paulseglund

Paul Krugman on America the Tarnished: "The financial crisis has had many costs. And one of those costs is the damage to America’s reputation, an asset we’ve lost just when we, and the world, need it most."

It is absolutely horrendous. They have killed the goose that laid the golden egg and I am not talking about the reputation but the ideas and work ethic that made this country great is now "out of style".

Santelli seems to have sparked a revolution: Americans throwing nearly 40 tea parties.

You have a better way to take back the principles this country is founded on, lets hear it. In the meantime, I want to organize one in Bend, OR too at Mirror Pond.


On Feb 26 05:12 PM scorp99cam wrote:

> Are we really this stupid?

Sen. Chuck Schumer endorses the own-to-rent proposal, which would let homeowners who can't afford mortgage payments remain in their homes as renters. Felix Salmon thinks it's a great idea; others demur.

Just another way for the government to control you. Lets see we would have financial, energy, healthcare, living arrangements, food restrictions-what else is there to control? Maybe everyone should read Orwell's 1984 again. Where are the voices saying enough already?

Some tense debate in the U.S. House as a final vote on cap-and-trade nears. Rep. Devin Nunes of Calif.: The bill is designed to "satisfy the twisted desires of radical environmentalists." Texas' Joe Barton: "An economic disaster bill." President Obama stated the charge to consumers would be "a postage stamp per day" over 10 years. (previously)

Another nail in the coffin for the US and the economy. How do we compete with China now hamstrung with this monstrosiity? As always the cost estimates are far too low and when it does not work, taxes will again go up.

Mean Street's Evan Newmark thinks TARP architect Hank Paulson is a national hero. Really.

really? for who China?

The government says it'll be a few weeks before it has the data to decide whether to extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. The IRS' internal watchdog is about to warn the agency for the fourth time about fraud related to the credit - up to $489M possibly granted to unqualified applicants. And Rex Nutting says to kill this ineffective, wasteful subsidy.

Not to mention being unfair to legitimate home buyers that never got a dime of support from these idiotic government schemes.

Krugman continues to push for a second Obama stimulus: "What Mr. Obama needs to do is level with the American people. He needs to admit that he may not have done enough on the first try."

Some government spending is necessary of course but we need to get back to the basics-defense, judicial, infrastructure upgrades and maintenance and education. Don't spend a dime overseas and implement a flat tax to replace the income tax. Lets see what happens in 5 years and then decide if capitalism works-we could be more like Switzerland. Unfortunately it will never happen as there are too many people that have already paid into programs like social security & medicare that rightly expect to see their benefits paid back. And all those people whose jobs & livelihood depend on the dole. I see Schumer stole Paul O'Niell's idea about funding every child at birth to replace social security. With the power of compounding, that idea will work but the initial deposit is more like $5000+.

A CNBC interview of Rep. Barney Frank turns into a train wreck after Frank and CNBC's Mark Haines can't stop talking long enough to listen. Are these two related?

Frank should not be in that position. Please MA vote him out for the good of the country. Politicians are supposed to serve the country and not deflect questions on what they are doing.

Most of the 19 banks commented on their stress-test results. This table summarizes their responses. (source)

I destroyed the TV watching Neal Kashkari on Charlie Rose tonight. The government has been lying to us since the Summer of 2007 according to him. They knew a bubble in housing and credit crisis was a big problem but they continued to say the economy is strong, no credit problems, Fannie & Freddie are well capitalized etc. I know many professionals used these comments to make what turned out to be flawed decisions. All this crap was undertaken to prevent a crisis in the market but that happened anyway. If anyone in the private sector had said this, they would be in deep trouble. Don't be surprised to see the market retest the lows at some point.

Paul Krugman on the paradox of pay cuts: "If everyone takes a pay cut, nobody gains a competitive advantage. So there’s no benefit to the economy from lower wages. Meanwhile, the fall in wages can worsen the economy’s problems on other fronts."

If the problem is aggregate debt, then lower wages will not release the shackles soon enough to allow growth to return. Higher earning power should lead to capital creation and the industry to generate more earning power. I think Krugman is right on this point anyway.

As part of an overhaul of the Enforcement Division announced last month, the SEC has reportedly hired Adam Storch, 29-year-old ex-Goldman Sachs (GS) fraud analyst, as the unit's first chief operating officer.

Ha ha ha that is a good one. 29 yr old heading up enforcement & from GS to boot-incredible. In another related move Ahmadjihad has been named new religion czar.

"Cash-for-clunkers": Now that it's slowing, was it just another bubble, and is it back to overcapacity for us? The unintended consequences of the program are piling up. Derek Thompson: The program is still a clunker.

Is it really good for the environment when you remove good cars and crush them that someone could use (charities or low income) so we can subsidize the people that can afford a new car? Of course it is not good for our wheezing capitalist system & this will be on life support if idiots think it works so well and will try to expand it to other industries.

After congratulating its dealers on "being selected to move forward with the new GM," the automaker tells them they must stop selling non-GM brands, or else.

The winners will be the dealers that got cut loose. Who would want to sell Trabants when you could hook up with Penske?

Steve Forbes calls on the administration to rethink nationalized health care: "President Obama says he wants to make health care affordable for all. Applying free-market principles to health care would do just that."

Why are socialists & communists on an American Financial website? The markets are about so called free market capitalists, although with freedom of speech, you do have the right to speak your mind but at least get the facts straight. The health care system in this country is so highly regulated already that roughly 50% of the cost is for regulation & paperwork. Ask doctors why many are thinking of retiring early? Why is there a nursing shortage? The HMO in post WWII as espoused by Henry Kaiser was actually a great idea-get people to stay healthy & the costs for treating them would be lower. Only when heavy government intervention came along in the 1960's with Medicare & Medicaid did costs for care & insurance skyrocket. If you long for the days when doctors made house calls & you recieved great care, that was free market capitalism-the doctor saw you & handed you the bill & you paid it right there.

House Financial Services Chair Barney Frank is pleased with offers by U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Northern Trust (NTRS) to return $6B and $1.8B in TARP money. "I'm assuming neither one would have done that if they weren't feeling that things are stabilizing." Either that, or they're scared of the gov't.

Wish we could return Barney Rubble to Mass-I am sure they don't want to succumb to the governments wishes. Just ask ex Freddie CEO Moffet.