Fisher Ames served, in 1788, in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and is credited with the following observation “I have heard it remarked that men are not to be reasoned out of an opinion they have not reasoned themselves into.”.
John Maynard Keynes, one of the greatest economists ever, also considered the reasoning process – “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”
From these two observations it can be seen that emotional opinions are more powerful than reason, the former immutable and the latter prone to volatility. For reason to succeed it requires more than a well-reasoned argument.
You’re everything I hope for
You’re everything I need
You are so beautiful to me
You are so beautiful to me
Joe Cocker You Are So Beautiful
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The Emotional Bonds That Bind
GDP _ A Grossly Distorted Proposition
“A child is not a vessel to be filled, but a lamp to be lit”. – Hebrew Proverb
Unfortunately, most economists demonstrate the education is about your place in society not how well you understand something.
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Historical Tides
The Economist week ending 17th November 2012 got itself in a spat with the French over the following front page.
It is really a bit over dramatic as the problems France may face economically are as nothing when compared with the Anglosphere
Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.
Warren Buffett
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Banking on Government
Fool me one shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. George W. Bush
That the UK has a severe economic problem is without question. It’s inability to create wealth and its reliance on debt-fuelled GDP is unsustainable but can the coalition’s plans for a business bank and the picking of winners really work?
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Heart of The Matter
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass– Heart of Glass Blondie
Money is the life blood of an economy, its circulation being vital to an economy, with the banks as the means of pumping that money around (in other words the heart and hence the importance of bailing then ou in 2007/8) the system. And just as money has to circulate within an economy it also has to circulate between economies.
Societies’ Achilles Heel
People say believe half of what you see,
Son, and none of what you hear. – Marvyn Gaye, Heard it Through The Grapevine
With the Greek economic crisis one of the concerns voiced has been the over-riding of Greek sovereignty and with it Greek democracy (as defined by an elected authority) by officials from the Troika – European Commission (EC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the European Central Bank (ECB).
This over-riding, or rather over-seeing, of decisions made by authorities elected by Greek voters is the logical response to an electorate that cannot be trusted to make rational choices after considering all the possible scenarios. That is, their decision-making powers are suspect.
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City Boys
Maybe it’s because I’m a Tory
That I love London so
Maybe it’s because I’m a Tory
That I think of her wherever I go
L’Albion perfide may be living up to its reputation. But Lord Palmerston’s observation to Queen Victoria certainly is “Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent (banking) interests.”
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A Taxing Question
If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet….Beatles Taxman
Benjamin Franklin is attributed to having made the observation that the only thing in life that is certain is death and taxes. But at least we don’t encounter death every day
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You DO Need To Be Mad To Work Here
Big man, pig man, ha ha charade you are.
You well heeled big wheel, ha ha charade you are.
The present economic problems arise from a system ‘run’ by individuals who seem to have lost all touch with reality.
Or is it me?
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Fair Exchange is no Robbery
How many bankers does it take to fit a lightbulb?
Three, one to finance the labour and lightbulb purchase, and two to bet on how well it is done.
With the ascendancy of fiat money, those who control the flow of that money, i.e. the banking system and banks, become the single most important part of the economy.
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