>>Gold is something I buy and hope it doesn't work out. <<
My first inclination is to say -- I hope it doesn't work out to a great extent.
But OTOH, if huge trouble is coming and unavoidable -- I'd rather we start taking our medicine now, so we can emerge (or whoever) can emerge from the wreckage with, hopefully, a better form of government, economic system and understanding of where our systems went wrong.
Destruction isn't always a negative thing, you know. Putting aside the silly notion of "creative destruction" -- it really is good when superficial notions of what is right and good or desirable are peeled away, so we can get to the heart of a matter.
E.G.
Initially trust became very high in our medical science that showed dramatic successes in eliminating disease through vaccination and even drugs which were invented to successfully treat acute problems. The idea that there might be a drug for every possible health problem didn't seem so crazy because of the huge successes -- but now, folks are realizing the truth that every individual is responsible in large part for his/her own health; lifestyle is key and that a holistic approach isn't just an alternative view, but the right view. The medicines, vaccines and so-forth are only one part of a compliment of healthy living. (Won't bore you with analogies here -- we've all read folks who compare monetay injections and loose monetary policies on the other side of the bubble with addiction.)
The "new" science of genomics holds a great deal of promise -- both for health and bio-manufacturing -- I expect that in the next 20-30 years there will be great successes there as well, but these will likewise only be complimentary to both health practice and chemical synthesis.
THE thing of course for the 90's was information and communication systems to run business systems. With all the hype, lies and mania -- it is easy to swing too far and not realize the great utility of modern information systems when not viewed as an end, but only one of the tools in a toolbox for running a biz and quantifying biz performance.
Now that everyone (well, not quite everyone) has overspent and still underutilized computer software to run their businesses, I anticipate that there will be a shift back to considering the other elements, at least on an equal basis with information technology.
One more area, is economics -- the overemphasis on "financial wealth" and statistical or econometric methods as tools, has left so many being so informed about specific leaves on the tree, without any knowledge as to what makes for the healthy functioning of the forest (obsession with micro-economics and only the statistical measurement of macro quantities).
It is my hope that a "serious downturn" as I believe we are now facing, may revive interest in principles that provide us useful information not requiring the "power" of digital computers. |
