Thursday, September 17, 2009

Government as vampire

The September 9 Buttonwood commentary on the Economist blog talks about how consumers are cutting spending during this crisis.
The volume of consumer credit fell by $21.6 billion in July, the sixth monthly decline in a row. According to Lombard Street Research, this was the second largest percentage decline since World War Two. The 3-month annualised rate of decline is now running at 7%.
The column concludes with this observation: "[W]ithout the government, one fears the economy might look like the lead character of Weekend at Bernie's."

I haven't seen the movie nor have I heard much about it, but the plot summary at IMDb describes it as "A pair of losers try to pretend that their murdered employer is really alive, but the murderer is out to 'finish him off.'"

I don't know what Buttonwood meant by his comment, but there's certainly truth to the assertion that government intervention in this crisis is an attempt to give the dead the appearance of being alive -- much like a vampire that draws the blood of the healthy for its own end.

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