Trouble in Bank Land III
Mon, 2008-09-29 11:47
#1
Trouble in Bank Land III
Mon, 2008-09-29 11:47
#2
[url=http://www.france24.com/en/20080929-chinese-take-away-wall-street-bailou... take-away[/url]
quote:
Think of it as a giant Chinese take-away with more courses than you can possibly eat – and more dollars than you can possibly make sense of.According to the Brookings institution, foreigners hold more than $14 trillion in US assets, bigger than the entire US national output. US Treasury securities – that is, government “IOU”s – account for $2.5 trillion of that total.
And the punch line -
quote:
The German Finance Minister, Peer Steinbrueck, was blunt last week when he said that the US is poised to lose its superpower status in the world financial system.
Watch for the US government to go ape shit at the thought.
[ 29 September 2008: Message edited by: DrConway ]
Mon, 2008-09-29 13:48
#3
[url=http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080929.wmarkets092... bloodied as bank bailout package fails.[/url]
TSX down 840 pts, 6.9%
DOW down 777 pts, 7.0%
S&P down 107 pts, 8.8%
Ouch.
[url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/general_business... to the bailout plan has actually fallen. Americans are now split on the issue.[/url]
Back to the drawing board. Um, anybody here have an idea on how to fix this mess?
Socialist revolution doesn't count.
[ 29 September 2008: Message edited by: West Coast Greeny ]
Mon, 2008-09-29 14:48
#4
quote:
Originally posted by West Coast Greeny:
[b]Back to the drawing board. Um, anybody here have an idea on how to fix this mess?
Socialist revolution doesn't count.[/b]
They've already socialized two mortage lending agencies, some banks, and the largest credit insurer in the U.S. It's half-assed socialism to rescue Wall Street capitalists from themselves.
[url=http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10364]Grand Theft America.
Financial Crime of the Century[/url]
quote:
From figures like Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Others as well with solid advice to:[LIST][*] make fraudsters eat the bulk of their losses;[*] use public funds only "to sustain the orderly operation of the financial system;"[*] minimize speculative finance; the root of the current problem;[*] "minimize moral hazard" - the Paulson (and Bernanke) "put" picking up where Greenspan left off;[*] let delinquent homeowners stay in their homes and pay rent;[*] curtail executive compensation for companies getting government aid;[*] make a key Fed responsibility the prevention of asset bubbles; reinstitute regulations to do it; Glass-Steagall for starters that prohibited commercial and investment banks and insurance companies from combining;[*] impose a modest financial transactions tax to curb excesses and raise revenue;[*] trade assets, like credit default swaps, openly on exchanges to establish fair value for them;[*] impose strict limits on leverage;[*] keep Fannie and Freddie public institutions; their status before being privatized in 1968; and[*] restructure the Fed democratically; a far better solution is abolish it and let government control its own money; use it responsibly for all Americans, not just the privileged few.
[/LIST]
The USSA has to stop backsliding on democracy if the world is to take them seriously.
[ 29 September 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]
Mon, 2008-09-29 15:29
#5
quote:
Originally posted by West Coast Greeny:
Back to the drawing board. Um, anybody here have an idea on how to fix this mess?Socialist revolution doesn't count.
[/QB]
You're no fun. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
James Galbraith has some interesting ideas.
[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR200809... bailout we don't need[/url]
Mon, 2008-09-29 15:41
#6
quote:
Originally posted by Doug:
[b]James Galbraith has some interesting ideas.[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR200809... bailout we don't need[/url][/b]
quote:
With banks, runs occur only when depositors panic, because they fear the loan book is bad. Deposit insurance takes care of that. So why not eliminate the pointless $100,000 cap on federal deposit insurance and go take inventory?
And I think it was during Reagan's time when the cap was raised to $100k from something like $60k. The mob grabbed one bank for $300M after sniffing wind that the feds were going to increase guarantees on deposits up to $100k and ended up owning a bank worth a billion dollars. It's good to have connected friends in high places.
