Letters to the Editor
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we COULD reduce spending
by bugging out of Iraq. But the "2012 trio" are unlikely to say this. too bad.
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The Economy! Oy!
Sometimes I don't agree with Mr. Reich, but after a day of anxiety about my financial future, something quite rare for me, I feel this article is must reading. Our leaders are going to throw some money at a problem that will have little impact over even the mid-term. Then there will be less money to invest in education and science, which are clearly the key to our longer term interest. The is frightening!
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fortunately,
they are holding so much yank money they don't want to bury you. probably.
but socialist economies, and command societies, won't want to bail out free market pirates for ever. it's just a matter of time until the u. s. marine corps has to do all the negotiating.
makes you wonder why anyone would want to be president. well, bush's family has made a good thing out of it, with their holdings in oil and munitions.
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Robert Reich, Robert Rubin...
Obama, Osama, Potayto, Potahto, Watercress, Waterboard...
Americans will lose their homes, and they will lash out, and they never will learn. What are you? Smart?! We believe whatever we remember from TV last night, and we ain't got time for no fancy explanations. Where's my rifle? Where's my beer?
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Sabatia, I was chatting with one of those stunningly bright Oxford lads and he said,
"Strongmen come and go, but the far greater threat is the economy."
As the Soviets spent themselves into a second tier power, so are we.
But at least Bush voters got a president who said he cared about abortions (which is still legal) and hated the gays (who have yet to be sent to concentration camps). Don't just blame Bush. Blame all those Bush voters too, who voted for a man who mangles 3-syllable words.
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confused about statistics
As we enter a recession, or acknowledge that we've been in one for a quarter or more now, I find myself scratching my head about statistics.
One statistic that is always rolled out and pointed to as appalling is the low savings rates of Americans. This is bad because "we" borrow from overseas to finance our spending habits, which in turn raises the trade deficit and current account deficit or whatever.
Then we hear about housing starts, consumer confidence, essentially statistics about consumption. whenever those are down people moan and groan and worry about economic growth.
So which is it - are we supposed to be saving or spending? my own understanding of the subject is that the US has been on a consumption-based growth binge for several decades now (starting with Reagan?) and this means buy more disposable stuff so that you can throw it out and buy some more. Unfortunately we don't manufacture most of the stuff - we just license, distribute and sell it.
In the meantime government spending (horrors) on things like infrastructure, health and education are continually cut.
so, instead of handing each of us $800 bucks to spend to "stimulate" the economy, how about a little Keynesian (or Galbrathian) government spending and investment?
and how about someone decides if we should be happier to see statistics saying that saving is up or that consumption is up?
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A troubled economy is good news for American billionaires.
A complete economic meltdown will primarily reduce the middle class to abject poverty, creating the kinds of 3rd-world economic conditions that American billionaires and their Saudi Arabian friends have been fantasizing about.
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Reich is Right! (to borrow a phrase)
This economic monster has been growing for years, obvious to anyone who wasn't drinking the delicious Kool-Aid; that won't change the fact that people are still doing everything to avoid the massive hangover. At this late stage it's political suicide to give a realistic assessment of the situation.
"The people who have conquered the world now have only two interests -- bread and circuses."
--Juvenal
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The Global Lash
With a bold move, the Fed probably prevented the World's stock markets from melting down. However, the current situation only underscores the danger that we are now in. Although I have benefited from it in many ways, I must count myself in the anti-globalization camp. It is true that globalization has produced some of the promised benefits: faster and more extensive communications, increased productivity and accelerated growth in the developing nations, for example.
However, globalization has also produced ALL of the negative effects feared by its critics: increased exploitation of local natural resources by multinational companies, disruptive unregulated capital flows (and a resulting loss of fiscal & monetary policy controls by national governments) and declining living standards in the advanced economies caused by the 'race to the bottom' to seek the countries with the lowest wages. Now, we must add the emergence of 'global bubbles' to this list. What should have been primarily a U.S. problem has now become a global one.
A Japanese economist described the process brilliantly. By securitizing sub-prime loans, participating financial institutions engaged not in "…risk diversification, but rather in 'risk dispersion'". We took what should have been an American `Blob', cut it up into a zillion pieces and shipped it off to create havoc worldwide. Perhaps Professor Reich is right: maybe the sub-prime mess will finally drive home just how dependent (for better or worse) the U.S. economy has become on foreign nations.
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Someone said-
"...complete economic meltdown will primarily reduce the middle class to abject poverty"
It will take down some millionaires and near millionaires too, not just middle class. This makes for some rough times ahead since their contribution to our economy is obvious. It's going to hit everyone unless we can find some financial wizardry in our midst. Your comment about the billionaires is right on.
Down with Bush, Cheney, Rummy, spending our money spent on war in another country. That's just the beginning of how they managed to turn surplus into absolute depression. A few billionaires among many who will be just fine, so what do they care!
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There is a third threat
Dr. Reich has diagnosed 2 causes to our dis-ease, but there is still a third more complex and entangling cause. The declining dollar. While our loose lending policies have created qualms on lending on Wall Street, and tight money has hurt the home owner and construction industries the loose monetary policies of the ever feckless Bush administration has complicated the sauce even more. As the dollar declines in value overseas, there is an increasing interest by countries who own a lot of our currency to look at other economies to trim their loses. China, Japan and the Emirates all hold scads of dollars that are looking increasingly anemic in world currency exchanges. By buying fewer treasury notes and purchasing other currencies, the Euro or Yen our dollar will continue weaken. Moreover, China and India are going to wake up some morning with their people wanting more of the return on their economic miracle. Then those cheap imports may be fewer and more expensive. All this adds to plot.