Comments on: Why the Last 37 Years Were an Economic Illusion

By: BB

BB — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:49:26 +0000

No, Kunstler is an idiot. He’s tapping into an idea, but his reasoning about the underlying causes of the situation are all wrong.

And, Kunstler is a Baby Boomer–the cranky, aging people who are on their way out. So everything looks bleak to him.

By: tee

tee — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:06:22 +0000

Mr. Bonner,

Thanks for your research and information posted online – it is definitely a read worth having.

I have a question for you about ‘productive’ enterprises — I work in the tech industry and specifically building web-applications online – some of them ’social applications’ — they have very little value beyond entertainment – and potentially advertising outlets…they are very complex bits of software and take a fair amount of money to produce…

but where is the productive value out of this?

This is what the economy has left much of my generation…building seemingly endlessly towards non-products….sometimes it keeps me up at night…were being asked to seek out value – where this is no real tangible value to squeeze many times…were asked to invent it…and at times I dont see where we can.

Am I generating productive enterprise? or is the economic world i was born into – leading me down an endless maze of economic doom!?

The frustration in my job ( and peers ) is very real – I have very high level of technical and creative skill – yet I always find myself trying to defend the real costs of making these seemingly vaporous products that just deal in information transfer…no one wants to pay….but everyone wants our work…it doesnt make sense…we work harder for less and less every day.

I wonder if i would have been better off learning how to dig for potatoes….which is easier to connect to productive output.

sincerely,

tee

By: Chris Parker

Chris Parker — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:49:24 +0000

Have any data to back this up? This is a pretty big claim.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:53:18 +0000

Well said. Add in massive over borrowing against fake equity in those fake houses and the whole thing is one grand illusion. What a hangover we’re in the midst of .

By: Mark Lusher

Mark Lusher — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:57:48 +0000

Being a 35 yr old man I am sick of paying for the mistakes of others. I read recently taking inflation that a man my age is making on average $5000 less than their fathers were at the same age. I grew up under the current monetary policies.

Your article points out the major issue. How do we save for the future? Banks don’t pay enough interest to keep up with inflation. Sticking it in a mattress has the same issue. Investing in Stocks? when “Wall Street turned over trillions of dollars – pretending to “add value” by better allocating capital and credit. What it really did was to pay itself huge fees for loading down the whole society with debt.” Real Estate? 30 and 40 year mortgages in over priced homes that have increased beyond the reach of most. If you doubt that statement then explain the foreclosure situation.

I agree that some personal discretion is necessary. But as your title suggest if your living in a system that is broke.

How do we plan for the future? When it is being squandered away?