Mon, 2008-09-29 16:50
#7
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=75991]Financial hurricane will hit Canadian shores[/url] according to Jim Stanford.
quote:
In two incredible weeks, the United States has been turned upside-down, both economically and politically. Washington is suddenly nationalizing big swaths of the financial industry, at massive cost to taxpayers. Regulations are being rewritten so quickly that the financial rulebook now resembles a gigantic dry-erase board. From one trading day to the next, the markets alternate between partying and panicking. And in the political realm, John McCain is "wearing" the mess (quite rightly, given his personal role in deregulating the financial system) while Barack Obama has surged ahead in the polls.From our perch not so far away, we Canadians watch this stunning drama with growing unease. How is it all going to affect us? Here, too, that question has both economic and political dimensions.
Mon, 2008-09-29 17:04
#8
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/politics.shtml?x=75743]Stopping global bookmakers[/url]
quote:
While losing your shirt in Las Vegas is not a fun way to end a vacation, watching the derivatives trade come unglued is a prospect that is frightening beyond belief. That explains why the U.S. Treasury stepped in to nationalize insurance giant American International Group (AIG) injecting $85 billion, in an effort to contain a crisis of cross defaults by various major financial institutions on credit derivatives swap (CDS) trades. These started to unravel when AIG could not pay off on CDS bets following defaults on corporate debt it had insured against the ensuing defaults.The U.S. Federal Reserve provided the $85 billion to the U.S. Treasury, creating the money out of thin air ("monetizing the debt" is the technical term). The Federal Reserve has been providing loans to U.S. banks taking even poor quality non-marketable bonds as collateral.
Many of the European banks involved in the derivatives scams are too big to rescue. For example, Barclays bank has assets that exceed the GDP of Great Britain.
Putting a stop to global book making is the only way to restore confidence and trust to international finance.
Mon, 2008-09-29 17:28
#9
Jim Stanford is right on, and Jack Layton's call for a meeting of leaders to bring all effort to bear on a solution for the building disaster. A vast number of people have lost a large chunk of their savings...$100 billion disappeared from the Toronto market today.
But can anyone suggest why it has reached crisis proportions without serious discussion before this? Particularly in Quebec and Ontario where the 30s "Brother can you spare me a dime" will soon resonate as export manufacturing further implodes.
And in particular, how has "Steve" managed to maintain any kind of following in those provinces? Is the the media bias? Do we really understand the functions of capitalist rock on which we now teeter?
Or are we mostly, to use Joe Bageant's pungent description of a lot of folks in smalltown and rural Appalachia, "dumb as a bag of hair?"
Mon, 2008-09-29 17:55
#10
ElizaQ
quote:
Originally posted by George Victor:But can anyone suggest why it has reached crisis proportions without serious discussion before this? Particularly in Quebec and Ontario where the 30s "Brother can you spare me a dime" will soon resonate as export manufacturing further implodes.
Denial. Maybe if we don't talk about it, it will go away, it's better to think that we're not quite in the same boat. I'm not even being that sarcastic here either.
As Staford points out Stephen Harper has been talking about it for weeks. His message. "The fundementals of the Canadian economy are strong. We'll weather it."
I honestly think that for a lot of people, not really questioning that sentiment is like a defensive mechanism. I spent the last week literally screaming at my Dad to get his stuff out of the US and call his investment guy to get his lowdown. It was like he was putting his fingers in his ears going 'la la la'. Thank goodness he finally did it on Friday and did what he had to do to protect his retirement. They aren't well off by any means and if he hadn't done what he did on Friday they would have been really affected by what happened today.
I wonder how many other people, just the average person, who was caught totally unawares because what's going on isn't being talked about in a truthful manner.
Anyways I was glad to hear Layton making the call he did today. A broader discussion of what's happening needs to occur in the broader public consciousness.
Mon, 2008-09-29 18:09
#11
quote:
Originally posted by Michelle:
[b][url=http://www.rabble.ca/politics.shtml?x=75743]Stopping global bookmakers[/url][/b]
I have to say that I ocasionally read the economist magazine. People knew that derivitives were dodgey for years. And too complex for anyone except the teen prodogy to understand.
We had the leeson thing in england as a foretaste.
