It occurred to me today that, of all the "losses" that have taken place in 2008, the greatest loss of all is probably trust. That is a calamitous loss, because unlike financial assets, it can take decades to fully be restored. Consider………..
If you thought your bank was safe, you were wrong (some were, at least………)
……or that American Capitalism was alive and well, you were wrong
…….or that your hedge fund manager was honest, especially if you assumed a shared religion would somehow ensure integrity, you were wrong
……….or that being hired by Facebook, the single hottest startup in the world, was a ticket to instant wealth, you were wrong.
……………..or that a world-famous, widely-recognized stock market guru had good stock picks, you were wrong
…………………..or that the Republican Party stood for small government and fiscal responsibility, you were wrong
…………………………or that the charlatans that run the investment banks would actually muster up some shame, you were wrong
This isn't really about you being wrong, though; it's about the world being wrong, and your perception being misguided. The expectations listed above were all reasonable. Unfortunately, the humans didn't cooperate.
Before the collapse started, people would come to this blog and giggle, "The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent." If anything sums up the sheer hubris of the pre-collapse world, that statement can. It shows the lunatics were running the asylum, and 2008, as the year where rationality triumphed, has laid waste the trust of millions. It will be a long time any semblance of that faith will be restored.
