ferguson

Government's New Credit Approach: Does the End Justify the Means?

Peter Schiff's argument only makes sense if one ignores the predatory practices of credit card companies in the pursuit of profit at the expense of responsible lending and borrowing. The rapacious onslaught of commercial forces on the pocketbooks of ordinary Americans has precipitated a catastrophe which, in retrospect, can be seen to have been both inevitable and necessary. The out-of-control consumption machine has been derailed. Perhaps we need to consider a return to living within our means and in harmony with the natural world which we call home. In case anyone doubts the compelling seriousness of the issue, they chould consult the third edition of "Earth From Above," by Yann Arthus Bertrand.

Obama Summarizes Economic Policies, Misses Several Key Points

College student thinks Peter Schiff should be president. I agree he should be president of something. Just like George Bush, he should be the permanent president of his college fraternity where the power of the president to do damage to the nation and the world is suitably contained.

It's Not a Recession, It's the New Reality

"Reality" is a many headed hydra. The "reality" of human life is that the future is not known with any degree of certainty because we have gained the capacity to change it. The technological revolution of the past 250 years has altered "reality" dramatically, including both extraordinary benefits and extraordinary dangers. The technological revolution of the next 100 is likely to do the same.

The real questions are: 1. whether we have the personal and political courage to act responsibly in dealing with the dangers; 2. whether we have the vision and leadership necessary to create (not just accept) a sustainable "reality;" 3. Whether we have the wisdom and restraint necessary to invest wisely and in the long term interest of life on earth rather than in pursuit of immediate self aggrandizement.

It is of interest that piracy has flowered on the high seas at the same time that it has flowered on Wall Street. I am not speaking particularly about the bankers and financial engineers who have responsible for the housing mortgage fraud, but about the whole culture that has allowed boards of directors, executives and employees to hijack corporate America and divert its productivity from owners (shareholders) to their own benefit.

The question is not whether we spent too much money or borrowed too much. The question is what we borrowed for and what we spent it on. If we had borrowed and spent it on energy efficiency, education and infrastructure, we would be in great shape. Instead we spent it on fat cats, 20,000 square foot houses, $50,000 weddings and $100,000 vacations.

The "new reality" should include a new definition of "The Wealth of Nations."

Watch This Sector During the Upcoming Bear Market Rally

Altering the mark to market rule should be a subject for accountants, mathematicians and policy makers. Since I am none of the above, I have complete license to make a fool of myself by suggesting a direction.

Here it is. Adjust the basic principle to read something like this.

"The value of an asset on the books which is difficult to assess as a result of infrequent trades shall be no higher than the sum of the original value on the books of the owner and the most recent traded price divided by two."

All better informed pundits can now explain why this is a stupid idea and would not work.

Market Death Spiral Continues

Know nothing is at least honest in choosing a moniker. The problems in the U.S. economy go back 60 years, when post WWII consumerism was unleashed as the dominant force in our economy, eclipsing work and productivity. As long as the middle class was able to hold its own in that economy, we were able to survive many challenges because we had broad based wealth and broad based purchasing power.

Globalism and trickle down economics have pulled the rug out from underneath the masses who are now seen as nothing more than a source of sales for the pools of capital that serve the still wealthy.

Obama is rightfully seeking to reverse this slide toward national poverty. The nation will be much better off when the national wealth is shared more fairly and the masses have sufficient purchasing power to maintain a decent standard of living. Even the wealthy will be better off, because it was the mistaken trajectory under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush which has taken us over this economic cliff.

Financial Meltdown: Good Luck, Bad Luck, Who Knows?

Jim Kingsdale wrote

For another, it is hard to be philosophic in the face of a loss, especially a great loss.

The mention of philosophy in this context suggests that it might be time to cite the Greek philosopher, Epictetus, i.e.,

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react, that matters."

Financial Meltdown: Good Luck, Bad Luck, Who Knows?

Jim Kingsdale wrote,

For another, it is hard to be philosophic in the face of a loss, especially a great loss.

U.S. Economy: There Are No Problems, Only Solutions

Terrific argument by James Quinn on behalf of a simpler and better life, free of the economic catastrophes that beset us. I would opt for it in a minute.

Unfortunately, the standard of living to which the American people are accustomed to is built on a very complex system of production, distribution and financial interaction that is worldwide. Whether this is a good or a bad idea is less relevant than the facts that it is a reality and that making dramatic changes will have convulsive and unpredictable consequences.

Of course, it is also possible to observe that continuing down the current path of financial and technological integration around the globe is already having convulsive and unpredictable consequences. True enough.

The only point I am trying to make is that we have to be both visionary and careful in how we proceed and recognize that, as usual, it is likely that neither extreme is liable to be right to the exclusion of the other. There is nothing in the globalization of food production, for instance, that prevents me from growing food on my one-half acre.

Fortunately, the American people in their wisdom, have elected whose capacity for vision and care seem to be well balanced. My opinion is that Barack Obama will deserve and need our support in order to chart a course forward.

Economy Loses 240,000 Jobs in October, Defines Obama's Challenges

Great article. Obama and the team he brings into office are going to have to be brilliant and visionary and, at the same time, pragmatic and tough as nails. A centrist policy and a few concrete actions early on jobs, infrastructure and energy will secure the support he needs to address the deeper, longer range problems in health care, entitlements, education and the environment (not necessarily in order of priority).

The Perversion of American Capitalism

Very good, insightful article, but not necessarily correct. All social and economic systems (capitalism no less than socialism) are necessarily wheels of fortune. In order to accomplish anything investment is necessary. In a socialist society that means taxes. In a capitalist society that means borrowing and debt. And both systems are dependent on the belief that the unproven ends are worth the unavoidable cost. So, spin the wheel and place your bets. The best assurance of a reasonable degree of success is that we have honest and intelligent people running the game.

For this reason, we are much better off today than we were yesterday, since Obama brings both intelligence and honesty to the job, qualities that have been sadly lacking in American politics for decades. It will take time, but I believe that these qualities, combined with the American capacity for entreprenurial initiative, innovation and investment will place this nation on a more productive and more rewarding path.

Obama Is Bad for the Economy - Barron's

The answer to Proud Alien's question is simple. It is "Fraud." With its claim to "compassionate conservatism" the Bush administration was fraudulent from the beginning. It has been neither compassionate nor conservative and never had any intention to be either one. It is and has been a money grab for the rich under the delusionary notion that what is good for the rich is good for everybody through the dubious notions of "trickle down economics" as claimed by Barron's,cowboy free market capitalism as practised by Enron and oil inspired military adventurism as practised by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the neo-cons.

The events of 9/11 turned a politically opportunistic fraud into a criminal enterprise, in which the administration bent and/or broke the rules, not to save the country, but to save its own skin. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al thought they could practice the art of deception sufficiently that they would go down in history as the Churchhill's of their time. Instead, they will go down as the Napoleon's, who everestimated their own capacity and righteousness, deceived the people they were sworn to serve, overreached on the international stage and underreached at home where it really counts.

Unfortunately, unlike Napoleon, they will not wind up confined to rocky islands. They will live lives of wealth, pomp and circumstance while the American people try to find their way back to an ethic that is more productive than greed.