Reading time: 579 words, 2 pages, 1 to 2 minutes.

You may have heard about the ‘Skyscraper Index’, but I bet you haven’t heard about the ‘Cupcake Index’. That’s because I just invented it.

The Skyscraper Index

According to Wikipedia, the Skyscraper Index is a whimsical concept which shows that the world’s tallest buildings have risen on the eve of economic downturns. Sky scraper construction typically begins at the end of an economic boom and the buildings are often completed after the beginning of a major downturn.

Panic of 1907 – construction on both the Singer Building and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower began before this “Panic’.

Wall Street Crash 1929 and the Great Depression – construction on all three 40 Wall Street, the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building began shortly before the Crash and the subsequent Great Depression.

1973–1974 stock market crash – construction of both the World Trade Center towers and the Sears Tower began before that Crash.

1997 Asian Financial Crisis – construction of the Petronas Twin Towers began before this Crisis.

2007 – 2009 Great Recession – construction of the Burj Dubai began before and finished after the Financial Crisis which led to the so-called Great Recession. After the Dubai government came close to defaulting on its loans the building was sold and ingloriously re-named the Burj Khalifa.

These are just several of the many examples throughout history.

The Cupcake Index

The whimsical Cupcake Index that I just invented illustrates the phenomenon known as “more bucks than brains” (not listed in Wikipedia yet). This occurs when financial systems are completely distorted with malinvestments caused by sociopathic central banks printing astronomical amounts of money out of thin air to enrich their bankster buddies at the expense of the 99.9% of the rest of us. As a result, the 0.1% have so much wealth that they have ‘more bucks than brains.” Such disparity in wealth often occurs prior to the appearance of the “Madame Guillotine Index” whereby some people completely lost their heads.

It is fitting that the Cupcake Index originated in Canada, a land known for staunch, staid and stable banks, and a civilized and polite population whose favorite sayings are “I’m sorry” and “eh” (pronounced ‘ay’ with a rising inflection) after every sentence. Not having obscene levels of wealth for record-breaking skyscrapers, Canadians make do with cupcakes.

The Globe and Mail reported that, “A customer had hired the owner of Toronto’s Le Dolci bakery to create the most extravagant cupcake possible.” It was for the un-named customer’s wife’s birthday and some of its ingredients include, “24-karat gold flakes, limited-edition Courvoisier cognac, sea salt from Carmargue, France, and some of the finest chocolate on the planet.” The ultra-luxurious cupcake had a price tag of $900.

One would hope that the distinguished gentleman with more bucks than brains achieved his just rewards afterwards.

By the way, the new record-breaking skyscraper Sky City in China was to have begun construction in 2013 and nine other skyscrapers have also begun or are expected to begin construction shortly.

Comforting isn’t it?

I wonder if you can have your cupcake and eat it, too?

Gerold
August 6, 2014

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