On the one hand, there is the universe and how it can be expected to interact with the activities of human beings.
On the other hand, there are the powers that be (TPTB) and what they do to realize their goals.
So what is the track record of TPTB in either ignoring or listening to the universe?
On Oct. 10, 1987, Black Monday, the universe whispered to us that there was too much risk, too much leverage and the overuse of derivatives in the financial markets and they crashed about 22 per cent.
Widespread panic ensued for a few days.
Then on Sept. 23, 1998, the universe tossed a pebble at a hedge fund.
Its business model revolved around high leverage using borrowed money to trade esoteric securities based on its own financial models.
The models failed and to avoid any widespread panic, the Fed stepped in and organized a bailout.
On March 11, 2000, the universe threw a rock at the stock market with the crash of the dot.com bubble.
This was historic speculation and risk taking on borrowed money.
There was an unprecedented involvement of personal investing with the rapid expansion of the dot.com bubble.
Once it burst, trillions of dollars of stock prices evaporated.
On Sept. 15, 2008, the universe threw a brick at the financial markets with the announced bankruptcy of investment firm Lehman Bros.
The New York-based financial meltdown, known as the great financial crisis (GFC), ultimately took on global proportions.
The GFC just about brought down the western banking system and led to a $700 billion bailout of the banks, financed of course by the U.S. taxpayers.
So here we are in June 2017. Since the great financial crisis, the powers that be are in permanent emergency response with ridiculously low interest rates and various central banks buying financial assets as an unprecedented clip.
All of this is being done in the manic attempt to hold these financial markets together.
Now the question is, when will the universe bring the wall crashing down on us?
Michael Mears
Vernon