An article in Rolling Stone about economic bubbles and Goldman Sachs. It seems plausible and Rolling Stone may be one of the more reputable news sources these days.
If the statements in the article are true, I think the vampire squid analogy may be too nice. A more apt reference would be the Sacculina carcini:
A female sacculina begins life as a tiny free-floating slug in the sea, drifting around until she encounters a crab. When that fateful day arrives, she finds a chink in the crab’s armor (usually an elbow or leg joint) and thrusts a kind of hollow dagger into its body. After that, she (how to put this?) "injects" herself into the crab, sluicing through the dagger and leaving behind a husk. Once inside, the jellylike sacculina starts to take over. She grows "roots" that extend to every part of the crab’s body – wrapping around its eyestalks and deep into its legs and arms. The female feeds and grows until eventually she pops out of the top of the crab, and from this knobby protrusion, she will steer the Good Ship Unlucky Crab for the rest of their co-mingled life. Packed full of parasite, the crab will forgo its own needs to serve those of its master. It won’t molt, grow reproductive organs, or attempt to reproduce. It won’t even regrow appendages, as healthy crabs can. Rather than waste the nutrients on itself, a host crab will hobble along and continue to look for food with which to feed its parasite master.
You can kinda think of the US economy as the crab, and Goldman Sachs as the profit-maximizing slug intent on feeding only itself. I was really angry after reading that article, I will slowly work my way to acceptance (the fifth and final stage of grief) later today.
I always wondered about the 2008 oil price bubble, it hurt the trucking industry very severely and came out of nowhere and just disappeared.
The Rolling Stone article is worth the read, if nothing else it will make you appreciate the long-term effects of short term payouts.
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