autboy

13 Comments

    • Fannie and Freddie Did Not Cause This Crisis [view article]
      what's pathetic is the is the premise that each political party is a mortal enemy of the other and must try destroy the other to somehow return the country to health. i see merit on both sides of the argument, but am especially disturbed at the relentless conservative assault on an opponent regarded as an anti-American enemy threatening the security of the country. Absurd. Grow up. There can be legitimate disagreement without class war Oct 05 01:22 PM
    • Capitalism: RIP [view article]
      kertch, let's keep the ball rolling. I like your thinking. I pose this to you:

      Capitalism is an ethical system as well as an economic system. It essentially says, 'we don't need kings or interventionist governments to oversee us or meddle in our affairs. If we create value and ensure fair markets, the role of government is relegated to rule maker and umpire ensuring that market participants play fair.'

      Capitalism not only ensures private ownership, wealth creation, innovation and the rest; it ensures autonomy from interventionist government. If I behave in ways that necessitate government intervention, I am essentially destroying that system. If I want government out of my life, I behave ethically.

      Sounds pollyanna, but it is really very simple. you may strongly disagree, but I am convinced the government steps in not because it is power hungry, but because it sees no viable alternative in a given case. The government didn't step in in the case of civil rights because it was looking for a convenient way to meddle. It stepped in because certain states refused to enforce Constitutional guarantees. It didn't step in during the Depression because it was feeling frisky; it stepped in because a demoralized nation standing in breadlines amid a frozen economy was unacceptable. And it didn't step in this time because of a good old boys network. It stepped in because it wasn't prepared to deal with a full blown social crisis as a result of a new Depression. It is impossible in this case - as it was during the Depression - to ignore the issue of scale.

      Naive, but simple: don't want government intervention? Keep your house in order. Wanna do the whole bad mortgage/mortgage backed securities shell game? fine, but don't cry when the gov't needs to pull your ass out of the fire.

      and BTW, whenever you play these stupid games of grossly irresponsible and greedy risk, you unavoidably increase the power of the government - the last fracking thing you want.

      Failure of capitalism, dude. It is on US, not them       Sep 22 08:58 PM
    • Capitalism: RIP [view article]
      this series is helpful: www.moneymorning.com/2.../ Sep 22 04:21 PM
    • Capitalism: RIP [view article]
      kertch, I am willing to be educated, but I don't understand your post. The creative manipulation of the system to allow persons without means to purchase unaffordable goods while others packaged up and sold the resulting debts to others on the premise of potential high returns has nothing to do with facism or socialism. It's a failure of our own system. Even the government's lax oversight is part of that failure. Certainly when the foolishness of free agents in the marketplace combined with lack of transparency reaches such a scale that it threatens to plunge the country into depression, that is a failure of capitalism.

      IMO, we need a 30-day moratorium on the use of "totalitarianism&... "socialism", "facism" and the like so people can bone up a little on history. When we get to the point of a police state that outlaws political opposition, sanctions gulags and concentration camps, confiscates private property, demands public loyalty to a dictator, and systematically murders anyone who doesn't toe the line, then we can talk about "totalitarianism&... But not before
       Sep 22 03:49 PM
    • Capitalism: RIP [view article]
      amen to eyeswideopen. this entire episode reveals the fatuousness of the Right's relentless bellyaching about the evils of liberalism. I'm not a "liberal" but i'm also not a gutless conservative, unable to accept blame for the failures of my own ideals. the financial meltdown is capitalism-generated. get your own sh*t together Sep 22 01:51 PM
    • How Bernanke Stunned Congress with the Truth [view article]
      "The decision of George W. Bush to save our Nation is as brave, courageous and intelligent of leadership we want in a President. His resolution to move quickly roughly equals George Washington in combat."

      god, i love a good laugh i the morning. tks.       Sep 20 09:25 AM
    • How Is GM Still Alive? [view article]
      what mcadoo said Aug 01 01:12 PM
    • Wednesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets [view article]
      what's an ordinary small fry investor to do? Jul 23 09:42 AM
    • Financials: How - And When - We Reached the Bottom [view article]
      LOL! debtacid: 1929-30 sure was quotable.

      But DSB has touched the central nerve: how much betrayal of essential trust can a market endure and still hope to prosper. I am often struck by the conservative obsession with getting the government off the backs of businesses so they can create value, jobs, and provide more opportunities for wealth etc,. But seems to me that lays a responsibility on businesses - in this case the financial sector - not to operate so recklessly that government intervention is the only way to prevent collapse. How can anyone observing this situation from the outside rush back in to invest in companies that have behaved so irresponsibly?       Jul 22 02:58 PM
    • Wednesday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets [view article]
      Thanks, Dave.

      Bush always sounds like he is reading a speech that someone else was supposed to deliver. I have never heard anyone I believed less. Does the guy really have any convictions of his own? Why does he bother?

      We have had some foolish governments over the years, but this one is populated with a rare breed of incompetents. God help us       Jul 16 09:50 AM
    • Shipping is Shaping Up - Cramer's Lightning Round (5/27/08) [view article]
      Cramer: hyper-kinetic entertainment for an ADD world. not serious investment advice. contrarian indicator, if anything May 28 11:25 AM
    • When Will American Realize the World Has Changed? [view article]
      The US is not a "superpower"... it only insists it still is. The days when we could unilaterally exert our military and economic power to work our will are gone. Two catastrophically stupid wars over the past 50 years accomplished nothing but proving we now face enemies we have no idea how to fight. & Americans' seemingly helpless dependence on foreign oil gravely weakens our position. we have some major vulnerabilities right now - and we have our heads in the sand about how to fix them. May 26 12:11 PM
    • The Seeking Alpha ETF Investing Guide [view article]
      Wish I had taken this years ago. Alas... May 15 10:27 PM
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