Immanuel Kant’s definition of our modern era and of the Age of Enlightenment was that “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity…The motto of Enlightenment is therefore: Sapere Aude! Have courage to use your own understanding!”
However, the great irony of these days seems to be that while we started this modern age with a self-confident assertion of the coming of the age and autonomy, we are approaching the end of the first two decades of the 21st century fearful of ourselves, and fearful of the future, as international order is being converted into international disorder a.k.a. a circus.
In the midst of this circus, K shows up. Yes, K the hero of Kafka in his novel The Castle. K appears like Virgil to the netherworld only to find that he cannot accomplish his mission because he cannot gain access to the Castle. K is a land surveyor, but castles belong to empires and empires have unclear borders and hence do not like land surveyors. Negotiations in the Castle are not done via the diplomatic route. Disintegration and entropy draft the order of the day.
As K searches for some rationality he hears Don Quixote speaking of a dream where attempts are made to make some order out of the prevailing disorder. Don defends the moral certainties even as they are scorned or erased.
“I was thinking of a series of dreams
Where nothing comes up to the top
Everything stays down where it’s wounded
And comes to a permanent stop”
And then, a voice was heard: “What are the expected returns over the next several years?”
Dante from the underworld provided the answer.
K, always the surveyor, changes continent and surveys the European landscape hoping for some silver lining and here is what he discovers:
Don Quixote, keeps echoing the song about the series of dreams:
“And there’s no exit in any direction
‘Cept the one that you can’t see with your eyes”
“And the cards are no good that you’re holding
Unless they’re from another world”
The game of monetary manipulations, debt issuance (of over $4.3 trillion in the last ten years), and shares buyback – which artificially improve the EPS (earnings per share) – has the potential of boosting further the asset-price inflation which could be sustained for some time, unless capital flow reversals in combination or because of rising geopolitical tensions increase fragility and volatility.
The Chinese slowdown (including monetary aggregates and credit slowdown), coupled with the EU stagnation and declining economic activity in the US, paints a not so bright picture as we are just six weeks shy of welcoming the year 2020.
Mr. K reminds Don Quixote that celebrating paper gains and stimulating emotions is pointless like the speeches by Pericles who was the primary culprit of the destruction and ruins of the Athenian democracy.
“Paint it black Bob, paint it black”, Mick Jagger was heard yelling to Bob Dylan.
If time permits it may worth watching the videos of those songs. Enjoy!
The Rolling Stones – Paint It, Black (Official Lyric Video)
Bob Dylan – Series Of Dreams
The Circus and the Dreams: Paint it Black
Author : John E. Charalambakis
Date : November 14, 2019
Immanuel Kant’s definition of our modern era and of the Age of Enlightenment was that “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity…The motto of Enlightenment is therefore: Sapere Aude! Have courage to use your own understanding!”
However, the great irony of these days seems to be that while we started this modern age with a self-confident assertion of the coming of the age and autonomy, we are approaching the end of the first two decades of the 21st century fearful of ourselves, and fearful of the future, as international order is being converted into international disorder a.k.a. a circus.
In the midst of this circus, K shows up. Yes, K the hero of Kafka in his novel The Castle. K appears like Virgil to the netherworld only to find that he cannot accomplish his mission because he cannot gain access to the Castle. K is a land surveyor, but castles belong to empires and empires have unclear borders and hence do not like land surveyors. Negotiations in the Castle are not done via the diplomatic route. Disintegration and entropy draft the order of the day.
As K searches for some rationality he hears Don Quixote speaking of a dream where attempts are made to make some order out of the prevailing disorder. Don defends the moral certainties even as they are scorned or erased.
“I was thinking of a series of dreams
Where nothing comes up to the top
Everything stays down where it’s wounded
And comes to a permanent stop”
And then, a voice was heard: “What are the expected returns over the next several years?”
Dante from the underworld provided the answer.
Don Quixote, keeps echoing the song about the series of dreams:
“And there’s no exit in any direction
‘Cept the one that you can’t see with your eyes”
“And the cards are no good that you’re holding
Unless they’re from another world”
The game of monetary manipulations, debt issuance (of over $4.3 trillion in the last ten years), and shares buyback – which artificially improve the EPS (earnings per share) – has the potential of boosting further the asset-price inflation which could be sustained for some time, unless capital flow reversals in combination or because of rising geopolitical tensions increase fragility and volatility.
The Chinese slowdown (including monetary aggregates and credit slowdown), coupled with the EU stagnation and declining economic activity in the US, paints a not so bright picture as we are just six weeks shy of welcoming the year 2020.
Mr. K reminds Don Quixote that celebrating paper gains and stimulating emotions is pointless like the speeches by Pericles who was the primary culprit of the destruction and ruins of the Athenian democracy.
“Paint it black Bob, paint it black”, Mick Jagger was heard yelling to Bob Dylan.
If time permits it may worth watching the videos of those songs. Enjoy!
The Rolling Stones – Paint It, Black (Official Lyric Video)
Bob Dylan – Series Of Dreams