hoover

The Seduction of America

I agree. I also believe the monopoly problem goes deeper than just the banking industry. Free markets and relatively fair markets require rules of the game to be established and enforced. If you establish real competition in a capitalst game with free and fair markets, smart regulation instead of corrupt lobbyist induced regulation, and constant monitoring to stop monopolistic practices (both old methods and new high tech methods), I believe most economic problems would eventually disappear. Just an opinion.

On Apr 19 10:15 AM derryl wrote:

> John,
> Great article. A few weeks ago a former chief economist of the IMF
> published an article warning of the excessive influence of bankers/Wall
> St on US government policy. His conclusion was that these extremely
> rich people were manipulating the political system to get even richer,
> at the expense of the interests of the nation as a whole.
>
> I see a couple of comments claiming you are guilty of envy of 'successful'
> people. If some group (bankers) enjoys such power that they can hijack
> government policy to enrich themselves without producing anything
> of value for the economy, it is not 'envy' to denounce this. If socialists
> hijack the US agenda and implement fiscally unaffordable universal
> health care, would you be guilty of 'envy' for denouncing these unearned
> benefits which some are given at the expense of others?
>
> In 1848 Karl Marx noted that 'capitalism tends inevitably toward
> monopoly'. In the tradition of Adam Smith I think what we want is
> not 'capitalism' per se but free enterprise. Enterprise cannot be
> free and competitive in a monopoly environment If some relatively
> small group gains control of the monetary apparatus and concentrates
> economic power in a few hands, this is not free enterprise but oligarchy
> and tyranny.
>
> Since the beginning the Founding Fathers have warned against this
> development, against the 'European banking powers' (Benjamin Franklin's
> term) who seek to control the issue of nations' money and thereby
> own and control the nation. A democratic republic has the right and
> duty to limit the concentration of the nation's wealth in too few
> hands, because overconcentration chokes out real economic development
> and a free market distribution of incomes.
>
> Mammon, the god of capital, is not the god of free enterprise. We
> do not need to honor this false god by surrendering our economy to
> the clutches of Money.

The End of Gold, Part Two

Dave, good thought provoking article. It is quite obvious that deflationary forces are at work in various commodities, houses,and other items. But, if you visit the supermarket every couple of days like I do, you know there are also inflationary forces at work. I have always assumed that deflation can never occur because government prints enough fiat money, and financial institutions lend enough money, to prevent deflation. But, of course loans are imploding and at the same time businesses are laying off people (reducing their buying power) and cutting costs to the bone. Deflation could happen over a number of years -- but I will have to see it to believe it.

Monetary Madness: Global Margin Call Underway

Depression II is trying to happen; many of the elements are in place. In the 1930's Depression I, home prices were dropping, there was too much debt, commoditiy prices were dropping, profits disappeared because people didn't have the money to buy products, the stock market was imploding, farmers couldn't sell their products at a profit because market prices were too low, unemployment was soaring, banks were failing, and the government didn't know what to do. This time around (as Toni suggests toxic levels are even worse) the situation is potentially worse. Can massive amounts of increased borrowed government money thrown at massive amounts of already shaky borrowed money fix the problem, which was caused by too much borrowed money and leverage in the first place? We are entering a new dimension.