Today's Headlines.

I've just watched the news. Once again the economy is dominant, more doom and more gloom. But really what do you expect when we have a system (is that really the right word?) that is essentially run by a collection of individuals all in pursuit of the own best interests.  I know that someone, was it Adam Smith?, made the comment about man in pursuing his own interest improves those around him by the opportunities he provides.  That may have had some truth when we had small handicraft and agriculture, but now when the economy is dominated by great multinationals.  I think not.  It is not the actions of those multinationals that are the problem - it is the banking and finance sectors that appear to be the root and branch of the problem.  They are entities truly driven by individuals in pursuit of their own interest.  It is very often not even in the interest of their companies or firms, or even the shareholder, it is just their own very narrow, very greedy interests. Their products have become more and more complicated. This is supposedly in order to provide more opportunities, but what those are is not specified too clearly - I suppose the more cynical amongst us may well suggest it was the opportunity to make more commissions and to earn more bonuses.

For the most of us does it really matter if stock exchange prices go up or go down?  In spite of what happens we just have to carry on.  We have the same wants and needs and for most part we continue to fulfil them.  The footsie may drop but the physical economy and industry remains the same.  Fair enough its price may fall but what is price - it is what you hope to get if you sell something.  For my part, and in spite of my training, I still have problem of viewing wealth as something other than the physical - the price is just a notion, a suggestion of where sellers and buyers would meet and agree to make exchange.  That the Stock Exchange price is now falling only suggests that individuals, in the pursuit of their own interest, have pushed up prices too far (for that commission?) and now they have lost some of their interest somebody else must bear the cost.

That's enough rumbling for the moment, I've a small collection of Victorian Photos I'm think of posting them when I've put some structure to them.