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Interesting article, but the author's selective memory and faulty logic continually undermines the point he's trying to make. My favorite was this gem: "Past
by ryanwaggoner 18y ago
Interesting article, but the author's selective memory and faulty logic continually undermines the point he's trying to make. My favorite was this gem:
"Past U.S. generations invented the airplane; invented the automobile; discovered penicillin; and built the Interstate highway system. The Baby Boom generation has invented credit default swaps; mortgage backed securities; the fast food drive thru window; discovered the cure for erectile dysfunction; and built bridges to nowhere. No wonder we’re in so much trouble.
This completely ignores developments like the personal computer revolution, the Internet, modern telecommunications, satellite technology, space exploration, advances in biotechnology, dramatic reductions in global poverty, etc, etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but you get the idea.
The author would have done well to acknowledge that the reality of the situation is more nuanced than the picture he attempts to paint.
- jrockway 18y agothe author's selective memory and faulty logic continually undermines the point His chart doesn't help either: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/debt-to-gdp-ratio.png http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/debt... Yes, if you cut the Y-axis in arbitrary places, you can make small changes seem important. Too bad they aren't. Here is a chart comparing my apples to oranges: 1000.0001 - ****** - ****** - ****** - ****** 1000.0000 - ****** ****** ~ ****** ****** +--------------------- Apples Oranges Wow, there are 3 times as many oranges!
- newt0311 18y agoread the chart again. 0.7 projected vs. 1.0 actual. That is a very significant change. Then just think about the 1.0 number. The total amount of debt is what everybody in the US earned in year. A scary thought in of itself.
- Retric 18y agoLow interest debt is not that important. If you get out of med school with 300k debt at 4% your probably going to be fine. In five years when you still have 250k of medical debt and add a 1Million mortgage at 6% you are going to be fine if your making 350k+.
- ken 18y agoAlso, half his examples weren't done by any "U.S. generation". The automobile was invented by a German, and Penicillin was discovered by a Scot.
- palish 18y agoThe automobile was invented by a German, but it was popularized by Henry Ford. Also, consider that if that German hadn't invented the automobile, Ford still would have. i.e. Ford wasn't inspired by that German, because he was already working on an automobile. His autobiography is very good: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/hnfrd10.txt http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/hnfrd10.txt
- yummyfajitas 18y agoLesson for startup founders: your competition built the prototype first. Maybe you should still keep going forward, if you expect to have a solid competitive advantage?
- tom_rath 18y agoPerhaps more succinctly: The second mouse gets the cheese.
- time_management 18y agoThis reminds me of "America, Fuck Yeah" in Team America, wherein U.S. credit is taken for sushi, Christmas, and books.
- nsrivast 18y agoIn other words, to summarize: "kids these days!".
- mellow 18y ago"dramatic reductions in global poverty", lmfao. Quote me wrong.
- jraines 18y agohttp://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_be... Check out the movement in the graph starting around 7:40. A huge portion of East Asia and South Asia (where a large part of the world's population lives) experienced a large gain. (We might not consider a move from $1/day to $10/day significant, but it is) As another commenter pointed out, this isn't something we can attribute to some "U.S. generation", but there it is.
- mellow 18y agoWealth is relative. Since the Baby Boomers' DoB, many people have got wealthier, many more have got poorer. This is not coincidental.
- hugh 18y agoWealth is absolute. Since the Baby Boomers' DoB, many people have got wealthier, very few have got poorer.
- Retric 18y agoOutsourcing our manufacturing base has reduced the inflation adjusted income of a lot of people.
- hugh 18y agoI'm talking in a worldwide context, not a US one.
- mellow 18y ago'Wealth', as in how many Yankee dollars you have is relative. I understand all the arguments about absolute wealth, and it is true that my parents (and I) are absolutely wealthier than 60 years ago. Now, here this: millions of people are starving to death every year. Starving from lack off food, water, ideas and hope. And Obama isn't gonna change it one bit.