Now finally the penny has dropped. People finally have to come to terms with the thought that turning the future over to kids who think they are smart was a really bad idea.
Regulation good, deregulation evil.
Just remember that harper is the guy who if elected will push the deregulation religion.
Brian
Mon, 2008-09-29 18:28
#12
All the rest of the world is already returning to regulation.
Only in Canada, eh?, can the leader of the (still) leading political party continue to talk DE-regulation. But that's the point of my comment about the state of consciousness of the population - and, in fact, my concern about the way in which the subject area is studiously avoided around this neck of the woods!
Mon, 2008-09-29 19:31
#13
Just a question...if the U.S.ians create an extra 700 billion worth of money supply and no one accepts their money what happens? Currency collapse? No more petro-dollars?
And what if they can't afford to import millions of barrels of oil per day...will their economy simply shut down?
Mon, 2008-09-29 20:33
#14
quote:
Originally posted by peskyfly1:
[b]Just a question...if the U.S.ians create an extra 700 billion worth of money supply and no one accepts their money what happens? [/b]
By definition, certainly some inflation.
Mon, 2008-09-29 21:17
#15
[url=http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080929.wcreditcard... subprime mortgages, enter credit cards![/url]
quote:
A hurricane of bad credit card debt will start crashing ashore in the United States in the first quarter of next year, even as the mortgage crisis continues, analysts at New York research firm Innovest Strategic Value Advisors warned Monday.“A combination of a 10-year steady drip of deteriorating personal finances and a tidal wave . . . brought on by the mortgage and credit crisis leads us to believe that credit cards are going to implode in the near term,” Gregory Larkin, Innovest's senior banking analysts said during an online seminar on the topic.
Mon, 2008-09-29 21:48
#16
Good-bye VISA and MasterCard?
We really do need some controls over capital and financial flows. The US Congress was going to slap a tax on all financial transactions through the banking system, which would have been a pretty revolutionary thing had it happened.
As it is, it's still a bit stunning to realize that Free-Marketer Bush is ready to step up and all but say, "We're all socialists now". [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img]
Mon, 2008-09-29 22:12
#17
M. Spector
Interesting how the Yanquis are panicking:
quote:
The U.S. Mint has temporarily halted distribution of its one-ounce American buffalo gold coins...Coin dealers from the U.S. to Canada have reported a surge in buying of bullion coins and other gold products as troubles in the financial markets [b]prompt people to seek a safe haven in precious metals.[/b]
"Demand has exceeded supply for American buffalo 24-karat gold one-ounce bullion coins, and our inventories have been depleted," the mint said in a note to its dealers. "We are, therefore, temporarily suspending sales of these coins."...
Gold set a record of $1,033.90 (U.S.) an ounce on March 17.
Yesterday, the U.S. gold contract for December delivery ended down $13 or 1.5 per cent at [b]$882 an ounce[/b] on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Spot gold traded at $873 an ounce. - [url=http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/506368]Toronto Star[/url]
So how stupid do you have to be to spend [url=http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catal...$1,059.95[/url] on a coin with a legal-tender face value of $50, containing $882 worth of gold - and think you are buying into a "safe haven" for your money?
The Mint's profit margin is almost $200.
The price of gold would have to exceed the all-time high of $1,033.90 per ounce (see above) by $26 before the bullion value of the coin matched its purchase price.
Mon, 2008-09-29 22:17
#18
![http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/7751/freemarketqw5.png[/img]](http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/7751/freemarketqw5.png[/img]){kind=link}
Tue, 2008-09-30 12:24
#19
[url=http://www.macleans.ca/business/economy/article.jsp?content=20080924_566... 'socialism for the rich' looks like[/url]
quote:
Forest fires are extremely unpleasant, especially when viewed from up close. They're scary and destructive and can be deadly for those caught in their path. But they're also essential to the long-term health of any forest ecosystem. They clear out deadwood, control pests and disease, and return nutrients to the ground so that a new generation of growth can take hold.The same is true of market crashes. They're painful, frightening, and sometimes essential to purge the excesses and distortions created by long periods of growth and prosperity.
