Crisis Progress Report

Posted by straightlinelogic 10 years, 3 months ago to Economics
5 comments | Share | Flag

The following is an excerpt, the full article can be accessed through the link above.

Governments and central banks can control one or more, but not all variables in a multi-variable system.

The above is American writer Robert Gore’s Command and Control Futility Principle, the chief implication of which is that regardless of what variable or variables a government or its central bank attempts to control, all variables cannot be controlled exactly, at the same time. A corollary of this principle: due to the impossibility of controlling all variables, they will usually lose control of even the variable or variables they have attempted to control. The more they try to control, the less they will ultimately end up controlling.

The principle is playing out; the inability to control all variables is becoming increasingly evident. Total global debt has reached a saturation point, it no longer produces positive economic returns and economies are weakening under the burden of debt service. The reduction in demand and price deflation has hit heavily indebted commodity producers, who must continue to produce as long as their revenues cover cash costs. Commodity prices have crashed although the world economy is saturated with central bank created liquidity.


All Comments

  • Posted by Zenphamy 10 years, 3 months ago
    Good essay, Robert; But that's the technocrat's dream--control all the variables to get the outcome they think is best for themselves, and therefor must be the best for everyone else. But when you're dealing with a system that you believe is closed (but can never be) that includes the inherent variability of the human mind and reactions to his environment, you must come to the eventual realization that each variable you try to control causes other variables that you didn't even know existed to respond in ways you couldn't at first imagine. It becomes such a mixture of negative and positive feedbacks as well as unknown interactions in both the original system and the control system you've tried to build, that it no longer resembles or reacts as the original system did. You've actually altered what you originally intended to control into something almost unrecognizable.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Comment hidden due to member score or comment score too low. View Comment
  • Posted by Robbie53024 10 years, 3 months ago
    I think this is the "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers" principle as pronounced by Princess Leia in Star Wars, A New Hope.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by 10 years, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I only thought up the Principle yesterday, and I'm certainly open to refinements, improvements, and empirical testing and analysis.
    Reply | Permalink  
  • Posted by Lucky 10 years, 3 months ago
    Consider this addition-
    Not only is it impossible to control all the variables in natural and human complex systems, but new variables arise in response to changes in the environment and therefore to the attempts at control.
    In other words, what you thought was fixed is variable, and it varies in such a way as to thwart your efforts.
    Reply | Permalink  

  • Comment hidden. Undo