amounts until they are crystallised, actual exposure is measured by the net credit equivalent. This is normally a lower figure unless many variables plot a locus in the wrong direction simultaneously. This could be because of catastrophic unpredictable events, ie, "Black Swans", such as cascades of bankruptcies and nationalisations, when the net exposure can balloon and become considerably larger or indeed because some extremely dislocating geo-political or geo-physical events take place simultaneously. Also, the notional value becomes real value when either counterparty to the OTC derivative goes bankrupt. This means that no large OTC derivative house can be allowed to go broke without falling into the arms of another. Whatever funds within reason are required to rescue failing international investment banks, deposit banks and financial entities ought to be provided on a case by case basis. This is the asymmetric nature of derivatives and here lies the potential for systemic risk to the global economic system and financial markets if nothing is done.

    The Size of Derivatives Bubble = $190K Per Person on Planet

    1.144 quadrillion as of December 2007. By end of 2008 the figure was given as reaching over 1.300 quadrillion... The derivative fiasco is a "massive challenge which may have to be tackled across many nation states simultaneously".

    I agree that "The only way out, albeit painful, is via discretionary case-by-case government intervention on an unprecedented scale. Securing the savings and assets of ordinary citizens ought to be the number one concern in directing such policy."

    Guaranteeing the assets of financial institutions or nationalization of existing banks will lead to the financial collapse of the states that initiate such policies. The only way forward is to create a network of "good banks" where the citizens can move their deposits in total security.

    It is noteworthy to observe the actual positions of economists:
    - Paulson, Summers, Geitner, ... those who represent the financial institutions' interests: bad bank creation or guarantee of banks assets
    - Roubini, Taleb, Stiglitz, ... those who think that nationalization is the only way out. They are right that the state could sort out big part of the mess through clearance. But the mess is so big that the states soon would find themselves overwhelmed...
    - Buiter, Romer, ... those who want to protect the citizens' savings first think that this is only feasible through the set-up of a new network of "good banks" that could also start to buy up the good assets of the existing banks and start loaning again...




    74 views
    The Size of Derivatives Bubble = $190K Per Person on Planet - SiliconValleyWatcher

  • http://www.georgesoros.com/crisis-and-what-to-do110608

    Rated Jan 08 2009 • 2 reviews • economics, society, finance • georgesoros.com

    The Crisis & What to Do About It
    in GeorgeSoros.com by George Soros

    The salient feature of the current financial crisis is that it was not caused by some external shock like OPEC raising the price of oil or a particular country or financial institution defaulting. The crisis was generated by the financial system itself. This fact "that the defect was inherent in the system" contradicts the prevailing theory, which holds that financial markets tend toward equilibrium and that deviations from the equilibrium either occur in a random manner or are caused by some sudden external event to which markets have difficulty adjusting. The severity and amplitude of the crisis provides convincing evidence that there is something fundamentally wrong with this prevailing theory and with the approach to market regulation that has gone with it. To understand what has happened, and what should be done to avoid such a catastrophic crisis in the future, will require a new way of thinking about how markets work.

    The Crisis & What to Do About It

    The theory of market equilibrium is based upon the assumption that the economic actors are behaving rationally in order to maximize their capital base. This has been the economic paradigm adhered to around the world for the last 30 years.

    The gravity of the present crisis questions the validity of that model. Alternatives are being proposed. Most of those don't question the premises of the logic of capital and their scope is limited to the reformation of the operation of the system. Among those approaches the one proposed by George Soros is assuredly the most promising.

    According to Soros the idea that the market is permanently searching for equilibrium is a fantasy that derives from an ideological approach of economics or market fundamentalism. In his view:
    - the market (the combined actions of all the economic actors) follows trends
    - the thinking, or the reflexion, about those trends can be right or can be wrong.
    When the thinking about a trend is right the thinking calls for actions that will re-balance the market. But when the thinking is wrong its call to action can push the market into a deeper imbalance that eventually bursts it. This is what he calls market reflexivity.
    Soros' toolbox includes:
    - tools to bring about more transparency to the market: new instruments created by financial engineering should be approved and registered, the exchange of any financial instrument should take place, in the open, on the adhock exchange.
    - national banks and financial authorities should: act to counter any excesses building up in the market (burst bubbles at an early stage) and give investment directives to the economic actors.
    In such a view the role of the state in the economy is reinforced giving it the strategic power to define the economic path of the nation. It seems to me that this model is identical to the Chinese model...




