To the estate of Ernesto “Che” Guevara,
I represent the Association of Dictators, Warlords and Other Mass Murderers of America (heretofore refferred to as “ADWOMMA”) and would like to license the likeness for Ernesto “Che” Guevara (hereby referred to as “Murderer”) for exclusive use on a series of highly original fashion items such as t-shirts, baseball hats, headbands and hoodies.
While we do not expect these items to remain on the market for longer than a season considering the inherent contradiction between Murderer’s philosophical convictions and those of our prospective clients we reserve the right to extend our usage and reproduction rights in perpetuity based on the market reaction to our product.
Murderer’s likeness will be plastered on as many of ADWOMMA’s products as possible. We wish to use the “rebellious” and “anti-establishment” notions associated with Murderer’s face and name (which, in fact, may be used on the products) while hoping our customers will remain blissfully ignorant of all the pain and suffering Murderer has caused (to his credit) on generations of compatriots.
Although Murderer may have objected to our proceedings during his lifetime since we recall he didn’t acknowledge the existence of “private property”, the usage we will make of his likeness will be of a commercial nature. We intend to produce items including but not limited to the ones described and proceed to resell licenses to these products to other manufacturers around the world in the (unlikely) event that they become profitable.
As compensation, we offer to pretend the values of Murderer still have any relevance in our modern (i.e. non-barbaric) society. We considered offering monies but ultimately decided against it with the understanding that such a proposition would be an insult to Murderer’s memory and legacy.
Very sincerely,
Olivier Lacan
sales@adwomma.org
PS: written for an intellectual property and law class I was taking yesterday.
Posted in Serious Stuff | No Comments »Mar 5 2010
First off, let me assert the fact that I’m not a bitter person. I’ve had my share of DSL issues in Paris (France) with an ISP (NOOS, now Numericable) which makes Comcast look like a gentle baby seal in comparison. A connection problem on NOOS meant 0.5kb/s download speed for a month with no other solution than waiting for them to repair the network node. And of course, no compensation offered for the absence of service during a month.
That, was ISP hell.
Comcast, most of the time is only a mediocre ISP. Their website is less unbelievably messy (information architecture being the key issue) than BrightHouse’s but still remains a crying shame for a company that is one of the key players on the internet. As one of my friends recently put it when I had a conversation with him about ISP having confusing websites: “You wouldn’t be on the Internet if it weren’t from them, and they can’t even get it right.”
Precisely. If you excuse the web designer lingo, Comcast’s home page sports a hybrid design with nested table elements and nasty spell of DIVitis. It doesn’t even come close to validate against the W3C standards (254 Errors, 8 warnings). Let’s not even talk about accessibility, why would the handicapped need the internet?
But let’s leave that alone, and just imagine that your modem has a connectivity issue. In my case, slow speeds (100kb/s tops) and recurring disconnections for no apparent reason. No major download, no ongoing bit torrent activity. Now push that scenario a little further: boom, no more connection. Modem dead. How do you reach support? Well you call them. Assuming you had the number jotted down somewhere. Which I guess is what you do when you’ve been a Comcast user a long time — I haven’t.
So using whatever way you can — shouting in the street, going geek-hunting or… stealing your neighbor’s wifi — you figure out the number is 1–800-COMCAST or 1–800-266‑2278. You proceed to call.
- Hello this is Michael Jordan.
– And this is Ben Stein, welcome to Comcast!
What. the. fuck?!
Yes I understand the need to associate your company with likable public figure to appease your customers and bring them warm and fuzzy recolections of Michael Jordan dunking a ball after an very improbably long jump. But Ben Stein? Really?! This anti-science creationist loon? Well sure, if polarizing your customers with random unrelated celebrities is how you like to set them up for customer support.
After a few minutes of navigating the hotline’s menus I finally find the one dedicated to technical support for an internet line (isn’t it your number 1 support issue? Why isn’t that the first thing the customer is offered?). I press whatever button I was asked to press to be put on hold until the next available representative.
Except that, apparently, between the hundreds — I hope thousands — of customer support people Comcast has on its payroll there is simply not a single one that will be able to answer my call right now. None? Really? Do you just mean the waiting time is so long, that the system was designed to become self-conscious after more than 20 minutes of wait become necessary?
Of course I’ve seen this before, in France the very relaxed voice usually tells you that this is due to the high volume of calls and that a safe bet is to try again later on in the day, just in case the waiting line isn’t so embarrassing anymore. What if the customer doesn’t want to call again? What if this is a work-related emergency from someone who works at home on the internet and has a deadline?
