COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The End is Near - from The Weekly Standard

That is the good news. The bad news is that they may be right:



Losing the Economic Battle

The global debt apocalypse approaches.

OCT 31, 2011, VOL. 17, NO. 07 • BY DAVID M. SMICK



THE WEEKLY STANDARD

On the issue of public debt, Washington is experiencing what psychologists call “learned helplessness.” The financial news is so relentlessly terrible that people have become numb to it and assume nothing can be done to regain control over our fate.
Bottle of ink
Today the world’s public and private debt exceeds an incredible 300 percent of GDP. We are at risk of succumbing to an ugly, downward, global mark-to-market in asset prices. Yet the discussion in Washington fails to reflect the immensity of the threat.
Some money managers have a theory that this mark-to-market process has been under way for some time. Stage One was the 1990s Asian crisis. Global financial markets concluded that Asia’s debt was dangerously high and its banks’ balance sheets not reflective of reality. Global traders pounced. Interest rates soared, equity markets plummeted, banks failed, and currencies collapsed.
Stage Two is happening in Europe today.
Stage Three will eventually hit the United States. Washington policy-makers seem confident America’s public debt risk is years away. They believe that the U.S. economy, with the dollar the reserve currency, enjoys some immunity from these concerns. The central bank, moreover, can buy bonds to keep interest rates from rising in response to growing debt. Yet these are risky assumptions.A year ago, senior European officials never dreamed they’d be in their current mess. Greece represents only 3 percent of the Eurozone economy. Bailout tricks and clever central bank interventions were supposed to calm nervous markets. That happened, but didn’t last. A powerful global financial market brought officials to their knees. Today, many European policymakers can’t believe America is risking a similar outcome. True, as a means of protection the Fed itself will try to manipulate credit markets by keeping long-term interest rates artificially low. But global financial markets will simply penalize bank stocks, a phenomenon that may result in a credit contraction and double dip recession.


The larger danger is that ballooning debt reaches a tipping point beyond which financial markets conclude the debt cannot be repaid without instigating political chaos. That is Europe’s predicament today. Markets realize that the austerity policies needed to bring the debt under control are making the task of debt reduction impossible, as tax revenues plummet.
Some analysts, including Criton Zoakos, argue that the global economy has reached a “point of no return.” Debt suffocates growth, which destroys equity values (particularly financial stocks), which diminishes lending, investment, and consumption. Falling tax receipts lead to even more debt. Optimists argue not to worry. The world since January 2008, they say, has been undergoing an important period of public and private deleveraging. Growth will resume once deleveraging is completed.
If only life were that simple! Global indebtedness, according to Zoakos, has actually increased by 17 percent since the beginning of 2008. Nations have enacted generous bailout and stimulus programs while growth has averaged an anemic 1.2 percent.
With the world having fallen into a giant liquidity trap, monetary policy has been ineffective. Because of the growing slack in the economy as the developing world joins in the global slowdown, the central bankers couldn’t inflate their way out of today’s debt problem through bond purchases even if they wanted to.
What the Greek situation has shown (debt 120 percent of GDP before the crisis and 170 percent todayafter reforms) is that austerity without a strategy for vigorous economic growth is a recipe for failure. But Washington’s political environment is so poisonous, bipartisan fiscal compromise seems impossible.
Washington is overflowing with tax reform policies, proposals to bend the cost curve of entitlements, and ideas for smart infrastructure spending. There even seems to be a beneath-the-surface bipartisan consensus to move forward on these items, which probably won’t happen short of a stock market crisis that forces Congress to act.
Yet these reforms may not be enough. Policymakers also need to reform today’s slow-to-lend, too-big-to-fail banks. Here’s an important question: Should governments and central banks continue to try to prop up the value of the assets on bank balance sheets even though those values are unsustainable? This losing battle has already contributed to global public debt-to-GDP ratios that boggle the mind. We may be saving our banks, but we’re losing our economy.
Like a giant bow wave building up on each side of the vessel, the growing debt is threatening to swamp the entire world economic ship. A feeling of helplessness has taken hold at the precise moment policymakers need to be audacious. The numbers behind presidential candidate Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan may not add up, but his gut instinct is on the mark. America needs radical reform on the issues of both growth and debt.
David M. Smick, chairman of the macroeconomic advisory firm Johnson Smick International, is the founder and editor of the International Economy magazine.

129 comments:

  1. Take the US government out of the debt markets.

    Fully utilize the power that is inherent in having the global reserve currency.

    Castrate the banks, by taking their "safe haven" away.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The mistake is trying to save Bankosaurus Rex. It is an unsustainable species, a genetic freak, lumbering, stuck in a financial tar pit, too big to bail. Let is die and if it resists kill it and put it out of our collective misery.

    ReplyDelete



  3. Ha'aretz

    Conservative groups nix unity pledge on Israel

    Jewish Telegraphic Agency -


    WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Two conservative groups have rejected the joint appeal from two national Jewish organizations to sign a "unity pledge" on treating Israel in political debate.



    REJECTED
    The very concept -

    "America’s friendship with Israel is an emotional, moral and strategic bond that has always transcended politics,"
    it reads in part.
    "Support for Israel has never been merely a plank in a Republican or Democratic Party or candidate’s platform. It is a core American policy that serves our nation’s most fundamental national interests.


    REJECTED

    By the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Emergency Coalition for Israel.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those banks, Deuce, OWN the Federal Reserve.

    They are integral to our current financial system.

    Without the Congress fulfilling it's Constitutional writ, as described in Section 8, to control the value of the currency, there is no hope of "real" economic reform.

    100 years of extraconstitutional experimentation has proven to be more than a failure, the experiment has become a threat to liberty and freedom of the citizens.

    As foretold by by both Mr Jefferson and Mr Jackson.

    With a dash of Ike, who everyone liked, thrown in.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That anon, was me!

    Who could have guessed?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anyone happen to notice what has happened to the story about Iran ending the World as we know it by paying what's his name to clip the Saudi with the fan belt around his head in the DC restaurant? It is probably easier to get a reservation there.

    ReplyDelete
  7. First, you listen to your acountant; find out where you are. Then, you get busy saving your business.

    We've heard from the accountants. We're in bad shape. Now, what do we do?

    1) Get rid of any alligators that you can.

    2) Get more competitive.

    3) Concentrate on growing "Cash Flow."

    "Alligators" would include all silly-assed, nation-building adventures in Jihadi-land.

