STRIP FOR May 10, 2009
Comments
User Name: randyman
May 10, 2009
+3
Some interesting comments - on the mark is bashar327 and Ian50 who say this about deregulation and laissez-faire economics.
Mortgage Backed Securities and Credit Default Swaps were invented over 15 years ago. What is the value of those? Their true risk was hidden. The ratings institutions, which people depended on, didn't look under the sheets and went solely on the risk of other instruments by the same institution. As the stated risk was low, and the return was high, they grew in popularity. But the true risk was much higher than was stated. And they weren't regulated in the way they should have been.
That's the point of this comic. If you can't trust the financial instruments of a AAA-rated company, what can you trust from any institution? And it is trust on the continued viability of another company that oils the wheels of a free market society. We have lost a good portion of that trust, hence the wheels have slowed down.
Dilbert has simply extrapolated it to the extreme - hence, the humor.
Mortgage Backed Securities and Credit Default Swaps were invented over 15 years ago. What is the value of those? Their true risk was hidden. The ratings institutions, which people depended on, didn't look under the sheets and went solely on the risk of other instruments by the same institution. As the stated risk was low, and the return was high, they grew in popularity. But the true risk was much higher than was stated. And they weren't regulated in the way they should have been.
That's the point of this comic. If you can't trust the financial instruments of a AAA-rated company, what can you trust from any institution? And it is trust on the continued viability of another company that oils the wheels of a free market society. We have lost a good portion of that trust, hence the wheels have slowed down.
Dilbert has simply extrapolated it to the extreme - hence, the humor.
User Name: Ian50
May 10, 2009
+1
I don't think this strip is meant to be about capitalism as much as it is about what happens when rules and regulations don't exist/aren't being enforced effectively.
User Name: kakman
May 10, 2009
+2
wahoothedruid can take a flying leap. Of course I found the strip funny, and so did most everybody discussing this, but one has a right to discuss the "problem" as it happens in real world and possible solutions.
OK,OK,OK,OK , From now on before we discuss anything we have to write we thought the strip was either funny or not, so we don't get remonstrated by the likes of a fake online druid who has appointed itself as dispenser of humor moderator.
capitalism is about trust but is also about lying. Why does anyone believe in the value of fiat money? Isn't fiat money a complete crock? You can't exchange it for gold or silver (specie is also a load of crock, when you think of it). Why not call a spade a spade and give up on money and capitalism? Because we'd all be up the creek without a paddle or a canoe and beneath the veneer of civilization, we'd all revert to modern day savagery. No idyllic barter system, it'd be Cormac McCarthy's The Road in no time at all. We have to believe the lies to keep civilization going. That's why everybody freaks when system breaks down, i.e. trust goes out the window and takes a long extended holiday.
OK,OK,OK,OK , From now on before we discuss anything we have to write we thought the strip was either funny or not, so we don't get remonstrated by the likes of a fake online druid who has appointed itself as dispenser of humor moderator.
capitalism is about trust but is also about lying. Why does anyone believe in the value of fiat money? Isn't fiat money a complete crock? You can't exchange it for gold or silver (specie is also a load of crock, when you think of it). Why not call a spade a spade and give up on money and capitalism? Because we'd all be up the creek without a paddle or a canoe and beneath the veneer of civilization, we'd all revert to modern day savagery. No idyllic barter system, it'd be Cormac McCarthy's The Road in no time at all. We have to believe the lies to keep civilization going. That's why everybody freaks when system breaks down, i.e. trust goes out the window and takes a long extended holiday.
User Name: mclzsullivan
May 10, 2009
+2
Luckily I can trust my government to do what's best for me! Even since the tooth fairy cheated me I stopped trusting.
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