But accepting that idea in principle is easy. Embracing it in reality can be terrifying. Last week, the U.S. government and the titans of American finance looked out at the flames enveloping Wall Street and panicked.
While I agree that this is socialism for the rich, I dislike intensely this moralistic idea that economic rack and ruin is the just providence meted out because of a previous boom.
Just as we abandoned the idea that all things that happen to people are their own fault (sometimes things aren't), we should abandon this Troglodytic idea that things like Great Depressions are necessary purgatives. [img]rolleyes.gif" border="0[/img]
[ 30 September 2008: Message edited by: DrConway ]
Tue, 2008-09-30 13:17
#20
They can't or don't want to say that it's due to deregulation and unfettered greed. Afterall, it's the self-interest of the butcher and baker that we have food on our tables and nothing more complex than that. If it wasn't for moralizing greed at the micro level, these hugely greedy bastards can't exist in theory either.
Tue, 2008-09-30 15:19
#21
M. Spector
quote:
Here's what happened:The presidential race may still be close in the polls, but the Congressional races are pointing toward a landslide for the Democrats. Few dispute the prediction that the Republicans are in for a whoopin' on November 4th. Up to 30 Republican House seats could be lost in what would be a stunning repudiation of their agenda.
The Republican reps are so scared of losing their seats, when this "financial crisis" reared its head two weeks ago, they realized they had just been handed their one and only chance to separate themselves from Bush before the election, while doing something that would make them look like they were on the side of "the people."
Watching C-Span yesterday morning was one of the best comedy shows I'd seen in ages. There they were, one Republican after another who had backed the war and sunk the country into record debt, who had voted to kill every regulation that would have kept Wall Street in check -- there they were, now crying foul and standing up for the little guy! One after another, they stood at the microphone on the House floor and threw Bush under the bus, under the train (even though they had voted to kill off our nation's trains, too), heck, they would've thrown him under the rising waters of the Lower Ninth Ward if they could've conjured up another hurricane. You know how your dog acts when sprayed by a skunk? He howls and runs around trying to shake it off, rubbing and rolling himself on every piece of your carpet, trying to get rid of the stench. That's what it looked like on the Republican side of the aisle yesterday, and it was a sight to behold.
The 95 brave Dems who broke with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the real heroes, just like those few who stood up and voted against the war in October of 2002. Watch the remarks from yesterday of Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Dennis Kucinich. They spoke the truth.
The Dems who voted for the giveaway did so mostly because they were scared by the threats of Wall Street, that if the rich didn't get their handout, the market would go nuts and then it's bye-bye stock-based pension and retirement funds.
And guess what? That's exactly what Wall Street did! The largest, single-day drop in the Dow in the history of the New York Stock exchange. The news anchors last night screamed it out: Americans just lost 1.2 trillion dollars in the stock market!! It's a financial Pearl Harbor! The sky is falling! Bird flu! Killer Bees!
Of course, sane people know that nobody "lost" anything yesterday, that stocks go up and down and this too shall pass because the rich will now buy low, hold, then sell off, then buy low again.
But for now, Wall Street and its propaganda arm (the networks and media it owns) will continue to try and scare the bejesus out of you. It will be harder to get a loan. Some people will lose their jobs. A weak nation of wimps won't last long under this torture. Or will we? Is this our line in the sand?
Here's my guess: The Democratic leadership in the House secretly hoped all along that this lousy bill would go down. With Bush's proposals shredded, the Dems knew they could then write their own bill that favors the average American, not the upper 10% who were hoping for another kegger of gold.
So the ball is in the Democrats' hands. The gun from Wall Street remains at their head. Before they make their next move, let me tell you what the media kept silent about while this bill was being debated:
1. The bailout bill had NO enforcement provisions for the so-called oversight group that was going to monitor Wall Street's spending of the $700 billion;
2. It had NO penalties, fines or imprisonment for any executive who might steal any of the people's money;
3. It did NOTHING to force banks and lenders to rewrite people's mortgages to avoid foreclosures -- this bill would not have stopped ONE foreclosure!;
4. It had NO teeth anywhere in the entire piece of legislation, using words like "suggested" when referring to the government being paid back for the bailout;
5. Over 200 economists wrote to Congress and said this bill might actually WORSEN the "financial crisis" and cause even MORE of a meltdown.