    "Competitive" would include jerking a know in China's currency tail.

    "Growing Cash Flow" would include cutting expenses on Foreign Oil.


    Thank the accountants for their help, then go borrow as much as possible (long term) at the available "very low" interest rates. Spend the money on making your business more efficient ( building ethanol refineries to replace foreign petroleum.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. "those banks" who own the Federal Reserve are the Rothchilds, the Morgans, the Rockefellers and their agents.

    ReplyDelete
  9. And, Whatever You Do, Do Not Let the Republicans Near the Economy in Times of Crisis.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Those are just some of the names that represent the 1%, gag.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The Forbes riches people list that comes out every year? Hogwash.

    These families are in control:

    Rothschilds
    A man by the name of Mayer Amschel Bauer was born in Frankfurt am Main Germany in 1744. He was the son of Moses Amschel Bauer. Mayer’s father was an itinerant money-lender and gold smith. After his father’s death Mayer went to work as a clerk for Oppenheimers in Hannover. Shortly there after he returned to Frankfurt and purchased his father’s business which Moses established in 1950. Mayer changed his name to Rothschild (meaning Red Shield)

    Mayer Rothschild had 5 sons which began the Rothschild’s dynasty. The Rothschild family has become the richest family in the world. Their holdings are vast. They have operated many central banks over the years including the first two central banks that were in America. They own Reuters. Through Reuters they purchased the Associated Press. (AP) They control most of the main stream media. In addition to this they own Royal Dutch Shell. (Shell) The Rothschilds also own vast amounts of gold and the own every central bank in the world except 1.

    http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=16937.0;wap2

    http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/slavery.htm

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_family#Origins


    The Rothschilds also have many agents and associates that share their goals, (NWO) and do their bidding. Two of their agents are stock market guru Warren Buffet, and hedge fund guru George Soros. Warren Buffet is also associated with Goldman Sachs. A Rothschild institution

    http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4821506.ece

    http://everythingwarrenbuffett.blogspot.com/2009/11/reuters-rothschild-star-and-buffett.html

    http://behind-the-matrix.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-goldman-sachs-rothschilds-took-over.html

    http://euro-med.dk/?p=8899

    http://www.iamthewitness.com/doc/The.Rothschild.Octopus.htm

    Rockefellers
    John D Rockefeller owned Standard Oil. In 1911 Standard oil faced an antitrust lawsuit. When standard oil was broken up into separate companies Rockefeller made a vast sum of money of the break up of that company. Later he was involved in the formation of the Federal Reserve. He also made a great deal of money when the stock market collapsed before the great depression. Rockefeller and his descendants have been involved in the formation of several global organizations. He donated the land where the United Nations constructed it’s head quarters. Rockefeller’s descendants also created the Trilateral Commission. Rockefeller help create the Council on Foreign Relations. Every congressman is a member of CFR with the exception of 3.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations



    Warburgs
    Paul Warburg is considered to be one of the founders of the Federal Reserve. Here is a brief background on the Warburg family.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warburg_family

    Aldrichs
    It was Senator Nelson Aldrich who brought the Federal Reserve legislation to the senate. He is also the one who sponsored the Federal Income Tax amendment. His daughter Abby married John D Rockefeller Jr.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_W._Aldrich

    Morgans
    John Pierpont Morgan was born April 17th 1837. It is now widely believed that he was a Rothschild agent. He guided the panic of 1907 which helped lead to the justification for the formation of the Federal Reserve.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Morgan

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPMorgan_Chase

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8974

    http://www.jeremiahproject.com/trashingamerica/money.html

    Historically speaking these families often intermarried to keep the power between them.

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9906E3D81E38E633A2575BC2A9679C946796D6CF

    ReplyDelete
  12. ...how strange...

    Reuters reports August home prices, "FLAT".

    Bloomberg reports that August home prices "FELL".

    ReplyDelete
  13. …and oil rises to execute the coup de grâce.

    ReplyDelete
  14. On Fox News Sunday this weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC):

    “Iraq and Afghanistan is being run out of Chicago, not Washington, in terms of decisions.”


    And who "runs" Chi-town.

    Lester Crown is Chairman of Henry Crown and Company, a family-owned and operated company which includes diversified manufacturing operations and real estate. He is a member of the Board of Directors of General Dynamics Corporation and Chairman of its subsidiary, Material Service Corporation.

    ...

    Mr. Crown is a director of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC and an indirect owner of the Chicago Professional Sports Limited Partnership (the Chicago Bulls basketball team).

    Mr. Crown is actively involved in ... the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (of which he is Chairman of the Board), the Commercial Club of Chicago (of which he is Chairman of the Board), ...

    He has previously served as a director of: Chicago Pacific Corporation, Continental Bank and Trust Company, Esmark, 360° Communications Company, TransWorld Airlines and TW Services.

    ReplyDelete




  15. Crown was an early supporter of Barack Obama’s candidacy first for the U.S. Senate, and then for president. He is one of the first and one of his most prodigious fundraisers. As the Obama presidential campaign website says, the candidate “… systematically built a sophisticated, and in many ways quite conventional, money machine.”

    The Crowns were an integral part of that machinery. One of Lester Crown’s children, James Crown, personally bundled $500,000 in campaign contributions for Obama and served as chairman of the Illinois fund raising effort.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Brent Crude spot is, actually, Down $0.28.


    They're just figuring out how to get more of that land-locked WTI out onto the World Market.

    Gasoline is down $0.04.


    Goldman Sachs Retail Sales Index fell -0.8 wk over wk.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Who supplied Mr Obama, an unproven writer, with multimillion dollar advances, but ...

    NEW YORK (AP) — Publisher Steve Ross, who as head of the Crown division at Random House, Inc. has worked with such authors as Sen. Barack Obama, Ann Coulter and Jonathan Kozol, is leaving to run a non-fiction division at HarperCollins.
    ...

    At the Crown Publishing Group, Ross' books included Sen. Obama's The Audacity of Hope, Coulter's Godless and Erik Larson's Thunderstruck. ...


    Playing all sides, against the "Middle".

    ReplyDelete
  18. Consumer Confidence the lowest since March, 2009.

    ReplyDelete
  19. While the "forces" that represent the 1%, well ...


    They continue to present the challenges and solutions, in binary choices.

    Using management techniques developed by the British, in their global empire.