    72 views
    http://www.georgesoros.com/crisis-and-what-to-do110608

  • The Automatic Earth: Debt Rattle, December 30 2008: The...

    Rated Jan 04 2009 • 1 review • economics, society, finance, change • blogspot.com

    The end of credit
    in The Automatic Earth by Ilargi

    What I see around me, what governments are doing, is that one-trick pony kind of thing: trying to resurrect the dead with money that doesn't belong to them. Before we can begin a reorganization of our societies, the present political and financial ruling classes will have to fall.

    The end of credit

    The Automatic Earth is one of the most profound economic blogs around. It's commentaries are eye openers and it's daily selection of articles is outstanding.
    Ilargi warns us of very difficult days to come.
    - an establishment that is only concerned to reproduce the game that benefited each of its members so well these last decades
    - an establishment that is not interested nor willing to let the reality be exposed for all to see the real losses by the financial industry
    - an establishment that frenetically tries to "resurrect the dead with money that doesn't belong to them. "
    - in consequence of the establishment's evasion of reality Western societies will endure an immense amount of suffering.
    To minimize the coming suffering it is high time to think seriously about individual, family and local self-sufficiency...




    197 views
    The Automatic Earth: Debt Rattle, December 30 2008: The End of Credit

  • Truthdig - Reports - The Best and the Brightest Led...

    Rated Dec 08 2008 • 8 reviews • education, economy, finance, change • truthdig.com

    The Best and the Brightest Led America Off a Cliff
    in Truthdig by Chris Hedges

    These elites, and the corporate system they serve, have ruined the country. These elite cannot solve our problems. They have been trained to find "solutions" such as the trillion-dollar bailout of banks and financial firms, that sustain the system. They will feed the beast until it dies. Don't expect them to save us. They don't know how. And when it all collapses, when our rotten financial system with its trillions in worthless assets implodes and our imperial wars end in humiliation and defeat, they will be exposed as being as helpless, and as stupid, as the rest of us.

    The Best and the Brightest Led America Off a Cliff
    Workers' Revolution in America: Approaching Zero Hour

    I like Chris Hedges. The guy has balls.

    It seems indeed that popular anger is fast increasing. Yesterday I posted about Nassim Nicholas Taleb who speaks about the robbery of the century by the financial elite and the need for shaming them into retreat. Today it's Chris Hedges' turn to express his disdain for those guys who are said to be the brightest. Mc Camy Taylor might well be onto something real with his idea of an approaching hour zero in America.

    Robert Reich writes that "This is the angry soil in which populist backlashes can take root."




    321 views
    Truthdig - Reports - The Best and the Brightest Led America Off a Cliff

  • FT.com / Comment / Opinion - Bystanders to this financial...

    Rated Dec 07 2008 • 1 review • economics, society, finance • ft.com

    Bystanders to this financial crime were many
    In the Financial Times by Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Pablo Triana

    Risk methods that failed dramatically in the real world continue to be taught to students in business schools, where professors never lose tenure for the misapplications of those methods. As we are writing these lines, close to 100,000 MBAs are still learning portfolio theory u2013 it is uniformly on the programme for next semester. An airline company would ground the aircraft and investigate after the crash u2013 universities would put more aircraft in the skies, crash after crash. The fraud can be displaced only by shaming people, by boycotting the orthodox financial economics establishment and the institutions that allowed this to happen.

    Bystanders to this financial crime were many
    A conversation about economics with Nassim Taleb

    When a little guy cheats he goes to jail.
    Why are the guys responsible for what Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls a "robbery" now being put in positions to redress their crime by the one who called for change?
    Down the road I'm afraid that the present decisions to put in positions of power those who participated in this robbery of the century will haunt Obama.




