[A-List] Funny money

[Todd Boyle]

Money is a lousy way for 7 billion humans to communicate
the range of our economic needs and our potential offerings
among each other.

It is like engineers trying to design a pacemaker by sitting in cars,
and communicating by honking their horns at each other.

Todd
former CPA and fed up with it

At 02:00 PM 10/14/2008, Leighm wrote:
>Two words: 'Tulip bulb'...
>
>http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dutch%20tulip%20bulb%20bubble
>
>Today a Yale economist says the money invested 
>in the market is just a “fallacy”. It isn’t “real” money, he says:
>
>“Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale, puts it 
>bluntly: The notion that you lose a pile of 
>money whenever the stock market tanks is a 
>“fallacy.” He says the price of a stock has 
>never been the same thing as money - it’s 
>simply the “best guess” of what the stock is worth.
>
>“It’s in people’s minds,” Shiller 
>explains. “We’re just recording a measure of 
>what people think the stock market is worth. 
>What the people who are willing to trade today - 
>who are very, very few people - are actually 
>trading at. So we’re just extrapolating that 
>and thinking, well, maybe that’s what everyone thinks it’s worth.”
>
>
>
>Charles Brown wrote:
>>http://www.feralscholar.org/blog/index.php/2008/10/01/crisis-time-for-wall-streets-creatures-in-congress/#comments 
>>Wm. Terry L., RN:
>>I’ve read all the articles about the causes 
>>of the current crash of the market but read 
>>little about solutions for the worker who has 
>>been forced to place money into 401k and 403b defined contribution plans.
>>Unions have long opposed these plans because of 
>>the possibility of the current crash happening. 
>>It was only a matter of time before the 
>>hyper-inflated market would come crashing down 
>>with lack of regulation, short selling and just outright corruption and greed.
>>Even the venerable Wall Street Journal admitted 
>>the defined contribution plans (401k type 
>>plans) for retirement resulted in an 11% 
>>decrease in worker 
>>savings.(http://www.thestreet.com/funds/belowradar/10016126.html)
>>Today a Yale economist says the money invested 
>>in the market is just a “fallacy”. It isn’t “real” money, he says:
>>“Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale, puts 
>>it bluntly: The notion that you lose a pile of 
>>money whenever the stock market tanks is a 
>>“fallacy.” He says the price of a stock has 
>>never been the same thing as money - it’s 
>>simply the “best guess” of what the stock is worth.
>>
>>“It’s in people’s minds,” Shiller 
>>explains. “We’re just recording a measure 
>>of what people think the stock market is worth. 
>>What the people who are willing to trade today 
>>- who are very, very few people - are actually 
>>trading at. So we’re just extrapolating that 
>>and thinking, well, maybe that’s what everyone thinks it’s worth.”
>>
>>Shiller uses the example of an appraiser who 
>>values a house at $350,000, a week after saying it was worth $400,000.
>>
>>“In a sense, $50,000 just disappeared when he 
>>said that,” he said. “But it’s all in the 
>>mind.” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011/ap_on_bi_ge/where_s_the_money)
>>
>>I asked my wife if she felt the 403b deductions 
>>taken from her paycheck as a RN working in the 
>>public sector was real money. She seemed to 
>>think an earned wage with money taken out for 
>>retirement is real. But looking at her AIG 
>>quarterly statement yesterday showed she just 
>>lost 20% of her retirement. That was “real” money she lost.
>>When I look at my PERA funds and think about 
>>all the years spent in public psychiatric 
>>hospitals as a RN, I think of the money taken 
>>from my paycheck for retirement as “real” 
>>money. I earned it. My wife earned her money. 
>>Wall Street corruption stole 20% of our retirement funds. Now that’s real.
>>So, we can play all these mind games about the 
>>reasons the markets crashed but the real pain 
>>isn’t on Wall Street. The real pain is with 
>>the workers who worked 40 hours (plus overtime) 
>>and allowed their wages to be used by brokers 
>>to play Monopoly. That was real working hours 
>>spent to earn real wages that went into 
>>retirement plans dictated by employers who went 
>>to defined contribution plans so they could lessen their contributions.
>>Professor Shiller can play all his intellectual 
>>bullshit games about the concept of playing the 
>>market but he’s useless in coming up with any 
>>“real” solution for all the workers who 
>>trusted the corrupted system to keep their retirement funds safe.
>>I read about senior citizens living in their 
>>cars because of foreclosure in the AARP 
>>Bulletin and think of Henry Fonda playing his 
>>role in John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of 
>>Wrath”. He was playing a role but the seniors 
>>and all the others sent packing are real.
>>And the beat goes on with the taxpayers 
>>rescuing Wall Street swindlers and not a damn 
>>thing happening to rescue workers or former 
>>workers. Where’s all the intellectual 
>>geniuses of economics who have a solution to 
>>help ease the real pain of workers? Quit your 
>>interviews and all the intellectual posturing 
>>and come up with real solutions. We don’t 
>>give a damn about deriatives and all the other 
>>manipulations to steal if there isn’t a 
>>solution that the people can get behind and demand it be implemented.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>This message has been scanned for malware by 
>>SurfControl plc. www.surfcontrol.com
>>
>>
>>
>
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