X-Message-Number: 33309
From: "John de Rivaz" <>
References: <>
Subject: Re: CryoNet #33295 [Mark F Connaughton]
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 10:38:11 -0000

To these excellent comments I would add that there is a brain drain from 
professions that may create wealth to those mentioned that destroy it.

People can make far more money in these professions than they can working in 
wealth creating industries, unless they are actually the owners or managers 
of these industries. The best example of the latter is Bill Gates, of 
course, whose wealth far exceeds the wildest dreams of the most avaricious 
of the non-productive professionals. But these super sucessful people are 
extremely rare indeed. By and large, the non-productive professional earns 
more than the productive one. In addition, the affluence of these 
non-productive professionals encourages inefficient working practises, 
making their clients pay even more for the services provided.

Over the past half century, the best way to make money was to discover how 
to borrow it, and use the money you have borrowed to buy things whose 
apparent cost is rising faster than your accumulating pile of debt and 
interest. At some point you have to sell part of your portfolio to pay off 
your debt, and you have got something for nothing. The losers are the savers 
on fixed interest who were getting a below inflation return after tax, ie a 
negative returen on their savings.

That is a risky strategy, so a less stressful strategy is to be a fee 
earning professional administering all this. The crash happened when those 
taking the risk left it too late to get out. This happened with stocks in 
the 1920s/30s, and real estate in the early 21st century. The other problem 
is that with real estate, the crash caused many people to lose their homes 
as their debt was not covered by the perceived value of their assetts. Many 
of these people had simply been borrowing more than they could afford, to 
show their muscle in getting the houses they wanted. They felt safe because 
the smartly dressed professional assured them all was well.

--
Sincerely, John de Rivaz:  http://John.deRivaz.com for websites including
Cryonics Europe, Longevity Report, The Venturists, Porthtowan, Alec Harley
Reeves - inventor, Arthur Bowker - potter, de Rivaz genealogy,  Nomad .. and
more

----- Original Message ----- 
From: CryoNet
    #33306: Re: CryoNet #33295 [Mark F Connaughton]
Lawyers, politicians, regulators and beancounters happened.  Too many PhDs
and not enough nut-and-bolt people. 

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