What happens when they run out of letters?
"The 3-letter tickers are from a different era.... Nowadays the usage of tickers is more of a ""legacy"" tradition rather than a current necessity. As such they're no longer limited to 3 characters. And the characters don't have to be related to the actual name. For example a company named Alphabet is trading on NASDAQ under the ticker ""GOOGL"". It has 5 characters, not 3, and (almost) none of them appear in the name of the company (used to, but not anymore)." NYSE started allowing four letter tickers around 2009.  NASDAQ allows 4-5 letter tickers.  I guess they'll keep increasing when / if needed.  Companies are allowed to change tickers, although there are costs.  Tickers in the US are assigned through a single entity.  Companies that are new need to take something that's open. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124296050986346159 I see that you're in Australia, but, since there aren't really that many options to deal with the problem that you mentioned, I'd guess that you'll ultimately do the same.  Not sure about how tickers are assigned there though.
Banks cannot survive without the government.  Once people lose faith in the governement, the banking system will fail.  The banking system failing is a symptom of the issue, not a cause.  Backstopping the banks protects the general populace, and prevents runs which will actually destroy the banking system.  The burden shifts from the banks to the government.  But a gaurantee is not an actual payment.  The banks still operate as normal without any cash from the government, but with the knowledge that, if they ARE over extended, the government will take on their debt.  the government gaurantee lowers the rates that the banks pay to raise debt to continue to operate.  So let's say PIIGS fully bail out their banking system, paying off all debt, that's worse case.  Where does the money come from?   Revenues, aka taxes.  If the gov't takes on the bank debt and has positve revenue, no problem, a little less hand outs, but the country as a whole benefits from having a functioning banking system.  If revenues are poor or negative, however, it's just adding to the deficit.  Gov't can print money, don't forget.   But if revenues are poor and there's no hope to see them improve...Boom, all hell breaks loose, and you get Europe. "So what is the implication of ""creating"" 12 loddars like that?  If enough loddars are created in such a way (basically as IOUs for IOUs, if I'm interpreting this correctly), will we have inflation?  What keeps this in check?  Is it credibility of whoever issues the promise for loddars?  And when those loddars are destroyed -- because of the wildfire or whatever -- is the individual that is ""owed"" them just screwed?  What is an example of this happening in the real world?  Would be if a company makes a promise of some payment, and it turns out that it can't be fulfilled?  That company would still ""owe"" that money to someone, right?  Sorry for the string of questions tacked on to your great post, but I feel as though you made a very illuminating point and then just stopped.  Thanks for taking the time to explain all of this." For the record, I would never believe any major media outlet when it comes to a complex economic evaluation. I hope you wouldn't either.   The article mentions that people are sending less mail. Maybe you're not old enough to remember sending letters, but people used to do it a lot. "Well, first off - yes, every year the younger generation grows up but remember that the older generation also dying off/leaving the market place. Also, what happens if the younger generation can't take up enough debt in order to pay for previous commitments?  Secondly, I think you're confusing the money supply with actual production. The two are pretty much divorced from each other - money doesn't require a ""resource"" per se (at least, not since leaving the gold standard), it just requires that someone is able/willing to take on debt. For example, every time you take a loan out from the bank, you are effectively creating money. This is called bank credit and if you live in a country that uses fractional reserve banking then it makes up a very large part of your money supply (think like up to 95%). When bank's create money, they only create the principle amount (ie. the original loan amount) and not the interest amount as well. This means that someone else needs to take out a loan so that you can repay the amount in interest that you owe on your new loan. This doesn't normally affect you because there are lots of people taking out lots of loans all the time and money is circulating around in the economy. The problem is that eventually the system gets to a stage where people can't really take out loans any more, they just have too much debt, and so you end up with a liquidity crisis like in 2008.   So what I was saying is that either I'm missing something pretty obvious and I've got this wrong or this is exactly how it works and economists like to just ignore it for the benefits that it offers..." From their 10-K pulled directly from Edgar:  As of October 22, 2015, there were 291,327,781 shares of Alphabet   Inc.’s (the successor issuer pursuant to Rule 12g-3(a) under the   Exchange Act as of October 2, 2015) (Alphabet) Class A common stock   outstanding, 50,893,362 shares of Alphabet's Class B common stock   outstanding, and 345,504,021 Alphabet's Class C capital stock   outstanding. From here just do the math. The shares outstanding are listed on the first page of the 10-Q and 10-K reports. Edit: I believe Class B shares in this instance are not traded on the market and therefore would not be included. "... until they collapse too!!!  This is ""Luft Gesheft"": German/Yiddish for ""making money out of thin air"".  Money should be made by making things and building things - adding value to something.   