Project for Philosophical Evaluations of the Economy |
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Ouch!!!
Dialog with the Alter Ego on the present stock market turmoil, drafted and published on July 8, 2011
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Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): On June 30, you did go on record claiming that the rough patch
which the economy was experiencing prior to that date would be more or less over. In view of the current turmoil in
the stock markets it’s clear that this prediction of yours was altogether wrong, isn’t it?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, we are in deed surprised by the intensity of the turmoil which we see right
now unfolding in the financial markets.
AE: So, are you prepared to admit then that you did you get it wrong here?
Nd: Perhaps. But the truth also is that we are still no panicking. We continue to believe that the US economy is not
as bad as a lot of people think. And we still do not discard that some kind of miracle might save us from a major
credit event generated by the EURO debt crisis.
AE: You are, hence, not going to participate in the current sell-off?
Nd: No.
AE: What is your relative optimism based on, as far as the US economy is concerned?
Nd: The main point is that the falling oil price will be a big boost for the US consumer. Sooner or later this will show
in economic figures.
AE: And what about Europe? The debt crisis seems to get worse by the day. And you yourself have
acknowledged that more dramatic initiatives are warranted to overcome the EURO problem. So what makes you
hope that a constructive miracle is still possible here?
Nd: It’s the fact that the introduction of the EURO was basically well intended. There was no element of reckless
profiteering in this. Much rather was it an attempt to further the prospects for peaceful and constructive
cooperation in Europe. We, hence, find it hard to believe that the fall-out of such well intended aspirations could
in deed trigger a worldwide depression.
AE: So you don’t consider it reckless that Greece falsified its statistics in order to be included in the EURO
currency?
Nd: Okay, there was some peripheral recklessness going on in connection with the introduction of the EURO. But
this peripheral fraud doesn’t take anything away from the overall dignity of the unifying goal that was associated
with the EURO currency.
AE: Still, it is somewhat reckless to not be prudent enough. And you can probably agree with us when we say that
the introduction of the EURO was not a prudent thing to do?
Nd: Yes, we agree with that statement. We are not sure though, whether "lack of prudence" and "recklessness"
are one and the same thing. It seems to us as if the idea of recklessness involves some kind of very egoistic,
personal profiteering. And that isn’t the case here.
AE: In other words, you believe that human beings should have a right to err and that they shouldn’t be punished
too harshly for these errors.
Nd: Well, they shouldn’t be punished too harshly for those errors that were committed while trying to do the
morally right thing. The punishment of sheer recklessness, however, is another matter which deserves a little less
leniency.
AE: History isn’t a dial-in show though where you can request your own music. In other words, the gods never
agreed to be predictable, did they?
Nd: Perhaps they never said so, but it is high time for mankind to demand that finally they live up to their part of
the deal. Or, to put it differently, it seems ludicrous to us to believe that the gods will not differentiate between
benign and malign human errors. Because if they are serious about human rights, democracy and human dignity
then it doesn’t make sense for them to destroy all that just because they may have lost their temper due to
innocent human incompetence.
AE: So what’s your conclusion here?
Nd: The conclusion is not to give up hope and belief even if the temptation to do so is tremendous.
Dialog with the Alter Ego on the present stock market turmoil, drafted and published on July 8, 2011
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): On June 30, you did go on record claiming that the rough patch
which the economy was experiencing prior to that date would be more or less over. In view of the current turmoil in
the stock markets it’s clear that this prediction of yours was altogether wrong, isn’t it?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, we are in deed surprised by the intensity of the turmoil which we see right
now unfolding in the financial markets.
AE: So, are you prepared to admit then that you did you get it wrong here?
Nd: Perhaps. But the truth also is that we are still no panicking. We continue to believe that the US economy is not
as bad as a lot of people think. And we still do not discard that some kind of miracle might save us from a major
credit event generated by the EURO debt crisis.
AE: You are, hence, not going to participate in the current sell-off?
Nd: No.
AE: What is your relative optimism based on, as far as the US economy is concerned?
Nd: The main point is that the falling oil price will be a big boost for the US consumer. Sooner or later this will show
in economic figures.
AE: And what about Europe? The debt crisis seems to get worse by the day. And you yourself have
acknowledged that more dramatic initiatives are warranted to overcome the EURO problem. So what makes you
hope that a constructive miracle is still possible here?
Nd: It’s the fact that the introduction of the EURO was basically well intended. There was no element of reckless
profiteering in this. Much rather was it an attempt to further the prospects for peaceful and constructive
cooperation in Europe. We, hence, find it hard to believe that the fall-out of such well intended aspirations could
in deed trigger a worldwide depression.
AE: So you don’t consider it reckless that Greece falsified its statistics in order to be included in the EURO
currency?
Nd: Okay, there was some peripheral recklessness going on in connection with the introduction of the EURO. But
this peripheral fraud doesn’t take anything away from the overall dignity of the unifying goal that was associated
with the EURO currency.
AE: Still, it is somewhat reckless to not be prudent enough. And you can probably agree with us when we say that
the introduction of the EURO was not a prudent thing to do?
Nd: Yes, we agree with that statement. We are not sure though, whether "lack of prudence" and "recklessness"
are one and the same thing. It seems to us as if the idea of recklessness involves some kind of very egoistic,
personal profiteering. And that isn’t the case here.
AE: In other words, you believe that human beings should have a right to err and that they shouldn’t be punished
too harshly for these errors.
Nd: Well, they shouldn’t be punished too harshly for those errors that were committed while trying to do the
morally right thing. The punishment of sheer recklessness, however, is another matter which deserves a little less
leniency.
AE: History isn’t a dial-in show though where you can request your own music. In other words, the gods never
agreed to be predictable, did they?
Nd: Perhaps they never said so, but it is high time for mankind to demand that finally they live up to their part of
the deal. Or, to put it differently, it seems ludicrous to us to believe that the gods will not differentiate between
benign and malign human errors. Because if they are serious about human rights, democracy and human dignity
then it doesn’t make sense for them to destroy all that just because they may have lost their temper due to
innocent human incompetence.
AE: So what’s your conclusion here?
Nd: The conclusion is not to give up hope and belief even if the temptation to do so is tremendous.
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| Keywords: stock market sell-off, turmoil in the stock market, EURO debt crisis, European debt crisis, panic in financial markets, God and capitalism, major correction in the stock market, God and financial speculation, recession fears, sell-off drama in financial markets |