trying to understand the economy with sarah simon

I have decided to write a post on the economy, given all this recent hubbub.

I'm like, what's going on?

ARE WE GOING TO CRASH

IS THIS 1929

IS THIS 2008

AM I GOING TO HAVE A JOB WHEN I GRADUATE COLLEGE?

I think a good thing to do–before we grab a paper bag and recreate the hyperventilation dramatized in sitcoms–is to try and understand the root of the issue.

For an informative video introduction, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Ns4ltUvfw

A SUMMARY

"real money and promises about money go back and forth; it's called CREDIT"

REMEMBER that teeter-totter analogy at the beginning of the video? Economically, we are all at the playground, riding that thing. In other words, we are contributing what we can to keep the economy going!

This is the glorious idea of untainted capitalism. 

The theory of capitalism is beautiful: it boasts an economic system in which everyone is giving money and taking money at different times, contributing to HOMEOSTASIS.

Like any ecosystem or body: IT'S A BALANCING ACT. You sleep and you are awake; you give money and you receive money.

Ever hear that capitalistic axiom, "you gotta spend money to make money?"

The idea is, you need to be out in order to be in.

THINK OF YOUR MOODS: could you ever feel AS HAPPY AS YOU DO SEEING SARAH POSTED ON HER BLOG TODAY if you didn't experience the despair you do WHEN SARAH DOESN'T POST?

Similar to capitalistic theory, you can't know happiness without sadness.

~~i declare my narcissistic episode done now~~

Given this exhaustive theoretical description, I wish to never hear an uninformed rebuff of capitalism. Capitalism promotes ideas we all ought to remind ourselves of, such as BALANCE.

but you don't have to show it off all the time.

Keep balance on the mind as we teeter.

(1) FIRST WAY A CAPITALISTIC ECONOMY OSCILLATES: HOUSE-BUYING

People buy houses and want to live in them as soon as possible. However, most house buyers can't possibly pay the entire price of the house at one time, so they set up a deal with the bank (which owns the house) also known as a mortgage or IOU.

IOU is literally "I owe you." Haha.

The mortgage is created when the bank pays the balance on the house that the house buyers did not pay. Therefore, the house buyers now owe the bank money.

Mortgages allow house buyers to pay back what the bank loaned out over a period of time.

For many buyers, this is a sustainable method of payment. 

Having the money to loan out is called DEPOSITORY BANKING, because banks need large sums, or deposits of money, in order to lend money.

But what do the banks get out of this? 

When entering into a mortgage, you agree to interest on that mortgage, or little fixed sums that you pay back to the bank in addition to the original amount that is owed (i.e. the price of the house). This goes back to the idea of balance: You lucky house-buyer take money now, but are expected to pay that–and then some–later.

The teeter-totter: In the long run, banks receive more money than they lent out. To make money, you must spend money.

(2) SECOND WAY A CAPITALISTIC ECONOMY OSCILLATES: BUSINESSES

People have ideas and think they're so good that they want to make money off of their ideas.

bet you haven't seen a meme in a while.

To make money, these innovative people start businesses. But to start a business–invest in a big capitalistic endeavor much like buying a house–you have to make promises.

The promises business starters make are similar to the promises house buyers make. As a bank invests in a house, expecting the house-buyer to pay back the remaining sum and then some more through a mortgage, an investor invests in a person's idea for a business, expecting to share in that innovator's anticipated profit.

Let's pretend I am trying to sell a new Toothpaste that I believe is superior to both Crest and Colgate.

haha, the SECOND meme you have seen it a while. it's a productive day for you.

The above meme illustrates the complex, world-bending issue many tooth-enthusiasts face. My product, TeethPaste, however, will eliminate the problem; it is both grammatically correct ("tooth" paste is singular–what's with that?) and effective at eliminating bad breath.

"I'll make money soon with TeethPaste! But hey, in order to get started and promote my product, I need money from you, dear investor. If you fund me now, I'll promise to reimburse you and then some with the profit I'll eventually reap." 

The promise I make as an advocate of TeethPaste is called a security. You invest in me now, and I secure you hold on future profit.

TO QUICKLY SUMMARIZE

DEPOSITORY BANKS (house-buyer deals): SELL MONEY FOR PROMISES
I will give you money now and you promise to return it and more to me later.

INVESTMENT BANKS (business deals): SELL PROMISES FOR MONEY
I will promise you a percentage of my company's profit if you give me money now.

This all seems orderly and good. So what's the big deal? What's the controversy of capitalism?