    Forced political integration, then promote cultural divisiveness amongst the people.

    Ensuring that a moderate majority can never develop.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Most all of those rotating through the Forbes 400, gag, are closely associated with "those" bankers, on more than purely a professional level.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Agents! Puppets on a string, as the politians....on both sides of the aisle.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Working with terrorists, to further their domestic political agenda ...

    Who would do such a thing?

    Netanyahu is punishing Abbas by strengthening Hamas

    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel

    ReplyDelete



  23. The Shalit deal with Hamas is reminiscent of the disengagement from Gaza. Ariel Sharon wanted to punish Abbas for his nervy insistence on accepting the Road Map, and punished him with the entrance of Hamas into Gaza.

    Netanyahu's punishment for accepting the Quartet's plan will bring Hamas into Ramallah.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Spare us Rat. One thread w/o the Levant. come on; you can do it.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  26. It is the succumbing to terrorists and their tactics, rufus, that is news worthy.

    It is a defeat for Western Civilization and the Enlightenment, brought to us by the forces of ancient Tribalism.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is the real problem:

    12 years after the arrival of the 6 billionth person in 1999, the world population will reach 7 Billion on or about October 31, 2011. The entire world wants to get to where the first world is today. They all want to do a China.

    If you do not think that is a problem, then when does the problem begin 8 billion, 9 billion, 20 billion? The world would do just fine with 3-5 billion. It took humanity 4 million years to reach a population of one billion in 1804.

    Our economic models are growth based on consumption. There is just so much oil, so much timber, so much water that can be used at one time.

    One visit to China and you see the nightmare developing.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Yeah, that's going to have to be "tomorrow's" worry, Deuce.

    I believe we've got our hands full, today. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. What is the sustainable number, for the human population of "Spaceship Earth"?

    ReplyDelete
  30. The challenges that Deuce outlines, rufus, are where the solutions to the current problems are to be found.

    How can 3% of the whirled continue to account for 24% of the global economic production, and the consumption that drives it.

    If one then continues to break down the numbers, it is easy to see that a third of the US controls what, 20% of global GDP?

    How does the global 99% get it's fair share?

    ReplyDelete
  31. No, our current problems have to be solved with "Immediate, Focused" Actions.

    We'll drain the swamp, Later. Right now, we've got to get this alligator's jaws off of our ass.

    ReplyDelete
  32. "According to eye-witnesses, who were prominent enough to visit one of the British Rothschild homes, the Rothschilds worship yet another god too, Satan...

    CO-MASTERS OF THE WORLD --connections to JWs, Mormons, and Judaism..."

    Financial Wizards & Wealthy Cults
    The Rothschild Bloodline

    ReplyDelete
  33. The two are the same, rufus.

    Cause and Effect.

    A long term challenge, the lack of petroleum resources that would provide for US style consumption whirled wide.

    A short and long term solution, the construction of cellulosic ethanol distilleries, in the farm belt.

    In each of the areas of economic function there are solutions that are viable that address both the long and short term challenges we face.

    The core of the opposition to the implementation of those varied solutions emanates from those that are profiting from the status que.

    ReplyDelete
  34. It's true, Rat. Of all nations on earth, the U.S. is uniquely situated for survival.

    Our climate, and arable land, being no small factors, for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  35. "Those" folks, referred to previously as "Boners" are now referenced to as "Bankers".

    Part of the same cabal of "power players". Operating on a global basis for personal profit.

    ReplyDelete
  36. To consider where we would be Right Now if we'd spent that $2 Trillion Iraq, and Afghan, money on Solar, Wind, and Biofuels: It makes your heart ache.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Switchgrass and sweet sorghum both are capable of producing ethanol at sugarcane levels of energy recapture.

    Levels that even Doug admits are viable for production. Referencing, as he did, a sugar cane distillery that shut down, for lack of feedstock.

    A challenge that would not be duplicated with feedstocks of switchgrass or sweet sorghum.

    ReplyDelete
  38. A gross misapplication of National power.

    The proper questions were never asked, by the Federals, in the wake of the border raids of 11SEP01.

    The US is so dominated by the military industrial complex that we've succumbed to the:

    Law of the Instrument

    The concept known as the law of the instrument, Maslow's hammer, or a golden hammer is an over-reliance on a familiar tool; as Abraham Maslow said in 1966,

    "It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail."

    ReplyDelete
  39. A lot of money to be made on Wall Street from War, and Oil.

    Not so much (actually, hardly anything) to be made from small, local ethanol refineries.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Wall St., and the Farmers: enemies since "Day One."

    ReplyDelete
  41. The United States' first war: fought against the farmers of W. Pa.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Over a tax that the Big Eastern Farmers (George Washington, et al) didn't have to pay.

    ReplyDelete
  43. We spent $24 Billion, and reduced our dependence on Foreign Oil by 900,000 bbl/day.

    We still import a little less than 9 Million barrels.

    10 X $24 B = $240 Billion.

    About 1/10th of what we'll end up spending in Iraq, and Afghanistan.

    ReplyDelete
  44. And, actually, "We" didn't invest anything. We just allowed others to make the investment.

    We've allowed probably $15 Billion in tax credits for the ethanol produced (a program that ends on Dec 31,) and have received way more than that back in reduced gasoline prices.

    ReplyDelete
  45. But, the Koch Brotherd, and those that own a few shares of Exxon don't like it.

    And, somehow, they're fighting the rest of us to a draw.

    We are, w/o a doubt, the most weak-minded species in the entire fucking Universe.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Why are we always mixing it up with the Arab crap? I am soooo tired of all this ISLAMIC based BULLSH!T. All this because some dude named Mohammed moved to a port city and commerce hub when he was young and full of piss and vinegar. He was ambitious and wanted to make a name for himself like MOST people. He married an old a$$ widowed woman who's husband was a well known successful merchant and started his climb accordingly. Then when he was like thirty he "stated" that he went up a mountain and obtained messages from God. (Why are all these fuckers always climbing mountains. Personally, I do some of my best thinking taking a shit.) The charismatic Mohammed had the MONEY and was able to formulate a religion and gather followers. Whatever he was selling, they were buying. He conveniently wrote the Koran to implement his own will, come on!!!!!!!!

    Every time he lost a battle he blamed it on his men's lack of faith in God and sins committed, not his but THEIRS!!!!!!!!!!!

    The shit rolls on and supposedly intelligent people take all this crap seriously. Imbeciles.

