Fear Pays

"As long as there is fear in the world the U.S.A. will prosper .The greater the fear, the more the U.S will prosper."

Told to me about 40 years ago by a very bright friend of mine recently out of grad school at Columbia by way of Stanford. He explained further. "When things get shaky, people want to put their money behind the thickest walls. The thickest walls in the world are around the United States. People will put their money here to avoid losing it. They won't be concerned about maximizing their earnings. We get richer, the rest of the world gets poorer. All we have to do is make sure the rest of the world stays scared."

I had never thought about it, but it made perfect sense immediately. The protection racket. Second oldest profession in the world. "Give us money or, you know, something might happen to your store." Or your kids, or your wife, or your wealth. "No,no. We aren't putting a gun to your head. We're putting a gun to the bad guy's head. Because if we don't, HE will put a gun to your head."