My Economic Illiteracy Makes Me Shudder

Look at this graph please:

[New York Times]

Ever since I watched Zeitgeist I've been giving more thought to economics, especially on the international level. I know next to nothing about international finance, macroeconomics, currency markets, etc. and these subjects are beginning to be critically important to my life. Decisions rich fuckers are making in Davos are beginning to mess with important aspects of my life, such as how much it costs me to provide the sort of material comfort I'm accustomed to. Those guys are fucking with my LIFE! If my bread starts costing me more because massive corporations are purchasing all the grains to convert into biofuels in order to power the factories converting grains into biofuels in order to stay competitive in the international grain market and your low emission vehicle eats the corn I was going to have for dinner or give to my cow...

Doesn't anyone ask themself, where did all the money come from that was funding all that subprime lending? How come seemingly out of nowhere were banks willing to loan almost any idiot a whole bunch of money? Any thoughtful person would tell you that there are a lot of people out there who really ought not to be loaned $100,000. It's ludicrous. It's like these loans were backed by people who gave way too much credit (PUN INTENDED) to the American public because they don't know the American people, they're not from here, i.e. the Chinese Central Bank.

Anyhoo...back to my original point, that set of graph charts. Notice how the stocks fluctuated but are basically back at zero? They're worth the same amount they were but in comparison to everything else, they're worth less. In other words, it's like there's a group of guys who own all the corn and they're accustomed to trading it for stakes in American corporations. In recent years they're offering less corn for shares of our companies. They'd rather keep their corn or trade it with someone who offers a better deal. That's just basic business right there. Any fool can see that...unless they're being fooled by their government which keeps them in the dark about the real worth of their money by keeping the consumer in an enclosed bubble maintained by bizarre monetary policy and a largely compliant media industry. The things the US accuses China of doing, the US does, too. That's how America operates. Keep pointing the finger and maybe nobody will think to look at themselves.