David,

heh heh, but an explanation for where the money could have gone might be found at http://www.mises.org or www. lewrockwell.com

As an acolyte of the Austrian Theory of Economics, I suspect that the trillions disappeared as “book entries” maintained by the world’s central bankers and their backers.

Be prepared for the next “boom” followed by another “bust.

It has nothing to do with Black Swans either, but from the unintended consequences of economic ignorance.

Yes, you don’t need Dick Tracy to find the money. Somebody was on the right side of deals, or it was just marked-to-market profits. Still, I think we are all going to be hunkering down and toughing it out for some time to come.

As a “dry” I was nurtured on Rand. My small time take on a very big issue is that the key word is not “blame” or “greed” but “confidence”. John Citizen seeks confidence that if he makes a good, someone will offer him a fair price; and in return, he will spend that income on a reciprocal act. That is the way economies flow. When John is told that he won’t be buying anything because he’s out of a job, then he’s not inclined to buy. Production levels drop, supply/ demand go out of harmony and you get depression.

Apart from sudden loss of confidence, there is no way that the massive momentum of established factories can be so suddenly curtailed by any other process short of War. The way back to normal civility is not to reward lost unearned income with community dollars. The way is to return the raided dollars to the John Citizens, who can then recommence commerce as before. That is, cut or drop personal income tax.

For a dream time too long, Governments have applied heavy taxes to activities that good Governments are not meant to undertake. At home here, if you study the lead-up to the Australian Constitution Act, you will find that what is now taken as “allowed” by the Constitution is NOT what was intended by the founding fathers. Some “powers” like the so-called “Corporations Power” are so distorted and so harmful that a review of the Constitution is a necessity.

There is little doubt that a number of highly regarded Universities like Harvard have contributed heavily to the problem in the last several decades. It is they who sold whiz kids to the market sector; it is they who trained the whiz kids with the wrong ideals. Now, some of the remnants of the whiz kids have met at Davos, still utterly failing to realise that they are a big part of the problem.

Several times, I have seen prosperous companies quietly going about their business get infiltrated with one of these super-MBAs, who then set about creation of disequilibrium by policies to “maximise” effects like “image” or “cash flow” or “takeover activity” or “market share” or any number of ideas that you have all mostly seen too. Dispassionately, they throw good workers on the scrap heap, partialy because they seldom have the skill to recognise who is good. As Stalin could have said, the sacking of one man is a tragedy; the sacking of a million is a statistic.

Which word is a good word to end this post on this thread.

I didn’t read Rand ’till later in life unfortunately, but I agree with you about taxes. There is a subtle distinction between wealth and success. As summarized here about the Great Gatsby:

Nick reflects that just as Gatsby’s dream of Daisy was corrupted by money and dishonesty, the American dream of happiness and individualism has disintegrated into the mere pursuit of wealth.

I was reflecting on America, and think that the genius is such, that any amount of pumping with monetary stimulus won’t lead to US dollar collapse, as it might any other currency. What we will see is a focus more on those entrepreneurial values, with the startups, and the smooth customer service, tasks done well, that are not about mere wealth.

I just found my old genuine Alaska-made fedora and dusted it off. I’ll wear it to work tomorrow and see what comments I receive (probably none, since most of the geeks at work will not even notice it).

Good on you. I keep watching the turmoil at Davos with morbid fascination.

The greenies will have to hang me; I’m siding with Thomas Jefferson:

“I am ashamed at the number of things around my house and shops that are done by animals—human beings, I mean—and ought to be done by a motor without any sense of fatigue or pain. Hereafter a motor must do all the chores. (Edison in 1910, quoted in Theresa Collins and Lisa Gitelman, Thomas Edison and Modern America. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002, p. 60.)”

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