Playpen 9.4.24

Posted on by

Sorry for the late post. It was scheduled for the normal release time, but the bugs apparently ate it prior to our technical fumigations yesterday.

A few weeks ago we discussed a possible dystopian future, that I soon thereafter discovered was actually our dystopian present. The substance of the article makes clear that the concerns have been around for quite awhile.  The article also makes clear that the price fixing issues transcend a number of markets and industries.  

Because we dealt with it as a theoretical issue then and now it is apparent, at least to me, that these issues are neither theoretical nor are the concerns overwrought, I thought we should revisit it in that light.  

I would note that these are the types of issues that can be quite destructive. People who are struggling to pay the bills may come to the conclusion that their misery/struggle is by design.  To the extent that people may view these issues within a framework of, or similar to, things such as “oligarchy,” “vulture capitalism,” “the deep state” or “globalism,” real or imagined, etc… these distortions can not only be troublesome in maintaining competitive markets, common knowledge of them can also sow discontent.  The perception that we are living in an unfair world where modest individuals are helpless against a faceless, nameless, unaccountable and predatory entity over which they have no power, is simply put, bad for business.  That applies to both economics and to politics.  

Now that pretending that we may not ever get there is put to rest, how do we protect ourselves and our country from AI-enhanced, price-rigging collusion schemes?  

Discuss.  

53 thoughts on “Playpen 9.4.24”

  2. Well, we definitely can’t depend on our elder statesmen who represent us, to protect the people from AI-enhanced price rigging, simply due to the fact that most of them don’t even know how the internet works. I think the public has the capability to mitigate the damage these AI algorithms will impose but I don’t think it has the ability. The most likely outcome for our future is further wealth inequality until the middle class is completely erased. As you can tell, I don’t have much faith in the public when it comes to doing what’s right for the greater good.

  3. I’m sure career politicians and government employees, most of whom have never had to make a payroll or produce anything of true economic value, will figure it out and come up with a solution that will create utopia. In the meantime, the Fed continues to create currency literally out of thin air and water down the purchasing power of every dollar unspent that all of us earn.

    By the way, this isn’t a left/right, red/blue, Democrat/Republican issue.

    • We should’ve never let Congress take on the trusts…. If we could just get the same people who ran Sears to run America. When Congress wrote bankruptcy rules for businesses, I bet they knew that they were wasting their time. Who will ever need them? Business is a perfect, never fail system that America ought to duplicate. Why? No politicians.
      I know that our Nation has been the number 1 economic power since the late 1890’s and the number 1 military power since the 1940’s. I also know our country’s car manufacturers got their lunch stolen by the Japanese in the 1970’s and 80’s, but its people in board rooms who make all the best decisions. Mortgage-backed securities are a prime example of the sorts of innovation we could use in government. Meanwhile, the folks in DC just keep dragging us up to the pinnacle of the planet year after year, decade after decade with no real end in sight, sadly. Somebody ought to do something to stop this never ending string of being number 1… Boring!!

      Seriously though, I think the fed should be given considerable credit for navigating us through some pretty awful shit since around 2000. The dow was at what 13,000 or so in September of 2008? Its what 42,000 today? Through covid. Through extreme deficit spending. Through the wall street bail out and the housing bubble burst.

      We continue to outperform our peers in every macro measurable, but you wouldn’t know it.

      There was a time when we were running surpluses. Between a gaggle of Nader voters in Florida and a bunch of folks who wanted change from the whole peace and prosperity thing we had going, here we are. I do wonder how long the fed can keep spinning the plates and I worry about what happens if they fall, but what I damn sure know isn’t a fix is yet another tax cut for the rich and giving more and more power and clout to wall street while the middle class and working poor struggle to keep their heads above water. We can pretend it wasn’t political ideology that’s led us to this point, but it just wouldn’t be true.

  4. I have grown to approach any financial transaction of significant size with caution and skepticism. At least more than I did 10-20 years ago. Alot of folks in this country simply lack basic honesty and ethics. When I saw many of my contemporaries and colleagues, many of whom claim to be conservative, line up for big PPP checks that they did not even need during COVID, it showed me that too many people, even those at the top end, will take advantage of the system when presented the opportunity. The greed and selfishness is staggering. It prevents this country from being able to solve any number of serious problems.

    • Ethics is a tricky area:

      https://youtu.be/GLpbh5d3Hhg?si=QsktWAVrDkqNwGsm

      I think that situation in the clip underscores what I think the real problem is:

      Different rules for different people based on nothing but status and the higher the status the less strictly the rules apply to you. Having ethics and morals can’t be regulated or enforced. Rules can be. When we modify the rules, or their impact, for the powerful while being as draconian as possible to those who have none, we tear at the legitimacy of the system. When legitimacy is lost things can get messy. I’m not so naive to not know some of that is unavoidable, but it would be nice if we weren’t so transparent about it.

