Some events are legitimately macro, or MACRO, such as the shifting of the Earth’s axis in the wake of the Chilean earthquake. The Feb. 27 earthquake “may have shortened the length of each Earth day,” according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Measured in dollar terms, the quake’s impact is easier to spot. One estimate puts the damage as high as $8 billion.
The human loss, of course, is beyond calculation. How can we help? No shortage of options, including the Red Cross and the International Medical Corps, to name but two of the many organizations that need financial support, for Chile as well as for the victims of Haiti’s recent quake.

Everyone has a prescription for managing the business cycle these days, but no one has a solution. That’s because there are none, at least nothing that passes the smell test of a workable system that can deliver nirvana: maintaining capitalism’s power to drive economic growth while eliminating its tendency for stumbling from time to time.

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