Thank you, Jon Stewart!
I’ve been a fan of The Daily Show for the last few years, mainly because Jon Stewart has made me laugh when there has been precious little to laugh about in our country. As I tuned out most of the traditional TV news sources, I knew that if something important was happening, I would see it on the show and I could learn more about it on my own.
This past week Stewart once again showed his smarts and his ability to tap into our collective angst and be a voice for those of us who feel so powerless in all this economic turmoil.
His now infamous interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer will be remembered and analyzed for a lot of reasons. Pundits and commentators are posing questions like “Was it fair?” “Was it really journalism?” “Is Stewart the new Edward R. Murrow or Jonathan Swift?” “Will it have any long term impact on financial news coverage?”
All those are great questions for discussion. For me, I just want to say thank you, Jon Stewart, for voicing our collective anger and frustration. It was so satisfying to see your intelligent and laser-like rant. You are our national safety valve!
Posted in newsletter
While I enjoy watching Cramer every night, one must remember the show is primarily entertainment. The financial networks exist to promote their advertisers financial and investment products. Who would expect them to warn about the credit bubble or coming Washington national debt collapse which will destroy much of the remaining private wealth in America today or what this will do to the dollar, the stock market, bonds, gold or the real estate market?
China is now worried about their dangerous over investment in US Treasury obligations. Washington ’s long-term choice is either repudiation or monetization. For monetization to be effective, the depreciation in the dollar would have to be substantial and this in turn would dramatically raise prices of imports for American consumers which would mean a tremendous drop in foreign imports. Debt monetization would cause more disruption to exporting nations than selective repudiation of Treasury debt.
The Campaign to Cancel the Washington National Debt By 12/22/2013 Constitutional Amendment is starting now in the U.S. See: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67594690498&ref=ts
Thanks,
Ron with 30 plus years in the investment business and banking industry.
Ron, thanks for your comment. I agree with you on the entertainment angle. However the lines between news and entertainment has blurred considerably over the last two decades and many people are not media literate enough to distinguish between the two. Consider the term info-tainment! I think that was part of Stewart’s point. Many people nowadays consider anything they see in the media as credible. So the bigger question is who is responsible for making sure people get accurate, useful information? I think it’s a shared responsibility between the providers of the information/entertainment and the consumers of it.
As for the rest of your comments on the technical side of the financial debacle, I’ll leave that analysis to more educated folks than me on the subject.