In disbelief, I try to call again, same answer. After a few fuming minutes, I decide to go back to Comcast’s dreaded home page and look for internet chat support. I’ve tried it a couple of times on other services and one clear advantage is the lack of uplifting waiting music. And for transparency’s sake, here’s what happened next. Let me be clear, you shouldn’t read this, as much as I shouldn’t have had to read it being slowly typed into my browser. But if you do read it, consider the time my “support experience” took.
LiveAssist Transcript
[Print] Print [Copy] Copy [Email] Email [Close] Close
chat id : 3c8408a9-255d-48e5-83a5-3cba34fd5f59
Problem : Slow connection, constant disconnections on the comcast modem. Not a router problem, was test with 2 different routers with same results
Olivier > Slow connection, constant disconnections on the comcast modem. Not a router problem, was test with 2 different routers with same results
Loren > Hello Olivier, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Loren. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Loren > Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst
Gregory > Hello Olivier, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Gregory. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Olivier > Hello
Gregory > How’s it going today Olivier?
Olivier > Could be better
Olivier > I’d like to know if there are known network issues in my area or if my modem could be at cause
Olivier > Comcast plan is under my landlord’s name, [redacted]
Olivier > Her phone is [redacted]
Gregory > Just one moment please.
Olivier > sure
Olivier > Hello?
Gregory > I can help you with that, can you hold for one moment while I process your information?
Gregory > Trying to pull up your account information.
Olivier > ok
Gregory > Let me run a health check on your modem for you.
Olivier > Ok
Olivier > just so you know, I’m connected to my neighbor’s wifi right now
Gregory > I see what the issue is Olivier.
Gregory > Let me get you directed to the correct department.
Olivier > and the issue would be?
Gregory > Just one moment please.
Gregory > Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst
Olivier > alright
Andres > I am more than glad to assist you today with your order. It will take me just a few minutes to pull up your account in our ystem. I will let you know if I have any questions.
Olivier > Andres, here’s hoping you’ll be more talkative than Gregory
Andres > How are you today Mr.Lacan?
Olivier > I could be better.
Olivier > How are you?
Andres > How are you today Mr.Lacan?
Andres > I am doing great! Thank you for asking me! Sure I will assit you today Mr.Lacan.
Olivier > Ok
Olivier > Gregory apparently found what was the issue with my modem. At least that’s what I gather
Olivier > Could you please enlighten me?
Andres > So you are having problems with your internet Mr.Lacan?
Olivier > yes
Olivier > disconnections, regularly. Slow speed, for a few days/weeks now.
Olivier > The web being my work, it’s crippling.
Andres > Mr.Lacan I apologize for the inconvenient but my area is not troubleshooting. I recommend you to call to 1–800-Comcast and they will put you with a technician and he will help you.
Olivier > I did
Olivier > And they redirected me to Comcast.net
Olivier > which is not a support site.
Olivier > The phone number is apparently overloaded. So I suggest you maybe do what two of your colleagues did before you: transfer me to someone who can (hopefully) chat and troubleshoot.
Andres > Ok Mr.Lacan I will transfer you to another agent. I apologize for the inconvenient.
Olivier > Thank you
Andres > Have a nice day.
Andres > Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst
Michael > hello
Olivier > Michael! So glad to meet you.
Olivier > Do you do troubleshooting?
Michael > Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst
June > ikThank you for visiting Comcast.com. What questions can I answer for you?
Olivier > Hello, June.
Olivier > Can you troubleshoot?
Olivier > Or do I need to be introduced to my fifth analyst?
June > I do apologize, Olivier.
Olivier > Thank you.
June > As what I read in the previous chat transcript, your issue is regarding your modem.
June > Is that correct?
Olivier > Yes.
June > Thank you for verifying.
June > You have been routed to a Sales department.
Olivier > Ah.
June > Let me connect you to our technical department.
June > Will this be fine with you?
Olivier > That’d be great.
June > Thank you for understanding.
Olivier > All I can do.
June > Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst
Susana > I am pleased to assist you today, how are you?
Olivier > I’m doing somewhat less good than 5 analysts ago. But thank you, how are you?
Susana > I definitely understand how inconvenient it must be in your part. Let me do everything to get this issue resolved for you within this chat smile
Susana > I am doing great.
Susana > Since when did this issue happen, Olivier?
Olivier > I’d say a few days if not weeks.