In 1999, the GLASS-STEGALL ACT, which separated Depository from Investment Banks, was repealed and replaced by the fancy-shmancy "Financial Service Modernization Act"

"This connected depository activities with investment activities"
oh yeah, cuz we're modern now and everything

EVENTS THAT FOLLOWED

MORTGAGES were now sold to investors, WHO EXPECTED TO MAKE MONEY ON WHAT ONLY THE DEPOSITORY BANKS USED TO BE ABLE TO: "mortgage-backed securities"

THE GOVERNMENT started helping people buy houses, creating the "housing boom"

The BOOM, or rapid increase in house sales, involved people who normally wouldn't have been allowed to purchase houses suddenly purchasing houses.

To be allowed to buy a house, one usually went through background checks. In the case of faulty credit score, low income, or whatever indicator that pointed to the risk the person not being able to pay his or her mortgage, some were barred from house-buying.

During the boom, LESS ATTENTION was given to background checks, so people who were very likely to NEVER BE ABLE TO PAY THEIR MORTGAGE IN FULL were expected to.

Why were these risky investments allowed?

Quick money for investors. 

Since demand for houses increased during the boom, the supply, along with the price, of houses increased. Investors saw this as an opportunity to profit off a lucrative market.

But when there's an up, there's always a–

Recall Balance.

As you probably expected, with all these risky investments made in doubtful mortgage deals, people defaulted, or failed to pay back on their loans.

When people default on their mortgages, their houses foreclose. When foreclosure really picked up following the boom, there were too many houses and not enough people to live in them. So, house price drops. The supply of fancy houses is exceeding the demand of fancy houses.

Now, houses suddenly became not worth as much as their corresponding LONG-TERM mortgage payments (PEOPLE COULDN'T PAY BACK THEIR PROMISES) so the banks tried to quell investors' woes by using their own deposits.

its deposits?

THE MONEY YOU AND I KEEP IN OUR BANKS THAT WE THINK IS SO SAFE AND CUDDLY IS USED FOR THINGS

I used to think that the money I kept in my bank account went untouched. But no honey, that isn't the case. We keep money in the bank for beautiful capitalism–spending money to make money. The price you pay for keeping your money safe is the bank's ability to use it.

No wonder when the economy goes up, you gain a little extra money in your account. But when it goes down, you lose some.

So, what happened in the 2008 financial crisis? The banks really had to use its deposits to pay back private investors who muddled up the capitalistic theory in order to make quick money and get rich.

Now i sound as cynical as my father. But that's what happened.

My father's pretty wise, I think. I make fun of hi for being a geezer but he's pretty keen on these subjects.

In recovery from economic failure, what happens? The government holds a lot of responsibility:

help banks, investors, or people?

"How do we fix this, and restore responsible balance between money and promises?"

TeethPaste.

P.S. many of these concepts can be hard to understand; I know I don't fully understand them; here's another video that may be of some financial aid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9YLta5Tr2A

not so soft hon//ny

YOU START A DAY AND IT IS AGONY.

you think more, you ruminate, chew the cud of yourself.

GEE, why am i so unfortunate? why did I get myself into all these THING

S

THESE                 THINNGGGGS

yes.

Rushing rushing rushing now to a motorcycle accident

one    of the first days of your photography internship

ORIGINALLY commissioned to walk around a nearby campus, gathering images of overgrowing weeds.

o v e r g r oo ooo w ing

Your partner, who remarks at plants and burning bushes--at first you think he is convinced of theophany. 

Oh look, it's a burning bush!

giggle with a knowing giggle to vibrate social cues.
you don't know how to identify the bush he's referencing at all until

he sees another one, this time POINTING OUT the SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS:

LESS LIKE THIS

this was it.

And I laugh at my prior minutes musing on Moses and I think he may be Moses but really he just is very familiar with horticulture. He worked in a nursery.

Oh, like, the plant one. Not babies.

And we're tumbling on weeds and taking photos because THAT ANGLE when on your knees my GOD

he gets a call: okay, motorcycle accident at the meeting of South Street and Mary Jemison Drive.

Cuylerville Road, which turns into 39.

it was hard, but not as hard as I thought.

Ethereal, Oil on Canvas by Simon Kenny

The man on the motorcycle must have been unconscious during our first 15 minutes there; I didn't hear a word from him. Paramedics were sharp in their hovering.
I say sharp because they were not merely hovering, like

we

were. They seemed to be running by a script, but they were moving. With notebooks and pens, Moses and I shared a Canon, still; moving enough just to click.

I felt myself very much INSIDE yet ON THE FRINGES OF the PHOTOJOURNALISTIC DILEMMA; the ethics that sucking teeth question in front of journalists; I was now that object but I didn't feel so ridiculed or so w r ooo o ng.
It was not so wrong. But

feeling sedentary in the emergency 

your knees not dancing to the sirens were filthy 

cacophonies

Moses was calm; everyone was calm. Chiefs and sheriffs waved to him--they respected his work. As the newest extension of the publication I felt accepted from a distance. WE were sharing something, after all; HUMMING,to the moment of impact in its debris. 

