In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Charles discuss:
- The Global Cargo Cult
- Praying for the return of unearned prosperity
- India's accelerating outflows
- It's hard to stem a carry-trade unwind
- Passing on our problems
- What options will the next generation have?
- Self-reliance & self-control
- Why society desperately needs more
Back during WWII, the American Navy landed on many small Pacific islands, bringing with it resources and wealth never dreamed of by the native islanders. When the war ended, the Americans left; and the prosperity boom the islanders had enjoyed during the war years abruptly ended.
In the aftermath, local leaders and shamans began entreating the aid of deities to bring the Americans – and their endless supply of goods – back. These movements became known as "cargo cults."
In this week's podcast, Chris and Charles discuss how much of the global economy is being run like a cargo cult these days. The past degree of prosperity fueled by unsustainable excesses in debt and resource extraction is beginning to taper, as it must, but leaders do not want to face that reality. Instead, they choose to put their faith in the instruments and institutions that worked in the past; they're just leaning on them a lot harder now.
But like the native islanders squinting at the horizon, those ships are not coming back.
by hughk 