[url=http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=236]Michael Moore[/url]
Tue, 2008-09-30 16:01
#22
Frustrated Mess
quote:
In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy."It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."
I kid you not: [url=http://www.forbes.com/businessinthebeltway/2008/09/23/bailout-paulson-co...
Tue, 2008-09-30 16:08
#23
Choose a really big number? Why not just fess up and admit they secretly wanted to print their way out of this mess without any controls over how the money might get moved around?
[img]rolleyes.gif" border="0[/img]
The new version of the "bailout" should bail out every mortgage holder in the USA under threat of imminent foreclosure (someone dared to call a friend of mine a liar when I told the story of his bank calling to say they would foreclose a perfectly good mortgage because it went under) by straight-up cancelling the mortgages completely.
It should be like the ancient Biblical [url=http://tinyurl.com/3fusme]Jubilee[/url], something even those Bible-thumpin' Repubs can get on board with if they're not hypocrites.
There's basically two choices. Print the debts out of existence or cancel them. Either will be rather nasty to the US economy, bt the alternative is for the richest Americans to, once again, grab the money and run while blaming poor black people for all the US's problems.
Tue, 2008-09-30 19:22
#24
Is there anyway to make an accurate prediction re inflating the U.S. money supply by a trillion dollars? I guess what I'm trying to get at is that we've seen a couple of trillion dollars worth of value evaporate because of the republicans easy money policy, the rapid expansion of the money supply vis a vis credit and then a dramatic contraction of said money supply. If there isn't anything backing up the new trillion ie: new plant and inventory etc. what on earth is there to prevent the new trillion from also becoming worthless?
Is the bailout package going to help or will it pop the American bubble?
Tue, 2008-09-30 20:05
#25
![http://www.counterpunch.org/jump.jpeg[/img]](http://www.counterpunch.org/jump.jpeg[/img]){kind=link}
Tue, 2008-09-30 20:22
#26
[url=http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10392]Financial Tsunami: The End of the World as We Knew It[/url]
quote:
Whatever next comes out of Washington, however, one thing is clear, as reflected in what German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrьck told the Bundestag. This is the end of the world as we knew it. The American financial Superpower is gone. The only important question will be what and how will the alternative be.
[ 30 September 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]
Tue, 2008-09-30 23:04
#27
M. Spector
[url=http://www.socialistaction.org/mackler27.htm]No Bailout for Wall Street! Nationalize the Banks Under Worker’s Control![/url]
Tue, 2008-09-30 23:24
#28
quote:
Originally posted by M. Spector:
[b][url=http://www.socialistaction.org/mackler27.htm]No Bailout for Wall Street! Nationalize the Banks Under Worker’s Control![/url][/b]
quote:
Open the capitalists’ books so we can determine what has been stolen, hidden and/or squandered at our expense! Worker’s control of the banks, the energy industry and transportation! For the election of committees of workers to run these industries – workers who represent the millions whose pensions have been eliminated or are on the line, and whose jobs and healthcare have been disappeared. No to mortgage foreclosures! Restore and guarantee all pensions! For a real Social Security system that pays for quality healthcare and a quality lifestyle for all! Reduce present mortgage payments in proportion to the capitalist-caused decline in value! Bring all the troops home now from everywhere and spend the trillions for war on rebuilding the nation’s inner cities, schools and hospitals. [b]One hundred percent tax on the war industries! Take the profit out of war and mass murder![/b] Jobs for all at top union wages! Reduce the workday to 30 hours with no cut in pay to provide jobs for all!
Hear-hear! We should add that Canada's central bank is still owned by the elected government/people of Canada. All a socialist government would need to do here is start using the Bank for its intended purposes. That is, government-created money for funding important infrastructure projects and social programs at near-zero interest rates between 1938 and 1974. And as Duncan Cameron mentioned before, our own regional investment bank would be a good idea, and providing low interest loans to municipalities and workers themselves.
