Discussion That moment when you learn more in a 30 minutes video than your high school

Guys, I want to share this economics video to you because of how important it is to know about it.
It is funny to see that a 30 minutes video actually makes me know more than an entire year of high school book. That's insane. Props to Ray Dalio to making this masterpiece!

Especially since we're in the middle of 'Depression' and 'Deleveraging' ourselves !
It will make you feel more confident to understand more what happened to our economy and what the government is trying to do!

Can't believe that I've never truly understand how the majority of our economy is formed on credit until this video. And I'm from an economic major ;-;
I'm a failure.


Btw, here's the vid:


Gimme feedback after you watch the vid >.>

 

Economics just makes my mind go BOOM

 

Pretty simple, people trade things of equivolent value. Money is a fictional equivolent , as in we create it to pay for things that are actually worth something. The whole intent of money is to spend that which you don't have yet, to gain that which you need.
Your whole job doesn't give you anything, it just gives you a certain amount of credit, the better it is, the more likely you are for things for mortgages etc.

Money is pretty much a piece of paper that states I.O.U.
Then through devaluation of existing 'credit' the economy slowly leeches away the time and effort you have spent by making things more expensive.

This old lady i know, housewife. Her husband worked his whole life to build up a pension, the amount got set while the value of it kept lowering. Double income households became the norm so it's basically half a normal income. Husband dies, they pay out only half the money he saved up since it only has to support 1 out of 2 of the partners. Basically worked his whole life so his wife can now get 300$ a month.

 

well I agree that short educational videos will definitely make you feel like you learn a lot more than school, and sometimes, it might be true.

But what videos lack is rigour. Videos focus on some aspects of the subject which can be easily visualized and thus understood intuitively. But to truly understand something, you will need to imbue rigour in it.

The same 30 minute video you saw, a lecturer will take maybe 3 classes. But depending on the quality of the lecturer, this concept will stick for longer in your head.

I learn a lot in videos, but mostly because those topics were somehow taught in class at some stage in my life. Videos can give you knowledge, but if you are lucky, you will get a lecturer who will make you think.

 

While it's not wrong, the video can only act a supplement to explain what's going on right now. What you need to understand is that it doesn't take into account factors such as laws, high-speed computer trading, and outsourced production among other things. All of which need their own 30 minute lesson and are creating a perfect storm with today's economy.

Personally, while the numbers look like we're in a depression, I think it's just an uncontrolled computer trading problem. Now, more than ever, stocks are moving on hype rather than actual company performance creating extremely large swings in numbers.

As long as the curve reverts within the next 2 weeks, we'll basically bounce right back because the depressed numbers wouldn't have lasted long enough to cause any real damage.

 

How did you not know that the economy operates on credit? Isn't that common sense that even children know?

As a wise person once said, baka janai no?

 

Yet, here I am understand how the economy works and know how to calculate it, yet doesn't understand why it works that way.
I'm practically like a mechanic that know how to assemble/disassemble a car because of a blueprint, but doesn't understand why the design exist in such way.
I don't understand why such cars' design exist and why people buy cars with such design, yet I know that a car is a transportation device and there is cheap and expensive type of designs. I have access to the information, yet I don't see the connection at all until I see the video.

That's practically what I felt from that video xd

 

The ideal system is one which integrates both... A lot of University students do this where they do attend classes, but they don't read. One day before the exam, they watch these videos.

Of course, I have a very small sample space but... The efficiency does go up. As for the understanding? I feel it's too soon to tell.

 

No, I know the majority of world's finance works on credits. I'm working as a financial manager myself.
But I don't understand why it happened and why people prefer credits than cash until today xDD

 

When you're a part of the system it's hard to get a outsider's perspective. Things that are taught in schools are a 'strictly need to know' basis to function as a part of society, not to understand or manipulate it to your wishes. Just picture it like in cultivation sects where the best stuff is for inner circles and seniors only, that keep the show running.

Doesn't it feel better to get stuff without having to earn the money to get it first? society revolves around instant-gratification and then getting locked down into doing a job to pay the bills, lol. (while those that manipulate the credit system just skim from the top through loopholes).

 

Videos like this are great to watch. They help give a layman a working understanding of the topic in enough detail that they aren't completely in the dark or can be easily taken advantage of concerning its topic.

But they don't teach aswell as a course or as in depth.

For instance I watch alot of good high level videos on our universe, outer space... etc. But all that gives me is a very good conceptual understanding of the topic. Which is great to have as it can help inform many parts of your life but it is hardly a technical understanding. I know alot about point A and point B, but ask me to get from a to b and frankly I'm fucked. I didn't go to school learning all the equations I needed to be an astrophysicist.

