The Fervor of Patriotism and the Decline of the Financial Markets
It is unfortunate that American patriotism alone cannot entirely revive our "American markets" since our markets in this century of trans-national capitalism are so internationally inter-woven. Yes, domestic demand is off and the markets reflect that. But even if Americans start flying and spending again, that's no guarantee that the markets will concomitantly respond and quickly revive to pre-terrorist levels.
Most of the giant corporate entities that are "players" in our markets are trans-nationals, or at least assume a trans-national viewpoint, discarding any particular patriotic fervor as not necessarily in the best interest of their world outlook.
Indeed, I've a feeling that if our markets were as parochially American as they were during WWII, we would not now be seeing the negative losses continuing in stock trading. I think the negativity reflects a lack of patriotism by a lot of large players who instead have a an overriding "world capitalistic" outlook toward "the greatest efficiency". One may bemoan that, but such is economic life as we enter The Century of Markets:*
"...In news reports, it is common to see people lament the apparent increased frequency of crises, especially in financial markets over the last decade. To repeat a point I touched upon earlier, a different interpretation of the phenomenon we are witnessing is that a crisis is a breaking down of an old order and the creation of a new one. The evolving order is conducive to the rapid adoption of new processes and institutional arrangements that are superior to those they are replacing.
In a world with highly mobile resources, the lessons learned in a crisis invariably lead to changes in behavior that prevent a repeat of the conditions that led to the crisis. Once a crisis atmosphere has subsided, we rarely see reinstitution of the practices and arrangements that created the crisis situation.
This interpretation of what we are observing would suggest that the frequency of financial crises is evidence that the pace of adoption of new and better ways of doing things has accelerated. Borrowing from Schumpeter, just as there is a creative destruction in goods and services as new and better products come onto the market, so too in political and economic matters, the replacement of obsolete arrangements with more effective practices is a wrenching process.
...It seems natural to extend such arguments to forms of government. There are a number of different models of government, just as there are many models of successful business operation. And, as best practices in governing evolve, countries that do not adopt such practices will lose “capitalization”; that is, they will fail to attract and hold a share of the world’s investment capital, and the process will culminate in much lower standards of living."
So, according to this outlook--if I read it correctly--America's inability to prevent world terrorism's assault on our domestic infrastructure would signify a breakdown of "best practices" with a corresponding diminishment in domestic capitalization. In fact, our previous seemingly domestic impermeability to world terrorism may have led to an "overcaptialization" of our domestic markets, with, perhaps, the current negativity of our financial markets reflecting a "correction."
Hence, only if our patriotic fervor happens to coincide with their best-efficiency outlook will transnational interests rally for the flag. But with this threat, realizing now that there is no place in the world to re-capitalize safely (the World Trade Center was the World not American Trade Center), these transnationals may, indeed, eventually come to re-align with our national interests.
Personally, I believe The Century of Markets is but the next inevitable elaboration of holding foremost the myth of Economy in our collectively conscious lives. And though it is hard for those of us here currently planted in its numinous midst to see beyond it, I, too, believe that someday a reopening of our hearts to a sense of our greater place in the cosmos, and beyond the mere trans-national concerns of this "Silent Planet"** will once again bring change--and the possibility of collective transcendence.
* The Century of Markets , Jerry L. Jordan, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, February 2000.
** Out of the Silent Planet , C.S. Lewis, 1938.
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