[freudling]

Well, today the stocks are taking a sh#@ kicking, both the DOW, NYSE and the TSX, among pretty much every other. What is really the cause, or, causes of this?

I just recently read an Economics Professor's take, and it seemed simple but appealing: he spoke of "economic bubbles". Sort of when the economy erupts and goes to hell. He stated that, before mass media, there were no economic bubbles. He was really referring to the internet, and it seems plausible. That the internet spreads information so quickly and to so many countries, that it becomes a sort of socialist alarmist thing that plays and toys with people's psych, particularly their confidence in spending.

Are massive fluctuations in the global economy a result of the information age?

[Jawbone54]

I'm not sure if it could be considered a "cause," but it almost certainly makes things worse.

Related note: today has me scared crapless.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by freudling 

Well, today the stocks are taking a sh#@ kicking, both the DOW, NYSE and the TSX, among pretty much every other.

AAPL was up today.

But yeah, the fast and ubiquitous access to media certainly can amplify things. The OMFG-STEVE-JOBS-HAD-A-HEART-ATTACK!!11one story is a prime example.

The stock dropped 10% in like 2 minutes after some random blog post hit the net.

[el chupacabra]

the media has nothing to do with it.

Some of our largest banks and lenders have all been sitting at the same table playing poker. Except they ran out of money a long time ago and have been playin with a bunch of IOUs; now it's time to pay up, and when one goes down it take the rest with it.

In part we can blame that group of politicians that thought they could falsely boost the economy by encouraging people to take out larger loans that they couldn't afford to buy inflated homes. That group of people that thought if we could just get consumer confidence up and get people to spend spend spend....it was a ruse that would make the economy look good for a short time when really it was riding on debt all along.

some people are still being fooled.
Meanwhile it seems like my home town is turning into a ghost town as businesses go under.

[RAILhead]

What city is that? I'd like to read about this famous "going under"...

[Atomic Rooster]

The media didn't steal your jobs, attack Iraq, pay millions of dollars to dolts running companies into the ground, force banks to loan money to people with no hope of ever paying it back, blah, blah, blah....

[SSharon]

yea it is all because of the internets, not like there has ever been a major stock market crash, or a housing crash . . . oh wait, yea there has.

[Kerrigan]

Investors make predictions about future predictions. Sometimes they even make predictions about predictions about predictions. Certainly the media environment is a factor. Especially when hysterical liberal press is trying to talk the economy into the abyss in order to get Obama elected.

[ctt1wbw]

It's all Bush's fault. As everyone knows, he's the CEO of all these companies that are screwed up, so I blame him.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

I'm not sure if it could be considered a "cause," but it almost certainly makes things worse.

Related note: today has me scared crapless.

It can be considered a cause, and much of it is on purpose. Just to make sure their guy gets ahead in the polls.

If you think "it can't be that simple," you just don't get around enough.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by finboy 

It can be considered a cause, and much of it is on purpose. Just to make sure their guy gets ahead in the polls.

If you think "it can't be that simple," you just don't get around enough.

Easy, kemo sabe.

Remember, I'm the "Liberal Media Poll" guy.

[Peter]

Originally Posted by freudling 

Are massive fluctuations in the global economy a result of the information age?

Day traders dont make a difference to this stuff, the people with the real money are well aware of what is and what isnt going on - hence why they earn so much