Welcome to the Interregnum
By Barry Ritholtz - November 5th, 2008, 2:30PM
Cool word, via Wikipedia:
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity of a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin inter-, “between” + rēgnum, “reign” [from rex, rēgis, "king"]), and the concepts of interregnum and regency therefore overlap. An interregnum can simplistically be thought of as a “gap”, although the idea of an interregnum emphasizes the relationship to what comes before and to what comes after in a sequence. This contrasts with a near synonym like gap, which may be random, encompassing neither connotation of interjacency in a sequence nor formal interrelation.
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November 5th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Monarch reminds me of the king’s two bodies:
“”"
Medieval theory of divine authority of kings.
The king had two ‘bodies’, one of which was the ordinary mortal one, the other infused with the divine right to govern which marked off the monarch from other men.
“”"
Sadly fitting to the current state of “hopeness”.
http://www.politicsprofessor.com/politicaltheories/kings-two-bodies.php
November 5th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
So let us mark the TwainRegnum.
Now to all you optimistic souls like Mike in Nola who think all the negative stuff is priced in:
Be brave.
Remember, Paulson is a reptilian.
November 5th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I have thought on numerous occasions that our currently exiting leader conducted himself in a manner similar to a monarch, thumbing his nose at the Constitution (subversion) numerous times, seemingly doing what he wanted or whatever he could get away with at times and refusing to be held accountable for much if anything. Although his intentions may have been good, using Machiavellian principles (the end justifies the means) at times to accomplish them was despicable IMHO. He has done some good things however, and appears to have attempted to make amends over the past year or so for some of his actions or lack thereof.
Hopefully, our so-called interregnum will not be dysfunctional and our new leader will be very principled, which will be a direct reflection of his character and integrity in applying loving principles.
(Honesty, open-mindedness (to new ideas and to learn), gratitude, humility, forgiveness, patience, tolerance, creativity, service, willingness to do the right thing, courage, discipline, charity, good judgment, etc., etc.)
A personal definition of integrity: “The ability to integrate our goals, aims, promises, intentions, etc, into action.” Easier said than done.
November 5th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
May we leave behind the generation of catering to our baser instincts — both left and right — and bring about the real change we so need in this country. We will all be richer if that is the outcome of this election.
November 5th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
“The only things known to go faster than ordinary light is monarchy, according to the philosopher Ly Tin Weedle. He reasoned like this: you can’t have more than one king, and tradition demands that there is no gap between kings, so when a king dies the succession must therefore pass to the heir instantaneously. Presumably, he said, there must be some elementary particles — kingons, or possibly queons — that do this job, but of course succession sometimes fails if, in mid-flight, they strike an anti-particle, or republicon. His ambitious plans to use his discovery to send messages, involving the careful torturing of a small king in order to modulate the signal, were never fully expanded because, at that point, the bar closed.”
- Terry Pratchett, Mort
November 5th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
How soon before we can start blaming Obama for everything that goes wrong?
November 5th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
How soon? Why wait, just look at the closing numbers… (I’m kidding, please)
November 5th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I’m sure it’ll only get better…
(Folks locking in a ton of tax losses for Kwanzaa :/)
November 5th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
All those who still want to believe that John McCain is some kind of hero need to read this:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain
November 5th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Interesting. Don’t think I’ve seen that word since Asimov’s Foundation series, which may have been the only place I’ve ever seen it used. Never thought about the origin, but it fits the situation well.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Um, I think we’ve been here (interregnum) before:
early 1900′s– making the transition from an agrarian nation to an industrial nation (big oil, big steel, big railroads, big auto, the electrification of the economy).
1930′s’/40′s– making the transition from more or less unfettered mercantile capitalism to increasing government intervention in the economy, spearheaded by FDR.
1970′s– making the transition from an self-contained industrial nation to a globally integrated one, with a huge assist and push from the micro-chip.
2000′s– making the transition from global Godzilla to functional global partner.
In each case, the previously operative paradigm/model/strategy for progress was rendered inadequate. While a new one was being birthed, financial markets stumbled and thrashed about while trying to figure out what the next big deal would be.
In the current iteration, things will take shape within 10 years or so, by which time the SPX will be driving through 2,000 on its way toward 10,000. That’ll be the bull market for today’s grade schoolers.