The Problem of Overspecialization

Most people with exotic financial degrees know their small segment but might not know other segments or even how all those segments interact with the rest of the worlds financial community. Because of globalization literally everything affects everything.

For example, when the dollar drops, oil and food commodities prices rise because people around the world are looking for safe havens for their money in volatile times. But what happens when the U.S. prints more money to compensate the problems occurring here in America right now? The dollar drops. Then people pay more for gas and food and more people starve around the world. Recently, Russia invaded Georgia and called it their 9-11. Whether that was propaganda or not their stock market dove 52% as a result as foreign investors dove out of the Russian stock market thinking a new Cold War had begun.

Most people agree that a new Cold War has not begun but things have definitely changed. Tonight during the Presidential debates commentators were saying that only Washington, Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt have faced comparable bad times to what the next president will face economically.

Each culture and civilization affects every other civilization. Because of this and globalization we live in a de facto one world community where everything affects everything else to a really alarming degree.

However, then the next question becomes: Is the glass half full or half empty? If you say it is half empty you might panic and financially and or physically self destruct in these times.

But if you think the glass is half full then you might say: There are no problems only opportunities! With this attitude one moves past panic and back toward functionality and pragmatism which tend to lead toward survival of oneself and ones family.

Then one begins to view all this as a series of opportunities for all people and all nations and all businesses and all families and all churches and religions and organizations to learn to work together for their mutual survival and the survival of all their members worldwide.

This is how I view these times: You can either choose to self destruct or you can choose to survive. There really isn't another choice.