Dood, I don’t know anything about Teh Economies, but this doesn’t look good to me. IIRC the US GDP is ~13 trillion. Those numbers above kind of dwarf that.

A reader named Bex and the Agonist crew are having a really good discussion where I found that graph. He wonders: if all these people are losing all this money, who is making it? Where is it going? And I’d add: what expectations will those people have politically, now that the financial power is shifting so graphically and rapidly?  Read more 

My grandparents were amazing people. Despite racism and poverty, they managed to retire in wealth and comfort, because they beat the odds and worked the system and carved out a very profitable little real estate empire in the latter halves of their lives. Beginning when I was 12, I got sent to live and work with them in the summers, the better to learn about “the value of the dollar” and “where money comes from” and other wholesome lessons. It worked. I learned over those summers that “business” in America means one must at all times be on guard for lying, thieving, stealing, misreprestation and demonic evil. Sometimes, I wish I had my grandfather’s mettle; I left the business and went off to college to study things that didn’t make me feel so “icky,” which is always how I feel in a sales position. But it turns out he was right and I was wrong; if I’d skipped college and taken over the business, I’d be rich and powerful enough to buy me some politicians, instead of poor and with a head stuffed with pretty words and dates in history that no politician seems to be able to hear.

Anyway, this post from a blog that’s new to me really brought back the real estate nightmares every salesperson has had:  Read more