Beyond politics...

If you hold any fascination with the study of systems this is your week to ponder. The financial markets and the world economy are clattering in the press about interbank liquidity, the euro crisis and the solvency of several nations. Layered on top of this all is a perceptual web that remembers the past few years and knows the problem is not solved. Nonetheless, we march on. The new evil according to the press and the politicians is national debt. The phrase du jour is "fiscal austerity" and the turning of focus on the mechanisms of this variable brings forth a Salman Rushdie stream-of-consciousness cast of characters, scenarios and yes, politics.

The hidden ghost in the machine is an algorithmic web that toys with these shifts and removes any sense of logic to the casual spectator. If liquidity is the issue, one has to look past the debt ingesting behavior of individual nations. Electronic trading platforms for bonds have increased the bond trade to such an extent that the notion of liquidity is shifting more to take on board the computerization and subsequent increase in bond trading. In other words, "more" was created, and now, the world is pondering this notion of "more" whilst the economies falter and the computers keep churning. The everyday panics and bumps are bigger in this environment, and, the risks have increased. So, then, welcome to the new world. You have been here for a while but it has just raised to the surface and poked you in the eye. And, there is more, but this is a simplified paragraph because I need a cigarette. And it is a blog after all. In essence, the key thing is our notion and definition of liquidity is shifting in a pretty Wittgenstinian kind of way. Roll with it.

Inherently, this new world is really quite fine. But, like any revolution, there are adjustments to be made. This is one of those historical periods of change that will sit in the classrooms of the future. "Let the material express itself" was the dogma of my high school sculpture teacher. I sat in the front unmalleable, and, mumbled, "Yes, but then, what?"...

Last week made me thirsty...

After a week of wobbly banks and dreadful data Missmarketcrash had an evening out last night with the Number Ones.  Missnumberone works for a management consulting firm and specializes in debt.  She is a exuberantly beautiful sharp-witted gal.  Mrnumberone works at the same spot and is in the most-fun-friends-to-drink-with Hall of Fame.  So, you can imagine how missmc felt this morning when she undertook the promised exploding make-a-model-volcano project with the children and two of their perky best pals.  All I can say is it worked and the children were delighted.  My kitchen now smells like a gigantic vinegar fart.

But my head.  All the youthful drinking of last night brings Missmc back to the past when she actually was young.  After university, a young Missmc found herself living in New York City.  On credit.  Missmc's roommate and best pal was a complete lush.  We spent most of our time in the Yale club signing our name to this dinner and that drink as we had no money.  We ran up quite a tab.  Eventually we dug ourselves out, and paid it.  

And then, I moved on.  The next second-home bar was in Tribeca.  Artists, neer-do-wells, investment bankers, illegal aliens, and company heads all shared wit on a regular basis. Volumes could be written about it, and, a dear writer friend of mine is doing just that so I will leave that to her and fill you in when the book comes out.  But, a few evenings ago, a long-lost pal from said bar (who is a distressed debt investment banker - is there no escape to this topic???), sent me news that the beloved Liquor Store has become a J. Crew.  Good that they left the bar and taps in place - no doubt more profit could be made in these times with that...

Drinking friends are never a dime a dozen for Missmarketcrash.  They are dear and rare things and need to be able to leap about nimbly through the worlds topics with a sense of humor.  And, in these times, I am sure glad to have a few right next door.