Who Is To Blame?

Newsweek ^ | Dec 10, 2008 | Barrett Sheridan

[CE2949BB]

It's not easy being Alan Greenspan these days. As the former Federal Reserve chairman, he urged government regulators to take a light touch while banks like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers buried themselves—and the economy more generally—under a mountain of debt. Now that his reputation is plummeting faster than the stock market, he's been forced to admit a "flaw" in his hands-off ideology.

Of course, things look entirely different to members of "free-market advocacy groups," as they like to be called. One such group is the Ayn Rand Institute, named after the matriarch of the movement, whose antigovernment and anti-regulation views are embodied in her best-selling novels "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead." Indeed, Greenspan himself was a friend of Rand's, and a devotee of her extreme free-market philosophy, known as Objectivism. NEWSWEEK's Barrett Sheridan spoke with the head of the Ayn Rand Institute, Dr. Yaron Brook, about why he defends free markets while much of the rest of the world has turned away from them, and what he thinks of Greenspan today. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Lack of regulation is being blamed for our current crisis, and free markets are in disrepute. Has Objectivism been dealt a deathblow?

Yaron Brook: No, not at all. From a public-relations perspective, it's been hurt. But in the long term there will be a backlash against what's going on in the markets today—the heavy government involvement, the nationalizations and the move toward socialism. If the free-market advocacy groups position themselves correctly, they can benefit from it.

[Old Sarge]

Obama’s Fault.

[mulligan]

Government (mainly Congress) is the cause of our problems. They not only are the cause, they are the creators of this financial mess. Spendthrift, reckless and incompetent people (our Congress) are in charge. Why should anyone expect anything different. And unless and until Congress faces up to this fact nothing will change and the messes will get bigger and bigger and bigger.

[Paladin2]

‘rat Congress critters along with W and his minions for not taking them to task.

[Misterioso]

I think it's great that Newsweek decided that Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute is a go-to guy for a Greenspan story. Atlas Shrugged is on the tip of a lot of tongues these days and ARI couldn't be happier. A tiny light at the end of the tunnel, maybe.

[org.whodat]

-the heavy government involvement

That would be after the markets really mucked things up!!!

[lonevoice]

Kakistocracy: n., pl. -cies.

Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

[the anti-liberal]

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted by Congress in 1977, forced what I call 'Affirmative Action Lending' on banks on pain of being hauled up in Federal Court and accused of racism and fined, resulting in financial loss and efforts to to recoup those losses, including repacking those affirmative action loans as grade A paper and selling them.

This was the work of the kind of people we would now call 'Community Organizers,' or Marxists.

I don't understand why conservatives aren't making more of this as the single greatest cause of the financial turmoil we're now in. We have a "President-elect" who is the very kind of person who would've passed the CRA act himself.

Why don't we hear more about the affirmative action lending that was forced onto banks by Congress via the Community Reinvestment Act?

[JasonC]

Oh who cares?! Buy a freaking clue already, you morons. Fix the damn problem and stop playing your stupid second grade whining games!

[Nateman]

Here is this book , over 50 years old , that leftists still feel after all this time must be knocked down. NPR ran a story about its "waining influence". I figure the louder the criticism the more influence there is of "Atlas Shrugged "