| Our friends in the financial sector have given capitalism a black eye.
|
Oh, now it’s a financial crisis? Am I the only one who thinks this sky-is-falling hysteria is just nonsense? I don’t know about anyone else, but in my day-to-day life, I am not seeing “financial crisis.” I pay quite a bit more to fill my gas tank, and a little more for some groceries (milk, mainly.) Other than that, I ‘hear’ about the crisis. I ‘read’ about the crisis. But I don’t see the crisis.
Let me embolden you. Al Gore is a Nobel laureate. Comment away.
Funny not one word on how the DEMOCRATS and their Marxist views and regulations is responsible for the current downturn. Oil is high, because DEMOCRATS refuse to allow us to drill. The reason always given is the ENVIRONMENT. Not even the communist countries believe this. Right now RED CHINA is drilling 50 miles off the coast of FLORIDA, in an area given to Cuba by Jimmy “Afraid of rabbits and everything else” Carter.
How does what is happening in the US “give capitalism a bad name”? As far as I can tell, the problems currently plaguing the US (mortgage crisis and high fuel costs) are due to government INTERFERENCE with capitalism. High fuel costs are due to failure to drill for oil wherever it can be found, and failure to construct new refineries.
The title doesn’t seem to match the article. The second half of the article is composed of comments by econoimists that refute the statement that we’re in a financial crisis.
They are talking through their hats.
What financial crisis?
Some rich democrats lost a little money making unsound gambles?
This has been a daily event for 350 years on this continent.
Yada, Yada, Yada. You know hot I feel about things generally and CNN in particular.
Reuters reported yesterday that $ 4 Trillion has been lost by U.S. homes buyers since 2006. Mortgages were repackaged and sold as exotic derivatives. Many of these garbage investments are worth about 20 cent on the dollar. Total value of these exotic derivatives is alleged to be about 'One Quadrillion.' (Reports linked here. Scroll down).
That is a whole lot of funny money floating out there. Shiploads of it. 'SOS' to coin a term. But Benny can fix it. He knows how to fix everything by giving Wall Street more money to lend out. Does this seem strange to anybody else ? I mean -- the idea of fixing a worldwide financial crisis by lending more money _______ ?
Benny Bilderberger has the answers. He sure does. 'Nuff said.
In actuality, we haven't even had one quarter of negative growth in the US despite the "crisis" we've been going thru for months..
Sheesh. What a load of bunk this whole thing is.
This current generation has NO IDEA what a real financial crisis is....our parents and grandparents who lived through the 1930’s Depression and then WW2 know what sacrifice and challenging times were all about. America and it’s citizens
survived and then thrived after that REAL crisis. We are now in a period of financial strain not crisis...although it could progress to that....immoral sewage is corrupting our land within....God will withhold blessings if necessary to grab our attention.
Yeah, times are a little tough right now, but last time I went to the gas station they were still in business and the gas station down the street that was selling gas for 10 cents less had a line back to the streets. Somebody should inform those poor fools waiting in line for cheap gas that capitalism has failed.
If anything, this latest "crises" show how well it stands up to extreme events. But hey, maybe I'm wrong and we should all look to Zimbabwe to see how much better a society can become if we just get rid of capitalism.
In many ways, the trouble in looking at economics is the assumption that it is a stable thing. In fact, it is a dynamic and vital system, reflecting the actions of the people who propel it.
A good analogy is to compare it to a complex martial art.
A student can only learn basic principles in cooperation with their teachers and peers. But then they must use those basic principles in real time competition against opponents who are also skilled. Simultaneous offense and defense. Constantly looking for an edge, some modification, some weakness, some innovation. Having tricks up one’s sleeves. Even having the ability to bend the rules, or outright cheat, without getting caught.
Importantly, talent is just as important in economics as it is in martial arts. Some people will just be better fighters, no matter if it is boxing or Kung-fu. And a lot of people can’t fight their way out of a paper bag.
The failure of Marxism was that it is, and still does, assume that economics today is the same as it was in the 19th Century. That is why, for example, in the old Soviet Union, for a long time, they judged productivity based on *weight*. A company that produced 3 additional bridge bolts in a month was considered far more productive than a company that made tens of thousands more eyeglass screws than normal.
And that is why bridge bolts were a lot easier to get than eyeglass screws.
So how does this translate to modern economics?
The assumption for regulators *has* to be that someone has thought up a new get-rich-quick scheme, and that all the big money men are going to want to get involved.
For example, as soon as the subprime mess collapsed, most of the hedge funds, and banks, still looking for double digit profits, started speculating heavily in crude oil. And when the oil bubble bursts, they will all stampede to the next opportunity to get rich quick.
So while the regulators can’t really police all eventual outcomes, they need to learn to bust up such bubbles when they are still small, by limiting who can invest in them and with how much.
In past, they have been willing to accept bubbles bursting and their concomitant pain, in exchange for the pleasures and profits of creating the bubbles in the first place.
However, the regulators have to approach it as they would an attempt to corner a market. Be willing to intervene and say that those who have made it with the new trick get over, but there are no more rooms in the inn.
This will still encourage market innovation, but will keep too many passengers from climbing aboard the rowboat.
(editorial note: let’s have a cheer for mixed metaphors)
>> I am not so egotistical as to add comments to these Nobel Laureates opinions, they speak for themselves.
So, these communists are hot stuff, and untouchable, because they’re “nobel laureates”?
Say... aren’t Algore and Peanut Farmer Carter also bigshot Nobel Laureates?
| Our friends in the financial sector have given capitalism a black eye.
|
Stupid beyond belief.
You should see the other guy. It was so bad — how bad was it? — it was so bad, they call it, "The collapse of the Soviet Union."