The other day, when discussing Dodd-Frank’s ill effects on the financial system, I detected a pattern.
Politicians had identified the crash of 2007 – 2009 and “did something.” They rushed to reform the financial regulatory system in accord with their preconceived notions. Since then the financial system has become more concentrated, with community banks dropping off like flies.
The pols say they are defenders of the downtrodden, but they simply played into the hands of the “fat cats.”
It’s the way of ham-handed interventionism. Every fix puts us in a bigger fix, so to speak, as “unintended consequences” multiply in the negative.
It’s like Whac-A-Mole, the arcade game: a mole pokes its head out of a hole. You hit it with a mallet. And then another mole pops up out of another hole. And you hit it. And you keep doing this, faster and faster, gaining points.
It’s sort of like economic policy. The voters see you hit something. Ding!
But more moles pop up.
In real life, it’s more like Hydra Whac-A-Mole. Bop one mole, out come two; bop another, up pop three. And it’s not just five holes on the board. It’s an infinity.
Interventionists cause more problems than they solve. Try to “solve” poverty by taking from the rich and giving to the poor? Soon, there’s not as much money in rich pockets to invest, and there are less jobs: the poor become trapped; they cease to improve themselves for work; their children lack role models; &tc., &tc., &tc.
Whac-A-Mole!
Or, as they might as well say in the halls of Capitol Hill: Hail, Hydra.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
4 replies on “Whac-a-Molenomics”
LOL, I’ve always thought of the Whac-A-Mole game as a perfect analogy of the elite’s attitude toward the “masses”. The elites are behind the hammer and the hammer is the law. The moles are the masses. When an individual tries to poke his head up, by thinking up a new idea or starting a new business, the elites use their hammer to beat them back down. It would be very interesting if the “masses” became Hydra (by finally paying attention to what’s being done to them) and they did start multiplying as in the myth to overwhelm the elites. Then we might have some positive change!
“Soon, there’s not as much money in rich pockets to invest, and there are less jobs: the poor become trapped; they cease to improve themselves for work; their children lack role models; etc., etc., etc.”
Who says that this is not the end game for those the owners of the Fed and those that control the world’s fiat money systems Paul?
Next big question is going to be whether the politicians can actually preside over collapsing our economic system without ending up themselves hung from the phone poles. Since citizens tend to attribute blame to whomever’s hand is on the helm at the time of the collapse, it will be a massive game of political musical chairs. Faster and faster with more and more reward as the Ponzi scheme escalates but the risk of a notorious death for holding on just a speck too long.
Interesting times.
Great analogies. Good observations.
GH: what if, as many have speculated, that was their plan. But it plays our, to their surprise as Drik comments, then as IHeart Dagny writes, the creative and honest people begin emerging and do not get wacked down.