Cultural Capital

Yesterday the govt made the first installment on bailing out the banks. The government has executed a deal that passes on the mistakes of the banks onto you. The stock market shot up over 400 points, partially spurred by short sellers covering margin calls.

The regulators hate the short sellers, since short sellers prove we need no regulators. Short sellers put their own money on the line when they spot fraud. If they are right, the shortsellers make money. If they are wrong, the companies the short sellers erroneously target make money. This is how free markets work. No govt necessary.

Of course my stock portfolio went down about 2% on this action. The proof that this effort will not work is gold went up as the market went up. If and when good times return, gold will drop in value. I will remain shorting the markets because I believe the markets will continue to drift down.

But I object. Although I am making money in this market, indeed more than by working, the stock market is not the work I want to do. I have to protect my savings, and apparently I can (so far so good) but it would be a lot easier if I could just invest and forget. Most Americans do precisely this, which is why the government can rob them with zero fear of criticism.

But note what is happening, the time it takes to manage assets... is taken away from providing value in the marketplace... I can make money doing good by doing well, or make far more money while I protect my assets from theft. It is a distortion of the market, borne of malinvestment. It has a deleterious cumulative effect on the economy.

This will allow me to open a new idea I have not bothered with so far: borrowing money to start a business is a bad idea. More on this later.

But for now, check this out. Now that the government has destroyed the housing market, the government will reward government workers by allowing govt workers to buy the houses at 50% off... read the last line in the article.

When govt gets around to sickening its biggest champions, then the cultural capital, a belief in freedom, grows. Arch-communist David Mamet, a favorite playwrite of mine (perhaps playright is better in his case) is coming to his senses.

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