Olivier > But it did happen before.
Susana > Are the wirings secure and is everything plugged correctly?
Olivier > Yes, ethernet cables have been checked.
Olivier > And I’ve used two different routers to test the WiFi reception/Ethernet routing
Olivier > The coax cable going to the modem is also secure.
Susana > I will now run a series of diagnostics to check on the status of your connection and devices from my end.
Olivier > Ok.
Olivier > Oops, clicked the wrong button.
Olivier > Can you still see me?
Susana > Yes I can still see you
Olivier > Ok.
Susana > There indeed is a slight problem detected with your connection. However, do not worry as this is nothing that I cannot fix remotely on my end. Can you please hold for a few minutes while I perform the necessary troubleshooting steps from my end?
Olivier > Of course.
Susana > Thank you for your patience.
Susana > Done. Now let me run a final health check to validate that the signals have improved before we end the session.
Olivier > Great.
Olivier > Was it a firmware problen on the modem end?
Olivier > In case you didn’t see my message: Was it a firmware problen on the modem end?
Susana > Firmware problems only occur with routers, Olivier.
Susana > The reason for this is just a system glitch from our end. However it is now improved.
Olivier > Ok, great.
Susana > Great news, I just retrieved the results of the final health check and it is showing that the connection has improved with a more stable and higher speed. All signals are in green, the system has been refreshed and properly configured.
Susana > Now all you need for the changes to fully take effect on your end is to powercycle your modem correctly as outlined on this link: http://lite.help.comcast.net/content/faq/guid/e1b0fbaa-ebee-4553-a55d-d529dab07e09#power
Olivier > Thank you for your help.
Susana > You’re welcome. I can’t be more glad knowing that your satisfaction is guaranteed.
Susana > Is there anything else that I can resolve for you aside from this?
Olivier > Who should I contact if anything similar happens?
Susana > Since you are now online, you may want to watch videos for free as a comcast subscriber at www.fancast.com.
Susana > Please contact your local office at 1800 266 2278 for a modem replacement if same issue occurs.
Susana > However I doubt that.
Olivier > Ok,
Susana > It should be good to go
Olivier > Thanks again.
Susana > After this chat session, there may be a quick 3-question survey that will pop up. It would really mean a lot to me if you consider this issue resolved. Are you okay with that?
Olivier > A suggestion
Olivier > Yes, the issue seems resolved so far 
Olivier > Quick suggestion, if it matters. Whoever created this chat system might want to have the lines wrapping inside the window, so users don’t need to scroll horizontally every time the analyst says something to see it.
Susana > It is, I assure you
Susana > Thank you very much for the suggestion. I will make sure it is passed
Susana > smile
Olivier > Good.
Susana > Thank you very much Olivier, please click on the END SESSION button to answer the survey as the issue has been resolved smile
Olivier > Good night.
Olivier > Alright, thanks for being the most efficient person I met today.
Susana > Analyst has closed chat and left the room
As you can see I jumped a line in the transcript every time I was “escalated” to another “analyst”. Five times, 5, Cinq, or rather five fucking times where it wasn’t the analysts but I who had to eventually figure out if they were the competent person to solve my problem despite them already having read a transcript of my problem description. Or maybe this is part of the problem, maybe being “escalated” simply means that whatever analyst came before simply dumped me onto a new one with little to no information about my issue. That would certainly explain the few minutes of niceties before they realized that — oh, wait — the couldn’t help me. But they sure all stuck to the script when it came to the niceties.
A little question for their managers. Would you rather someone be courteous and waste 5 minutes of your time in a slow internet chat back and forth and this for 5 consecutive instances, or would you perhaps like to get on with the fucking problem already and assume I am not having a great day, or else why would anyone spend it talking to customer support?
So, skip the “How are you?”, and don’t dare tell me “How can I help you?” after I described it at length with:
– your online support chat form
– the first “analyst“
– the second “analyst“
– the third “analyst“
– and the fourth “analyst”
“Nice to meet your Mr. Smith, I am looking into the cause of the problem you described to us and will come back to you shortly with more information”.
Take it, it’s free. That’s all you need. That’s how you engage a customer by making him understand that whatever action he first took to describe his problem properly in the hopes of making his support’s job easier wasn’t completly wasted. Additionally it sets him up for the unavoidable wait while a technician (not an analyst, analysts work at the CIA, or on Wall Street) runs a series of tests (physical or logical) to narrow down the cause of the problem. Of the five people the people I talked to, only two (June and Susana) referred to my previous chats and seemed to at least have glanced over my previous descriptions of my problem.
