3 ms·

The way markets boom and bust so frequently these days, one could almost interpret this as unveiling how ludicrous purely free markets can and probably will beh

The way markets boom and bust so frequently these days, one could almost interpret this as unveiling how ludicrous purely free markets can and probably will behave if they're given free reign, in the modern world, to "discover" market value. Instead markets are in many ways indistinguishable from casinos anymore.

rosege 11y ago
yes but markets these days are anything but free - with the fed (and its equivalents around the world) fixing the price of money then doing their Quantitive Easing tricks I would argue that we have a highly manipulated market now. On top of that the bailing out of banks etc also show that the market isnt free.
- datashovel 11y ago
  Very true. I think I was mostly attempting to point out "Shiny Object Syndrome" and how it applies to financial markets, and how quickly (in today's world) it can reinforce itself given the real-time nature of how information is distributed and consumed. http://impossiblehq.com/shiny-object-syndrome/ http://impossiblehq.com/shiny-object-syndrome/ As soon as all day traders (not just my circle of friends, but every single active investor in the world) get word that the new big trend is going to be real estate in Brisbane Australia, that's where we're going to put our money, which is going to push the price up, which in turn is going to attract additional investors, which is going to push the price up even more, etc.. That is until the market starts to turn. In which case all people who have bought into the real estate market craze in Brisbane Australia (who don't actually live in Brisbane Australia) pull their money out, which in turn causes prices to drop, which in turn causes everyone else to start pulling their money out. Because they all knew it was way over priced. It's not their fault after all. It's not illegal. They were just riding the bull as long as they possibly could. Doesn't matter what kind of devastation they leave behind because they don't live there and won't feel its effects. Oh, and by the way... Now that the Brisbane Australia bubble has popped, I heard the next big thing is going to be tulip bulbs. Great, I'm all in!

rosege 11y ago

yes but markets these days are anything but free - with the fed (and its equivalents around the world) fixing the price of money then doing their Quantitive Easing tricks I would argue that we have a highly manipulated market now. On top of that the bailing out of banks etc also show that the market isnt free.

datashovel 11y ago
Very true. I think I was mostly attempting to point out "Shiny Object Syndrome" and how it applies to financial markets, and how quickly (in today's world) it can reinforce itself given the real-time nature of how information is distributed and consumed. http://impossiblehq.com/shiny-object-syndrome/ http://impossiblehq.com/shiny-object-syndrome/ As soon as all day traders (not just my circle of friends, but every single active investor in the world) get word that the new big trend is going to be real estate in Brisbane Australia, that's where we're going to put our money, which is going to push the price up, which in turn is going to attract additional investors, which is going to push the price up even more, etc.. That is until the market starts to turn. In which case all people who have bought into the real estate market craze in Brisbane Australia (who don't actually live in Brisbane Australia) pull their money out, which in turn causes prices to drop, which in turn causes everyone else to start pulling their money out. Because they all knew it was way over priced. It's not their fault after all. It's not illegal. They were just riding the bull as long as they possibly could. Doesn't matter what kind of devastation they leave behind because they don't live there and won't feel its effects. Oh, and by the way... Now that the Brisbane Australia bubble has popped, I heard the next big thing is going to be tulip bulbs. Great, I'm all in!