Thu, 2008-10-02 05:04
#29
[url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/30/ballmer_bank_crisis/]Steve Ballmer Weighs In[/url]
quote:
Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer warned today that no company is safe from the financial crisis.We all knew that of course, but when an ego the size of Ballmer's decides to gulp you know we're really in trouble.
Reuters reports that Ballmer told a news conference in Norway: "I think one has to anticipate that no company is immune to these issues."
"Financial issues are going to affect both business spending and consumer spending, and particularly... spending by the financial services industry."
Thu, 2008-10-02 11:12
#30
[url=http://"http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081001.weurope1002..."]We've been talking a lot about the American bailout, but what's Europe up to?[/url]
quote:
Britain nationalized Bradford & Bingley, the elderly former mutual society with a gammy leg that was quickly led into the same government stable as Northern Rock, its fellow Yorkshire lender, which failed over the summer. Both institutions will be put out to grass in the hope that in a few years' time they can be quietly sold off. Meanwhile, Ireland is creating uproar about unfair state aid by offering unlimited guarantees to depositors in Irish banks while the Dutch, Belgian, French and Luxembourg governments are busy corralling their own errant institutions.
It's amusing how public ownership, however temporary, is the new "pragmatic" thing to do.
Also, Icelandic banks have great names!
quote:
Iceland's top three banks, [b]Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir[/b]
Thu, 2008-10-02 12:55
#31
All I can say is, I hope HSBC survives !
One of the best rumors i've heard about the Bailout of the Week is that the $700 billion will primarily buttress the 15-20 large banks & financial institutions that buy Treasury bills, the debt instruments the US uses to borrow money from the rest of the world. (to finance their various wars - side comment)
The Dow falling to 8000 or 6000 is not such a big deal. The US government not being able to borrow money - in other words, having an un-attended auction - I can see a silver lining in that. No financing for their f'ing wars !! I could say WhooHoo Wamu to that.
I believe the bail-out raises the US National Debt to $11.3 trillion. I was quite alarmed at the beginning of Bush'es term when the debt started growing faster. It has basically doubled during the Bush presidency.
I'm not sure exactly what interest rate the US government pays on their debt. They're digging a huge hole. The US "T-bills" have always been attractive because they were considered to be SAFE. Those Fed notes aren't looking so safe anymore - that 11.3 trillion number does not include liabilities associated with Fannie & Freddie, which I think are basically agencies of the US Government now. Normally, higher risk investments get a higher rate of return.
11.3 trillion x 4% ~ $440 billion, the interest on the official US debt.
Economists & investment counselors sometimes use the term "the magic of compounding". This is like the 'magic of compounding', gone wrong.
[ 07 October 2008: Message edited by: SwimmingLee ]
Thu, 2008-10-02 13:36
#32
remind
quote:
And a Canadian bank is warning there will be not only not be any recovery in Canada's economy next year, it will be even weaker than this year, as will the U.S. economy.The warnings were issued as rising fears of a global recession and falling commodity prices were sending Canadian stock markets on another near record plunge and torpedoing the Canadian dollar to below 93 cents US level.
[url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=59606103-e290-477... also expects the Bank of Canada will start slashing interest rates later this month and cutting them by a full percentage point before year end, a move which along with falling commodity prices will further erode the value of the Canadian dollar which has now fallen to the mid-92 cents US level.[/url]
Thu, 2008-10-02 14:40
#33
I liked this column because it touches on the wider issue of why it should be that financial markets have become so important anyway.
quote:
...working people have been driven into the arms of financial institutions to meet housing, retirement, education and healthcare needs. Public provision has been systematically limited in these fields as neoliberalism became dominant, thus opening space for private finance....But the most important aim of regulation should be progressively to detach private finance from the provision of social goods and services. Public provision and public mechanisms of finance should be re-strengthened in housing, pensions, education and health. Liberalised private finance has proven singularly inept at meeting these needs of working people. It appropriates ever larger parts of people's income while creating bubbles, exacerbating inequality, generating crises and leading to social losses. It should be replaced by fresh collective mechanisms capable of meeting social needs.
[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/02/creditcrunch.markett...