By reading the ending of my discussion with the very nice Susana, you would assume that my problem was thoroughly resolved, right?
Nope. After careful testing — which I couldn’t do or didn’t think to do after I was told that everything was “green” — I realized that my bandwidth was still nowhere close to the 6mpbs I could reach only two weeks prior. And my very strange download speed continued.
It would go up to 300kb/s then sharply drop to 150, and finally oscillate between 80kb/s and 110kb/s.
So I called again, this time I scored someone on the phone. Lucky me!
I had a friend’s DOCSIS 2.0 Motorola modem with me to test and see if the problem wasn’t related to the rental Comcast modem. After a few long minutes of tweeking, the Motorala modem was functioning properly, with no a drop more bandwidth. The problem was evidently network related.
Still the person I talked to on the phone insisted it might be due to the house’s wiring. So she asked me if I would like to have a technician come by and check the house. I was reluctant, since it was Friday, and it would surely mean sometime during the week, when I’m usually very busy. But to my surprise, she offered Sunday, between 4 and 7pm. I was amazed, you could never dig out a technician on a Sunday in France. No they would rather work during the normal week, when people are at work and can’t answer the door. Or better yet, have them take half a day off — so that it fits the Internet technician’s schedule.
The man was very nice, he checked the modem, saw my friend’s Motorola and told me it was much better than the default one and that a DOCSIS 3.0 wouldn’t make much of a difference now, but that the new faster speed was being rolled out soon enough. Less than a year he made it sound like. Then he checked the coaxial lines inside the house and found some noise on the upstream. He seemed to have an eureka moment about this, but I could hardly see why a slight loss of upstream could be causing a 80% loss of bandwidth. He went to the attic and fixed the upstream noise issue. Which made me very hopeful. We tested the bandwidth: no change. He went outside to the check the connection with the node, and came back empty handed. He told me he would have a colleague come by the next day to check the network in the area.
This was the last I heard of Comcast.
Today I subscribed to AT&T’s U-verse. Not because it’s cheaper: it isn’t. On the contrary AT&T is far too expensive. The equivalent of the complete U-verse bundle (Freebox) retails in France at $45 per month, with the highest speed by default. I chose them simply because their website is organized, offers actual information about the services provided and most of all, because their bandwidth policies aren’t reminscent of the late 1990’s.
Of course the comparison is unfair, I haven’t yet had any support issues with AT&T, but that shouldn’t be Comcast’s problem. What should be Comcast’s problem, and what will be its downfall in the following months, is that a competitor as expensive as AT&T could compare so favorably.
To the Comcast executive who will in the following month struggle to understand the massive loss in customers they will likey suffer, I can only point to Jeff Jarvis’ excellent book “What Would Google Do”. The title is deceiving, it’s not just about Google. In it lies the answer to why the likes of AOL and Yahoo faded away in favor of companies who didn’t try to provide content — which is funny since Comcast is apparently trying to acquire Disney as an attempt not to be seen as a “dumb tube” — but instead good service to as many customers as possible for the lowest margin possible.
If that still doesn’t convince you, look up Free’s success story. The French ISP who started as a free alternative to France’s national operator France Telecom before leading the way in the DSL revolution and changing the way telecoms work in the country. Which lead to France becoming one of the best and most competitive Internet markets in the world, canceling a 10-year lag in national Internet usage.
Posted in Serious Stuff | No Comments »Nov 22 2009
Today I had four hours of sleep, forgot my laptop’s charger in class, had a car accident and lost my house keys. Yet, I’m happy and I even have a smile on my face.
Why? People.
I didn’t have a lot of sleep and came in class sleepy headed enough that I almost fell asleep during an interesting (for me) lecture on HTML forms. But after half a bottle of Moutain Dew and some micro napping I finally woke up to the part where my instructor was explaining the <fieldset> and <optgroup> HTML tags. Most people wouldn’t care or even know what those even mean but put it simply I always wondered how people achieved a certain look and feel in their online forms and thought it was through complicated styling. Nope, they just read and followed the rules, and then simply embellished the result. That little knowledge made me happy, because I knew I could count on it later and that it would serve me well.
