Whats it worth????? The question of the day...

[galileoreloaded]

my point is that all the machinations that our markets are experiencing have a common denominator.

Whats it worth?

This applies to a micro- and macro-economic scale, as well as future value of, well, everything.
Everything we see, touch, purchase, and experience has a value. Today, we are going through price discovery. What is your car worth. Odds are 50% of low book if it is an SUV,Truck or minivan, much more if it is a Honda Civic. Whats your house worth? Odds are 25% less than a year ago, and 20% left to go in most places.
How about, food? Your labor? Healthcare? On and on.

This I believe is the reason many of us have such strong reaction to this watershed event, we are all asking the same questions and we all have no idea. This alone upsets us greatly, as with the exception of some portions of the late 70's and early 80's, this question could be answered with relative ease, as there was relative price stability. Things were predictable.

I wonder if the people that experienced the inflation of the 70's as 20 year olds, had the same attitudes towards people in their late 50's and early 60's then, that they do today? Will 20 and 30 somethings, should a similar event occur in say 2040, feel the same vitriol towards the evaporation of their retirement standard of living, that Boomers feel today, having experienced this crisis?

Now the not knowing is what throws all but a very few completely out of the comfort zone, and right into ARGH! And then we do what humans do worst, we knee jerk.

I submit the American standard of living has fallen, greatly, not improved, as most believe. Our debt slavery is absolute, and our bodies, by every study, have become flabby, underused and ill prepared to even begin to THINK that we could get through a Depression, without being propped up by prescriptions and treatments and the medical cure for what ails us. Our minds controlled by Zanex, Zoloft, Prozac, and countless other psychotropics, because it is easier, in many cases, than facing reality head on. You may have item A, B, and C, but your soul is gone, replaced by TMZ, NBC, and ABC. This I say is the greater source of panic, and the urge to return to relative comfort, a place of at least understanding, of defined value. This urge is strong and human, but lacks in one key respect, self-confidence.

How about knowing you'll make it, regardless of outcome? That is an easily quantifiable value.

What's it worth?