The damping factor

I wonder if my fellow engineers have any ideas as to how to fix the highly dangerous stock market vehicle which we are all obliged to travel in

In the April issue of PE I wrote a slightly mischievous letter comparing the stock market to a mechanical forced vibration system with no damping; effectively an out of control vehicle travelling very fast with no shock absorbers.

The current stock market crash is the entirely predictable result of not only continuing to drive such a dangerous vehicle, but driving it in the pitch dark with no headlights, since none of us have seen the oncoming potholes which have recently jolted us violently towards the ditch. Until some damping is applied to the system we can inevitably look forward to more catastrophic encounters with the potholes further along the road, and with every possibility of the vehicle being completely wrecked if we meet a large enough obstacle.

The question of what would represent an effective damping system is easy. A nice big tax on the sale or purchase of shares would immediately solve the stability problem. Unfortunately such a remedy would probably bring the market to a standstill and frighten off investors for good (wonderful suspension but no fuel in the tank). So how do we introduce the damping factor in such a way that the driver/investor can continue driving merrily along without the need to visit the garage for a set of dampers? I wonder if those of my fellow engineers with an interest in vibration theory (and their savings and pension funds) have any ideas as to how to fix the highly dangerous stock market vehicle which we are all obliged to travel in?

Ian Crossley, Camberley

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