Marshall McLuhan’s famous dictum (Does anybody notice that the 3M’s: McLuhan, Moore and Metcalfe are all important in tech?) still rings true today. So many people are coming out with post-mortem on the current recession. Sub-prime over booking and clever repackaging/marketing of securitization are often mentioned. But so far, I haven’t come across a piece that devotes to the speed and ease with which foreign buyers can access these AAA-rated financial packages. It’s the bandwidth stupid! The (over) build-out during the dot.com era paved the information superhighway and made possible the global marketing of “sure-thing” loan packages.
There you have it! If we had to wait for the steam ships to come (as in the old days) we would have still be standing at the dock to wait for the loan doc arrival (pre-Fedex era).
The speed of transmission was faster than human ability to cope. And herd instinct takes over (Ponzi) . Anyway, that which doesn’t kill us makes us strong. Hopefully, via the same medium (broadband) and its speed, investors can in the same vein pull us out of the bear market just as quick. Bigger hose fills the tank quicker, and things will float. You got to love the medium. It’s neither good nor evil. It just happens to be the “message” .
Thang Nguyen 555 