Economics Hangs in the Balance

If JPM does indeed get their balance sheet blown out, and the recovery never truely takes hold, it will put pressure on the "science" of economics because it will show that the policy that was used was not sound.  If it was not sound, then economics is not a science.  If economics is not a science, then the whole structure of finance will need to be reorginized.  This will cause great instability, and societies around the world will have to change to fit into the picture of a new economic landscape where true economics reigns supreme.  The difference between current policy and sound policy has many variables, some of which are - How do we determine value?  And what characteristics embody the consumers?

Economic policy dictates that when times are good it is prudent to save, and when times are bad then wealth must be created and spent.  The problem with this is that the consumer is not rational (despite the science's theory) and the consumer often spends most during good times, leaving their wallets empty when a depression arrives.

The next factor is that even if the consumer were rational, the crux of the system is based on an instrument of finance that holds no intrinsic value.  This instrument is the dollar, and it can be printed and loaned out from a promise to pay into an infinite amount.  Since the entire system uses this tool to implement value, value is actually lost before it is ever understood.  This creates a great amount of chaos and if, or rather, when, people come to terms that using fiat currency to trade is different from using it to store value, then real wealth will be demanded with sudden force.  If someone wants to use paper money that is backed with another item that is one thing, but when one hoardes it as if it has value, it is merely done with poor understanding of the thought investment.

And with these fundamental problems also comes the fact that those in charge of making finance work are crooks and inept at making investments proper.  The Central Banks can not really bail them out, because the Central Banks do not create wealth themselves, but just percieved wealth in the form of fiat currency (nevermind the Central Banks are crooks themselves, because they knowingly create and pop bubbles).  There will soon be a moment when actual goods can not trade for fiat currency; this will be when supply is constrained and demand moves higher.  Because the Major Banking Houses continue to falter, we may be fast approaching this moment when the Fiat Ponzi collapses.