'Survior' And 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' Say A Lot About Our Economy

a comparison of the financial markets to tv's most popular game shows

'SURVIVOR AND 'WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
SAY A LOT ABOUT OUR ECONOMY

October 23, 2002 -- Palm Beach Gardens, FL -- Two of the most popular TV shows of the past few years are great indicators of our economic state. Thats what Larry Edelson, Group Publisher of Premium Services at Weiss Research, Inc., says. And he ought to know.
At Weiss, an off-Wall Street, wholly independent financial research company, Larrys job is to study trends, changes and developments in the worlds financial markets and alert his subscribers to them instantly.
He uses an assortment of economic models. But its not just a numbers game with Larry. Yes, he can crunch them with the best of them, but to Larry, numbers are the symptoms" not the cause" of what we see in the markets. Larry searches deeper to find the reasons behind the trends, changes, and developments. Thats his cultural anthropology background that helps him. He wants to know why things are what they are and why they change, not just the numbers that come out of them.
His search often takes him to TV or movies or books. Sometimes to politics and sports. Larry is interested in the behavior behind the changes occurring.
The huge success of the TV show 'Survivor didnt surprise him at all. Todays 'bear market is exactly the right climate for a show based on a game where people just try to survive from one day to the next, voting other people who stand in their way off the island."
A bear market is all about discontent," says Larry. It thrives on tensions between people and cultures. And if people are just trying to survive, thats when its most likely youll see huge political changes. Witness the constant political sackings in Japan, as their economy continues to slide into the abyss. Before Japans economy bottoms, I believe Prime Minister Koizumi will be thrown out of office."
And look at the icons of our previous bull market -- companies like Enron, WorldCom and Martha Stewart Inc. for example -- they rode the tidal wave up, and now the tidal wave is pounding them and their CEOs on the rocky beaches."

In a bull market we see values fly out the window. Greed is in, the more money the better, and so a show like 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire rises to the top of the heap, only to succumb when the bull market busts and the bear comes foraging in. Then survivor instincts set in."
Larry Edelson makes financial talk compelling, because he makes it about whats happening all around us and because he makes it real.

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