[pillowkusis]

Your comparison to "the economy" as some dark being that demands sacrifice has been explored more deeply. It's a good read on why obviously terrible outcomes still happen even though we know it's bad.

http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

[twoquestions]

Not too proud to admit that essay directly inspired my comment, I just wanted to be more concise than SSC (which the opposite of difficult).