The dent in the front left of the truck provided overture

And oh god so did his screaming when he woke up

That was when i felt it appropriate to say Oh God and feel it

and I felt it 

but also clam

He screamed "get me out of here!":

patches and shots on the asphalt.

A woman had been there up to that point, removing her shirt to mend open skin GET ME OUT

OF HERE!

She lost her car key on the way, running.

I saw her searching for it and followed her, thinking I might ask her a couple of questions regarding the EVENT, EVEN get a quote.

But we just roved around, our heads down.  She told me it was o.k.

I didn't have to keep looking.

My god she was calm in all this, even after stripping her gray sweaty t-shirt in front of small town safety officials for a motorcyclist she was on the way to see;

she was on the way to see him.

seeing other's agony, hearing it.

get me out of here 

get me out of here get me 

out.

it removes whatever started today's own.

AND NOT BECAUSE I WAS comparing

I was not giggling smiling snapping misfortune contests

the call away from theophanies was just enough to remind that your hair is not burning at all

czech phrases//from a time i made beautiful eggs//cover with a lid?

After travelling to the Czech Republic this summer, I assuage withdrawal with Czech phrases.

And enjoy overplaying how much I miss a location.

Actually, I'm glad to be wherever I am--that is, whatever physical location. But that doesn't mean my life is divided into eras, though it can feel that way.

I'd like to fluidify things--starting with that word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Czech phrases

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

Jsi krásná --you're beautiful

Nemám prítele --I don't have a boyfriend.

láska --love

NAVIGATION

ulice —street

Karlova—Charles

Karluv most —Charles Bridge

řeka —river

námĕstÍ —square (like town square)

hrad —castle

LITTLE BIG WORDS

ano --yes

ne --no

prosím --please

S dovolením --Excuse me

Prominte --I'm sorry

Dêkuji --Thank you.

EATING OUT

Zaplatíme! --check plz

Na zdraví --Cheers!

káva --coffee

beer --pivo

COMMUNICATION

Jak se máte? --How are you?

Jsem z Kanady --I am from Canada.

Mluvíte anglicky? --Do you speak eng

Mluvím jen trochu česky--I speak only a little Czech.

Nerozumím --I don't understand

Jak se rekne česky...? --how do you say ... in Czech?

Rád jsem vás poznal --it was nice meeting you.

DOG COMMANDS

Aport! --Fetch!

And here is media of an egg:

Eggs as garnish on pancakes. Recommended.

pancakes 

egg made reservations

again, sorry is yolks disgust you.

i edited this photograph to make the yolk look yellower than it was in actuality

To expand on my "eggs as pancake garnish" tip, I'd like to extend a question to you: How do you make the "perfect" sunny-side-up egg? Keep in mind, this is a form-specific question.

For example, I fry eggs with a lid on top--makes the yolk desirably runny, in my opinion. Recommended.

murakami//orion's belt//flour to baking powder ratio

"Every great work of literature must at least allude to that great unknown, the meaning of life."

The above quote is taken from the great Book Slut site.

Haruki Murakami has been lauded as a contemporary narrational genius. His story telling abilities are in themselves, paradoxical; he interweaves symbol after sign in his aptly-named Chronicles, yet manages simplicity, an aura of uncomplicated-ness floating above roaring unknowns. 

After my introduction to Murakami and his work, through The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I am fine setting down the thick volume without understanding plot specifics. I am fine with convolution. 

Reading his work is like watching water without knowing why or how it runs. 

Wind-Up Bird does, on many occasions, hint "to the great unknown," which I often enjoy. I like alluding to things that we know are they but can't say. Murakami must say something, though; he is writing a book. In turn, he fills an upwards of 600 pages with uncomplicated language. He tells of a man who cooks pasta.

The unimportance is the urgency here; Book Slut writes, "You’ll never take for granted the ordinariness of spaghetti or your wife’s cat ever again."

Anyway, I recommend Murakami like it was recommended to me. Setting its meaning in context, Wind-Up demonstrates the influence of globalization on modern literature. There are references to Allen Ginsberg, for water's sake. 

I feel like I just cracked a joke about the plot line but still am unsure if that makes sense because, again, water is a symbol for something but I'm not quite sure what.

Murakami apparently doesn't plan out his stories, and lets his writing guide the story. Through the vignettes and history lessons, he still retains some sense of order. Like water.

And now I am thinking of Tinder.

I tried it out this summer.

IT IS SO FUNNY how two worlds just know something and spell it out in provocations.

What do we pick up on that carries two individuals through a conversation? You could say words.

Like the order of things, this tide of Tinder buzzes is obviously leading somewhere. But I never met the guy who orchestrated the gray bubble; I just wanted this to go at the time I was feeling it could and even that it should so it did because I let it.

The order of things.

By the way, for every pound of flour, add a TSP of baking powder and 1/4 TSP of salt for tasteful leavening.