The Never Ending Trail of Folly – Europe Before and After the 2008 Crash and Draghi’s 0% Interest

• • 
  • Presentation speakers
    • Gerhard Eichweber, Silva Plan / Value Group, Switzerland

  Abstract:

  When Historian Barbara Tuchman, who all her life had studied obviously “wrong” developments and their very nature and common denominators, from ancient times till the last days of her active time, named one of her later books: “The March of Folly, from Troy to Vietnam”, she occupied a fitting title for an in depth-analysis of economic developments in Europe and elsewhere. Like in Barbara Tuchman’s studies and résumés, we shall only mention cases, where not only decisions were already from the outset recognized and “flagged” as counterproductive and, thus, wrong for the declared goals, moreover, viable good alternatives were known – and already proven and presented to the decisionmakers, who however disregard the important information contradicting their prejudice – and possibly even “silence” the bearer of the news, which is (or would be) so crucial for real success in whatever “Mission”. Regarding economy, prosperity and peace of societies, the misleading “scientific” Paradigms should by now induce doubt – to say the least – as far as theory and approaches never leading to the predicted results. But still, the “Decision-Makers” neglect doubt – as well as well reasoned and even proven alternatives. They believe, that numbers can be influenced by numbers and continuously increase crisis and its devastating effects on societies, countries and world regions – if not the entire world. It appears to be superfluous to loose time trying to find out, who is behind all this. Much more important appears, to remind and reinforce entrepreneurs and their initiatives, because they are, who swiftly can change situations, once they have understood. This presentation argues that the real factors influencing economy are outside the scope of their search: in culture, moreover, in the way people and societies deal with qualitative diversity. Egalitarian reduction of all and everything as well as everybody to merely quantitative criteria leads directly to crisis. Fostering and serving qualitative diversity with truly diverse offers, instead, leads to full employment, prosperity for all and independent self determined society and peace.

 

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