The Greeks done it again

[Mehlsack]

This reminds of the curse: "May you live in interesting times!"
The Chinese say: "Better to be a dog in a peaceful time, than to be a man in a chaotic period."

 

[Ithikial]

And according to the editors of a business magazine I work for, the next wobbly might already be starting in China... possibly interesting times ahead.

View attachment 10772

Hehehe brilliant. I'll show the crew tomorrow morning.

Take a wild guess what we watch very closely from my desk at the moment. And indeed for the last couple of years. Cracks started to appear in the rosy future of the Chinese fueled commodities boom in mid 2012. Problem with Economics is no one pays attention until the house is on fire.

For us in Australia, particularly my home state of Western Australia where mining is king, (unfortunately), it's never been Greece for us to worry about. Whole Government budgets are at risk because silly tax cuts for middle and upper classes started years ago when the China story all started and Australia was cashing in. Now we have political leaders with no political capital to spend to fix the problem, so they say "all will be fine," "don't need tax reform" etc etc. Youth Unemployment nationally hits record levels. Unemployment trending up, under employment skyrocketing and employment growth is roughly 2/3rds part time workers. Yeah really a strong environment. <Rant over>

Rico (and anyone else), if you're looking for media material check out our ABC news site, lots of articles and videos this past week of the problems and for the most part hitting the nail on the head in my books.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-07/china-market-freefall-explainer/6602382
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-08/chinese-share-slump-picks-up-pace/6603740?section=business

And from my home State....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-...on-ore-price-tumbles/6605006?section=business
(And I have better graphs than that. )

 

[DasTiger]

You say that like you've got something against a socialist.... I wonder what the difference is in meaning between the American word "socialist" and what we in Europe think the word socialist means. I think they differ a lot.

I'm not trying to be short but this is the best definition I can find and it really says everything. Number 1 really says it the best.

1. n. noun
   • 1. a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole
     Synonym : leftism, welfarism, radicalism, progressivism, social democracy, communism, Marxism, labor movement
   • 2. policy or practice based on the political and economic theory of socialism
     Synonym : leftism, welfarism, radicalism, progressivism, social democracy, communism, Marxism, labor movement
   • 3. (in Marxist theory) a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism
2. Variation
   • n.: noun: socialism

We say the term European Socialism here in the States. It's not necessarily a bad thing. But for myself and many other conservatives (and I think a large portion of the population but they just don't realize it) would not want the means of production owned by the whole. And historically socialism isn't a very good model for economic stability.

I will pull out my trusted Milton Friedman video. While he doesn't particularly speak directly to socialism, he does have a strong argument for capitalism. His comments about individual achievements are at the root of why socialism/communism are fundamentally flawed in my opinion. Right Numbers?

 

[DasTiger]

And according to the editors of a business magazine I work for, the next wobbly might already be starting in China... possibly interesting times ahead.

View attachment 10772

Dude!!!! Your cartoons are so spot on and perfect. I really hope you have them distributed world wide. You could be the next Charles Schultz.

 

[Corsaire31]

@DasTiger "And historically socialism isn't a very good model for economic stability. "

I'm not very much interested in politics and certainly not a communist, but I'm affraid in the last 10 years liberal capitalism hasn't done much either for economic stability. Iirc, the subprimes and the general finance crisis didn't start in a socialist country ?

As a french humorist used to say " Capitalism is the exploitation of men by other men, socialism is the other way around... " which explains that even in communist countries, some people are "more equal" than the others.

So one way or the other, if you're not a member of the leading group, you're screwed. But fortunately, life is not all about economy...

 

[Bert Blitzkrieg]

I'm not trying to be short but this is the best definition I can find and it really says everything. Number 1 really says it the best.

1. n. noun
   • 1. a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole
     Synonym : leftism, welfarism, radicalism, progressivism, social democracy, communism, Marxism, labor movement
   • 2. policy or practice based on the political and economic theory of socialism
     Synonym : leftism, welfarism, radicalism, progressivism, social democracy, communism, Marxism, labor movement
   • 3. (in Marxist theory) a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism
2. Variation
   • n.: noun: socialism

We say the term European Socialism here in the States. It's not necessarily a bad thing. But for myself and many other conservatives (and I think a large portion of the population but they just don't realize it) would not want the means of production owned by the whole. And historically socialism isn't a very good model for economic stability.

I will pull out my trusted Milton Friedman video. While he doesn't particularly speak directly to socialism, he does have a strong argument for capitalism. His comments about individual achievements are at the root of why socialism/communism are fundamentally flawed in my opinion. Right Numbers?

I don't think that definition of socialism is valid anymore. It's more the definition of communism.

Problem is that a 100% choice for either one of the systems gets you into trouble. And in both cases greed and selfishness of people are the root of the problem.
Personally I think cpitalism is the more natural system which lies closest to the human nature.

 

[DasTiger]

Problem is that a 100% choice for either one of the systems gets you into trouble. And in both cases greed and selfishness of people are the root of the problem.

I agree. I prefer to think it is the ego (greed and Selfishness) that ultimately dooms Socialism or Communism. Capitialism has it's problems as well (as @Corsaire31 pointed out). Solid laws and limited regulation of capitalism is probably the best model. The ego drives the individual to betterment and innovation and the regulations help control the corruption. Without strong laws and enforcement of those laws no economic environment will survive for log. But those are just my humble opinions.