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A new credit bubble gets ready to burst

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Re: A new credit bubble gets ready to burst

#121
post #68
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But to me there is a structural problem with the relationship between money and government (in their current low-tech forms) in society. Can you expand on this? Your comment intrigued me.

The primary motivator for people is money. Government attempts to regulate all aspects of behavior, but it cannot effectively control or monitor the exchange of money. The most obvious symptoms of this are usually called corruption. It is less obvious (but still obvious to me) that corruption is just the tip of the iceberg. The problem is structural. Government cannot be effective because it is superceded or corrupte…

That makes sense, but is also a nightmare IMO. The lack of oversight of money means that you cannot be totally barred from participating in the economic system by the goverement.

If the government had even more control over money, they could arbitrarily blacklist people from having access to currency. While this sounds like a good tool to use against criminals, recall that, in America at least, there exist things such as the no fly list [0], which impacts people's rights without due process.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List

Re: A new credit bubble gets ready to burst

#122
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Others buy it because of the perceived safety, larger vehicle so they feel more "protected". It's not just perceived safety though. Heavier cars are objectively safer when crashing into a lighter car. IIHS did several tests on this. The fact that SUVs are higher means that they have an advantage if crashing head on with a sedan.

It also means less safety for everyone, though. Especially pedestrians and people on motor(bikes) are endangered by heavier, bigger cars. Not counting emissions and climate change from moving a ton of decorative metal around.

I don't disagree. But I don't see a better solution. Why would someone with a family take a risk for instance? I know that Volvo are taking safety very seriously, and want to have 0 fatalities (even pedestrians) sometime this coming decade.

I think emissions can be improved with things like hybrid drive trains and electric motors.

Re: A new credit bubble gets ready to burst

#123
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My brother in law probably makes $80k and my sister about the same. He's got a $50K truck and she's got a $40K SUV and they were bragging to me about the deals they got on them. Granted, their house note is very respectable due to the time they bought the property and built their house, and I'm sure that his parents have helped out given that he's an only child and they both make good money. Even still, they each hav…

Are "house note" and "car note" regional terms? I don't think i've ever heard them before, but then i don't live in the US.

"car note" is a pretty common term, at least in the Southern US, but I haven't heard "house note" before.

Re: A new credit bubble gets ready to burst

#124
post #121
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The primary motivator for people is money. Government attempts to regulate all aspects of behavior, but it cannot effectively control or monitor the exchange of money. The most obvious symptoms of this are usually called corruption. It is less obvious (but still obvious to me) that corruption is just the tip of the iceberg. The problem is structural. Government cannot be effective because it is superceded or corrupte…

That makes sense, but is also a nightmare IMO. The lack of oversight of money means that you cannot be totally barred from participating in the economic system by the goverement. If the government had even more control over money, they could arbitrarily blacklist people from having access to currency. While this sounds like a good tool to use against criminals, recall that, in America at least, there exist things suc…

The way governments actually work in practice these days, yes, it would be a nightmare.

But the problem with the relationship between money and government is so significant, a real solution would require dramatic changes all around. So that would mean that government could not be anything like it is today.

Re: A new credit bubble gets ready to burst

#125
post #45

Really seems like Wall Street is in love with the term "shadow banking", because it implies "can't regulate it". Yet we know exactly who the participants are, the types of firms, and their practices. Step 1 to better regulation of creative rent seeking is to stop treating it like it's nebulous.

I've seen the term "rent seeking" used a few times here on HN, and I have no idea what it means. For those curious: Rent-seeking happens when a person or business uses their position or resources to get some additional benefit from the government. The most common occurrence is when a company or industry lobbies the government to receive special subsidies, grants, and tariff protection. The term "rent" in economics me…

As wavefunction notes, that is at best a very narrow definition.

Here is Wikipedia's:

"Rent-seeking is a concept in public choice theory as well as in economics, that involves seeking to increase one's share of existing wealth without creating new wealth. Rent-seeking results in reduced economic efficiency through misallocation of resources, reduced wealth-creation, lost government revenue, heightened income inequality, and potential national decline."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking

Re: A new credit bubble gets ready to burst

#126
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are "house note" and "car note" regional terms? I don't think i've ever heard them before, but then i don't live in the US.

"car note" is a pretty common term, at least in the Southern US, but I haven't heard "house note" before.

House note is also common, at least in the New Orleans area
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