Posted on 05/12/2009 4:42:01 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
Both Robert Kuttner, a long-time critic of free markets, and Richard Posner, a long-time supporter of free markets, recently made the same argument.
Kuttner said "markets are not self-correcting. If they were, [then] Wall Street would not be lined up for trillions of dollars in government handouts." Posner, in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, said capitalism is "not inherently stable." He argued that the seriousness of the downturn--which he says it is the worst since the 1930s--is proved "by the dizzying array of programs the government is deploying and the staggering amounts of money it is spending."
This if-then argument--"if the government is spending lots of money, then the economy must really be bad and markets don't work"--has been made by many analysts in recent months. But just because it is being used in prominent places does not mean it is right. In fact, these statements of logic are deeply flawed and mistaken.
If fire trucks came roaring up to your house, and the firemen started spraying water, breaking out windows and chopping holes in the roof, one would think the house was on fire. But it doesn't have to be.
Activity alone is not proof. Just because the government has gone nuclear does not mean that it was necessary.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Bump for later
Bookmarked.
I suspect that whatever small downturn we may have had was nothing more than an excuse for a power-hungry government to grab control over everything. I don’t believe the economy was nearly as bad as the hype said it was. Now, thanks to government intervention, it’s getting worse.
The pertinent questions are, how bad can it get, and can we get real conservatives in to stop the slide before it’s too late?
Joe biden warned donors that there would be a manufactured crisis and we would not like what obambi would do. We were to gird our loins. I think this is just one of the manufactered crisis’ with more to come.
What about that disappearing 500 billion that brought on the TARP funding in the first place? And Schumer’s “leaked” letter to the banks? Economics - not my forte, but it seems like manipulation to me.
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