Re: A New Tack
What you are describing is the stock market...pre 1986. If you look at a chart showing GDP and amount of trade in the market between 1935-1985 (29 was of course the bubble pop) you'd see that USA GDP when compared to stocks stayed between 12%-20% for ALL of that time, which includes the biggest boom in American history, the post war manufacturing boom.
But then in 86 you see it shoot up to nearly 30% GDP and every year it has shot ever higher, now its at 430% of GDP and rising...why? Simple before that the only ones in the market were INVESTORS, who did their homework and were in it for the long haul. Reagan when he created the 401K and 403B suddenly flooded the market with money and that money had to go somewhere, where it has gone is to rampant speculation.
This is why America and most of the other stock markets are so focused on trends and gossip, you have too many dollars chasing too little actual value so that true value (such as Dell showed) matters little what matters is the PERCEPTION of value in the form of short term stock bounces.