OMG! WTF! The World Is Ending!!!

I was inspired to write after giving thought to some online discussions that I was reading about the elections. It never ceases to amaze me how people react to elections and the probability of a politician that they don’t support being elected into office.

I hear on a regular basis, “I’m moving to Canada!” and I think, “Good, because we don’t need emotional decisions, people swayed by campaign hype, or the generally ignorant casting votes and helping shape the future of our country.” This happens on both sides of the party lines… One side seems to be worse about it, but this blog isn’t about that subject at all.

This is about economics.

This is about a long running economic agenda and mentality that has led us to where we are today.

We are all aware that there have been plenty of dishonest and irresponsible practices in lending, development and in forecasting profits in any given large corporation and publicly traded companies. There was and is a “War on Terror” to pay for, as well as a multitude of inefficient and ridiculously unaccountable government “charity” programs. It is also common opinion that politicians have supported legislation to support and continue these practices as well as abused taxpayer funds for personal profits and career development. Greed and hunger for power are the driving factors. This is not profound or new information. But, in order for these practices to produce profits, there has to be a system in place that encourages and supports this kind of behavior.

Outside of “politics” and “big business” blame... There are several fundamental problems with our measure of economic sustainability as it pertains to business. I'll point out just one: "Growth Equals Sustainability". It makes sense and is adhered to by anyone who wants to make the most money out of their investments. I’ll come back to that in a minute...

So how does the investment market really work? Like a roller coaster. Ups and downs create profit and loss. One man's loss becomes another man's profit. (Ok... it's a little more complicated than that, but for the sake of simplicity let's just leave it at that.)

Simply stated, a volatile market is the best place to win and lose fortunes. When the market is down, you buy shares on sale. When the market is up, you sell shares at a premium price.

The problem with the concept and measure of "Growth Equals Sustainability" (aka G=S Concept), is that any given market is only so big or can only expand to its capacity... Once it does, the game is over. The bubble pops. We are experiencing that popped bubble right now along with ALL political parties wasting taxpayer's money and trying to make up for gross inefficiencies by increasing taxes. Aside from over-development of retail and residential communities driven by the G=S Concept, the consumers don't have the financial resources or the confidence to sustain the “feeding needs” of the market places.

At the root of all the economic problems, there is a major contributing factor that goes beyond political blame; the G=S Concept. It drives lenders to do so irresponsibly, it forces companies to increase profits unreasonably through foreign vendors and insists on overproduction of products as well as "fixing" the books. All this is done in the name of Growth. All this is done to satisfy the hungry investors who are eager to push growth beyond a reasonable rate so the return on their investment will inflate with the said growth.

Well, all this growth has inevitably and predictably outgrown the market leaving suppliers and manufacturers overstocked and in debt. And because of a lack of growth currently, companies cannot rely on the new cash flow to pay for past financial blunders, over-extension of their financial risk and the perpetual growth/development expenditures.

As consumers, we didn't create the G=S concept, but we are all responsible for feeding into it by accepting lower prices in trade for lesser quality and not having the patience to wait for something to be made. No, we have to have it now, leaving the retailers and vendors with no choice but to overstock to meet probable demand.

Big business is not as much of an enemy as it is a victim. On one side, they are forced to buy into a faulty concept of sustainability and grow at unhealthy rates in order to satisfy the demands of the investors. On the other side, to meet customer demand, they are forced to predict and produce for the “crap shoot” that IS sales projections, because if they don't have it now and cheap, we'll go somewhere else.

Just remember as you get excited or bewildered about the current elections... It takes both sides to create balance. And the world does not end or become a haven just because a new bureaucrat with new promises or ideas gets into office. Balanced movement is slow movement and it has taken a long time to get where we are today. There have been plenty of hands on the wheel and a whole lot of little pushes in good and bad directions from every administration.

No matter how you dice it, there is always a political agenda at the root of the good and bad reports on any given subject regarding government. Take it with a grain of salt, and don't give too much trust or too much hatred to any one candidate or delegate.

The world and America specifically did not end at the hands of The Great Depression. It will not end this time either. We will survive and come out stronger if we make good decisions and fair judgments. But, will we decide to make changes in our “fast food” mentality as consumers? Will we support bringing jobs back to America by choosing quality over price even though it will dip into our wallets and our time? Will we stop blaming big business and politics for the economic struggles we are having and recognize that we all share the common cause? Because at the root of the political and business decisions made as well as at the root of our decisions as consumers, the common factor that has driven overdevelopment (growth) and pushed manufacturing over seas (lower prices) is in fact, Greed.