The old Clinton campaign adage, quoted by hack writers as often as wedding band guitar players mangle Chuck Berry riffs, goes like this: it’s the economy, stupid.
It’s obnoxious, off-putting and smug. (How dare you call me stupid. You don’t even know me!) And it’s also wrong. It should read like this: the economy is stupidity. It’s about stupid things sold in stupid ways by stupid people to other stupid people.
Capitalism’s success, at every level, is dependent on someone else’s stupid decision.
A property owner sells a plot of land on the bet that someone will be stupid enough to buy it. A property developer builds it up because they bet that someone will be stupid enough to want to operate a business in it. The business owner is betting that someone is going to be stupid enough to spend money on their product. That person is hoping that someone is stupid enough to let them stay at their job.
