Dear Arthur,
This article, like those I read in the Ottawa Citizen almost every day seem
to be saying "everything is coming up roses." I am reminded of Douthwaite
and his concept of a "chain letter economy." I don't know if you have had
any experience with multi-level marketing - it's polite name. Those who
get in early make fantastic money while those who come in later often end
up with a closet full of water softeners or herbal products or household
goods. I have been around those promotions, having as a friend a
successful developer of new schemes. Like any good manipulator, he has a
corp of secondary business friends that come in as the second tier,
supporting his choice and developing dealers downline. Sometimes my friend
is in the second line as he helps someone else kick off a new multi-level.
Of course, Bre X and other promotions are the similar kinds of schemes for
separating the investor from their money.
"The purveyors of the new optimism are the economists, executives, stock
and bond traders, and the mutual and pension fund managers who, in their
constant forecasts and pronouncements, shape the public perception of the
national economy."
All these people depend on promoting confidence. They sit on telephones
talking to other players like themselves, generating the same kind of false
enthusiasm for the flavour of the day or they go on talk shows and
dramatically predict their opinion of the current state of the market.
Well, what I've said so far is not very profound and reflects a contrary
viewpoint.
I guess what I would really like to know is how come the market has proven
so resilient when it is so often shamelessly promoted for profit for a few
and losses for many?