    ReplyDelete
  47. (Why are all these fuckers always climbing mountains. Personally, I do some of my best thinking taking a shit.)


    Finally; a contributor with a litereary bent. :)

    ReplyDelete
  48. 50 Amazing Numbers About the Economy


    39. Health care for an average family now runs $19,393 a year, according to the Milliman Medical Index. It was about half that much in 2002.

    ReplyDelete



  49. 34. 5.5 million Americans are unemployed and not receiving unemployment benefits. Last year, that number was 1.4 million.

    ReplyDelete
  50. China's real-estate bubble is popping gentlemen, that's going to be the big story here on out.

    ReplyDelete



  51. 33. The U.S. government provides health care for a minority of its population (elderly and poor) at a greater cost per citizen than many European countries spend on universal coverage.

    ReplyDelete



  52. 6. Only 2.7% of what Americans spend their money on are goods and services from China. 88.5% is on American-made goods and services.

    ReplyDelete



  53. 15. Private jobs growth over the past two years has been faster than it was from 2001-2003. Public job losses have been a major factor in our current jobs crisis.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Ms. T.,

    You may be correct about that Chinese property bubble popping and all but what effect will that have on us over here? It may but I don't really see how or why...

    ReplyDelete
  55. How about this, a two-car family is sending $250.00/Mo. overseas, each, and every month.

    From now until we do something about it.

    ReplyDelete
  56. In the last two months over 800,000 have gone "part-time for Economic Reasons."

    We now have over twice as many (over 8,000,000) part-time workers as we did just a few years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  57. How about this: I take a nap, and you'all figure it out. :)

    ReplyDelete
  58. Re: a clack of Rothchilds

    Says the honorable author, “I will dispense with my normal method of documenting everything…”

    How peculiar that: The fate of the world rests in the author’s hands and he decides to go mute on a legion of salient points. Hmm…

    Furthermore, addressing his “documenting [of] everything”, what happened here?

    “According to eye-witnesses, who were prominent enough to visit one of the British Rothschild homes, the Rothschilds worship yet another god too, Satan.”

    Goodness, me, WHO were these “eyewitnesses”? Inquiring minds want to know – the survival of the world depends on it!!!

    I will say Satan, that old devil, is quite the trendsetter. The tuxedo was not invented until about 1850, in the UK. It took a further decade for it to make its way across the pond. You have to admire the wicked fellow’s sartorial acumen.

    See: the forbidden knowledge (well, obviously, not quite)

    ReplyDelete
  59. What is the point of creating a straw man, allen?

    You bring us the data set, describing Mr Rothschild as a Satan worshiper, then go about to discredit it.

    I do not think anyone of the "regulars" would equate Mr Rothschild with Satanism.

    Banking, yes ...
    Satanism, no.

    ReplyDelete
  60. .

    For Facebook Fans.


    U.S. government agencies sent Google 5,950 criminal investigation requests for data on Google users and services from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2011, an average of 31 a day. That’s compared to 4,601 requests from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2010, the company reported Tuesday in an update to its unique transparency tool...

    Google is alone in providing this data to the public, which it says it hopes will give a push to efforts to reform a 25-year-old government privacy law that lets law enforcement get access to users’ online communications without having to get a judge’s approval...

    Google is part of the so-called Due Process Coalition fighting for reform, but none of its fellow members — which include Amazon, AOL, AT&T, Dropbox, Facebook and Microsoft — provide any data at all about how often the government requests data or how often they comply...

    Yahoo, Twitter, Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner, among others, do not publish any such data, nor do they make it available when the media asks for it, even though there’s no law requiring them to keep such requests quiet...

    According to Google, the numbers do not include National Security Letters, a sort-of self-issued subpoena used by the FBI in drug and terrorism cases. At their post–Patriot Act peak, the FBI issued more than 50,000 such letters a year, nearly all with gag orders attached to them. The use of such letters dipped for a time after the Justice Department’s internal watchdog unveiled widespread abuses and sloppy procedures, but are on the rise again...


    U.S. Requests for Google User Data Spike 29 Percent in Six Months

    .

    ReplyDelete
  61. Ash said...
    Ms. T.,

    You may be correct about that Chinese property bubble popping and all but what effect will that have on us over here? It may but I don't really see how or why..



    The weath effect. The Japanese property bubble burst 20 years ago. It has never really recovered.

    ReplyDelete
  62. DR,

    I am certain you find the "straw man" eerily embarrassing. As to the topic of the Rothschilds et al being my straw man, you are conveniently ill informed. I did not introduce that topic to this thread. Rather, I merely took it to its historically, perverted conclusion.

    More importantly, I think, is the question of whether you can get through one thread without destroying it with your intellectually masturbatory infatuation with all things Jewish. You have been asked by a regular, today, to cease and desist; I seriously doubt you can.

    ReplyDelete
  63. How could we have been so foolish to get ourselves into such a financial mess? Over a trillion U.S. taxpayer dollars have been spent on wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. In
    Libya, we have actually helped al-Qaeda forces that were shooting at U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan take over the country. In Libya, we have actually helped al-Qaeda take power.

    In Afghanistan and Iraq we were supposedly fighting to do just the opposite.

    So just what in the world is going on here?

    Now they have announced that they will be imposing strict Sharia law on all of Libya. After 10 years of having our boys shot up in Afghanistan, the Afghan government is so “grateful” that they are publicly saying that they will side with Pakistan in any future war against the United States. In Iraq, Islamic radicals are beheading and murdering dozens and dozens of Christians and the new Iraqi government seemingly can’t wait to push the remaining U.S. troops out of the country. We ran up well over a trillion dollars in debt to “liberate” these countries, but are they really in better shape than they were before these wars?
    Are Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya safer places than before we went to war with them?
    No.
    Are Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya producing fewer “terrorists” than before we went to war with them?
    No.
    Are we safer than before we started all these wars?
    No.

    There should not be a single American (conservative or liberal) that supports what has gone down in Libya.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Here is where it got us:

    Radio frequency modules manufactured in the United States ended up in the detonation systems of roadside bombs targeting coalition forces in Iraq, according to the Justice Department, which Tuesday unsealed an indictment describing the illegal export of the devices to Iran.

    The department said it is seeking the extradition of four individuals who were arrested Monday in Singapore. The department said the four men, all citizens of Singapore, falsely told the U.S. firm, which is based in Minnesota, that the modules were for a telecommunications project in Singapore.

