"But the Depression has also been misunderstood. It was not a period of great scarcity, but a period of unparalleled glut. There was too much of everything: too many factories turning out too may cars, radios., washing machines, and refrigerators; too much money around and too much of it into the hands of a few wealthy people who reinvested it in more factories and other means of production and to many people getting too much easy credit, which caused a further overstimulation of production.
The country's ability to produce had outstripped its ability to pay-and the nation paid for the mistake. As Will Rogers said, "America will be the only country that ever went to the poorhouse in an automobile." -Fascinating Facts from American History, By Bill Lawrence
Kinda like now, except our ability to consume has outstripped our ability to pay.
Extra Credit / Required Reading:
- Dollar Strength on Recognition of Worldwide Crappiness
- Robinson Crusoe and the Subjectivity of Desire
- Reflections on Today, from Henry Clews, 1908.
- Art Market Rules
- The Long View... 1885-2009
- Forecast: The Battle Between Paper and Tangible Assets, A Personal View
- Tobin's Q
- Luxury Goods
- After the Gold Rush...
- The Gaussian Fallacy and other Bullshit Baby Boomer Epistomologi
- Douchebag of the Noughties
- Synopsis of the Panic of '08
- You Know its a Bubble When...
- Quantitative Easing
- Vallejo, CA
28 February 2009
14 February 2009
13 February 2009
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