A New Nobel Prize Category

Yes I agree Usbport. I was reading this, and have the cuttings detailing the severe housing mortgage problems of Fannie Mae etc and the trillions of US debt, in 2003, 2004.

Unfortunately it was in the Philadelphia Trumpet, from a successor organisation to the WWcoGod and its Plain Truth using info mainly from Stratfor. So the info was out there and the sources could be verified, but the message was drowned out by the perception of the messenger as being messianic. Prophets in their own country come to mind . What caught many out was the perception that this was a US problem. They will come to realise that US history is full of passing dummies to its so called allies, or in this case packaged toxicity.

Regarding the QE and QE11. These are not ships that pass in the night but the children of Keynes. His theories do work. Adolf Hitler showed he was the master of Keynsian economics but he had to put in place restrictions to make it work.

The New Deal in America did'nt produce full employment until it was ready to arm its surrogate fighters at the expense of their empires, and also defend itself in the early 40's.

I am guessing what he is seeking is a Noble Prize in accurate economics, more like a scientific method to economics where you can accurately and precisely predict future events due to system mechanics and the applicable theories. However, I believe this would then negate the need for the current Noble Prize for economics, as that would then be relegated to some psuedo art/sociological field of endeavor. You know like homeopathy versus medicine.

Also, I am not sure that a melt down in the US was passed along to allies, as much as the allies were being propped up nby US economy. Consider Greece, Spain, Iceland, etc.. all had people being paid for work not being done. Most of Europe works about 2/3 as much as americans and has much smaller GDPs. Many Med countries have a majority of their populations working for the government, so the countries have no real economies outside of tourism seeking to capture some american vacationers money within their borders. The only countries that were productive on their owns and not dependent on the economy of the US proping them up seemed to have been India and China, the people there seem to actually be employed in productive activities. the idiocy of the investors in banking to invest so heavily in a artifically supported real estate market in hopes of free money was tantamount to gambling with the hopes of becoming wealthy, and as you know that first takes a huge cash reserve and cash in security in case of a down turn in the cards, and well the card went cold and those who over invested start crying or cheating.

hmmm... thought provoking.

Not a Nobel but perhaps some sort of award.

<hmmm>

My thoughts are don't put all your eggs in one basket, what goes up must come down, don't live off your credit cards and use credit cards to pay off other credit cards, don't live to far above your comfort zone, remember history least you are doomed to repeat it (internet bubble and previous and regular boom/recession cycles anyone) and plenty of other rather obvious statements. Like the recession in America the melt down was not sudden and 'unexpected' just like it wasn't here in New Zealand. The economic and historical cycle signs were there.

Perhaps someone could nominate me for this new award.

Jack - A homeowner

The old metaphor "Simple Economics" is a thing of the past. No such thing anymore. It's as if the technical world in it's continually evolving nature has taught the economic world to evolve just as quickly. Makes understanding both of these disciplines an ongoing learning process. Improving our knowledge base is imperative if our economy is to survive. BUT-I still think the best way to learn to buy a house is to "Just Do It!"

The 'Black Swan' theory described by Taleb tells you why such 'catastrophic' events are only to be expected though they are not predictable. One must guard against such events using the 'stop loss' technique. The human mind is not engineered to deal with such events and unless you train yourself well (and use it to get out in time) you are going to suffer badly if you have exposed yourself much. The economists too are not able to predict such events. However, after an event occurs you will find many who jump in and offer all sorts of explanations - always in retrospect. Trained economists are especially good at this.

Talib was just in Sweden trying to get them to stop giving the Nobel for Economics as the theories that keep winning have all failed, actually helping to create bubbles through false confidence. Black, markowitz, freidman, etc. Economics is not a science, it is a religion.

Social-corporate darwinism will chew you up and spit you out before finally devouring its self. Nothing surprising about it. The banks new exactly what they were doing.

I guarantee predict that whenever Wall street is deregulated, that it will become excessively greed driven, past the point of bursting.

there... done.

can I have my Nobel prize now? _{^{(give them a prize created by a guy who liked to blow things up?)}}

The following link has simple-to-understand video tutorials that provide a historical perspective and good understanding of how and what led to sub-prime mortgage crises and financial meltdown.

http://www.khanacademy.org/video/the-housing-price-conundrum?playlist=Credit Crisis

The "Nobel" prize for economics is actually a recent award by the Swedish banks.

The guys responsible for the GFC all walked away with fortunes, their banks might have failed (but so what). This will always happen if people are allowed to gamble with someone else's money.

I'm just jealous I didn't think of this scam myself. Ffej