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Journalism and other myths.

Waiting for the “Go”

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“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.

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The Big Scandal

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As nooze stories go, it has all the elements necessary to become an out of control frenzy – sex, a rising star, and the shiny-kewl allure of an internet fad.  The scandal involving Rep. Anthony Weiner was bound to be horribly over-played, and it has been.  Yet there is so much missing from the breathless hours already reported that it’s worth looking at much deeper.

What we was lost immediately in the frenzy was any sense of humanity and, as could be expected, a complete lack of introspection by those involved in the “reporting”.

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Inflation and “Real”

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Price inflation has been a part of our economic world since the last Depression.  The total US Dollars floating around has increased just a tiny bit more than the size of our economy, making them just a bit less more valuable with time.

Inflation is rarely questioned because we are used to it and it’s not large.  It’s even considered good policy because it penalizes taking money out of the economy by stuffing big piles of cash into a mattress.  But it also covers up a lot of sins and makes it much easier to fudge the numbers.

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Churn & Burn

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Are we finally starting to see some good economic news?  That’s always a hard question to answer, especially as legislatures across the USofA fight over some really lousy budget projections that require tough action.  But most people will agree that what matters most right now are jobs, and that may finally be looking up.  The reason is a simple one – those who are employed have been squeezed about as far as they can be.

One person’s constant stress becomes another person’s opportunity – eventually, at least.

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Back to Reality

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The death of bin Laden may be nothing more than closure to an era for the USofA.  However, there are some signs that this could be a new era for our politics that is desperately needed.  There is at least a chance that this could be the injection of stark reality that we have needed for some time, a re-focus on the things that really matter.

Only time will tell, of course, but for now there are a lot of unconnected loose ends.  They do not make for one coherent thought, at least not yet.  Just as I believe history will eventually tell us that this Managed Depression started on September 11th, 2001, the day that we started to fully engage the situation may have been May 1st, 2011.

This won’t make a lot of sense yet.  History rarely does when you’re elbows into it.

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