    125 views
    FT.com / Comment / Opinion - Bystanders to this financial crime were many

  • FT.com / Columnists / Philip Stephens - Crisis marks out...

    Rated Oct 09 2008 • 1 review • culture, change, economics, hegemony, finance • ft.com

    Crisis marks out a new geopolitical order
    in The Financial Times by Philip Stephens

    The wreckage of the financial system holds up a mirror to the changing geopolitical balance. It offers advice, and a warning, as to what the west should make of the emerging global order.
    ...
    Owning up to the geopolitical implications will be as painful for the rich nations as paying the domestic price for the profligacy. The erosion of the westu2019s moral authority that began with the Iraq war has been greatly accelerated. The westu2019s debtors cannot any longer expect their creditors to listen to their lectures. Here lies the broader lesson. The shift eastwards in global economic power has become a commonplace of political discourse. Almost everyone in the west now speaks with awe of the pace of Chinau2019s rise, of Indiau2019s emergence as a geopolitical player, of the growing roles in international relations of Brazil and South Africa.
    ...
    ... the big lesson is that the west can no longer assume the global order will be remade in its own image. For more than two centuries, the US and Europe have exercised an effortless economic, political and cultural hegemony. That era is ending.

    Crisis marks out a new geopolitical order



    Right on the mark. The Western economic, political and cultural hegemony is abruptly faltering. We Westerners will have to learn listening to the ways of the Bric countries but most particularly to the Chinese ways... and even more than listening and learning we'll have to adapt the ways of the new hegemons.




    138 views
    FT.com / Columnists / Philip Stephens - Crisis marks out a new geopolitical order

  • Clusterfuck Nation by Jim Kunstler : All Fall Down

    Rated Oct 06 2008 • 2 reviews • economics, society, finance • typepad.com

    All Fall Down
    from Clusterfuck by james howard kunstler

    The Big Bailout of last week may be partially rescinded as it becomes obvious that it has had no effect -- I believe about half the $700 has already been allocated, which is to say: lost. I realize these things sound pretty extreme. But forces have been set in motion and momentum rules. One thing for sure: the American public is about to undergo a severe mood adjustment. There will be fewer American Idol fans and worshippers of Donald Trump by the close of business on Friday.

    All Fall Down by James howard kunstler
    Open Source Ecology--Help Neededby Jeff Vail
    Open Source Ecology. open, collaborative development of a basic and robust infrastructure for a Global Village economy

    Such an interesting time that we live in but how scary.

    1. As Kunstler states: "The final result, when the dust settles -- and that may not be for weeks to come -- will certainly be a poorer western world." How poor? This is still unknown. The unfolding of reality along the coming weeks and months is going to show us exactly how much poorer the West becomes.

    2. Some are preparing for this new economic reality. Open Source Ecology is assuredly one of the most interesting initiatives out there. But I can't brush skepticism out of my mind for their stated philosophy: "The basic assumption for a New Village economy is that humans are capable of transcending struggle for survival and resource conflicts, where this preoccupation is replaced by higher pursuits of personal and societal evolution."

    I don't deny that we humans have a hand in the production of our future. Our dreams and ideals are shaping our actions and our actions are participating in shaping the contour of our future. But this does not imply in any way that our future shall be what we dream about it today. There are too many heavy trends out there in our economy-world, upon which we have no bearing, that are powering the general shape of things to come: the multiple side-effects of modernity, globalization, nationalisms, religions... This is why, even if I sympathize with their goals, I'm deeply skeptical of any groups founded on actions forged in "will and desire". What I mean to say is that "will and desire" are acting like a blanket over the eyes. Immersed in them we kind of forget that the real world out there is moving forward and as a conclusion "will and desire" marginalize us from the real world...

    I believe that the only sane attitude is to observe, to try to understand what is going on out there, to surf on the waves hoping for the best...




    23 views
    Clusterfuck Nation by Jim Kunstler : All Fall Down