QOTD: the scourge of conspiracy theories

“You’d think today’s technological ubiquity would eradicate the scourge of conspiracy theories,” he said. “But it appears they’re spreading.” When people are unhappy, they suspend disbelief. And people are in a conspiracy kind of mood today. “How can Trump say, ‘You literally saw me admit I sexually assault women, but it really isn’t true and it’s actually a cabal?” One-third of America believes that. “The greatest manifestation of this phenomenon is Brexit.” As if a withdrawal from the EU would magically solve Britain’s problems. “It’s a lie.”

“People who are miserable enough will believe any story that promises to improve their lives,” he continued. “And the remarkable thing today is that everyone is miserable; billionaires, millionaires, the middle, the poor.” The scapegoats are quite naturally bankers. They always are. To make it worse, today’s central bankers missed the crisis, then missed their own forecasts, and still fail to meet their objectives. “We need to figure this out, because two world wars started over conspiracy theories. And things aren’t even bad right now.”