Folks, this is your favorite (I hope) hound doggie back with an additional thought on last week’s Blog #45 – the Demoblican “Debate” & Mr. Forbes’s 400 – Class of 2015. My old pappy, he being an old beancounter, is regularly encouraging me to get things done, like on deadlines and such (though who really cares). Anyway, as a result of his agitation, I failed to mention a couple things relevant to these two topics.
Regarding dear old Bernie and his democratic socialism versus capitalism:
Bernie, obviously, has a lot of work to do in explaining to us Amurican voters just what is his “democratic socialism,” but we are sure he is up to the task. A large part of his problem are the misconceptions we have regarding both “socialism” and “capitalism.”
Here are two “meanings” for capitalism:
Merriam‑Webster
Definition of CAPITALISM. : an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.
Apple ‘puter
“an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.”
The second from old pappy’s trusty Apple computer is slimmed down (more on “the dumbing down of our Amurican education systems in a future blog), and a bit misleading. Capitalism basically has nothing to do with a political system other than the misinformation fed to us during the big cold war supposedly with “communism.” These two words refer to an economic system, though they can be more or less determined by the politics of a particular country.
Simplifying matters; ya know, an old Basset Hound dog’s nose is second only to the Blood Hound, and can occasionally be helpful in sniffing out the truth. My hound dog Def: Capitalism is the accumulation of resources to facilitate the production of goods and services. Very unfortunately, it has now been bastardized almost beyond recognition by our “financial sector.” Our current “capital” or stock and bond markets as we have reported before (Blog # 8 – The Financial Sector – appropriately, we believe, posted on April Fools Day) have been turned into gambling casinos by our financial practitioners.
Regarding, “socialism,” mainly all us Amurican voters know about it is that our good old defenders of our values have equated it with the dreaded “communism.”
We’re confident that good old Bernie can sort this mess out for us, and after seeing a scotch of light at the end of the tunnel, we’ll elect him our next Prez!
WHEW! Now for a word on a couple of Mr. Forbes’s Class of 2015 newcomers:
WELL, according to Forbes, the 25 newcomers on the FAB 400 this year, were lifted up there by Basketball, Fried Chicken, Videogames, and Snapchat, plus a few other ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF OUR MORIBUND ECONOMY. Checking the details, old eagle-eyed pap noticed a few more financial and real estate geniuses, a few pharma kids, and even three young brewers who inherited their dad’s SABMiller stake. Now, beer being a necessary food staple, at least there may be some common good being derived and if the $104 billion combination passes muster with anti-trusters, you can soon be enjoying BUDMILLER TIME!
Howsomever, Here’s another real clunker: Wall Street Hedge Fund Manager, John Overdeck, is also one of this distinguished group. According to Forbes, after winning a silver medal at the International Mathematics Olympiad in Poland at the age of 16, he told the Washington Post that writing papers didn’t seem fulfilling and instead he wanted to make the math “do something.” So, he and a partner now run Two Sigma Investments, another Hedge Fund, which of course has made them both billionaires.
So, he certainly is making the math “do something.” Isn’t that wonderful, just what the world really needs, more brilliant mathematicians playing the investment casinos! At least these and other real smart guys will be jiggering the markets until the next crash, when they all come running down to Washington for more bailouts. We can only hope that Bernie is there to greet them!
No need to panic yet, folks; let’s wait to see if the bad boys are successful in having the country renege on our debts next week!
Enjoy this beautiful fall season, Buster
PS: Saved this little pic from Blog #24 – Are the Markets Rigged? – Is the Pope still in Rome?
High Frequency Trading dude sitting by his ‘puter, next to the Exchange ‘puters.
Buster's Two Cents 