phat cat

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

The Seductive Lure of Socialism

Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should be just; it must be philanthropic. Nor is it sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the free and inoffensive use of his faculties for physical, intellectual, and moral self-improvement. Instead, it is demanded that the law should directly extend welfare, education, and morality throughout the nation.

This is the seductive lure of socialism. And I repeat again: These two uses of the law are in direct contradiction to each other. We must choose between them. A citizen cannot at the same time be free and not free.

by Frédéric Bastiat, 1850

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

I was watching the HBO mini-series "John Adams" last night. In espisode 5, while John and Abigail Adams sat under their laundry in the newly built Whitehouse having dinner, John said:

''I pray Heaven to Bestow the best of Blessings on THIS HOUSE and on All that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under the roof"

We had 8 years of dishonest and stupid ruling. I hope Obama proves John Adams right. Anyone knows Obama PLEASE forward James' article to him.

For anyone who have read the brief American history, you'd agree that it's a miracle that US is where it is. We had some amazingly smart, just and honest founding fathers. Looking at the condition right now, it will take another miracle to pull US out of this mess.

The Shallowest Generation

"a sprawling and pedestrian conglomeration of conventional wisdom"

If it's so "pedestrian" and "conventional", we wouldn't be in this mess, or are you proposing that we got into this mess intentionally?

The Shallowest Generation

Reading all the comments, there is clearly people are toeing the party line, blaming each other for what's happening. I believe the facts presented by this article are so clear and convincing, and self evident, there is no question that we are all in this mess together. Although the solution is not clear, it never is!

People who can provide solution to this will be the ones who understand the issues involved. I'd rather have James Quinn to take the lead than the ones who were intimately involved in the creation of this mess.

If we just shift the amount spent on gambling to education, or 1/4 of what's spent on new cars, we chould have a much better educated population who understands the values and right from wrongs. Maybe the obvious solution is short term painful, we have no choice but to take the hit.

The news on US borrowing 1 trillion to finance 2009 budget deficit is exactly what we shouldn't be doing. It's not a solution to borrow more money to solve the problem of over-borrowing. Somebody's going to pay for all this debt someday. We better start saving up for our children and their children, that's if USD is going to still be worth anything then.

The Shallowest Generation

Thank you Perceptions_now for the quote. Ayn Rand's characters are usually black or white, very clear on where they stand on the side of good vs. evil. In today's reality, everyone's sucked into the system, we are all victims and perpetrators at the same time. I would think those executives in Wall Street firms think they are just and fair, with high moral standards and serving the greater good--I don't think Paulson is intentionally creating a doomed system, he's just the product of the system and trying to savage it.

The Shallowest Generation

Times like this makes me want to re-read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. "Who's John Galt?". We may all need a new enclave to survive this.

James, great article, really makes you think that all these people who live in the world of entitlement (who believes everyone is entitled to 40 inch LCD TVs, new SUVs every 3 years or weekend shopping of trolley full of unnecessary goods) should be supported by the productive sector of people.

But where is this enclave?

Things Aren't as Bad as They Seem - Barron's

As the saying goes, let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Survival of the Longest

I meant:

Right on Thomas. I can't agree with you MORE!

Survival of the Longest

Right on Thomas. I can't agree with you.

If we are to stretch our imagination a bit more, it's not unforeseeable that we may be in whole lot of trouble more. With the Americans used to all the excesses and increasingly belligerent, and the developing countries like China, Russia and Easter Bloc just starting to taste the fruit of capitalism, a prolonged deep recession will lead to....WWIII. It will start with finger pointing backed by religious backlash (just see how Obama is being labeled as an Islamic terrorist!!! just ridiculous), followed by a mass scramble for resources, then a flared up nationalism, finally armageddon, created by ourselves.

The solution? Not clear. We need wise/responsible leaders who can see big pictures (not just finding Russia across the pond) and people start to take responsibilities for their own actions. We created this debt problem, we are the ones who are spending money we don't have, and we are just as greedy as those people on Wall Street. We know it, if put Joe Plummer on the trading floor, he will do exactly the same! It's time to tighten our belts and start to prepare for a long winter... and gold is not a bad idea at all (physical only, those ETFs might just be as worthless as the Lehman shares in the brokerage account)