it always begin at the beginning. a fairy tale........
Once upon a time, there were these internet stocks that took the world by the throat and threatened to change the way humans valued goods. Many thought that a truly new era had arrived and a new paradigm was the dictum. Many thought that the world would be turned upside down by these companies. The world was turned upside down, but for the wrong reason and the recovery was painful for many.
In the end, the world changed a great deal because of the technology, but many of the companies that began the evolution at the end of the 20th century are no longer around. They lost money, kept losing money and the public's initial infatuation with them faded. It wouldn't be fair to say that the there was only infatuation. One would be more correct to refer to that era as the internutmania era. Of course, that was a long time ago and my memory is not so good, but I believe there was a company named after the river, Amazon, that sold books and cd's and a few other items. The competition was fierce and despite the best public relations money can buy, the hype ended with a crash. Many people suffered from trying to invest or 'trade' in these companies. Of course, much of the suffering was self-induced. People lived by the Greater Fool Theory. Kind of silly looking back at it now. How successful can any economy be when it's based on the greater fool theory? Even the name signifies the beginning of an end of an era.
People gambled with their homes and their life savings. A leader of the people in the financial market tried to control and regulate the market, but like all markets, when there is no free market, there is no rational behavior. In the end, when the thing was too big to fail, it was too big not to fail.
A new occupation arose from that era. These people called themselves the 'daytraders'. They produced nothing and made nothing. The only good thing they did was to contribute to the taxes collected by our government. In the end, that failed, too, because our government had to provide welfare for them. Many suffered and never recovered. They wandered the streets with their laptop slung across their shoulders dreaming of doubling or tripling their money in a day on an internet stock. Despite the best of medications, they never recovered. It was a sad and pathetic time for many.
Ahh, to think back to those times. It brings back much of my youth. If only I had known then what I know now........ |
