Thursday, December 11, 2014

The Little Debt Problem (Musical Tribute)

The following chart shows the annual growth in nonfinancial corporate business credit market instruments.


Click to enlarge.

If at first you don't succeed (blue parabola), then invert (red parabola) and try again!

During a sustainable credit expansion, the goal is to stay above 0% credit growth. Just thought I'd mention it for those who think any kind of economic parabola is sustainable.

If credit is so cheap, then what's up with the red trend line? Seriously.



The Little Debt Problem

Debt they sold me
Pa ra bo la trends
A new born wealth could be
Pa ra bo la trends

The finest cash I need
Pa ra bo la trends
To feed ongoing greed
Pa ra bo la trends
Ra bo la trends
Ra bo la trends

Bought to honor "Them"
Pa ra bo la trends
In the end

Little hazy
Pa ra bo la trends
Some things we can't foresee
Pa ra bo la trends
Some used their cash on bling
Pa ra bo la trends
As debt can feed our greed
Pa ra bo la trends
Ra bo la trends
Ra bo la trends

Shall I pay for you
Pa ra bo la trends
In the end

Yellen nodded
Pa ra bo la trends
I took on risk for "Them"
Pa ra bo la trends
I took more risk for "Them"
Pa ra bo la trends
I spent the rest for "Them"
Pa ra bo la trends
Ra bo la trends
Ra bo la trends

As "They" said debt's cheap
Pa ra bo la trends
It came to end

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Compelling genius. The new words to the song I mean.

- psychodave

mab said...

Here's a thought. Given our Wall St. centric, Ponzi debt based eCONomy, the Fed has already "normalized" interest rates.

Bond Vigilantes!!!! Free market capitalism!!!! That's what we're all about. And that's why the majority are doing so well!

Stagflationary Mark said...

psychodave,

Thanks!

I'm fairly pleased with the outcome. The first draft ended in complete failure. Had to start over from scratch.

The failure was not a complete waste of time though. I think it put me in a proper state of mind, given the subject matter, lol. Sigh.

Stagflationary Mark said...

mab,

My girlfriend is getting a good dose of free market capitalism!

Her insurance company figured out that if they put a one month expiration on the pre-authorizatons for her treatments and the waiting list for the treatments is two months at her provider, then they will never actually need to pay! The provider will never schedule it without a pre-authorization for the time of service! It's a very expensive and painful treatment she needs to control chronic pain. It's covered on her plan. She is supposed to get it very three months. It's been a year. Sigh.

Meanwhile, they owe her a lot of money for accidentally massively overcharging her for her premiums. When she complains and asks for a refund, they say the refund will show up but instead they just charge her for it yet again!

Free market capitalism and prosperity, baby. That's what I'm talking about.

Stagflationary Mark said...

And when I say charge her for it yet again, I mean just that.

Picture $400 to $800, then $800 to $1600. Those aren't the exact numbers but they're close.

After that fiasco, and our unwillingness to continue the parabolic trend, they said they would mail us the check.

So where is the check. Being processed of course! And processed! And processed! That's what they keep saying, week after week.

My solution is to call often and relentlessly. Let them work for the money they keep.

mab said...

More lawlessness! Check this out. I sent a $300 laptop computer back to the manufacturer for repairs.

I just got an email saying that some of the repairs are not covered by the warranty. The cost to me .... a mere $649!!!

The big ticket item was the motherboard. More like motherlode!

Mother-effers!



Stagflationary Mark said...

mab,

Mother-effers!

Free? $649 market capitalism!

I bought a portable CD player from Silo in the late 1980s. The guy asked if I wanted the extended warranty. I said no.

He then pulled out a broken portable CD player and said (paraphrasing from memory), "Would you believe this would cost $xxx to fix?"

I said no. He said it was true. I said I still didn't believe him. He asked me why not. I said that I could repair it much cheaper. He didn't seem to believe me so I continued.

"I would replace the entire unit with a new one."

No joke!

Based on your experience, perhaps I should open up a repair shop and undercut the competition with my "replace the unit" expertise, lol. Sigh.

I don't mean to laugh, but good grief!!!

mab said...

You know that movie "Cheaper By The Dozen". I've never seen it, but the title doesn't work for me.

Here's why:

Years ago, I was trying to buy a dozen roses from a street vendor on Valentine's Day. The sign said $5 dollars per rose & $75/dozen.

I tried to buy 12 individual roses for $60. But the guy said that was a dozen and wanted $75. Then I offered to buy 13 individual roses for $65. No deal. That would be 1 dozen plus 1 individual rose - $80.

I walked away with 11 roses for $55! And my girl friend at the time never even counted. I shared the story with her over dinner that night.

So much for economies of scale and buying in bulk!

Stagflationary Mark said...

mab,

No dozen for you!