Mood and meaning in a time of crisis

11:02 Oct 30, 2008 39

Honestly, we weren't quite sure how well this week's Media7 was going to come off, but it turned out to be a very interesting show. The theme is money, meltdown and the media -- and specifically, the impact of gloomy economic news on consumers -- with of author and former British Labour MP Brian Gould, Colmar Brunton's Briar Harland and psychological therapist (specialising in grief and anxiety) Jock Matthews.

They all brought something to the table, and it was useful to hear Bryan explain both the alarming scale of the financial crisis and the relatively limited impact it will have on indivduals who aren't laden with debt or in vulnerable jobs. Briar confirmed that her company is seeing marked changes in attitudes this year, but not always very rational ones. And Jock agreed that he sometimes advises people feeling great anxiety to simply turn off the news.

It's here on TVNZ ondemand. And happily, it appears that both the podcast and our YouTube channel are working this week. There's also the Window Media clips

Unfortunately you don't get the Newsmash segments on YouTube (which I find ironic given that that's where most of the content comes from) or the podcast -- and the opening Newsmash is listed as "Part 3" on the clips page. I'll try and get something done about that, because the show is hard to make sense of without them.

Meanwhile, check out 'The Credit Crunch Anthem', a parody based on 'Candle in the Wind' and my personal favourite of a surprisingly large number of satirical songs about the financial crisis that I found in the course of research:

39 responses to this post

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Don Christie, 11:23 Oct 30, 2008

This is very scary.
It was the Feds (along with the Japanese central bank) that created the whole free money property/share boom in the first place.
Don't they have anything else up their sleeves than printing *more* free money?

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report
Kyle Matthews, 12:37 Oct 30, 2008

Russell, I've been trying to find the time to catch up with the TV show online, I'm 4 or 5 weeks behind.
I find the youtube page is the only one that works well for me, but it's a mess. Could someone pull together a page which lists the shows, their you tube components, and links to the right pages? Or is there such a page somewhere? Otherwise I'm going to end up watching them all out of order.

Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report
barnaclebarnes, 13:27 Oct 30, 2008

It would be great if the show came down as one podcast. I seem to have heaps of problems with missing parts, parts that appear in the feed but iTunes can't download them, etc. Great show but having it broken up just really is a bit messy and doesn't work that well.
I'm wondering what the reason is for breaking the parts up as the show is really one 'part'.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 90 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 15:48 Oct 30, 2008

Don, the Fed's move isn't all bad. It will make NZD more attractive, which will ease the exchange rate pain somewhat. However, it's easy foreign money that got NZ into credit strife in the first place.
One thing that really bemuses me is the people who think that Labour should go because the recession was forecast yonks ago, but still happened. As if, somehow, Helen and Michael have a snowball in hell's chance of actually make the slightest difference to the global economy.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Gareth Ward, 15:54 Oct 30, 2008

So who has sat through the 30mins of Obamania? For some reason the Herald labelled the video "bizarre" - not really seeing that yet?

Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report
Danielle, 18:41 Oct 30, 2008

So who has sat through the 30mins of Obamania?
I have. It wasn't 'bizarre' at all! Thanks for the editorial judgement there, Associated Press.
Obama and his team are very clever. That sense of calm gravitas... the official-looking office... carefully chosen stories of ordinary folk... some black faces, but not enough to frighten the racist horses... cute photos of him as a kiddy... nice work.

Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report
stephen walker, 19:42 Oct 30, 2008

