Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
July 16, 2012
In today's Outside the Box, the ever-philosophical Grant Williams introduces us to the ancient and profound art and science of alchemy – "the original 12-step program," as he calls it, the avid pursuit of übernerds from Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton to (believe it or not) John Maynard Keynes, who referred to certain early works of econometrics as statistical alchemy (and some still are!). And we should not forget Carl Jung, who wrote the seminal work Psychology and Alchemy (for those who do not sleep or are looking for something to put you to sleep: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_and_Alchemy).
Grant notes that, in contrast to the mechanically and spiritually laborious (not to mention ultimately futile) process of transmuting lead into gold, the steps to convert paper into money are only two: (1) Plugging and (2) Pushing. Nevertheless, he says, the fervid attempts by latter-day magi to concoct a successful outcome to our present economic crisis are proving no more successful than the Alchemical Work. Where alchemists got hung up, says Grant, was in the final, climactic step of the process, Projection.
Projection "was the moment when, despite all the work that went into getting to that last point in the program, hope and faith took over as the alchemist found himself having to rely on just a little bit of magic in order to get the outcome he so desperately wished for."
And Projection has much in common with Pushing. Whether it is Ben Bernanke pushing the outlandish assertion that "subprime is contained" or Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy hopefully projecting that Spain would "... stop being a problem and instead form part of the solution [to the debt crisis]," the economic alchemists have struggled. (I have a mental image of Ben Bernanke as the Sorcerer's Apprentice, with about the same results – forced to try and clean up the mess he made and ultimately being swept away in it!)
Grant wishes to speed the economic magicians in their arduous task by offering a new, slimmed-down transformational schema – it only has seven steps: Greecification, Backtrackification, Transmission, Restatigence, Bullyfication, Renegotiation, Realization. The outcome might not be any more satisfactory than it was for the conjurers of old, but at least they may learn something as they kick the Holy Economic Vessel down the road.
(See, I don't call this letter Outside the Box for nothing.)
Grant, by the way, is the best "new" wordsmith/storyteller I have seen in a dozen years. I am a huge fan. (If you want to be a Hmmm…’er too, you can subscribe for free at http://ethreemail.com/subscribe?g=bdc736be.) And I get to see him tomorrow in Singapore, where he works at Vulpes with master hedge fund manager Steven Diggle, who was with us in Tuscany for a few nights. (I am not supposed to mention how much he lost on Italian soccer, betting against Newt Gingrich, so I won't. But then, Newt has to fund his campaigns somehow. Might as well take it from a hedge fund guy who thinks he understands soccer.)
I have been in New York today (I'm writing this note from the Virgin Lounge at JFK) and did media hits all morning. Two hours of air time and never had to repeat myself. A great deal of fun. We started off at 7 a.m. with two segments with the super-serious and wicked-smart Tom Keene and crew at Bloomberg, then three segments with Matt Nesto at Yahoo Breakout (where I surprised him by agreeing with President Obama, kind of), and then finished off the trifecta with old fishing buddy and always-fun (where does he get all those obscure facts?) Mike McKee for an hour on Bloomberg Radio. You can listen on or watch at:
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/business-owners-responsible-own-success-154922729.html
(Bloomberg Radio has not posted yet, but I assume it will be there when you get this. Look for the Bloomberg Radio 10 a.m. show with Mike McKee.)
They will call the first leg of my 24 hours to Singapore in a minute, so time to sign off. The next letter will come from Singapore. Have a great week.
Your still seeing Mickey Mouse and Ben Bernanke in my head analyst,
John Mauldin, Editor
Outside the Box
subscribers@mauldineconomics.com
Things That Make You Go Hmmm...
"Finally, after the matter has passed from ashen-colored to white and yellow, you will see the Philosopher's Stone, our King and Dominator Supreme, issue forth from his glassy sepulcher to mount his bed or his throne in his glorified body . . . diaphanous as crystal; compact and most weighty, as easily fusible by fire as resin, as flowing as wax and more…