poet1

The Coming Crash of 2008: A Result of Overleveraging

DrMalaka- well said! So, where do you put your money?

The Coming Crash of 2008: A Result of Overleveraging

From Fast Food Nation 2002: (glass/s act)
The history of the 20th century was dominated by the struggle against totalitarian systems of state power. The 21st will no doubt be marked by a struggle to curtail excessive corporate power. The great challenge now facing countries throughout the world is how to find a proper balance between the efficiency and the amorality of the market. Over the past 20 years, the U.S. has swung too far in one direction... (p. 261)

I think Schlosser has it right. Enron is an inflection point for the forces of corporate power. Today's Times reports that the "bankruptcy reform bill" that passed both houses of Congress last March -- a bill practically written by credit card companies to make it harder for consumers to wipe debt of their records by filing for bankruptcy -- is now up for revision:

Some lawmakers are weighing whether to revise provisions that could appear anti-consumer and poltically unseemly after a corporate collapse that hurt thousands of workers and investors. "Even some of the lobbyists who supported the bill tell me that they are afraid to touch it now," Senator Leahy said.

I'm interested to watch the degree that consolodations will now break apart. Tyco spent the last five years acquiring at a massive rate; now it will split into a series of independent companies, sometimes even using corporate names left in the dust two or three years ago. The Glass-Segal act, a law passed in the 1930s that mandated a separation of lending and investment banking, was repealed in 1999. Now, Congress is discussing reinstating the act (though the Times calls the odds of reinstatement "very unlikely."). In politics, a swing to the left may be beginning. An abashed liberal president? Could happen in 2008. Maybe even 2004. Good news for John Kerry? Good news for Anti-Trust Attorneys?
· How Will Washington Read the Signs? [NY Times]