It’s a greedy swamp out there

There’s something wrong in the state of Arkansas. And something tells me we are in this mess for a while longer.

Greece is about to slide into the Mediterranean, possibly grabbing other euro pals and dragging them in with them.

Meanwhile there is political scandal and roid-sized corruption in every crevice around the globe, from paper-shutting phone-hacking shenanigans to whores on union credit cards.

Even house prices in the US are now equivalent to inflation-corrected 1870 prices. Scarlett would be horrified moving from her antebellum manor to a McMansion for the same cost, quite frankly.

Where are the days where a scandal was a stained blue Lewinsky dress? Where good old-fashioned Cold War tactics with big red buttons kept governments on their toes?

Sure, pilfering and corruption were commonplace, but it was kept under wraps or it at least it was less dramatic. I hazard to say in retrospect it was almost glamorous. It felt more like the lurking danger was intelligence and undercover operations.

Today it seems like the evil is money and a nature of growing greed.

Now, back to Australia’s political mire. I just can’t stand Thomson’s smirk, propping his baby on his knee for front-page pictures. Does he really think a baby will make him look of good character?

He’s kidding — right? It’s like me putting on my wedding ring for job interviews.

The media are also part of the hysteria, but it is up to us to moderate our absorption and keep relatively calm. BHP’s claim on the China boom bust is another shining example.

What’s daunting is that with any bubble or boom, there is always a bust. But when there is a bust, there usually are new markets.

Thinking about our euro-busting mates in Greece, I’m torn over their predicament. I don’t have an economics degree, however, I can’t see the lesser evil of accepting austerity measures or not.

The comparisons to Argentina don’t help either. Both seem quite poor choices for a bad situation.