All Posts Tagged With: "Financial Times"

As near as we can tell, the financial world conveniently remained on hold while we were gone. As of Sunday night, little had changed. Gold, stocks…economists…politicians – they’re all about where we left them.

Stocks did indeed rally. The Dow rose 497 points…putting some bounce back in the bounce. We’ve been expecting a healthy rebound. Normally, after such a long and steep sell-off, you can expect a rebound that recovers 30%-50% of the losses. We have not had such a rebound…yet. Maybe this is it.

Yes, dear reader, when Richard Nixon cut the link between the dollar and gold, the world has been using a money system that is, to put it in its best light, experimental. The last experiments of this sort – on anything like this scale – were conducted in the 18th century. The Banque Generale was set up by that rogue, John Law, to buy up the debt of France – of which there was plenty.

But there was no container large enough to hold the subprime losses. Each time one was set out, it quickly overflowed. The latest reports tell us that the bilge is now 500 times deeper than the Fed head forecast…and still rising. And this comes after $11.7 trillion has been committed in the US alone to pumping it out. Whether the plumbers are plain idiots or clever rogues, we can’t say, but it should be obvious after two years of watching them, their pumps don’t work.

Besides, the gigolo gives value for money. A woman gets little thrill or merit from landing a Wall Street hustler; no matter how rich, he is almost always boorish and preoccupied. But the gigolo brings refinement and taste to a woman; he makes her feel exceptional because he is exceptional. To a woman of a certain age, his attentions are a welcome as bad lighting.