    The Justice Department said that after the modules arrived in Singapore they were forwarded to Iran by air freight through third countries.

    Charged in the indictment are Wong Yuh Lan, Lim Yong Nam, Lim Kow Seng, and Hia Soo Gan Benson. The indictment, which was returned last month and unsealed Tuesday, also charges, Hossein Larijani, an Iranian citizen, who remains at large. Larijani owned a company in Singapore, Opto Electronics, and another in Tehran, Paya Electronics Complex

    ReplyDelete
  65. Deuce wrote:

    "The weath effect. The Japanese property bubble burst 20 years ago. It has never really recovered."

    I understand how property bubbles are problematic and the moribund Japanese economy hasn't helped our economy out and the Japanese economy, especially when the bubble burst, was a significant world contributor. The Chinese, on the other hand, are still a developing economy, large and growing larger, but they aren't currently large consumers of foreign goods. Commodity purchases may drop off as their economy slows but I don't see their property bubble bursting having that much of an effect upon our economy. I could be wrong, of course, but I just don't see it how it would happen - would they be forced to charge more for the items they produce? Now if the US starts slapping huge duties upon Chinese imports AND their property bubble bursts things could be ugly for us. China seems the be one of the bright lights to drive the global economy of the future but they aren't there yet...

    ReplyDelete
  66. So...Iran was in the business of killing US troops in Iraq? Gosh, that has got to be so humiliating to Condi.

    Meanwhile, another Muslim dictator seems destined to eat a dirt sandwich in short order.
    Poll: Syria’s Assad losing support in Arab world

    Some of us argued early on (2001-2002) that it was not necessary to kill every Muslim in sight; instead, it was essential to kill the right/correct group of Islamic leaders. Assad, Sodom and Arafat figured large in that group, as did the Iran theocrats. Obama's chief fault seems to be showing up too late to prevent the ruinous Republican party.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Senor Assad, a member of a Shiite sect, and primarily allied with Iran is finding opposition in amongst the Sunni Arabs, as he cracks down, militarily, on elements of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, in Syria.

    Who'd have thought?

    ReplyDelete
  68. ...on a happier note from the 16-17 year-old group...May we hold on until they arrive!

    link

    link

    ReplyDelete
  69. It is you, allen, that brought forth the religion of the Banker Rothschild, not gag or I.

    That the folks of Jewish persuasion are so prevalent amongst the Bankers, well ...

    ... deserving of a Noble Prize, I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  70. You boys bring up religion...
    ... then cry foul!

    It's amusing, to be sure.

    ReplyDelete
  71. NASA solved a 2,000-year-old mystery of how the first-ever supernova occurred and how its shattered remains ultimately spread out great distances.

    ...

    Bill Danchi, Spitzer and WISE program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said, "Now, with multiple observatories extending our senses in space, we can fully appreciate the remarkable physics behind this star's death throes yet still be as in awe of the cosmos as the ancient astronomers."

    ReplyDelete
  72. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  73. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  74. In a week when the European crisis continued building, the White House chose publicly to focus on announcements about the end of wars. The death of Moammar Gadhafi was said to mark the end of the war in Libya, and excitement about a new democratic Libya abounded.

    ...

    Let us begin with the lesser event, Gadhafi’s death. After seven months of NATO intervention, Gadhafi was killed. That it took so long for this to happen stands out, given that the intervention involved far more than airstrikes, including special operations forces on the ground targeting for airstrikes, training Libyan troops, managing logistics, overseeing communications and both planning and at times organizing and leading the Libyan insurgents in battle.

    ...

    Regarding Libya, I have a sense of Baghdad in April 2003. U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement of a complete U.S. withdrawal from Iraq gives us a sense of what lies at the end of the tunnel of the counterinsurgency.


    Price of Success

    ReplyDelete



  75. Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama will use the power of the executive branch to do as much as possible to reinvigorate the slumping economy without assistance from a divided Congress, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told CNN Tuesday.

    "Whatever he can do as president, he will do," Carney said during an appearance on "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."

    ReplyDelete
  76. The Republican Texas governor is retooling his presidential campaign, shuffling staff and touting a bold but controversial new tax plan, hoping to rebound from a recent plunge in the polls.

    ...

    The aides portrayed the new advisers and the speech as simply a natural evolution in the campaign, even as other Republicans said the hires were a clear sign that Perry’s Austin-based operation had not succeeded over the past two months.

    ...

    But other Republicans say staff changes often don’t help campaigns to rebound.

    “I don’t see a lot of evidence in the history of campaigns that when you do that, it increases your odds of success,” said Mattthew Dowd, who advised Bush’s campaigns in 2000 and 2004. “When you go from a close-knit group to people who are essentially hired guns — every time I’ve seen it happen, it’s never turned out well.”

    ReplyDelete
  77. The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a
    replacement.

    ReplyDelete
  78. “My plan balances the budget as fast as any serious plan that is being offered out there,” he said.

    Perry, repeatedly attacking what he called the “federal nanny state,” said he would look to review and potentially repeal all regulations on businesses passed under the Obama administration.

    “This is a change election and I offer a plan that changes the way America does business,” he said.

    ReplyDelete
  79. .

    100 years of extraconstitutional experimentation has proven to be more than a failure, the experiment has become a threat to liberty and freedom of the citizens.




    Extraconstitutional?

    Nonsense.

    The central bank was brought into existence though processes written into the costitution by the founding fathers.


    A threat to the liberty and freedom of the citizens?

    Ridiculous.

    The FED was created through an act of Congress. Congress can do away it if they want any time they want.


    They won't do it because they understand the history of banking in this country before the FED, the graft, the corruption, the bank crashes, the bank runs, the defaults and bankruptcy.

    The FED isn't to blame. It's the men running it who are to blame. Bernanke is proving to be in way over his head. Greenspan as it turns out was way worse.

    Instead of blaming the FED blame the people running it, blame the presidents (Dem and GOP) who keep nominating the same guys to run it, blame Congress for allowing the FED to expand its original mandate, and blame the Fed governors for worrying more about the world economy than worrying about the US economy.

    Should the FED be audited? Probably. There are pros and cons. Should it be changed? It should be reined in from the expanded role defined by Bernanke et al. For instance, the original mandate called for the FED to set monetary policy that would provide maximum employment and stable prices. Not included in it's mandate was bailing out troubled banks or lending hundreds of billions to foreign banks.

