One way to look at it is that business cycles run a fancy annealing algorithm:
generate a bunch of silly ideas during the easy credit phase, then find out
which ones actually work during the tight credit phase. Repeat to taste, but
note that it doesn't work unless you alternate phases.
Another way to look at it is to ask at what point the State has an interest in
preserving employment, even at the risk of destroyed value. Federalist 10
shows that it isn't a new argument for the US, and the corn laws show that it
wasn't a new argument in Britain. Perhaps the pyramids show that it wasn't
new in ancient Egypt, either.
> So in Japan, they're saying (if there was a sound banking system),
> look if you have even the world's silliest idea -- an iMac-style
> toilet, say -- then we'll fund it if you can give us even a penny on
> the dollar each year.
Be careful when stowing thrones in grass houses! I'm not sure what the yield
on the S&P 500 is these days, but a penny or two on the dollar sounds awfully
close. I suppose that for the S&P 500, we ask for a nice story about growth
along with our penny.
-Dave