Alert!!!!Incredible! Government at all levels already takes 40% of the production of the US economy, and 50% of ALL healthcare spending (Military, Medicare, Medicaid, Indigent care, etc.) and the Left thinks not enough government is the problem and MORE government is the answer.
This article makes one very valid point, that cannot be overstated. The stock market, and the underlying economy, are not one and the same.
During the Clinton years, we are forever told that the electorate was happy with Clinton, because the economy was in such great shape as evidenced by the stock market. The reality was that the economy was ok, but the stock market itself was inflated. The flurry of new technologies, and the constant churning as new companies leapt into existence to develope and market these technologies... it was an exciting time, and the excitement caused stock prices to leap far ahead of their actual value.
There is nothing inherently wrong in this, as long as the companies are honest in their bookkeeping, and everyone taking a flyer on a new stock understands the risk.
We now know that Enron, and Global Crossing, and World Com were cooking their books, and that the execs were hiding losses and paying off politicians. This is criminal. This is not a systemic problem, this is a problem for prosecutors.
It only looks like a systemic problem if you are a propagandist for the Democratic Party and you have to explain why it is that all these financial debacles involve Democratic politicians. All the services rendered in exchange for generous contributions involve Democrats. Citibank's frauds were committed by Clintonists. Enron's needs were serviced by Clintonists. Global Crossing inside trading enriched Democrats.
Does anyone remember the Clinton years, when evidence of campaign law criminality evoked calls, from the guilty, for more campaign finance laws? This is the same thing. The Democratic party is neck deep in financial scandal and corruption, almost all of its leaders have been caught taking cash from these collapsing giants, and the only possible strategy is to blame it all on systemic problems. Preferably systemic problems that Conservatives, who didn't take bribes, or insider favors, are somehow guilty of.
The inability to confront persistent inflation was caused by the unwillingness to stay within a budget. Inflation is not an act of God, or of unbridled nature. It is caused by printing more money to cover budget shortfalls.
Is it necessary to remind anyone that these are the years of Democratic-controlled congress, and Democratic controlled fiscal policy?
Inflation essentially came to an end with the arrival of Reagan, and Paul Volker, and eventually Alan Greenspan. Prior to this time, if you needed rock-solid currency, you resorted to Swiss francs, or German marks. Since Reagan, its the dollar all the way.
The bursting bubbles are not accidents or the work of a few larceny-prone executives.
Yes, it is. With the help of bought-and-paid-for presidents and congressmen, and media that are owned by the worst offenders.
They are the consequence of everything the conservative ascendancy sought to achieve--the savagery and injustice of unregulated markets, the blind willfulness of unaccountable corporations.
"The conservative ascendancy"? All of the financial scandals the author is discussing took place under Clinton, and involve payoffs to Clintonists and Democrats.