    In my opinion, Mr. Benanke has gotten a little uppity and needs to be drawn in. However, getting rid of the FED entirely would be a major step back.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  80. I hear "financial experts" singing Bernanke's praises, so, go figure.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Who gives a crap if a man in a Herman Cain ad takes a puff?

    ReplyDelete
  82. The Federal Reserve is systematic, it is not the individual in the figurehead position.

    You are correct in saying that Congress can amend the charter of the Federal Reserve.

    I am saying that it should.

    The problem is not the banker, it's the bank.

    I am not advocating for the "end" of the Federal Reserve, just dialing it back.

    Through legislation that has already been passed, in 1996, regarding the minting of coin and through legislation that has been proposed, that would allow the Congress to audit the books, of the National Bank.

    ReplyDelete
  83. The fella takes a puff, a politically incorrect move, and gets huge "Free Play" for their "internet" ad, in the media.

    Fabulous marketing.

    ReplyDelete


  84. Forty-three percent of Americans agree with the views of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll that found a widespread belief that money and wealth should be distributed more evenly in America.

    Twenty-seven percent of Americans said they disagree with the movement, which began more than a month ago in lower Manhattan and has since spread across the country and around the world. Thirty percent said they were unsure.

    ReplyDelete
  85. The people who brought you the Barack Obama birth-certificate hullabaloo now have a new target: Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a man often speculated to be the next Republican vice presidential nominee. While they’re at it, they also have Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana and perhaps a future presidential candidate, in their sights.

    Each man, the birthers say, is ineligible to be president because he runs afoul of the constitutional requirement that a president must be a “natural born citizen” of the United States. Rubio’s parents were Cuban nationals at the time of his birth, and Jindal’s parents were citizens of India.

    The good news for the birthers is that this suggests they were going after Obama, whose father was a Kenyan national, not because of the president’s political party. The bad news is that this supports the suspicion that they were going after Obama because of his race.

    When I heard of the birthers’ latest targets, from a participant in my online chat, I figured it was a joke. But, sure enough, Alex Leary of the St. Petersburg Times reported that various bright lights of the birther community – Mario Apuzzo, Charles Kerchner and Orly Taitz – were casting doubt on Rubio’s eligibility.

    “Senator Marco Rubio is not a natural born citizen of the United States to constitutional standards,” Kerchner writes on his blog. “He was born a dual citizen of both Cuba and the USA. He is thus not eligible to serve as the president or vice president.”

    ReplyDelete
  86. DR,

    I did not bring up religion, and I most certainly did/do not cry. You take yourself way too seriously. When we rule the world we will take care of that.

    ReplyDelete
  87. DR,

    Even your buddy, Rufus, asked for a break. You are truly a silly person. Thankfully for you and Nevada (?) you have a senior sitter in the Bar.

    Have you ever heard or seen anything beautiful? Must everything be dragged through your bile? What a pitiful specimen.

    …now, to on to other things…
    link

    ReplyDelete
  88. Your guys, like Mr Rothschild, are amongst those that already do rule the whirled, allen, and I'm just fine.

    Thanks for caring, though.

    ReplyDelete
  89. ...third post on this thread...


    desert rat said...

    Ha'aretz

    Conservative groups nix unity pledge on Israel
    Jewish Telegraphic Agency -


    WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Two conservative groups have rejected the joint appeal from two national Jewish organizations to sign a "unity pledge" on treating Israel in political debate.


    REJECTED
    The very concept -

    "America’s friendship with Israel is an emotional, moral and strategic bond that has always transcended politics,"
    it reads in part.
    "Support for Israel has never been merely a plank in a Republican or Democratic Party or candidate’s platform. It is a core American policy that serves our nation’s most fundamental national interests.

    REJECTED

    By the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Emergency Coalition for Israel.

    Tue Oct 25, 10:09:00 AM EDT



    I have just one word, L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Exemplifying the disunity amongst the self described, shall we say, hyphenated Americans?

    That the activists describe themselves in sectarian terms, not my doing.

    That those groups have any major connection to the family Rothschild, I strongly doubt.

    Beyond the general Soros type contribution, like those that found their way to the "Occupation Organizers" in Vancouver, BC.

    ReplyDelete
  91. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  92. Quirk wrote:
    "The FED isn't to blame. It's the men running it who are to blame. Bernanke is proving to be in way over his head. Greenspan as it turns out was way worse.

    Instead of blaming the FED blame the people running it, blame the presidents (Dem and GOP) who keep nominating the same guys to run it, blame Congress for allowing the FED to expand its original mandate, and blame the Fed governors for worrying more about the world economy than worrying about the US economy.

    Should the FED be audited? Probably. There are pros and cons. Should it be changed? It should be reined in from the expanded role defined by Bernanke et al. For instance, the original mandate called for the FED to set monetary policy that would provide maximum employment and stable prices. Not included in it's mandate was bailing out troubled banks or lending hundreds of billions to foreign banks.

    In my opinion, Mr. Benanke has gotten a little uppity and needs to be drawn in. However, getting rid of the FED entirely would be a major step back."


    uppity?

    I agree that doing away with the FED would be a major step back and hand the minting of coin to the short sighted POLs a major mistake. Ironically Rat's urging of Obama to mint up a few trillion is just a clarion call to do what is already being done - just less blatantly and hence less of destroyer of confidence in the coin of the US realm.

    I think you are misguided in laying the bank bailouts at the FED's feet. That was Bush and Paulson and TARP's doing.

    The US Fed is essentially saying "we won't let the banks go bust" "Your deposits, your money, won't disappear". In these trying times of falling dominoes that is quite helpful. In fact that seems to be what most are yelping about the Europeans NOT doing. The ECB isn't supposed to do that - by mandate. They have been to a certain extent, almost on the sly, but if (and most probably they won't) the Europeans don't get together and launch decisive 'bailouts' of the banks through the printing of money by the ECB then things will get really nasty.

    Once the European situation works itself out, don't relax, 'cause the US will be on the dock next. The FED operating under Bernanke like policy is the only hope for a comfortable exit. Unfortunately that probably won't happen even if Bernanke continues to operate as he has and that isn't likely given the 'hard money' sentiment popular in the States, which is quite the opposite of Rat's 'soft money' approach. Rat is so 'soft money' he'd have Obama act like Santa and pass it out over hill and dale. Ironic given Rat's libertarian convictions.

