Define irony ...

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/GECON-02-140214.html

"Define irony ... A bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash." (Sweet Home Alabama plays in the background) - Quote from the movie Con-Air [1] - Touchstone Pictures, 1997

Define irony ...
By Chan Akya
Feb 14, '14

On a recent trip, I ended up watching the film Con-Air for reasons that are inexplicable really, but I very much enjoyed the quote from one of the characters, as it happened one of the less Hollywood cardboard types that plaster the action film genre.

The reason the quote resonated with me is of course the state of the global equity market today, wherein equity investors are cheering every dumb move by global central banks, not quite realizing that the seeds of their own decline germinate with every such antic.

Think about it. Whatever the names of various entities that plough around the stock market, ultimately what is being invested is individuals' capital. These individuals are typically middle-aged and older, with savings buckets that depend on two major assumptions for their retirement: (a) capital preservation and (b) regular income to be accrued over retirement. Think about that for a minute longer and you figure out that what is sought to be preserved is purchasing power, not nominal dollars.

~snip~

About those characters in the film, subjects of the "define irony" comment - spoiler alert but yes, most of them perish and the plane also crashes. When markets cheer for the Federal Reserve and other central banks continuing their idiotic Keynesian policies, they are in effect dancing to the sweet music of Sweet Home Alabama.