There is a common thread that will run through several of my posts this morning: perpetual motion. Briefly stated, perpetual motion is the idea that a machine (or system) can be created that produces outputs without inputs. However designed or cleverly built, this is impossible. It violates the laws of thermodynamics as we understand them.
Perpetual motion schemes have been around for at least a millennium and will continue as long as people want to get something for nothing which is to say forever. Consider, for example, the cat and rat farm.
Your investment scheme that always makes money or your plan to support most of the people just by extending credit are forms of perpetual motion. In the long term that cannot work and when they fail it can be disastrous.
It doesn’t even need to be the absurdity of perpetual motion. Just the cost of chronic inflation, tying this post to the last. Beware only worrying about hyperinflation.
https://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation/DecadeInflation.asp
Dealing with inflation is painful but it can be done, as Paul Volcker demonstrated in the 1980s. It also tends to emerge slowly which facilitates doing something about it. Hyperinflation is a catastrophic problem and can arise very, very suddenly.
Socialism is a ideological variety of a perpetual motion machine. With the added benefit of never having been properly implemented, which renders its premises forever unfalsifiable.
“It also tends to emerge slowly which facilitates doing something about it. Hyperinflation is a catastrophic problem and can arise very, very suddenly.”
Only one President has allowed something to be done about it, the hated Ronald Reagan. Don’t expect it to be repeated. So it leaves one arguing that something can be done about slow death by a thousand cuts vs the suddenness of a bullet through the head. Its technically correct that it arises suddenly, but so what?
We are/have slowly dismantling our history and culture, education system, media role, police forces, respect for rule of law. Am I to be more concerned that it happens in an overnight coup?
“Only one President has allowed something to be done about it, the hated Ronald Reagan.”
Inflation was still a bit over 4% when he left office. It ha seldom been the thigh since and not at all since 2008. The bigger problem is the continued debt financing of our economy, even when it is doing pretty well.
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/historical-inflation-rates/
Steve
Thank you for your very un-insightful comment, steve. The point was that he was willing to take the political heat for Volker’s initiative.
Carry on with your silly partisanship. It apparently makes you feel good.