What Makes Us Tick. (12min.)

[LargoWinch]

This short film was produced by the NYSE in 1952 and represents an Utopian view of the stock market. In other words, this can be considered propaganda from the NYSE.

As one sharp viewer commented, the fact that "...but only those [firms] which can pass a thorough examination as to their financial health are accepted." (see at 6:06) is laughable at best.

Runtime: 12min.

[plinko]

Re: What Makes Us Tick. (12min.)

mmm, liquidity for all!

[Chris Coles]

Re: What Makes Us Tick. (12min.)

Disregarding the propaganda aspect the film shows us the complete change around from the beginnings of the great prosperity to today.

Now, the local community are not in any way encouraged to invest their local savings into local new businesses; instead, that emphasis is always upon the local savings all going directly into the institutions that trade the funds.

Secondly the small local business owner cannot get at the funding to create the jobs without again having to go to the self same institutions to raise the funds.

Next, return to the film and you will see the institutional structure only acting to complete the transaction of the savers. There is no mention of the institutions themselves making any such transaction.

Today, it is the institutions themselves that make the majority of the transactions and thus also make the majority of the profits from them.

The local savings are not invested into the local community.

The profits from the transactions are not gained by the local savers, but instead act to add profit to the institutions; who might just let a little out back to the savers, after they have taken their - cough! costs!

Think about that.

[santafe2]

Re: What Makes Us Tick. (12min.)

Nice propaganda. It worked well for almost 50 years.

[Chris Coles]

Re: What Makes Us Tick. (12min.)

I am not so sure it was seen as propaganda when made; it was roughly exactly how everyone saw and expected the financial system to work. But what has happened is the system has been permitted to evolve over time into another thing entirely and no one has openly recognised the difficulties caused by the change of direction. Perhaps the best example yet of unintended consequences.

[LargoWinch]

Re: What Makes Us Tick. (12min.)

Disregarding the propaganda aspect the film shows us the complete change around from the beginnings of the great prosperity to today.

Now, the local community are not in any way encouraged to invest their local savings into local new businesses; instead, that emphasis is always upon the local savings all going directly into the institutions that trade the funds.

Secondly the small local business owner cannot get at the funding to create the jobs without again having to go to the self same institutions to raise the funds.

Next, return to the film and you will see the institutional structure only acting to complete the transaction of the savers. There is no mention of the institutions themselves making any such transaction.

Today, it is the institutions themselves that make the majority of the transactions and thus also make the majority of the profits from them.

The local savings are not invested into the local community.

The profits from the transactions are not gained by the local savers, but instead act to add profit to the institutions; who might just let a little out back to the savers, after they have taken their - cough! costs!

Think about that.

Chris, you are right; thanks for pointing out the absence of any financial intermediaries in the film. As such, the correct term to define this clip is "utopia" not propaganda.

It is sometimes hard for investors who know only the 90s and 2000s to believe that such a film could be anything but propaganda.

Those must have been nice days, with honest markets and a strong growing middle class.

[Chris Coles]

Re: What Makes Us Tick. (12min.)

Chris, you are right; thanks for pointing out the absence of any financial intermediaries in the film. As such, the correct term to define this clip is "utopia" not propaganda.

It is sometimes hard for investors who know only the 90s and 2000s to believe that such a film could be anything but propaganda.

Those must have been nice days, with honest markets and a strong growing middle class.

Largo, in our family archive from when, during the mid 1800,s when my grandfather was a Jobber on the London exchange; we have simple hand written notes, just a few lines on a small piece of notepaper with no corporate heading, just an address, giving, or taking instructions. All done on honour and strict ethics. You asked for something and a quick note and a handshake was all that was needed. None of these notes relate to any form of institution other than the Stock Exchange itself.

What has become the norm today is complete madness with no relationship to the real world of local community job creation. Madness.