Later on during lunch I overheard a voice that I recognized as the eloquent George’s. George is a smart fellow I met randomly while while discussing Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds right after the movie with a group of friend. He was one of the friends of that group of friends. And we started talking about stuff. If you’re a little bit like me you probably recognize a certain type of people that — while they might not agree with you on every subject — apply the same critical standards to a lot of things they are interested or passionate about. For George, it was movies (in that case) and Video Games (if you like the topic, check out his interesting blog about games, ideas and stuff) and you could see right away that he too was a stone turner. A little metaphor that just came to my mind for people with little to no taboo topics, who like to talk about stuff when others just give up because things are the way they are. We just talked a little bit before going back to our respective groups, and I almost forgot (because of what happened later, oooh foreshadowing!) that I told him I’d try to get people together to go see Where The Wild Things Are.
The rest of the class (lab) was uneventful enough, I made plans for the evening and got a call from a friend that prompted me to leave early to go back to East Orlando. But he gave me a raincheck so I eventually sat down and got some work done outside before leaving in much less of a hurry.
I took University Boulevard eastbound which is about the only direction you can take from Full Sail and drove down while listening to This Week In Tech (recommended to anyone interested in Web/Tech news). I remember thinking once again that this 9am to 5pm schedule really doesn’t suit me it follows precisely the heaviest traffic possible in Orlando (a walk in the park compared to the lightest traffic in Paris, but still). Then I remembered that I needed gas, I had noticed my gauge was almost all the way down the night before but thought there was no rush. There was also a lot of traffic on the left turning lane when I passed the Race Track gas station on Alafaya Trail, so I thought it would be for the best.
So instead of following the calmer, less dense middle lane of Alafaya Tr southbound, I took the left lane shortly after the University Bld, intersection. The topic at hand on TWIT was a lawsuit involving YouTube (Google) and Viacom. I remember that the discussion started to be very interesting when the existence of internal emails proving that YouTube knew about copyright infringement (and didn’t care) was discovered.
Then I saw a car slow down in front of me, I slowed down. But the car slowed down more sharply still. And I had to slam on the breaks pretty hard. It sometimes happens in such a traffic, especially when many people turn at the same spot. I checked my rearview mirror. The guy behind me was close, but managed to stop in time too. A little closer to me than I was to the car in front of me (about 2 or 3 meters). Then I heard a screeching tire sound. A slight rain had just started, so I thought it might be my own tires going to a full stop somehow. I know automatic cars do that sometimes. And even though it’s usually when starting the car or turning, the thought made sense to me at that instant.
One instant later, I realized that it didn’t quite made sense after all. And I was pushed forward.
I saw the rear bumper of the car in front of me get closer and bounce. I think I said something like “Oh, come on!”. I had my foot firmly on the brakes, but I think I remember the pedal reacting a little bit before the car stopped moving again. I check my mirror to see if any cars were planning on joining the party. It seemed safe enough. I got out, and saw that the man in front of me had already gone out of his car. He looked fine, I was relieved and then turned around to check on the guy behind me. He wasn’t straight behind me, but at an angle. And that angle caused damage. The hood of his car (a Lexus) had sunk below the rear bumper of mine (a higher set Nissan Rogue). The guy seemed a little buzzed so I asked him on a grave tone of voice if he was OK. He read the gravity and gave me a firm positive answer. Then I saw the last car. The shock had been straight on for that one. The front of the hood was bent at an almost 45 degree angle. But not high enough that I couldn’t make out the driver. It was a young woman. Again I wanted to make sure she was OK and started walking in her direction. Then I saw that she was sobbing. I wondered for half a second (yes, I counted) but quickly realized it was simply emotional distress. She either realized she was in trouble or she simply got really, really scared. From the screeching rubber, she must have been driving a little faster than all of us, and the shock must have been that much scarier.
I won’t put too much detail into what happened next (because it’s late, and I have another long day tomorrow), but let me simply say that it proves my point. The three people in the front of the accident (including me) quickly started talking and defusing the situation together. One of them was a little tense because he didn’t have his license on him (he also suffered the most visible damage on his car). And most of all, everyone was relieved that no one was hurt. I talked with the man that was in front of me (who’s car was luckily still in working condition) for probably more than an hour, called a few friends to explain the situation and let them know everything was OK and ask for some advice for the insurance and general procedures since it was after all my first car accident ever. Not including a minor bump, interestingly also in Florida, in Cocoa Beach. A woman who was concentrating very hardly on her lap thought she felt the light turn green and decided to bumb the back of my car, but not a scratch — doesn’t count. We all waited a bit, none of us exactly sure what to do first. Eventually someone called his insurance, I called 911 to report the accident, have a dispatch sent in and explain the basic situation. The patrol car that came over took a little while but she was simply here to protect us from traffic and see if everyone was indeeed OK.
