...back to politics and the economy. Interesting headlines of late. U.S. Auto Industry Bailouts, Right Turn in EU Elections, Air France meets Atlantic off Brazil, North Korean nukes, lions and tigers and bear-markets oh my!
Economically, I can't help but think the world in general, and the USA in particular, are going to get a high-velocity lesson in economics. Someone recently said, when you ignore facts too long then life assigns you a new negotiating partner: reality.
That is happening with the auto bailouts, where for decades the Big Three and UAW ignored facts -- global competition, unsustainably high wages & legacy costs, mediocre product quality, over-reliance on gas guzzler trucks & SUV's, ad infinitum.
So now Chrysler files for bankruptcy and is to be sold to Fiat. Fiat. Really?
I find it hard to believe Fiat is in any better condition than Chrysler. Well, at least as a car company. Chrysler -- a marginal company to begin with -- was bought by Daimler several years ago, ignored & neglected, then promptly dumped to a private equity firm intent on milking the assets dry while hoping to sell them to GM. A scenario so improbably ludicrous as this actually makes Italian management practices glow by comparison.
Besides, the Italian government still subsidizes Fiat. So the US dumps its non-performing asset on another country's taxpayer. Within a few years, we'll buy it all back at half the price to help Italy out of its own economic hell.
At least we still have the rule of law. You know, the one that says government shall not seize or coerce the sale of privately held property. Except of course when private property owners are a bunch of unsympathetic (evil!) bondholders insisting on their currently unpopular contractual rights to that property. How does this economy lift itself back to prosperity when no one is allowed to make a profit?
Oh, and those unsympathetic bondholders happen to include quite a few sympathetic pensioners and retirees. Does that change the picture? Should it?
Meanwhile, much of the EU had parliamentary elections over the weekend. While the USA turns leftward, Europe marches to the right. Conservatives picked up substantial coalition wins in Germany, France and England.
This is partly due to corruption in the English liberal labour party. Ahh, corruption! It's not just a Republican disease; just for anyone & everyone who's been in power for too long.
However, the main cause is the economy. Folks seem to intuitively understand that credit crises created by excessive spending and debt should not be solved by MORE spending and debt.
What's the first rule when you find you've dug yourself into a hole? Stop digging.
Unfortunately, while not solely a liberal trait -- as clearly demonstrated by the Bush administration -- spending & debt are popular tools of the Left. Conservatives will rise again, me hearties. With eyeshades and adding machines at the ready.
Oh don't worry libs. The Dems will be back in charge after a couple years of rightward frenzy. See, the pendulum (wrecking ball?) swings ever more wild.
The only real solution, I'm afraid, is balance and perspective (quoth Sonia, "Empathy?") -- something quite foreign to our schizophrenic American way.
But then, with balance and perspective, things like plane crashes over radar-less portions of the Atlantic Ocean won't be instantly suspected as nefarious. There is a certain segment -- larger than you'd like to believe -- that believes:
a) Holes in radar coverage are intentionally maintained by the cryptic, power elite
b) Computer glitches are covertly written into flight computers to cause unexplainable crashes
c) Unexplained catastrophes are exploited by the shadow-kings to break down established society to be replaced by a new world order.
d) Antipsychotic medication prescribed by a certified medical doctor should not be taken.
And now you know why I've started making beer.
Paul Harvey....Good Day!
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