The decades of slavish growth mythology are burying the world. Growth was the only word “economists” knew.
They didn’t mention that sucking every living dollar out of the global economy with fictional prices might just possibly be a super-dumb move.
They didn’t mention hitting a point of absolute non-viability in real costs pre-pandemic.
They forgot to tell anyone that raising prices means raising more obstacles to growth, too.
The pseudo-economists left out that population shrinkage is now a long-established fact in the West, Japan, and China due to prices and it’s nothing new.
To be fair, this is also “illiterate capitalism”.

It’s the no-brainer of all no-brainers to make your own costs unsustainable. You really do have to be dumb far beyond the meaning of the word.
What’s inexcusable is pretending that these were ever “great numbers”. They were always fictional.
We’ve gone from “great numbers” to “totally untrustworthy numbers”, and that’s about to get a whole lot worse thanks to regressive economic retards.
The economics of the Great Depression were idiotic then. They’re likely to be far worse now.
There’s another fun issue—the Plague of Billionaires just happens to be in businesses that are mainstream trading sectors. These guys were there when the money went past. They had 20+ years of incredibly low borrowing rates, lazy, inept governments, and they never, ever, pay taxes.
There’s nothing to respect in this rabble of rich rabid rodents. A not-very-bright house brick could have become a billionaire in that environment.
That almost total lack of talent and mis-leadership is the basis of the chronic mismanagement of everything. They’ve never had to do real business in an unprotected cost environment. Debts are dangerously high, and they’ll get more dangerous. You can go broke as a borrower and a lender simply because price rises have drained liquidity to this incredible extent.
If anything “growth” is now a measure of shrinkage. History is glaring through the fiction. The devaluation of wealth is very real. A billion is worth a lot less now. Compared to times of real prosperity around 1960, everything is about 10 times more expensive in dollar terms. Is that good? No.
It’s actually a lot worse than that for housing, education, and health. Houses that cost millions now might have cost six figures back then. Five figures would definitely get you a decent house. Health and education were reasonably priced. You could even afford to have both!

Are health, housing, and education being managed or mismanaged? How about energy, quality of life, nutrition, safe living environments, and other indicators of competence?
In the real world, the one you may have heard mentioned occasionally by mystics and debt collectors, denial is pointless. You can’t just say it’s not happening and expect to be believed.
One number being cited for consumer price rises in 2025 is 20%, which actually isn’t at all out of the ball park given previous price increases worldwide.
Gen Alpha will have to be totally feral and learn to dig burrows. Survival will be tough.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
