Financial Value Revisited
In my book Conspiracy 101 I criticize Marx for not realizing until after his book Capital was written that capital is not only the means of production; producing earnings, but it also has the amazing quality of expanding financially. You can borrow on capital. Once financial instruments are created based on future values they multiply, they are traded and speculated on. When understanding events, this financial value is far more impactful than simple earnings. Recent events have reminded me that capital can also collapse. The value of assets is aspirational. Even with earnings people can perceive that the future value will not justify the investment. Oil is an excellent current example. Even with oil earnings you can see that people aren’t anxious to invest. US is not building new refineries to process our light crude. Canada builds pipelines but again a refinery is too much. Venezuela bought US refineries but even with its huge reserves no one wants to invest in a new Venezue...