It's always nice to say that we're not going to pay attention to what's going on in the world and just get on with our lives, but I have to admit that seeing our Hive token dip below $0.20 again this is not exactly a piece of information to inspire inspiration or enthusiasm!
Of course, the truth is that — whatever our intentions might be — we don't live in little bubbles unless we're actually living in some offgrid cabin out in the woods. Invariably, the news around us filters through and we end up dwelling on what we've heard.
It's difficult not to.
At this moment — as the meltdown in the financial markets continues — I find myself being quite grateful that I am not in that top 10% of wealth owners in this country who own 90% of assets... having watched my own modest investments go down the drain for a few days, with another red ink Monday now in the books.
Supposedly this whole circus is going to be good for the people in the bottom 50% which is where I generally live — or at least where I find myself — in the sense that it is having the effect that oil prices are coming down steeply, and interest rates will decline.
Technically speaking, that should mean that it'll cost less to buy a tank of gas.
But will it really? Or will it merely mean that the price at the pump will stay the same while the oil companies will use this as an excuse to widen their profit margins?
There's very little altruism in the financial world, and the bottom line typically is that everybody's looking out for themselves.
Some people are postulating that the current changes in the world will also drive down interest rates. Again, I find myself wondering whether that will actually be true for the average person on the street. Or is it more likely that only large corporate borrowers will see the benefits of lower borrowing rates but the average person who is using a credit card to buy clothes or an airplane ticket will still be paying 34.99% interest on their credit card and the credit card company will simply be pocketing the difference between lower interest rates and still sky high interest rate for card holders.
As the years roll by, I get more and more cynical about this stuff.
I look at the current situation and their likely effects on the economy and the prices of things and see only the likelihood that it will be even more difficult for most people to afford their daily lives. If a recession does indeed happen — as some people seem to think it will — people are hardly going to get a lot of pay raises, are they?
Indeed, it's difficult to muster up much enthusiasm about anything. And even less so after a trip to the local supermarket where I have to pay almost $10.00 for a carton of 12 eggs!
Meanwhile, our neighborhood has made it illegal to keep chickens, because "they spread disease and attract rats, which ALSO spread disease."
Of course these things are outside our control for the most part, so what can we realistically do but just sit back and watch?
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