Understand in depth what you wish to focus on and watch informational and trustworthy videos for the rest so you have a basic working knowledge of it. Assuming you have the time ofcourse.

 

Oh yeah, you're right. I rarely talk outside of my own circle. I guess it is one of the few downside to have a limited community.

As someone from the financial world, I can confidently tell you that I would limit credits as much as I could. Only when I have enough cash/liquid to handle the debt, that I would dare to increase the credit. Even if the risk is low or the profit is high, I would still not dare to risk it. I've seen enough victims of such debt ridden people, especially this year, when unemployment is very high.
But again, you're right. I guess it's human nature ;-;

To the point that I don't understand why people did it. It felt stupid from my perspective. And the government sometimes doesn't really understand what they're doing as well.

 

This is likely false. I only skimmed through the slides, but this video only seems to cover the gist of economic patterns. Those are simple. In a proper intro to economics course, most of your time is likely spent on making models, interpreting graphs and drawing your own graphs. In other words, it does not teach you how the economy might behave so much as the tools you would need to make your own conclusions about how the economy will behave. And this includes not just under its current course, but also in reaction to certain policies you hypothesize.

tl;dr this video tells you patterns. A course teaches you the tools to derive the patterns and how it might react under stimulus.

I believe that you understood that one specific concept better from this video. But I do not believe it could substitute for your education as an economics major.

 

It's the same in IT. The government can't compare to the private sector. Also, from your viewpoint it's a good thing that you should focus on liquidity over credit, but from the perspective of a ... bloodsucking... company, you just want to get paid and knowingly entice people to go into credit. Like micro-transactions in games are targeting addictive personalities or how interest on loans is 'free money'.
That is until the whole system crashes and banks go out of business, but then again the ones running the show didn't lose any sleep over that as they left with golden handshakes for millions of 'cash' earned from everyone living on credit and paying it off.

TLDR, it's perspective, you try to be part of the economy, they try to suck it dry.

 

Well, I'll come back to my codes...

 

As someone from an economic major, I agree that this video is too simple and ignored a lot of crucial things. It won't help you much on actually doing anything significant, because it's missing the technical part and too ideal on the external factor. It will only work that way in theory, not in the real world.
That's why I said it's a year worth of high school level economics, not a college level. That's amazing considering it's only a 30 minute video.

and, it has a crucial point that even I as an economic major could learn from, which is amazing. The main point of what I find fascinating is that the economy is complex, but fundamentally is just a simple trade and driven by human nature. Which is completely true.

I often forgot about that because of all the calculation that I need to do and only see at numbers on the statistics and survey. We hardly talk and meet with the actual people to assert the market's condition. Re-balancing my view on economics from complex back to simple. That's an eye opener for me.

 

Economics is a bit like religion, it doesn’t “really” exist (well apart from some rare cases), but people believe in it.

 

The 'credit train' really picked up speed when the world moved from the specie (gold) standard (which put actual, physical and tangible value to currency) due to the 'Nixon Shock' and moved to the fully floating fiat currency system we have today. The system we have today might be a long term house of cards. Find one crucial support pillar, kick it out and you might see the global economy either severely crippled or just obliterated. Good chance the pillar is inflation control and the kick is hyperinflation ala weimar germany or zimbabwe. I guess that might be partly where the great fears of the GFC (and potentially the fears regarding coronavirus) rooted into.

At least, that's my belief as a layman based on a ton of incidental research (during many a random info binge) of economics, currency and such related things.

With full fiat currencies, is it even possible to increase a currency's value with limiting circulation?

Sometimes makes me wonder if the modern banking system is fundamentally broken? Because banks these days seems to chase profit over anything else, including stability, which can lead to collapses like some of the US banks in the GFC.

I'll bet the Medici would be amazed and impressed if they were to see the modern banking system, especially considering their lasting influence on it.

 

I get a video teaching you more than what you learned at HS about a subject that HS doesn't teach you about in the first place, but... More than you learned at college? o.0

I'm confused.

 

hmm high school imo mostly basic thing which usually required to have better understanding for more advance learning that usualy on university~ sure each school may have different focus but that the general thing about it~
as @Viola stated this kind of stuff is good for cat who on layman grade, or to give simple overview hmm it kinda give ya summary of a subject~
it will become different matter if you put video about learning stuff similar to homeschool material hmm study guide? or how to create something