It was the Feds (along with the Japanese central bank) that created the whole free money property/share boom in the first place.
No.
The Plaza Accord in 1985 among the US, Japan, UK, France and West Germany let to a spectacular property and share market bubble between 1986 and 1992 in Japan, aided by inept management of the money supply by the Bank of Japan and ridiculous lending policies by Japanese financial institutions.
On the other hand, Greenspan gave us the dotcom "boom" (scam) and housing bubble (superscam) of 1998-2007. But he could not do it all on his own. He needed lots of dodgy stockbrokers and mortgage lenders to really turn it into something impressive.
Debt-fuelled asset price inflation is what this mess is about.
The key word is debt--the willingness to create it (by the lenders) and the willingness to take it on (by the borrowers).
In NZ, the banks have borrowed short-term offshore at low interest rates to lend long-term at high intererest rates, mainly to finance house purchases. At ridiculously inflated prices.
The lenders and borrowers are both to blame.
And all the other rah-rah scam artists like the real estate agents and the media making money from advertising.
Don't they have anything else up their sleeves than printing *more* free money?
Um, no. Not since they all accepted the Friedmanite dogma in the early to mid-80s in toto. There is only one tool in the whole monetary policy toolkit, apparently. Unless of course your entire economy is imploding in slow motion, in which case lots of other ways of creating more money for failed bankers become "absolutely necessary", or so it seems.

nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report
giovanni tiso, 19:59 Oct 30, 2008

The Plaza Accord in 1985 among the US, Japan, UK, France and West Germany let to a spectacular property and share market bubble between 1986 and 1992 in Japan, aided by inept management of the money supply by the Bank of Japan and ridiculous lending policies by Japanese financial institutions.
I've been wondering about that... we are all told that in the long term stock prices always go up, and every time think to myself "go tell it to the Japanese". The Nikkei was at 39,000 in 1989, then it crashed. Ten years later, when it was at 15,000, I'm sure there were stockbrockers all over the place urging people to buy: it was bound to go back up because shares always go up. Now it's halved in price again, and it's all in absolute terms, not even factoring in inflation (although of course Japan has had lots of deflation too).
I wonder how people perceive the worldwide bank strife now in your neck of the woods, since it's been happening there for so long?

Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report
Simon Grigg, 20:06 Oct 30, 2008

I have. It wasn't 'bizarre' at all! Thanks for the editorial judgement there, Associated Press.
I think the headline came from the bizarre NZ Herald rather than the AP.
The only other reference I could find to the headline was here and that linked back to guess where...
I thought it was ok...restating the themes again. He wanted to look presidential and succeeded and he has to find a way to spend those millions. I do think he deserves quite some credit over the past weeks for not responding to the slim and garbage spouted by McCain/ Palin and the swamp dwellers who inhabit large parts of their campaign.
That said, my fave Obama moment today was the man having a giggle with Jon Stewart. It's one of the few times I've heard him bother to make reference to the crazies and all their socialism / marxist twaddle, and the rest.

Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report
Simon Grigg, 20:08 Oct 30, 2008

ahhh
..slim=slime

Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report
Jim Cathcart, 20:57 Oct 30, 2008

"I've been wondering about that... we are all told that in the long term stock prices always go up, and every time think to myself "go tell it to the Japanese". The Nikkei was at 39,000 in 1989, then it crashed. Ten years later, when it was at 15,000, I'm sure there were stockbrockers all over the place urging people to buy: it was bound to go back up because shares always go up. Now it's halved in price again, and it's all in absolute terms, not even factoring in inflation (although of course Japan has had lots of deflation too)"
It's a good case in point. Even now, the Nikkei has the most undervalued stocks in the developed world (based on P/E ratios). Considering that Japan is leading the world in energy efficiency and in the development of clean technologies and alternative energy, you would think that Japanese stocks would be a new brainer.
Personally I think there are various reasons to explain it. Japanese don't buy stocks like westerners. They don't share the same financial philosophy. Secondly, Japanese capitalism is different in that the real stakeholders of a company are the employees (not the shareholders). Compared to the west, dividends are pathetic and the companies are prepared to sit on mountains of cash (instead of share it with the shareholders).
Various contrarian investors such as Marc Faber have suggested that the Nikkei could outperform once the great de-leveraging finally unwinds.

