From Slope of Hope: Well, my fellow Slope-a-Dopes, although this will undoubtedly be a dreadful decidedly devastating disappointment to many of you, I have chosen to put away my almighty artistically asinine alliteration pen for this Sunday's super significant spectacularly special EP. Instead of dazzling you with my proficient pathetically putrid pitiful prose, I will focus my alertly astute attention on a stupefyingly serious subject.
Ludwig Von Mises' Crack Up Boom.
For those of you not familiar with the term Crack Up Boom, John Nyaradi sums it up nicely:?
"In his writings, Ludwig argued in favor of free markets, capitalism and individual freedom and warned against the dangers of credit expansion, hyperinflation and governments using monetary policy to create artificial economic prosperity.
He argued that inevitably such actions would lead to inflation and then hyperinflation and finally to a place known as the “crack up boom” where everyone realizes that inflation is out of control and wants to get rid of paper money and get “real” things, no matter how much it costs to do that. In its most extreme incarnation, nobody wants paper money for anything and then the financial system collapses."
You may have noticed that I bolded the last line in the first paragraph above. The reason for this should be quite clear, as it precisely describes exactly where we are in the U.S. economy today. There can be absolutely no doubt, that the men currently conducting our Nation's fiscal & monetary train wreck, have entirely embraced the concept of monetary expansion, as the categorically correct antidote for our economic malaise. Be it via the continued increase in spending initiatives funded by further untenable public treasury debt burdens, or the outright multiplication of the money supply, our financial authorities have chosen to press on regardless, undaunted by the near total abrogation of any modicum of monetary or fiscal jurisprudence.
This from the departed Ludwig Von Mises in his own words:
"This first stage of the inflationary process may last for many years. While it lasts, the prices of many goods and services are not yet adjusted to the altered money relation. There are still people in the country who have not yet become aware of the fact that they are confronted with a price revolution which will finally result in a considerable rise of all prices, although the extent of this rise will not be the same in the various commodities and services.
But then, finally, the masses wake up. They become suddenly aware of the fact that inflation is a deliberate policy and will go on endlessly. A breakdown occurs. The crack-up boom appears. Everybody is anxious to swap his money against 'real' goods, no matter whether he needs them or not, no matter how much money he has to pay for them. Within a very short time, within a few weeks or even days, the things which were used as money are no longer used as media of exchange. They become scrap paper. Nobody wants to give away anything against them."
Are we there yet? No, thank God, but we are sure doing our utmost to get there, and are most certainly well on our way.
In what can only be characterized as delusional human hubris. Our lamentable leaders, have apparently convinced themselves that fabricated financial monetization substituted for real actual industrialization, will not only lead our Nation back towards solid financial footing with sound economic growth, but incredibly will also create new tangible national wealth. Totally disregarding the obvious irony squarely staring them in the face, that it is precisely these very same misguided policy measures previously prescribed, which are directly responsible for the precarious unsustainable unsteady state we now find ourselves in. Not to mention that throughout the entire history of human civilization, this bogus counterfeit construct has always led to complete abject failure and eventual catastrophic collapse.
The alarming question that continues to utterly perplex me, is how can these distinctively learned men senselessly continue merrily down this failed forsaken causeway. I mean seriously, the self evident truth that you can't print your way to prosperity, some how eludes these people? Are they that clueless? Are they totally blind? Are they drunk on their own hubris? Are they simply disgraceful men tossing all responsibility aside as they indulge for the moment, consequences be damned? Have they thrown in the towel? Are they intent on ensuring the country's demise? Do they have an Evil Plan of their own? Are they that stupid?
Although it is embarassing to say, when one does witness the likes of Clinton, Bush, Pelosi, McConnell, Reid, Boehner, Obama & Company in action, one can readily conclude that our political class is indeed that stupid, quite simply dumb and dumber. However, the same can surely not be said of the highly educated financial authorities minding the store. One could certainly argue that they are way off track, but they can't simply be written off as the same demented morons our elected officials clearly are. So what gives? Why are clearly intelligent, educated & knowledgeable men, intent on driving us down the road to ruin? How can this be explained?
Many will claim that it's always the same deeply ingrained flaw in man's character that eventually gets the better of these men/women of stature. Unbridled power & greed, which inevitably lead to hubris & deceit are surely the age old culprits to blame once again. Same as it ever was right? I'm not so sure I buy that though. After all, more often than not, these are the very same attributes that have frequently propelled many powerful men/women into positions of influence throughout the ages. Why would these particular people leading the way over the last 25 years be any more fallible than those that have come before? Has happenstance simply given us a bad bunch of apples, who serendipitously showed up together, all at once during the same period? Are we simply victims of a bad draw? Somehow, this timid take seems somewhat suspect to me.
Rather, is it not our collective decadent consciousness that is at fault here? After all, who let's these worthless scoundrels through the doors in the first place? Who really let the dogs out? Let's face it, are we not ALL the ones to blame here. That would include; all those of us that have looked the other way out of self interest, all those of us that have been duped out of laziness of mind, and all those of us that have silently stood by out of convenience. The later group is undoubtedly the largest, and in that sorry sense, perhaps the most responsible for the deplorable condition we find ourselves in. Our collective fate was decided the moment we all consciously accepted it in the first place.
When you can plainly see the problem before your very eyes, yet decide to do nothing about it, you are clearly in way too deep. Whether it's due to stupidity, greed or indifference really doesn't matter one darn bit. Your goose is cooked, because either way, you have already accepted the unacceptable. Let's get real here, our Nation has and is cooking the books, and we are ALL simply unwilling to do a God damn thing about it. Ignobly accepting fraudulence for your own convenience's sake, while failing to admirably live up to your Country's own sacred principles is a shameful thing, and a decadent decaying thing. Our hapless fate is now sealed by our own soulless apathy, we will simply continue to print, party and consume, while others work, build and produce.
The outcome of this dishonorable poisonous paradigm is written in stone, same as it ever was. We have given in to the ease. Without a shred of a doubt, it is distressingly clear for all to see now, that we have disgracefully chosen to take the doomed woeful path that Von Mises had warned us all about at the turn of the century. In the end, our once spectacular productive magnificence, which earned us the right to the most preeminent global reserve currency status ever achieved, will degenerate into the worst crack up boom the world has ever witnessed.
As for the mundane markets, it is my contention, that we are well on our way towards the final furious crack up boom. The stock indices will relentlessly run up on a vapid nominal basis, as we continue to devalue our currency and ourselves. Don't let them fool you for one single minute, the fiscal cliff negotiations are all for show at this point. The faux fiscal fix is in, all foam no beer.
1500 SPX here we come, the crack up boom awaits us beyond the bogus bright blue skies above.
BDI SOH's beloved Idiot Savant