Monday, November 10, 2008

In these days of economic uncertainty...

.
... I came across this quote and damn if it didn't strike a chord...



The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.

- John Kenneth Galbraith



Not that I'm in any way qualified to speak of the economy.
.

11 comments:

pissed off patricia said...

That quote is priceless!

To answer the question you left at MM about Molly the dog, I am going to ask the shelter if they can contact the previous owner and let her know that Molly has found a home. I sure do hope they can.

Guillaume said...

Brilliant quote. I always wondered why economy is considered a science. I think it looks more like fambling: it has rules, but it's pure chance.

choochoo said...

I don't know much about economy. But I do like shopping.

Dumdad said...

Speaking of the economy I was sent this today:

21 Economic Models explained with Cows - 2008 update

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the
milk
away...

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of
credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a
debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all
four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a
Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who
sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on
one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving
you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want
three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and
produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market
it
worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and
milk
themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.


A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your
country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

furiousBall said...

the only comfort is that the global economy has throughout history shown a propensity to bounce back

Anonymous said...

My apporach to bad economic times: I close my eyes and hope it will change eventually.

Ian Lidster said...

You're as qualified as I am, and in light of the last few weeks, I think we're both more qualified than Greenspan.

geewits said...

I like Lone Grey Squirrel's recent post on the economy. It makes a lot of sense.

I guess if you are very young these downturns scare you to pieces, but if you've lived long enough you see the cycles. This too shall pass.

Jazz said...

Pop - I hope they pass on the message, I'm sure it would make her feel a lot better.

Guillaume - Yeah really.

Choochoo - shopping is good. For you and the economy.

Dumdad - Hilarious!

Fuball - It's a cycle

Citizen - You and me both

Geewits - I'll be sure to go check out that post.

Joe Jubinville said...

Here' the inside deal on the real reason for the economic crisis: nobody knows.

Anonymous said...

Bah - I'm too poor to worry about econimic crises. Like Geewits said, they come, they go. Nothing much changes in my life.