She was very nice and gave us as much information as she could and asked for a Florida Highway Patrol car to be sent with an officer who could properly block traffic, write an incident report, take depositions and have the undrivable cars towed away (mine, the one behind me and the young woman who remained in tears for what seemed like 30 minutes while calling her family or friends I assume. She then eventually came to see us to introduce herself. She was shaking and it reminded me that for the first 5 to 10 minutes, even though I wasn’t scared at all, my legs were also shaking. Simple chemical reaction to a dangerous situation I suppose. She shook our hands I think and having jotted down the two other drivers’ info on my iPhone, I asked her if I could have her number. She gave was obviously very sorry and gave it to me, then tried to spell her name and ended up simply handing me her driver’s license.
I felt bad for her at that point. It would have been rude to point it out to her, but the two other drivers’ version of the events converged with mine in the conclusion that she was clearly the physical cause of the accident. Morally, it’s hard to blame her, because in her situation, I have no idea whether I could have stopped in time or not. But still, the officer cited her for Careless Driving. What it means for the rest of us is that all of our insurances will ask to be compensated be her insurance, which should take care of it. But it probably means much higher insurance fees for her, and doesn’t exclude a raise in ours as well. I sort of understand the economic reason for this, but I don’t see the sense in an insurance company that receives regular payments, sees the insured are not in the wrong (i.e. were victims) but still raises the prices (as I was told, I have no knowledge on the subject). As a consumer, I would never agree to such a policy, but it probably implies lower recurring fees upfront, which would explain why most people choose such policies (they see the short term gain, as human beings are evolutionarily advantaged to).
The rest of the night included waiting about an hour more for the officer to complete his report and the tow trucks to arrive (almost in perfect synchronicity). Then I walked to a gas station to get a refreshing Sweet Tea, glad to be OK and that everyone else also was, and hoping (from what transpired) that the owner of my car (that I rent) wouldn’t have to suffer the cost of this accident too much. I was picked up from the gas station and realized when I arrived home that I had of course given my car keys to the tow truck man. And for many (usually) good reasons I always keep my car keys attached to my house keys. I eventually had to do one more stop before one of my roomates could pick me up. And after some trial-and-error, I managed to reach someone at the insurance company. Quite simply the nicest telephone rep I’ve ever talked with. I understand it’s her job to provide a good customer experience, especially in these situations, but she played a large role into how good this day eventually turned back to. There is still material uncertainty ahead and complications — biggest of which is the lack of car for a while, but I was told I was probably entitled to a loaner car paid by the person responsible for the crash — but what I get out of it is that this day finished on a higher note than it started on.
And really, what else can you ask for?
PS: I feel I haven’t driven my point to the ground yet. I like people for what they are, what they think, how they think (be it good or bad), what they look like, what they feel, what they make me feel. I like them for who they are, not for what I wished them to be. I like them because they’re complex and so extremely simple to understand. I like them because they’re all like me, in a very different way.
Posted in Serious Stuff | No Comments »Oct 14 2009
If you’re an old economics major like me or have a general interest in how stuff works you probably have a general understanding of how a Market with a big “M” functions. That doesn’t mean you understood a single thing about the Subprime collapse or why printing money is bad, why people sometimes choose to default on their mortgage or why banks took such amazing risks.
All those tedious little questions most people toss aside when they decide to rant with one another about those evil Wall Street people and those silly homeowners who didn’t think twice about buying a house they couldn’t possibly afford.
If you only read one book about this whole ordeal, it should be Johan Norberg’s. Let me warn you from the start, Norberg is — like me — a libertarian. One of those insane people who like to step back from the rhetoric and actually look at the impact that both the Left and the Right had on the things they so nobly tried to “Change” with “Hope” or “God”.
Despite his clear point of view on the matter, Norberg spends half of his book without even bothering to give his opinion. A rare fact, that when telling a story so enraging as this one, feels like a breath of fresh air. The main timeframe of the book from the 1980’s to 2008, without any clear linear storytelling. We jump back and forth following the cause and the effect of one inane underthought policy after another. It’s frustrating, it’s annoying, it’s exactly what we usually don’t see about political interventionism: the results.
You can find it on Amazon for around $15.
Posted in Serious Stuff | No Comments »Sep 8 2009
