Let's Appreciate The Great Entertainment
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Jan 22, 2026 Explore how Reagan's merging of television, consumerism, and politics shaped American culture. Delve into the Great Moderation's legacy and the ongoing impacts of financialization. Discover the tension between AI optimism and populism's economic challenges. Kyla points out that U.S. politics now resemble reality TV, where spectacle often overshadows governance. As trust in institutions falters, solutions to rebuild rely on honest assessments and a focus on the real economy.
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Birth Of The Consumer Republic
- The postwar fusion of media, consumerism, and corporate capitalism created the "consumer republic" that shaped policy and culture.
- Reagan's GE Theater helped normalize mass consumption and linked prosperity to corporate-led technological progress.
Stability Seeds Future Instability
- The Great Moderation bought stability via transparent central banking, globalization, and rising asset prices.
- But Hyman Minsky warned that long stability breeds complacency that ultimately ignites bigger crises.
Post-2008 Financialization And Political Spectacle
- The 2008 shock shifted Fed priorities to stoke inflation and asset prices, reinforcing financialization.
- Fukuyama's optimism faded as political spectacle filled the void left by diminishing ideological struggle.
