The Solution to the Economic Crisis? Ask House!!

The economic crisis brings to bear the importance of understanding systems in development problem-solving because when properly used, even such a world calamity like this can be quickly and easily solved.

Take an average episode of House. A patient comes in with heart problems, lung problems, kidney failure, he’s coughing blood, and his eye pops out. In the end, House gives him a simple injection, repairs any necessary physical damage and the body begins to heal itself.

House uses a systemic approach to problem solving. Rather than treat every ailment that comes along, he uses the symptoms (and sometimes causes them) to identify the malfunctioning system which then exposes the cause.

Treating the symptoms,( i.e. replacing a kidney, implanting a pace maker) may provide short term relief, but is much more costly and still doesn’t address the cause. Whereas replacing missing whatever mineral, repairs the system which expands the lungs, which gets the heart pumping normally, which improves circulation, which relaxes eye muscles, etc.

The economy, like a body, is a cooperation of various parts, driven by profit (greed) and balanced with loss (risk), which when working together creates a strong whole. The crisis happened when poison (subprime loans) was introduced into a system in which the threat of loss was removed by politicians who refused to regulate causing economy to react, adjust and eventually malfunction. Basically banks stopped lending, businesses faced closure, people lost jobs, selling stopped, which gave businesses less money, and the circle continues.

The medicine of choice was a 700 billion bailout (to start) to save hurting businesses and banks. The question is if money is the solution and is it addressing the cause or simply treating symptoms? Let’s see, regulation and oversight still do not exist, the greed is redirected to handouts, hoarding replaces lending, the bad loans aren’t eradicated, but the balance brought by the threat of loss is.
If this were a hospital, a malpractice suit would ensue. But the priority right now is survival.

The solution is easy, we have the wrong people in the wrong system. We have finance wizards solving a money problem. Yet money isn’t the problem since we just injected over a trillion into the economy. We need systems people solving a people problem.

Why waste a lot treating symptoms of a system, when a simple injection would do; which is basically what the defectors in the House have said all along.