Apple Computers is one example - they make real money." "There will not be enough money to fill the holes that are caused by banks' easy money policies combined with the trillions in derivative ""hedges"" that the banks have off-balance sheet.   The idea is that the chain reaction collapse of the European banking system can be avoided by plugging the holes in the dam in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Ireland. But it is a crazy idea. Next comes France, and then what? At some point there is not enough money to plug the holes and the entire facade collapses anyways.  Adults would dismantle the Eurozone now and let each country see to itself. Let the banks collapse. Capital (in the form of dollars, gold, etc) will reappear and means will evolve rapidly to connect capital with people who need loans for business.   Consumer loans are going the way of the dodo bird." So no single bank is willing to underwrite the whole issuance, and the amount each wants is only roughly a sixth of the total each? Or did Greece limit the amount of the issuance that could be underwritten by one bidder? Just trying to understand. "It depends on whether the loan is written as a non-recourse debt and what collateral was pledged. ""Non-recourse"" debt means that the issuer is limited to seizing the pledged collateral but cannot extend beyond those pledged assets. A ""recourse debt"" allows the issuer to seize the collateral and potentially other assets of those signed to the loan. In your example, a non-recourse loan would stop the issuer at seizing the property pledged as collateral (for instance the land remaining after the golden condor took your house), and it would stop there if that was the entirety of the collateral pledged. In the case of a recourse debt, each of you who signed loan are most likely going to be held responsible for the rest of the debt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonrecourse_debt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recourse_debt" Somewhere on your block, perhaps even in your neighborhood tonight, someone will become homeless. The reason of their homelessness might be a domestic fight, the loss of a job, or an argument with a parent. Nowadays, it very well could be caused by a foreclosure; but whatever the reason, that family will be all of a sudden on the street. "It's OK... you can just admit you don't fully understand what happened...  Here's a quick run down:  1) Private banks (like Chase, Wells Fargo, etc.) start making bad loans. They do this intentionally because...  2) The bad loans are then bundled into what are called ""Mortgage Backed Securities"".  3) Ratings agencies like Standard and Poors rate these mortgage backed securities as AAA safe investments. Even though they know, and the banks know, they're junk.  4) Companies who don't (AIG) or can't (Fannie/Freddie) write sub prime mortgages are then sold bad mortgages as AAA rated investments.  5) The sales of investments are so popular and so profitable that the banks continue making more bad loans SOLELY so they can re-sell them as investments.  6) The laws preventing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from making sub prime loans are lifted and they start doing the same thing as everyone else, just before the collapse begins.  For most of the time these hijinks were going on, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were actually prevented from taking part." Question:  So basically the money created in this globalized digital world where capital is free to roam,  it is referring to digital money and not actual physical cash.  So the goldbugs that talk about america becoming weimar republic is delusional, since there isn't enough physical cash in relations to how big the economy is.    And it is actually the debt lending that acts as a derivative of cash money that goes around posing as the money supply or the blood supply of an economy, and that feels like inflation, but when the debt is defaulted on or destroyed, underwritten or even paid back closing the circuit then it's deflationary?   But does defaulting on ones debt create inflation since that money is still in the system and not being paid off?  You know, when debts are paid off they are taken out of the system. True story:  There are several Admirals in the United States Navy that still do not understand how to use e-mail. They have their staff print the e-mails into hard copy and then either hand write or type a reply (on a typewriter) for their staff to send back as an e-mail. They better wipe their goddamn servers when that happens. Though with the number of mishaps they've had so far they'll probably just move some unencrypted, non-password-protected file named ssns_and_names.xls into the recycle bin and leave the servers on the side of the road, thinking there's no way someone can get the data now. "Hi Ly Sok  You could give free maps out to your clients. Easily print these off. Talk about the city as you drive through pointing out good value restaurants and places of interest.   When someone buys something from me. I try to understand it as ""someone buying my time"" so I like to think of there problems.   Your clients are mostly tourists or locals I assume. Locals like to here local news and learn things -like new roads being built or a cinema opening. Crime and cool things going on.  Tourists want to make there money go further and so learning about the best local experience is often what they want to do. A pick up service is often appreciated and possibly you could emphasis to tourists how safe certain areas are and that maybe they should hide there flashy phone or camera in this area.   I feel recommendations are the way to go. Giving a number they can text you on makes it easier to send a location. For pick ups.   Since uber is a big thing for clients back home. Maybe you could parody the name   ""TukUber""  This would instantly make people remember you and you could also look at how you could make your service like uber on a personal level.   Sounds like a fun project. Good luck"