    ReplyDelete
  93. Transparency and accountability, ash, those are the mainstays of liberty.

    The current systems denies both.

    ReplyDelete
  94. One irony that strikes me in the European situation is you have Sovereign's threatening default, which leads the holders of Sovereign debt (mostly banks), to look to the Sovereign to backstop them when they fail to meet the capital requirements mandated by the Sovereigns. The Sovereigns, in turn, are looking to the bankers to buy their debt.

    What a lovely circle. What a tangled web we weave!

    ReplyDelete
  95. DR,

    Re: "Mr. Rothschild"

    Again, you are being just plain silly - which "Mr. Rothschild", pray tell?

    And what about the myriad Lady Rothschilds? After all, behind every good man is a good woman.

    Why DR, any moment I expect you to irresistibly type, "The Elders of Zion", drooling onto the keyboard's "J" as you feverishly peck away. Does the Devil make you do this? Does he wear a white or black tux when he appears? And this is something I’ve always wanted to know: Does the Devil have fully cloven hooves, i.e. is the Devil semi-Kosher?

    ReplyDelete
  96. The President would require self restraint, to be sure.

    But to pay the interest upon the debt, as it comes due, nothing extravagant.

    Certainly not hyper-inflationary.

    Just transparent.
    With the Congress being accountable for appropriations.

    It is a short term remedy, not a long term piece of political nirvana

    ReplyDelete
  97. audit the FED then, no big deal. The downside being all those high falutin banks that need to waddle up for their capital will be exposed to the public for the deadbeats that they are - further eroding confidence, and thus their ability to raise capital in the private markets, perpetuating the death spiral.

    strong medicine in these leveraged times.

    ReplyDelete
  98. Allen: WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Two conservative groups have rejected the joint appeal from two national Jewish organizations to sign a "unity pledge" on treating Israel in political debate.

    It sounds like they want Americans to say "Israel is my friend, right or wrong."

    With friends like these, who needed Saddam?

    ReplyDelete
  99. more irony, - exposing their capital needs to the light of day constitutes 'strong medicine'...

    ReplyDelete
  100. Rat, that is the purpose of creating "central banks" - to take the addictive power of creating money out of short term political hands. Who would restrain Obama and those who followed? All will claim 'extraordinary times'. We've been there and done that - historically.

    ReplyDelete
  101. T,

    ...sorry...but all the photos in the world change nothing:

    Israel 13
    Others 0

    As to Israel being a friend, you have no idea.

    Whether Israel deserves "special" treatment in debate, I doubt it does or it will.

    ReplyDelete
  102. DR,

    Re: Mrs. Rothschild

    Well there is a Mrs. Rothschild, who you reported as saying in reference to Mr. Obama,

    “America needs a president who understands the special sauce of what it is that makes this country great,” she said. “The fact of his personal story of being half black and all that is a wonderful, inspiriting story. But it doesn’t qualify him to be president.”


    Now, pray tell, what has that to do with the cost of mellons in Tangiers?

    ReplyDelete
  103. Ash wrote:

    "I think you are misguided in laying the bank bailouts at the FED's feet. That was Bush and Paulson and TARP's doing.

    The US Fed is essentially saying "we won't let the banks go bust"



    c'mon, guys, please call me on the inherent contradiction here!!

    ReplyDelete
  104. ok, ok, it isn't a contradiction. They both are propping up the banks (and AIG and GM and...)

    ReplyDelete
  105. Okay, let's get this over with. We are broke. The fed is corrupt. Country in severe financial distress, inflation making people more poor by the week, government getting engaged in unpopular wars, pols caught in scandals, government making wildly unpopular and ineffective decisions, government expressly going against the voiced wishes of many of the population.

    Remind me how modern-day dictators exploited a failed political system to rise to power? I am sick of hearing about it. All thesepoliticians do is talk, talk, talk, talk. The whole miserable creation is starting to come apart at the seams and the backstabbing will now begin. Let's move on.

    ReplyDelete
  106. My Grandmother used to say - if your buy "Cheapest" - you buy TWICE.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Unless of course, Darwin, Medical Science and economic science ALL got it wrong??? Thoughtful responses will be enjoyed and, in some cases, will elicit a response. All others - including those from trolls, wind-up merchants, conspiracy theorists and the willfully ignorant (DR) will be ignored. Thank you. - Bob

    ReplyDelete
  108. But I must give you warning. Time may be short.

    ReplyDelete
  109. “We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.” - David Rockefeller

    ReplyDelete
  110. Okay, company's coming, someone escort Uncle Bob back down to his cellar.

    ReplyDelete
  111. Take the politicians and their advisors/bankers to the criminal courts.

    ReplyDelete
  112. Surely it is our human rights to be able to live in a debt free society.

    We have a moral obligation to be mindful of the wants of others.- El K. Bob

    ReplyDelete
  113. DR's life would not be affected by pulling the plug and settling for 22 hours per day of Bunga Bunga…
    - Bunga Bob

    ReplyDelete
  114. Bob said...
    “We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.” - David Rockefeller

    Tue Oct 25, 09:42:00 PM EDT


    No such "quote" exists. What does exist are unproven and unsourced claims of Rockerfeller having said this. These are readily found on Youtube under the general rubric - "Nut Jobs - David Rockerfeller".


    This just in from Larry Flynt (2009) - It might have been said...Wait, Larry seems to have been on a trip at the time of his account.

    Oh, yes, now I recall: The quote was supposed to have been made at an ultra-secret Bilderberg Group meeting during 1991. Let that roll around a little while; you'll catch on.

    Rockerfeller most certainly said this, however,
    "There have been people — ever since I've had any kind of position in the world — who have accused me of being ruler of the world. I have to say that I think for the large part, I would have to decide to describe them as crack pots."


    Well, duh...

    "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead."

    ReplyDelete
  115. In a related development, ­Diallo’s lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, also has submitted papers disputing DSK’s claim that as the then-head of the International Monetary Fund, he has diplomatic immunity from the potentially multimillion-dollar suit.

    Thompson argued that the married former French presidential candidate would have immunity only if the incident occurred while he was acting in official IMF ­capacity.

    The lawyer indicated he has already subpoenaed a slew of people to bolster his case, including workers for Air France, which DSK regularly flies and whose flight attendants DSK has reportedly sexually harassed.

    ReplyDelete
  116. .

