“We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don’t protest, we are bored to death, there’s no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste… In an instant all will vanish and we’ll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness!”
– Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

The economy was, once again, a big story last week as the reality of a weak job market and potential defaults in Europe swept over stocks.  It was time to pay attention to things for a while before we move on and crank it up again as if nothing happened.  It’s a pattern that has repeated once a quarter since the meltdown of 2008.  But why are things stuck – and why does the financial world only seem to care in spurts?  The answers are complex, but it seems that one world seems to have everything it needs except for a solid connection to reality.  They only have to pay attention to it every once in a while, or so they think.

Continue reading →