re: Greenspan really is not stupid

And therin lies a real problem.

If one believes that Greenspan is stupid, then all of those who sung his praises for so many years -- including most economists -- are even stupider. These are now the same people who are supposedly going to lead us out of the economic wilderness.

On the other hand, if Greenspan is not stupid, then we can only conclude that he knew full well what damage his policies would cause.

So take your pick. Either choice is equally ugly in its implications.

THe rapid pace of human population growth and development have always led to concerns about sustainability. Can we sustain such a lifestyle and number of people from the earth's resources without destroying the earth? When a house is built from cards and one card is removed, the whole house falls. We have been fooling ourselves into thinking we can continue on a path of endless growth without repercussions by cushioning the path with foam so that the rocks and dirt underneath are not seen. In addition the adage about there is enough for everyone's need but not everyone's greed is true enough. Unless the people on our planet from all countries rethink what it means to be alive in the 21st Century on Planet Earth, we continue on the path of catastrophe, suffering and violence. Humans, given the biggest brain, the power of self awareness and the most beautiful home to live in, has squandered the potential of a sustainable earth and a harmonius life on the planet. I don't believe we will find the answers in looking for another planet to support life - we will have destroyed ourselves way before that eventuality.

Global unemployment, radical climate change and continuing wars in competition for remaining resources are just the beginning. I believe humans can solve the challenges facing us in a sane way - the choices are hard, but not to make them will prove a lesson in futility.

only the blindly partisan could attempt to blame [Bush] for having caused [the incipient depression

Not true.

You're watching disaster capitalism in action, where favored corporations clean up on war profiteering, bailouts, and on the wreckage of unfavored corporations and bankrupted homes.

Republican policies in general and Bush policies in particular have made the present circumstances possible, and they have fought for those policies. The evidence clearly shows the present situation to have been engineered: despite his protestations to the contrary, Greenspan really is not stupid, and his "mistakes" were quite deliberate.

And they're still doing it, right before your eyes. Chrysler, Ford, and GM will all probably fail without a federal bailout, resulting in a loss of 30 million jobs, counting all downstream losses. That's Depression-level unemployment, and Bush and other Republicans are causing it. Don't take my word for it. Watch them do it yourself.

Paul Krugman is recommending a large-scale bailout of the real economy:

My own back-of-the-envelope calculations say that the package should be huge, on the order of $600 billion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/opinion/14krugman.html

Republicans, true to form, are doing the exact opposite, and have been dragging their heels on any bailout of the real economy at all, while giving the banksters, and only the banksters, everything they want. Their rationales for this policy are non-sensical. That should tell you something.

Republicans are refusing to bail out the automakers because the goal is to force them to fail so that well-connected corporations with cash will be able to scoop up their assets for cheap. Banksters have been running this kind of scam for centuries, and now big oil and the military-industrial complex are in on it as well.

“failing banks, busted brokerages, toppled corporate giants, bankrupt cities, states in default, foreign creditors cashing out of US securities…the stage is set, the big one is on its way.”

http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/3311/81/

Like I said, weird ugly.

By the way. Profoundest condolences and sympathies on your loss, and warmest congratulations on his triumph.

Get ready for the genital cuffs

We are going to see economic times the likes of which no living person has seen, except for walter_map, who is old and has seen everything.

Doesn't it just figure that people would start paying attention to the warnings after it's too late to prevent it? Sheesh.

Ugly is on its way, and weird ugly follows. It's been pretty much a foregone conclusion for years now.

Fox Business: Gerald Celente (http://www.trendsresearch.com/) Predicts Revolution

Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46MEqEgdLTg

A Credit Crisis or a Collapsing Ponzi Scheme?

The Two Trillion Dollar Black Hole

http://counterpunch.org/martens11132008.html

You didn't ruin my crisis, bubba, I wasn't having one.

You're like Paul's grandfather in A Hard Day's Night, a total drag. Nothing to contribute but whining.

Well, I actually have a life so I'm not going to waste any more time on you, aren't you glad?

But please reconsider the idea of suicide. At least in your decomposition you'd be helping the flowers grow. As it is now, when you walk in the room, everything dies.

Didn't mean to ruin your crisis.....I have no plans on self termination though. Having too much fun right here.........

Anyone aware of good economic research on whether layoffs do, in fact, help with anything but the very short term bottom line.

It should be easy to show that better companies have fewer layoffs, but probably just demonstrates management competencies.

I'm wondering what the econo-bloggers have to say on the economic rationality of layoffs?

re: only the blindly partisan could attempt to blame [Bush] for having caused [the incipient depression]

Or the well-read.

They Warned Us About the Mortgage Crisis

State whistleblowers tried to curtail greedy lending—and were thwarted by the Bush Administration and the financial industry

The Bush Administration and many banks clung to what is known as "preemption." It is a legal doctrine that can be invoked in court and at the rulemaking table to assert that, when federal and state authority over business conflict, the feds prevail—even if it means little or no regulation.

http://tinyurl.com/422gtg