There We Have It! Just Declare That "Growth" Itself Is Nominal! Why Didn't "We" Think Of That Sooner?

Commentary by Roger Erickson

Someone forgot to tell us that "thought, growth & adaptation" were themselves actually nominal?

Where's JJ Cale when we need to understand nominally cool?

   Living on Bankster Farce.
     Living on Bankster Farce.
   Well you know we've all been through it,
     When we peg GDP to it.
   Living on Bankster Farce. (apologies to Don Williams)

So, now it's clear. The mercurial logic of Mad Hatter Economics can be taken to mean whatever we want it to mean. Nothing ... or or even nothing less? :(

That's our preference, right up until our way collides with this thing called objective reality. Then what happens, when our preference rate can't make it through a dangerous reality curve?

Warren Mosler: "miles driven looks a lot like the labor force participation rate graph. ;)
And, going to 'per capita' shaves about 1% off all the growth rates.
Then, adjusting for probable productivity increases takes many reported growth rates down another 1% [or more]."

Russ Huntley: "Here are two charts of the structural declines in miles driven and household income."

Vehicle Miles Driven: Population-Adjusted Fractionally Off Its Post-Crisis Low

Living in a Tulsa asylum? Sending it's graduates to Congress?

Puntland Part Time Regulatory Farce

SWJ on More Piracy Near Somalia

Why does this sound so similar to ... well, to EVERYTHING we read in the press?

Here's just one, example, paraphrasing of the quote highlighted at SWJ:

"WASHINGTON — It seemed like a simple idea: In the chaos that is [Washington, DC], create a sophisticated, highly trained [economic] force that could finally defeat the pirates terrorizing the [finance] lanes off the [Wall Street] coast.

But the creation of the Puntland [Parttime Regulatory Farce] was anything but simple. It involved dozens of [retired political] mercenaries and the shadowy [lobbyist] firms that employed them, millions of dollars in secret payments by the United [Grab Campaignirates], a former clandestine officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, and the [Princelings], the billionaire former [employees] of [the too big to fail banks] who [were] residing at the time in all the [key policy agencies]."

How do YOU spell SNAFU mess?   A majority of the idiots blindly groping this elephantine situation actually like what they feel, and can't comprehend that it's gonna fall over and squash 'em?  They're so busy enjoying how their own, undersized gropings feel that they don't even want to absorb perspectives outside their addiction?   Whaddya do when you wake up in a den of hopium addicts?  Kick open the doors & windows to let sunlight & fresh air in ... or hold your breath & run for the exit?   Decisions, decisions.