      In short, I would like to see it become clearer to the public that those who are in power are held to a higher standard than the rest of us are and will face more severe punishment than average folks for the same infraction. If we do that we might start valuing values again.

      We’ve crept into a system that has the appearance of this structure:

      1) The governing and their paymasters

      2) The governed.

      What is intended is:

      1) the citizenry

      2) their duly elected/appointed/nominated servants

      3) all those who choose not to abide by the rules established by the servants

  5. I’ve made my living in IT the past 20+ years. Between that and trying my best to pay attention to the world around me while living my life, I can promise you that any and all advances in technology will be utilized for nefarious and/ or destructive purposes before they are ever used for good. AI in particular is being developed and implemented with almost zero oversight. The companies involved quickly abandoned any and all commitments to transparent or ethical development processes. And they did so publicly. Why the American populace hasn’t risen up to demand the kind of protections and accountability Europe attempts to impose is beyond me. When the Supreme Court (predating the current lineup) issued their Citizens United ruling they changed the fundamental nature of business and governance in America. We are now a country of the money, by the money and for the money. Unless and until Citizens is overturned, things will get a whole lot worse before they get better. Sad.

    • Green has always been the color that really matters here. The rest are distractions created by those looking to grab more of it.

      I don’t necessarily think that singular focus is a bad thing as greed (or ambition if you prefer) does serve a useful purpose. We’re unlikely to have nice things with an economy driven by selflessness. I do think that the folks who brought us “corporations are people” and “money is political speech” have tipped the balance a bit out of whack.

      We need to return to a shared understanding that

      1) we all deserve an equal opportunity to take part in that race for cash and
      2) for those who opt out or aren’t qualified to enter that race for the big money, if you work a job and follow the law you ought to be able to expect a decent standard of living and that your children will have the same or better opportunities than you had.

      In short, if we can all take part in an ever expanding and thickening pie we can continue to create the obscene wealth that we’ve seen been created. If we convince regular people that its not worth playing the game because they see that the benefits only go to a very few, eventually you’ll end up with no pie at all.

  6. Nice topic. Price fixing is one of Kamala’s talking points. Next week, do the illegal immigrant invasion and how we can possibly defend that.

  8. I’ve thought and prayed about it. It is insane for this country to tolerate 40K+ gun deaths every damn year without seriously trying to do something about it. I hope this was not the wrong time to bring that up.

  9. Derek, I will put this out there, I believe you are a very Intelligent person, very book smart and some one as a Georgia fan that I wouldn’t mind having a drink with, In my opinion you are very naïve.

  10. Gun’s aren’t the problem, look from a 10,000 foot view. Take away firearms, well, we have bows and arrows. Take those away, well, we can use axes and swords. Take those away, well, we can use rocks. Or, if you prefer we can fly planes into buildings or make bombs.

    The same issues will continue until the human race turns into a Star Trek dystopia but then we’ll have to contend with non human encounters….

    • No doubt a teenager could kill dozens of classmates and teachers with a rock and/or bows and arrows. Maybe they’d run away but that’s all speculation. I think they’d stand still or perhaps line up or lay down so that their murders would be efficient. They wouldn’t fight back either.

      The morons on the other hand “think” that if the weapon of choice can’t kill 35+ in under 2 minutes then that its an improvement of sorts. Whatever!

      But couldn’t the las vegas shooter who stores dozens of high powered rifles in his hotel room and shot dozens from his window have used a sling shot?

      Same with JFK. Wouldn’t a well thrown stone from the book depository have accomplished the same thing?

      Of course, smart people like me want kids to have the nuclear option so they can just push a button from home. Which, if you think about it, is the same as using a bat. Why Oppenheimer gets a movie and the Louisville Slugger doesn’t is beyond me.

      Also this supposed advancements in weaponry are beyond me. Is the b-2 stealth any more lethal than a spitfire?
      Why do we spend trillions on defense? Aren’t there lots of rocks just lying around?

      And what is this “mutually assured destruction” supposedly a result of the nuclear arms race? All you’ve ever needed to kill everyone on the planet in short order is a strong and accurate arm and a sack of rocks. Nothing has changed really.

      Now there are millions of dead natives of north and south america who would say: we had rocks and bows and arrows but the Spanish had gunpowder.

      Sounds like a lot of excuses to me.

      Good points!

Comments are closed.