You are fast at the draw,...I should point out that you and me and a few others (not many) actually read those financial reports,....and some of us actually talk to the principles,...I actually do, I'm so stupid, I guess.
I can't believe you answered so fast (gggggggggggggggggg).
I'll give you my latest blab (ggggggggggggggg),...kind of proud of it,:-))) There is more of it on this thread,..somebody stop me (ggggggggggggggg).
<<<http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=14457566>>>
Hi R,
In our youth, we write many things based on what is happening around us then, and what we know. As we age, a different perspective of the world emerges, and what we are doing is different than what we were doing in our youth. Everyone, even Greenspan can change his mind as the world changes around him.
Just a few decades ago, war was prevalent in the world. Now the thought of a world war puts fear in everyone but a few madmen. The world is on madman watch, and several of them have been made impotent in the last few year. I think the world is a safer place from one of the four horsemen,...war. Unfortunately there are 3 others.
Why talk about war,...I think it played a central part in the use of gold,...or some other metal,... to be used as a measure of the wealth of a nation. It hasn't always been gold. It used to be the ability to wage war, because if you were a good warrior nation, you could steal all the riches you wanted from neighboring nations. To be a good warrior you needed weapons,...stone age weapons, copper age weapons, iron age weapons. What was the true measure of the wealth of the nation in those ages. Riches, adornments, land, slaves, food, silver, gold, whatever,...all based on the strength of your warriors. This has been the case in the history of humans up until a few decades ago, thanks to the world becoming very small because of aircraft, and weapons of mass extinction.
The gold standard, and its integration into the world economy was a throwback to the age of war. If world war is made impotent, by the fear of mutual self-annihilation, what then should we measure the wealth of a nation by. The gold standard suggests we measure it by the size of the gold we own. Why gold? Should we measure the value of each state by the amount of gold they can mine from the ground, or hold in their vaults? Why not dinosaur bones, they are rare and valuable too? Naturally humans can decide to measure their wealth by whatever means they can mutually agree on. Seems that most of the world currently likes the US$. It is a measure of goods and services throughout the world.
This is the post world war economic age. Countries are now measured by the economic output their workers can produce, not how many heads they can bash, and riches they can steal. This is a big change in a short period of time. No wonder many people have been left behind to ponder what the hell is going on. Now how does the amount of a metal we possess in stale, lifeless vaults, a golden metal primarily used to adorn us, or adorn our possessions, help us to determine how much economic output,...goods and services,..we can sell to the world.
Do you think Greenspan thinks of this now? Greenspan wrote a paper many years ago, based on what he saw and what he understood then. The world has changed, and so has he. Being able to change our mind with new facts and realities is a smart thing to do. If he had not changed, he might only be a Gata groupie now, instead of the big wig he is (gggggggggggggggg).
Hey,...it's just a small part of the total picture. Don't give me chit,...think about it (gggggggggggggggggg). |
