Schrodinger's Cat and the financial meltdown - why Obama is not transparent

[Tigermoose]

This is a Schrodinger's Cat situation. If we open the box and look at the cat, we will have forced a decision and it is really going to be horrible if the cat is dead. The hope is that if we wait long enough without opening the box, maybe dump some cat food and water in there without looking, the cat will emerge on its own as it has regained its health.

In other words....if we really force a write down of the toxic assets by "looking," the financial world will collapse given the current market.

Edit: And by the way, that cat has a deadly, infectious virus. If you open the box and the cat is dead, that virus is going to spread and wipe out vast amounts of capital.

[GliderGuider]

1. What a brilliant metaphor!

That really resonates. Thank you for thinking of it and posting it.

[marketcrazy1]

3. but the cat

has been stuck in the box for quite some time and since it has no where to go it has been peeing in the corner of the box. pretty soon the floor of the box will rot and the cat will come crashing through, perhaps collapsing the box or at least leaving a nasty hole in it, when the cat falls out the virus will be released. it might be better to isolate the cat and cure the virus, then the cat could be nursed back to health and the box put to better use.

[Tigermoose]

4. Yes, that is the debate.

Do we decide that the cat is dead and look, or do we wait and hope it emerges healthy. The first choice, at this point, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The second choice offers at least some hope. But it might be that that hope is foolish and will only cause more suffering if the cat is indeed already dead and incapable of regaining its health.

Many people are just upset and accusing Obama of conspiring with the bankers. Obviously, they feel that the cat is already dead. If that is the case, there arguments are correct. But that is not entirely clear.

And anyway, can the government currently handle the massive takeover that would be necessary? I don't know if they have the manpower and resources. This isn't something you can do one at a time or over a long period of time.

[notesdev]

13. Wishful thinking

is no basis for the allocation of trillions of dollars that properly belongs to the people of this country.

And the sad part is that you've stated the case for that wishful thinking as well as anybody else - there IS no better case to be made for it.

[Duende azul]

18. Let´s think outside the box.

Capitalism isn't history's last chapter.

[Demeter]

2. "He's Dead, Jim"

You don't have to open the box even. The smell is a dead giveaway. Pun fully intended.

[zazen]

5. does non-locality offer any hope, or is that the equivalent of the virus metaphor?

[SlowDownFast]

6. Excellent.

Not the reality of it, but your explanation.

[notesdev]

7. In this case, the cat is dead

and they're throwing trillions of our money down the sewer in order to pretend that by not opening the box, they can preserve a chance of the dead cat still being alive.

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. Exactly. nt

[Tigermoose]

11. I'm not sure if this is really throwing away money down the sewer..

I mean, we have a fiat currency. Since trillions of dollars in capital is being erased through deleveraging, it shouldn't hurt for the government to create some of that money back into existence. Now, that does raise our federal deficit, but think about the enormous capital black hole that would result if the top 10 banks collapsed and were unable to cover their liabilities. Where would the government then get their tax revenue? If that happened, we would see some truly staggering federal deficits.

[GliderGuider]

9. TPTB are pretending the probability wave function hasn't collapsed yet

But we can tell from the smell that somebody peeked.

[Hawkowl]

10. Excellent Analysis

Also indicates how complicated our Economic system. I remember doing a two page answer to a graduate school question in economics using quantum mechanics metaphors many years ago.

Beautiful.

[Tigermoose]

12. The metaphor of a financial black hole is also coming to mind

The universe is inflationary, constantly waging a war against deflationary gravity. The government and the Fed create the inflation that keeps our economy growing, but it appear there is a point where the power of gravity (deflation) overwhelms the inflationary force and a deflationary black hole develops that beings sucking the economy into itself. At what point do the forces of inflation prevail and the economy begins inflating again?

One thing is clear. We have to have a functioning inflationary force for this to happen. That force is the banking system.

[Duende azul]

14. Your brilliant image only works if we only had this one and only box (=capitalism)

Why cling to the capitalist belief system?

So we could leave this box alone with the kitty alive or dead (who cares?) and look at all the other boxes around.
Much more so if we know, that capitalism won´t work eternally? Marx knew.


Not to offend the kitteh lovers on DU (wouldn´t risk that, for the record: I love cats. This isn´t about a real kitty. ok?

[Tigermoose]

22. Revolutions are really not that fun to live through imho

I am a family man, and the last thing I want is the sort of social upheaval that would come with changing our underlying economic system. I don't see a utopia formed by revolution, but only bloodshed and another system that will be corrupted by human greed and immorality.

[Duende azul]

24. Our underlying economic system

is causing bloodshed and starvation all around and did so all along the way since it's conception.

We can debate the means of abolishing it. Capitalism isn't some law of nature we can't get rid of.
Theoretically it could even be put to rest by elections. So there seems not necessarily to be a need for revolution. At least as long as the profiteers let it go without furthering the repression. And even then there have to be ways to opt out of this madness nonviolently.

If we let capitalism go down by itself due to it's inner contradictions we will witness havoc.
We can't afford to just stand by and watch.

[WhiteTara]

15. Need to know and afraid to find out n/t

[tblue37]

16. Why couldn't Schrodinger's Box have a spider in it?

Then I wouldn't care whether it was dead or not--in fact, I might prefer it. But I lie awake nights worrying about Schrodinger's damned cat.

[mopinko]

17. how can we be so stupid as to hope at a time like this?

as a certain candidate for president was known to point out- we have no choice.

i find that across the board, the human animal likes numbers. they find ways to quantify things that are unquantifiable. like the potential of a child, expressed as his or her iowa scores, or sat's. it is always very hard to argue with someone who has numbers, when the discussion is really about emotional things. but make no mistake, the economy runs on emotion. on hope or fear. those are pretty much our only choices.
time to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
i trust my president to do the right thing. doesn't mean i agree on everything. but he has gathered as many smart guys as he can find. we may not like some of the things they have done in the past, or disagree with their philosophy, but they know where all the bodies are buried.

might as well hope.

[Tigermoose]

23. I agree wholeheartedly. It comes down to hope, trust, and a community of faith.

We all have to believe in our fiat economic system and government for them to work effectively. The worst thing about some revolutionary Republicans and some Democrats is that they promote complete distrust and pessimism rather than criticism that still believes in the underlying positive function of both our government and economic system.

[ThoughtCriminal]

19. Screw the Cat - I want a new Puppy

Oh - and the box is starting to smell.

[Festivito]

20. We can quietly throw in some mousy accountants.

Forewarned is forearmed. Psssst! Sigh!

Nothing, but, ...

Psi-squared gives a good look at the probabilities. We can see our way from there. After dealing with those donuts and dumbbells.

for dizzy

[westerebus]

21. Dead cat.

Looking into the box, the observer as catalyst, does not determine the fate of the cat. It simply confirms the possible outcome by eliminating other possibilities. Perhaps there was no cat to begin with. The cat escaped by means other than supra natural abilities.

The real story is Schroedinger's wife never liked the cat which is how the cat got in the box in the first place. Schrodinger actually hid the cat after the wife put him in the box and provided the dead cat explanation should she look into the box. Guilt by association, to the means available through actions causing the possibility of death to occur at the outset, that she denied.

The cat moved into a neighbor's home up the street. He was given a new name. The supposed virus that killed him was in fact very toxic to rodents. He was immune to its' effects. The rodents in the neighborhood were not and dropped dead in droves. Hence the smell coming from the house in which the Schroedinger's lived because their cat was gone.

The cat's new name: OVERSIGHT.