Letters to the Editor
AskDong
Published Letters: 37 Editor's Choice: 9
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Terrorism and Hate Crime laws
[Read the article: Is Briana Waters a terrorist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While I'm no fan of the legislation that was passed through after 9/11, it's also dangerous precedent to make distinctions between "terrorist." Does terrorism only apply to muslims? Personally, I think laws should be written to deal with the specific actions rather than the operation or thoughts behind those actions. These types of laws are the right wing equivalent of hate crime laws. Too much emphasis is placed on the motivations behind the crimes.
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Did any of you live in China 30 years ago
[Read the article: No more plastic bags, no more jobs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]China and it's Government has many faults. There is no question of that, but to accuse the Chinese of somehow stupidly choosing this path of development betrays a clear lack of understanding of what life was like in china 20, 30, 40 years ago. My parents lived through the rations, and limited career choices in the cities of Shanghai and Kunming. There's no question the life of the average chinese person is far better today than it was 30 years ago.
The problem with China ultimately is a problem of population. The simple fact is more people = more environmental impact. Of course China's laws limiting the number of children is not so popular either....
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Culture Revolution, Great Leap Forward...
[Read the article: No more plastic bags, no more jobs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]China tried it's hand at different approach towards development - Communism and the Great Leap Forward. What did that lead? Mass starvation. Punishing the elites? They did that too. The Cultural Revolution. That worked great as well. The fact is that it's just not that simple for any nation to develop and progress, especially a population as large as that of China.
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I wish Jim stuck with his chosen profession
[Read the article: The Federal Reserve's "socialist" agenda]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm surprised that Jim even listened. The man cares much more about baseball than the welfare of America. Now that I know that Jim Bunning opposes the bailout of Bear Stearns, I'm swayed to think that the bailout was the right decision.
As for bailouts in general, as a believer of Government intervention, I generally support them if they're warranted. I support them for the little guys and the big guys. The problem is that for too long now in the recent past we've only had ones for the big players. When bailouts are appropriate they help both the little guys and big guys. Helping consumers help companies, and helping companies critical the day to day operation of the economy aids consumers. Nobody benefits if the banking system were to collapse.
Though to agree with the previous poster, I don't see why the Fed couldn't have structured the bailout of Bear to expose the taxpayer to some of the upside. The bailout works because of the limits placed on the downside. JP Morgan in acquiring doesn't actually need to profit from the portfolio of Mortgage Backed Securities if they're value were to return. Of course that would place the Government is a slightly unholy spot of holding a market position...
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Leverage is the problem, not diversification
[Read the article: The silver lining of the credit crunch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The problem with the current credit crunch is not the spreading of risk. Yes, spreading risk means more people are affected. This in itself is reduction of risk for any one given individual or institution.
The problem ultimately isn't one of sharing of risk, but taking on too much risk. Partially this was a problem of evaluation, i.e. maybe those triple A rated securities weren't all that, but more fundamentally the problem is one of leverage. Financial institutions along with the American public love leverage. Why risk your own money when you can risk someone else's money?
Of course the problem with leverage is that it acts as magnifying glass. This was great when things were going good. When things sour a small problem becomes a big problem.
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Options are Overrated
[Read the article: How I learned to stop worrying and love the recession]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Great article, and really hits very close to home. I think too often that we assume that we want to have choices and options, but what really want is to feel like we're doing pretty well with what we've got. Success isn't measured by having more, but maximizing what's already there.
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It's All About Prices
[Read the article: Is humanity running out of technological tricks?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Neither more deregulation or re-regulation is going to solve the problem until consumers face the music in the form of higher prices. Deregulation has hardly spurred the power development that proponents have envisioned, but much of that is a response to the fact that we don't truly have deregulated markets. Offers are capped, and prices are nearly what they need to be spur new alternative development. Wind only works because of tax credits. I work in the power industry, and the fact is that as much as we would like to develop alternative power it's unfeasible at current prices. Prices need to go much higher. Carbon caps need to be put in place. Give the power industry higher prices, and you'll see technological progress. And if in the process existing power companies reap excess profits, it's really not such a bad thing as those profits are often poured back into development of new power sources.
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Subsitution Effect
[Read the article: Where has all the rice gone?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think we have the same bogeymen to point to even if rice production has gone up. It's clear demand has gone up more, and I don't think it's population growth. I don't know much about rice vs. corn in the commercial world, but I imagine they are good substitutes. Rising wheat product prices even without the reduction caused by shifts in land usage is likely to lead higher prices for all wheat products. It's still the ethanol bogeyman.
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She can't afford it
[Read the article: I should have gone to my aunt's funeral]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The problem here if this woman is truly loaded with credit card debt, she really can't afford the trip to New Mexico. However, given that she's spending major bucks for a Vacation on New Mexico, she obviously is making a choice that her own selfish interests are more important. She's feeling guilt, and that's natural. Everyone has a choice either make choices that won't make them feel guilty or feel not guilty.
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Always Higher
[Read the article: Overbuilt America]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]While I certainly think we have a housing problem, and even a bit of crisis, I'm also little weary of quoting such and such number is the highest since the dawn of time. I would expect that number to be highest just given population growth. Statistics really should be at least normalized on a per capita basis.