New Bull, New Nubble, New Meltdown?
From MSN Money
Something’s in the air. You can feel it. A new bull. Hype? Maybe, but also a roaring new bull — and eventually another meltdown.
Television is a metaphor for our cycles, so see how America’s becoming a huge ratings competition:
- “America’s Got Talent.” Complete with kooky judges like “The Hoff” (ex-”Baywatch” lifeguard David Hasselhoff), Ozzy’s wife, and Piers Morgan (no relation to JP). And you’ve got to love those wacky contestants going mano-a-mano for Nielsen ratings against those noisy “disrupters” being sent to health-care town hall meetings by the GOP crew. A sure sign America’s employment picture is improving and the economy is in recovery.
- “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Regis Philbin, the original moderator, came back for 11 fabulous nights in August. Why? A cover-up? Maybe it was tied to all the TARP money paybacks and hot earnings that let the “too-greedy-to-fail” banks make more Wall Street insiders millionaires. Wall Street loves Regis upstaging Goldman’s giveaway of bonus billions from taxpayers.
- Cash for Clunkers. The Chicago school of behavioral purists might say this program is a perfect example of economist Joseph Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” in action. It’s also great television, rivaling Nascar, Chopper Mania, Monster Trucks and the local demolition derby.
Yes, folks, America loves talent, wants to be a millionaire, loves to destroy stuff, and then to rebuild. Cars, jobs, careers, retirement portfolios, the economy, the stock market. You can see this metaphor in other great television programs: “Big Brother,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Lie to Me,” “Criminal Minds,” “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?” The point is, TV’s a great barometer for the American soul, and it’s screaming “bull!”
Tempers are flaring over how best to reform U.S. health care. But a deeper conflict over the role of government in American society is what is really fueling this debate, says Gerald Seib of The Wall Street Journal.
Yes, Americans want another bull, another bubble, even another meltdown. Guess what? It’s already here, folks. The next big market-economic-business cycle has arrived ahead of schedule. This is what makes us America. We love challenges, risk-takers and winners. The nobody who suddenly becomes a big somebody is the biggest of all TV metaphors for who we are.
Related posts:
- The Bounce Phase of the Economic Depression
- Lobbying: A Booming Business in a Politicized Economy
- Capitalism: A Love Story – Close, But No Cigar
- A Free Market in Health Care Is the Only Solution
- Yes Virginia, There Will Be Death Panels