    Damn, you take a little time off to watch a hockey game, come back, and it's the Ash and Bob hour.

    :)

    Ash said,

    The US Fed is essentially saying "we won't let the banks go bust" "Your deposits, your money, won't disappear". In these trying times of falling dominoes that is quite helpful.



    "We won't let the banks go bust"? Yes, thus inducing moral hazard. "Your deposits, your money won't disappear"? Isn't that the job of the FDIC?

    Ash said,

    "I think you are misguided in laying the bank bailouts at the FED's feet. That was Bush and Paulson and TARP's doing.



    You are right about the initial bailout. And in my opinion, the initial bailout of the banks was necessary. Yet nothing has changed since then. No one was punished. The too big to fail banks have gotten even bigger. The regulations that have been passed are a joke. They do very little to reign in the very practices that got us into the mess we are in now. In fact, the banks are continuing those same practices to the extent allowed under the law.

    So why blame FED policy?

    The FED is playing the role of enabler.

    I don't know the percentages but a great many economists think the FED zero interest policy and their quantitative easing are essential for getting us out of the mess we are in. I disagree for the following reasons (in no specific order or priority).

    1. The FED's zero rate policy allows the banks to continue operating just as they have in the past. Executives are not punished. There is no reason for the banks to write down their toxic assets. The housing industry suffers. Moral hazard rises.

    2. The big banks no longer have to take on risk in offering loans to businesses, investors, or borrowers. Why should they when they can borrow money for nothing and then purchase bonds and other securities overseas that offer higher returns, "the carry trade”. The effect of this, of course, is to draw money out of the US economy. This goes against one of the key mandates of the FED, to induce growth in the US.

    3. I mentioned moral hazard. Zero Fed rate is an incentive for the banks to invest their free money in speculative derivative schemes, emerging markets, questionable loans, etc. in order to report higher profits, pay bigger dividends, demand higher salaries and bonuses. And if the gambles don’t work out, why worry? They are too big to fail.

    4. The FED, in order to benefit the big banks, is telling every other investor or senior citizen out there that has a 401k that bonds and other rate-sensitive financial assets (CD's, money market funds, etc.) have no value, thus forcing them into riskier investments if they want to overcome the effects of inflation.

    5. While banks can earn money on the carry trade, they can't do it in traditional ways by earning money on deposits. With a zero FED rate, banks can't earn much on their depositor’s cash. Currently, the banks' loan portfolios and assets are shrinking not growing.

    6. This also reduces cash deposited at banks making it harder for them to lend, whereas, higher rates would add to deposits, increase the bank's cash reserves, and allow them to start the lending required for growth.

    In summary, the zero FED rate does not accomplish its intended purpose. It creates neither demand nor growth, encourages risk, and it increases moral hazard.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  117. .

    Further the FED's policy is designed to help the banks and encourage them to lend money for investment, thus spurring GDP growth and subsequently job growth.

    In three years, it has accomplished none of these things.

    Most of the money the FED is lending at zero percent is finding its way overseas and not helping the US economy.

    The financial and construction sectors are typically key sectors that lead us out of recessions. Both are still suffering.

    The financial sector continues to be hit hard because of the big banks. Their stock prices have tanked because of uncertainty. The FED rate policy has allowed them to continue operating without addressing their toxic assets problems. Few people want to invest in the banks when they don't know how bad those toxic asset problems are.

    Construction remains down because of housing. The banks have tightened requirements on lending, probably a good thing. However, they have also failed to do anything to clear the bad mortgages and foreclosed housing inventory off their books. This contributes to the glut of empty houses out there and depresses construction.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  118. .

    Low interest rates in the US encourages investors to seek higher investments elsewhere. This drives down the value of the dollar.

    This is a good thing for US exports. However, the US imports more than it exports at present and the weak dollar makes those imports more expensive.

    Holding rates low and putting pressure on the dollar results in a tax on US citizens.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  119. .

    Keeping rates low is supposed to encourage business borrowing and resulting economic expansion. However, there is little evidence this is happening.

    Businesses are flush with record profits. They don't need to borrow. They are not investing because there is not sufficient demand. The FED's rate policy has done nothing to spur that demand.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  120. Q, I think you did hit on one thing, possibly the most important thing. The Fed is allowing those Big Banks to keep their pretend assets on their books, ans as long as they're doing that the market can't clear.

    W/O the Free money the banks would have to start selling those assets at MARKET value, thus reducing the glut of abandoned houses sitting there at make-believe high prices.

    ReplyDelete
  121. .

    The zero rate does help the Treasury. It can continue to finance our deficits selling securities with very low interest rates. But this is primarily short term financing.

    Are we merely kicking the can down the road?

    Some more.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  122. Of course, if we forced the banks to sell all those foreclosed houses at Market value it would probably bankrupt several, if not all, of those banks.

    Then, we'd have to start all over.

    Let's face it, they blew a monumental amount of money. It's just going to take a lot of years to get it back.

    There isn't any "good" plan, here. Just one that's, maybe, slightly "less awful" than the rest.

    ReplyDelete
  123. I just wish they'd thrown a few thousand of the thieves in jail.

    ReplyDelete
  124. “There has been just another powerful aftershock,” Fehmi Adiguzel, a resident of Van, said in a telephone interview as he sat in a restaurant with his wife. The couple spent Sunday and Monday nights in the lobby of a hotel.

    ...

    The aftershocks also panicked inmates at a prison in Van, and they burned blankets and demanded to be let out. Some of the prison’s walls collapsed on Sunday, allowing more than 150 inmates to escape.

    Fifty of them returned, NTV television reported.

    ReplyDelete
  125. Say, boobie, did you see where that Catholic Bishop, in Missouri, was indicted for failing to report a sex crime that he had knowledge of?

    Misprison of Felony.

    the indictment sent "two clear signals: One is that the church hierarchy continues to act carelessly and recklessly in terms of ensuring children's safety, and the second is that
    at least some in law enforcement are finally willing to vigorously pursue both the predators and their enablers."


    Enabling any rapists, lately, boobie?

    ReplyDelete



  126. New York (CNN) -- Former Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta is expected to turn himself in to the FBI Wednesday morning to face federal charges, a source familiar with the case told CNN.

    The investigation against Gupta, who led McKinsey & Co., stems from the trial of hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, the source said Tuesday.

    It was not immediately clear what charges Gupta may face. An FBI spokesman declined comment.

    ReplyDelete