Since Nov 2006 • 228 posts Report
stephen walker, 20:59 Oct 30, 2008

@gio
i'm sure lots of people are quite bewildered, especially the ones under 30 who have been told since they were teenagers that the US system of "free-market capitalism" is superior to Japan's old-style business system.
people who are a bit older do know that rampant speculation can lead to spectacular losses. Japan's own "Lehman shock" happened in 1997 when the smallest of the big-four brokerages, Yamaichi, went belly up. and urban real estate in many places lost 70-90% of its peak value between 1992 and 2002, so the myth of always rising land prices was laid to rest.
but just like NZ, most people have no inkling of just how close to disintegration the death star really is. it's all bound to come as a terrible shock.

nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report
Lucy Stewart, 21:29 Oct 30, 2008

I think the headline came from the bizarre NZ Herald rather than the AP.
The only other reference I could find to the headline was here and that linked back to guess where...
The article itself described the half-hour buy as "unusual", which *is* a fair judgement. But in this case, unusual /=/ bizarre. Note to the Herald subs: just because words are synonyms in your thesaurus does not mean they have exactly the same meaning. Really, it doesn't.

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report
Don Christie, 21:47 Oct 30, 2008

Bill Clinton just nailed it for Obama.

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report
Sacha, 22:03 Oct 30, 2008

my fave Obama moment today was the man having a giggle with Jon Stewart.
Sigh. They're both so wasted on the americans.

Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report
Danielle, 22:23 Oct 30, 2008

They're both so wasted on the americans.
Ah, jeez. Do I have to do my patented 'Harumph! 300 million people!' rant again? No one wants that. :)

Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report
Paul Campbell, 22:45 Oct 30, 2008

don't forget to vote:

"it's the only legal way to cancel out your neighbours ...."

Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report
giovanni tiso, 23:08 Oct 30, 2008

Ah, jeez. Do I have to do my patented 'Harumph! 300 million people!' rant again? No one wants that. :)
I lost my copy, actually - you wouldn't do an encore for the fans?
Just watched Obama on the DS. Christ he's aged! He looks ten years older than the last time he was on.

Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report
Susan Snowdon, 23:24 Oct 30, 2008

Just watched Obama on the DS. Christ he's aged! He looks ten years older than the last time he was on.
He must be pretty tired. Did you hear him say he was off to an 11 pm rally? Long days...

Since Mar 2008 • 110 posts Report
WH, 08:39 Oct 31, 2008

Perhaps one of the problems is that New Zealand media are reporting on international events that will have diverse national and regional impacts. The (US) economic problems being profiled in Obama's 30 minute ad buy are not simply products of doomsaying and media negativity. New Zealanders face a different mix of challenges.
There has been concern expressed by serious people about the short and medium term macroeconomic outlook. People are right to change their behaviour (especially their borrowing patterns) in response to the recent volatility and the uncertainties being expressed about the future.
Maybe the media could do a better job of communicating what the effect on 'ordinary' people is likely to be. People like to plan for the future rather than assume optimistic or anxious postures just for the fun of it.

Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, 09:06 Oct 31, 2008

Just watched Obama on the DS. Christ he's aged! He looks ten years older than the last time he was on.
I said back during the primaries that if anything is guaranteed to turn your into a babbling, malnourished chronically sleep-deprived zombie stand for President of the United States. After eight years, I still remember a CNN story about the last day of the campaign. I sincerely couldn't understand a word either Bush or Gore were saying, and they looked sick.

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 10:54 Oct 31, 2008

I said back during the primaries that if anything is guaranteed to turn your into a babbling, malnourished chronically sleep-deprived zombie stand for President of the United States.
In some ways it's amazing that McCain has made it through alive. And given that Dubbyah's known as a POTUS who likes to be in bed by 10 (as contrasted with Clinton's midnight oil), the campaign trail must've been utterly brutal for him.
Be interesting to see what kind of work habits come into the next White House. Clinton was known for working into the small hours but then not starting until 9, whereas Bush-the-Second is in bed early but gets his national security briefing around 7.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Sacha, 11:44 Oct 31, 2008

Harumph! 300 million people!
Quality, not quantity. :)

Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report
Sacha, 11:46 Oct 31, 2008

Maybe the media could do a better job of communicating what the effect on 'ordinary' people is likely to be
Totally agree, and the pollies too. You'd expect better during our own election campaign, unless they really don't know either.

Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report
Danielle, 11:53 Oct 31, 2008

Quality, not quantity. :)
Yeah, but *they're* about to elect this groundbreaking historically significant dude, and *we're* about to elect... John Key. Quality control: EPIC FAIL. :)

Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report