Richard Daughty, the angriest guy in economics
email: scgcjs@gte.net
October 11, 2005 -- The Fed settled down last week, but the Treasury admitted that the national debt zoomed to a new record which is, as of today, $7.994 trillion, which is why I am hiding in the closet under the stairs. What makes this interesting is that, at our average rate of acquiring new debt, we will hit the new Congressionally-mandated debt ceiling ($8,314 billion) in the next couple of months. And what will our Congresspersons do then? Hahaha! You guessed it! They'll raise the limit again! Par-tay down, dudes!
Well, I am not in a partying mood, as I noticed that my car had a flat tire, and I had to take it to be fixed, and they, of course, all went to the back of the garage and laughed at me and whispered among themselves, and then came back and told me that they could not fix it, and I had to buy a whole new tire.
But while I was waiting for everybody to stop drinking coffee and maybe do a little work around here, like maybe mounting my damned new tire on the damned rim, you lazy bastards, I casually noted that they were not very busy, as every OTHER time I came in here in the past, there were always guys ahead of me and their cars were in the bays getting fixed, and people bustled around, and things got done (to use a Chinese expression) plenty chop chop. The guy says that, yeah, things are slow. The telephone repair guy, who was supposed to be fixing the phone, but was instead eavesdropping on our conversation when he was supposed to be working, says that it is that way all over town, and that everybody is complaining about how slow things are. Spooky!
But all I keep hearing is about how the earnings of companies are going up and up, and how this means growth, growth, growth, and how this means that everything is wonderful wonderful wonderful, and how this means you should be buying stocks and bonds right now with all your money.
Growth? If Mogambo Manufacturing sold one widget last year for ten bucks, and this year we sold one widget for eleven bucks, my earnings went up. But did I grow? I still only made one lousy widget! Hahaha! Growing? Growing more cold-hearted and cruel perhaps, especially as concerns my looting the pension fund of the idiot employees and selling their ugly children to gypsies at the company picnic. But growth as a healthier, bigger company? Ha! Don't make me laugh!
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