tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458161926216714198.post7641738262229125748..comments2023-10-17T05:18:36.318-07:00Comments on <i>Watchdogs and Lapdogs</i>: It’s about confidence...M. Deryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642995185292648416noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458161926216714198.post-40406484890886717642008-10-17T05:31:00.000-07:002008-10-17T05:31:00.000-07:00Postscript to the above:MacArthur fellow and way l...Postscript to the above:<BR/><BR/>MacArthur fellow and way left cultural critic Mike Davis, <A HREF="http://www.alternet.org/workplace/103395/" REL="nofollow">on TomDispatch.com</A>:<BR/><BR/>"Let me confess that, as an aging socialist, I suddenly find myself like the Jehovah's Witness who opens his window to see the stars actually falling out of the sky. Although I've been studying Marxist crisis theory for decades, I never believed I'd actually live to see financial capitalism commit suicide. Or hear the International Monetary Fund warn of imminent "systemic meltdown."M. Deryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09642995185292648416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458161926216714198.post-72221486444349610612008-10-16T14:51:00.000-07:002008-10-16T14:51:00.000-07:00A model post: pithy, to-the-point, well-researched...A model post: pithy, to-the-point, well-researched, sharply argued, and truly thoughtful. A Great Leap Forward from previous posts. Some free-associated responses:<BR/>1. "What makes this all very ironic is that Cramer has been giving bad advice for a while (he told people to buy Wachovia and Bear Stearns stock), but he’s taking criticism for giving good advice this time: SELL!" Great, stingingly funny insight! Oh, the <I>irony</I>...<BR/>2. "...not that he is one..." Well, what is he, then? You elide the difference between pundits and reporters, throughout this post. As does Kurtz, seemingly. Does this matter? Or are you implying that there's little distinction, these days?<BR/>3. "Because the market is based so much on confidence, their collective coverage can affect the confidence of the market." First, your invocation of the Heisenberg principle is smart and apt. Second, this law may apply to pundits, but aren't reporters supposed to set their bullshit meters on the most sensitive setting and report the truth, market collapses be damned? Interesting to note that Kurtz's article presumes that markets are governed by fear and greed---not the classical paradigm of markets bequeathed to us by Adam Smith, in which rational actors make choices based on logic, a paradigm still enshrined as canon law in some economic theories. <BR/>4. As for WHY biz journalists (and pundits?) are more cheerleaders than truth-squadders, smart use of the Kurtz quotes and your own insights. Would have liked to have seen links to other critiques of the biz press, not just Kurtz's. Also, would been curious to hear you expand on the perception that biz reporters get too cozy with their sources. Question: aren't many of them free-market evangelists by nature, constitutionally inclined toward market triumphalism? Or are they? Again, my biases are showing, but this point is worth a thought, I think, especially in light of Chomsky/Herman's comments in MANUFACTURING CONSENT about the elevation of capitalism, in the U.S.A., to a state religion.M. Deryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09642995185292648416noreply@blogger.com