Dealing with Winter!

Since this weather has represented a major obstacle to daily living, I wanted to capture the positive aspects of my dealing with the weather. For sure, my experience cannot be much different from many others. We have become prisoners to the dramatically cold and stormy weather. We cannot run or walk as we normally do since the pile of snow has narrowed the streets. And even if the streets were safer to walk or run in, it has often been brutally cold. Dealing with the damage of a broken pipe, we have contributed to economic well being of a plumber, electrician and insulation professionals. The limitations caused by the weather were heightened by having four relatively young grandchildren for a week with minimal opportunities for fun outside of the walls of the house.

So what was the upside to the experience?

I used the opportunity to practice focusing on the moment. I know cognitively that there is only a series of moments that we all have. In each moment, I can be in touch with the entire universe. I can BE. It does not take bad weather to do this, but I surely realized that I was in better shape by focusing on the moment, rather than any frustration over what I could not do or what I had to do, that I did want to do, as in shoveling snow!

I treasured that I was not alone. With all the problems associated with the weather, there was this wonderful companion who always seems to deal with life so well. Watching Joan is comforting. If she can deal with it, I should be able to do so also.

With so many others, I look forward to Spring, green grass, and the routine of life crafted by many years of living. Until then, I will keep treasuring each moment, knowing that I am always loved and in that Love, I exist.

"The Shifts and the Shocks" by Martin Wolf

Martin Wolf deserves his reputation as a pre-eminent economist. In “The Shifts and the Shocks” he demonstrates his mastery over monetary and financial policies and critiques their interplay prior to, and after, the global financial crisis of 2008. He concludes with suggested changes, though with awareness that none are easy or possibly politically possible.

One has to wonder why I bother to read material that totally exceeds my capacity to comprehend. Wading through this densely written analysis of the global economic interplay between credit, debt, and assets results in an overwhelming awareness that the complexity of economics, especially when addressing how money works in a global setting, is crucially important if only understood by the few. It is good to know how much I don’t know!

After reading the book, I realize that my thoughts about the banking industry (need more equity, more regulation) are terribly simplistic. The interplay between surplus and debt is not simply an issue nationally, but it is important to consider the interplay internationally. When one nation has more money than it can usefully invest within the nation, the monies tend to be used by other nations with needs, creating debt. In an ideal economic world, it all zeroes out, i.e., surpluses and debts equal zero. Problems arise when balances are screwed up and there is a need for action by either using monetary interventions (adding money) or fiscal (policies to increase investment).

There have always been major differences in how these complex issues are addressed. And today, these differences still permeate our national politics. They are evident elsewhere, especially the Eurozone, but also in Asia and the developing nations.

If anyone wants to segue into Wolf’s most useful book, one can read the reviews in the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Guardian, and the Economist.