America, Ex-Distortion

April 12, 2008. In yet another sign that the end is near, Harper’s Magazine, that venerable fount of left wing culture, has become a source of clear-eyed financial journalism. In February it ran a cover story by iTuilip’s Eric Janszen explaining America’s devolution from goods-production to paper shuffling. Janszen calls this the FIRE economy (for Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) and concludes that it can only survive by blowing ever-bigger bubbles (read the article here for Eric’s prediction on where the next bubble will appear). And the May Harper’s just hit the newsstands with a cover story by veteran political analyst Kevin Phillips on how the U.S. government has been systematically distorting the economic numbers it reports. Here’s his opening More...