Over at CNBC, I just read the oddest thing.
They interviewed Richard Duncan, author of The New Depression. Mr Duncan correctly diagnoses the long term credit crisis that will inevitably lead to depression. there is no avoiding it.
“When we broke the link between money and gold, this removed all constraints on credit creation. This explosion of credit created the world we live in, but it now seems that credit cannot expand any further because the private sector is incapable of repaying the debt it has already, and if credit begins to contract, there’s a very real danger that we will collapse into a new Great Depression,” he argued.
“If this credit bubble pops, the depression could be so severe that I don’t think our civilization could survive it.”
All well and good. I think he is right. Here comes the odd part, Mr. Duncan’s advice on what to do about it.
Mr. Duncan says, well since we are pretty much screwed anyway, why not have a good ol’ time in the meantime and borrow ourselves into oblivion until the whole thing goes pop. Might as well enjoy ourselves.
I can understand his logic, it is deranged, but I can understand it. What I simply cannot understand is what Mr. Duncan advises we spend our last borrowed bucks on.
Duncan argues that governments in the developed world should borrow “massive” amounts of money at the current low interest rates to invest in new technologies like renewable energy and genetic engineering.
“Even if this is wasted, at least we could enjoy this civilization for another ten years before it collapses,” he said.
Renewable energy and genetic engineering? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
Dude. If this is the last drunken hurrah before we have to sober up permanently, I am not spending my last bucks on a six-pack of O’Douls.
As for me, I will stocking up on guns and religion.
