The TKC Saturday Night Playlist!!! Holiday Depression and a very Hard Candy X-mas in Kansas City!!!
The TKC Saturday Night Playlist!!! Holiday Depression and a very Hard Candy X-mas in Kansas City!!!
During harsh economic times there are always a great many people who claim to know what they're talking about when it comes to matters related to high finance.
However, the fact I find interesting is that pundits are no longer debating whether or not the U.S. Economy is in recession . . . Instead, a great deal of political chatter relates to comparisons of the current financial climate to the Great Depression.
Here's some of the most insightful political writing I've seen on the subject recently:
Helen Thomas: "It's a depression" (I think she might know since she was in her 40's during the Great Depression)
WSJ: The Krugman Recipe for Depression . . . Massive government spending is no solution to unemployment.
George F. Will: "Same Old New Deal?"
The thing of it is, political debate regarding economic turmoil is pretty much useless. In the grand scheme of things media people don't have much money and their insights (as always) have more to do with pushing an agenda. Important numbers, data and indicators are always overlooked in favor of meaningless world views and principles that never hold up under scrutiny.
Of course, I'm broke and the economic outlook of this nation doesn't really matter to a dude living in a basement. But what I do notice is that middle-class white people are scared. Also, from what I see . . . Downtown's Renaissance never really happened despite massive taxpayer funded spending; condo dwellers are calling it quits daily, layoffs are now commonplace and bar & restaurant closings are regularly appearing in local headlines.
Of course news anchors still have to smile so some of this information gets overlooked by timid souls who may not want to see the similarities between current U.S. economic troubles and the "Lost Decade" Japan endured not long ago.
I guess it's much easier just to keep on lying to people, hope for a quick recovery and celebrate upswings in a volatile market like a hyperactive puppy.
Meanwhile . . . People make due and struggle to get ahead in much the same way that people have always done since the beginning of time.
I've always contended that harsh economic times make women a little bit more "accessible" and much more likely to chase some endeavor that involves being ho whether that's advertising or actually working the pole at a strip club.
Then again, it's important to remember that the (real) monied class (not middle) rarely sees any direct impact of economic turmoil and there are actually quite a few bargains to be had in terms of people, places and things going for cheaper prices.
Sadly, politicos are probably the worst off when a real recession rolls in . . . Blaming a predecessor only works for so long until the public realizes that nearly all elected officials are powerless beyond their ability to self-promote. During long term harsh times new candidates with a better sales pitch are regularly voted in and then subsequently replaced in a seemingly endless cycle of the electorate looking to blame their horrible lives on somebody else . . . And somehow, I think this phenomenon is exceedingly appropriate and somewhat exacerbated by the Holiday Season and new year.
To wit, all of this money talk has inspired me to link some free music on the subject of financial crisis, holiday depression and hard luck. Enjoy:
Still, it's not as gloomy as it seems . . . Unless we're talking just about the financial news. Then it really does suck but there's not much any single d-bag on the Internets can do about it.
So, as always, thank you for reading and have a safe and fun weekend.
posted by Tony Permalink
