[DEBATE] : Cost of steroids: $2,800,000,000,000 (yes 11 0's)

[Doug Henwood]

On Oct 28, 2008, at 10:46 AM, Patrick Bond wrote:

> Doug Henwood wrote:
>> I don't recall any postings to this list that totaled up the  
>> "benefits" of steroids. If those benefits weren't really real, then  
>> how exactly are the costs really real? Could someone explain this  
>> asymmetry to me?
>
> Ok, let's get this straight, Doug, because I know you've always been  
> an apologist for New York steroids.

Uh, no, Patrick. My point is that people on the left are much quicker  
to broadcast the total of financial losses than they are to broadcast  
the total of financial gains - the exact opposite of bourgeois  
pundits. Neither approach really sorts out what these big numbers  
really mean, whether they've got plus signs or minus signs before  
them. In either case, it's empty sensationalism. Yes, recession is  
likely, in fact the U.S. is almost certainly already in one and other  
countries are close behind. But how bad, how long? How exactly does  
the credit crisis contribute to the problem? What can be done about  
it? These are much harder questions, and throwing around big numbers  
doesn't clarify anything.

Doug