Posted on 11/28/2009 7:40:40 PM PST by sickoflibs
If you realize both parties in Washington think our money is theirs and you trust them to do the wrong thing, this list is for you.
If you think there is a Santa Claus who is going to get elected in Washington and cut a few taxes and spend a few trillion and jump start the economy, and get our lost money back, this list is not for you.
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Interesting take, but it’s actually worse than that.
Because the Feds are lending money at (near) zero interest rates, and the financial institutions are risk-averse to extending credit at this point, instead they’re using the money for carry trades.
So, the hundreds of billions of bailout money are simply being used to line the pockets on Wall Street, weakening the dollar, while the “little people” get to endure Great Depression II.
Nice.
as much as I read seemed good. but then I got distracted by the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame special on PBS...
I agree with your analysis. Why risk loaning money to a small business in USA when you can make instant money betting against the dollar? So banks get money at near zero and get it out of the dollar to make money.
This sure sounds like an accurate analysis to me.
It seems there’s little hope for actual reform from this path and that we are simply destine to ride it out to its bitter end. We have far too many in this society that want something for nothing and will milk it to the end no matter what.
YOu are correct. The carry trade and all the added liquidity is lifting the stock market but is not doing a damn thing for employment/business growth.
It is much worse than that. We have reached a point where most people: dems and republicans, liberals and conservatives, taxpayers and tax recipients have decided the federal government owns them.
Great stuff the MI as usual. This path is not just unsustainable. It has reached a point where any choices (except those which take power from the elite) will bring cascades of pain to the common folk. The Gov’t/Fed has boxed itself into a corner, and like the rat that it is, it will likely have to use explicit force, rather than implied force. It will be interesting to see the consequences of that...
I meant ‘owes them’, but ‘owns them’ is a funny typo.
Right on target article.
It's cost me thousands over the past five or more years. Money market accounts pay next to nothing on uninvested balances and CDs are little better. It's been actually punishing for people who save money and always invest conservatively in savings accounts and CDs. Many older workers and retirees used to earn decent income supplements from CDs paying around 5%, but no more.
Savers who invest conservatively have been royally screwed for the benefit of higher risk investors and the gov't's stupid fiscal policies and the role they played to screw up the mortgage industry and the nation's financial system in general.
It’s an economy shrink and stay.
This is a silly article. No-one is being forced to lend to the Govt at the shortest maturities.
Longer term govt bills and bonds have positive interest rates. Private borrowers are all paying rates higher than zero.
Inflation is actually down year over year, so a lender even at zero interest rates gets a tax free increase in purchasing power.
You are absolutely right. The zero rate policy means that no one is paid for passive savings anymore. The original purpose of a bank was to be an intermediary between savers and borrowers. Not many banks making money that way anymore. And all these retirement plans are accruing nothing more than the return of capital—and that capital will be devalued when you get it back. There is no incentive to save, and every incentive to put your assets at risk. Which is what I am doing, but I know I am gambling(I got clobbered last year). Buy gold.
Great post...
Are you sure you’re posting that on the right forum?
It’s actually worse than worse than that.
The dems are proposing a "trading tax" to curb speculation and raise money. The real problem is zero interest rates promote wild speculation destroying the market with price swings from unlimited capital borrowed at zero interest.
It you actually paid interest on the money you borrowed, the speculation and market dislocations would lessen.
Bravo Mises Institute!!
Excellent take. Gubmint profligate spending and Wall St. gamblers who are shielded from taking their losses punish savers. It’s especially hard on boomers nearing retirement who are looking for a safe harbor for their nest egg that yields something of value.
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