Thu, 2008-10-02 15:26
#34
All I know is that, like a lot of Americans across the border at my economic level, come bail out or no bail out, the same wall street types and "Thank God it's Monday" crowd on Bay Street will always hold one economic Sword of Damocles over my head or another, or multiple ones.
I'm not buying this "we're all in this together, brother," bullshit from the top hat and monocle set.
Nice poster, Jingles-- made my day.
[img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
[ 02 October 2008: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]
Thu, 2008-10-02 17:19
#35
It's definitely time for a new Bretton Woods, a [i]real[/i] one this time, based on fixed exchange rates and controls over capital flows. [i]This[/i] time, controls over capital flows should be the requirement for currency convertibility, rather than the other way 'round.
In particular, stringent controls on the capital account to insulate financial markets from each other should be [i]de rigeur[/i].
One weakness was identified in the old Bretton Woods, which was that the US dollar was the implicit backing of the system, which created something analogous to a single point of failure. The new system needs to be more robust, in that fixed exchange rates should be set without reference to a particular reserve currency.
We will see a return of interventionism, to be sure, but it will be in ad hoc fits and starts unless someone lays out a complete program for it, and I hope a new Bretton Woods becomes a feature of that plan.
Fri, 2008-10-03 09:55
#36
Well there you have it, the banksters in brooks brothers suits have won the day, golden parachutes and free money to cover all your sins, god its great to be on Wall street.
If this does not trigger popular uprising and revolution in the USSA, nothing will. (Ya, I know this is a pipe dream)
Welcome to the corporate fascist imperial kleptocracy.
[url=http://tinyurl.com/3rqykc]http://tinyurl.com/3rqykc[/url]
[url=http://tinyurl.com/4my3bg]http://tinyurl.com/4my3bg[/url]
Fri, 2008-10-03 10:32
#37
[url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,581502,00.html]America Loses Its Dominant Economic Role[/url]
quote:
[b]The banking crisis is upending American dominance of the financial markets and world politics. The industrialized countries are sliding into recession, the era of turbo-capitalism is coming to an end and US military might is ebbing. Still, this is no time to gloat.[/b] ...In light of the almost daily reports of losses in the financial sector, it seemed almost secondary to note that the disaster had also turned into one of the biggest criminal investigations in American history. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is already investigating 26 large financial corporations as well as 1,400 smaller companies and private citizens for possible fraud.
Economists now characterize what began two years ago with falling prices in the American real estate market as the biggest economic disaster since the world economic crisis of the 1930s. No one knows whether and how the meltdown of global financial markets, which would have grave consequences for the world economy, can still be prevented.
And now, of all times, the world is faced with a preeminent power that no longer seems capable of leading and a US president who is not even able to unite his divided country in an hour of need.
For weeks, Bush ignored the crisis, insisting on the strength of the market and telling Americans: "Everything will be fine."
The great mystery: scarlet harlot, "mother" of all harlots and abominations on the earth, for in one hour has her judgement come.
You maniacs. You finally did it. You blew the financial system all to hell!!!
[img]http://www.movieprop.com/tvandmovie/PlanetoftheApes/ending.jpg[/img]
![http://www.movieprop.com/tvandmovie/PlanetoftheApes/ending.jpg[/img]](http://www.movieprop.com/tvandmovie/PlanetoftheApes/ending.jpg[/img]){kind=link}
[ 03 October 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]
Fri, 2008-10-03 10:44
#38
damn dirty apes
Fri, 2008-10-03 11:06
#39
remind
quote:
[b]For weeks, Bush ignored the crisis, insisting on the strength of the market and telling Americans: "Everything will be fine."[/b]
Sounds the same as Harper!
Also, I noted somewhere reading about this, that the US government was going to extend employment insurance claims
quote:
Many lawmakers Friday voiced deep skepticism whether the new measure would work, while bleakly concluding that the bill was a necessary evil."There's a song the day the music died. I don't think it is too much of a stretch to say this may be the day America died," Republican Virginia Foxx said Friday.
"I'm not alone in feeling that what the Congress is about to do today is a very, very serious consequential thing for this country."
[url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hD4aZjlep2In9-sxYEFUl0LdhtnQ]http://...
Fri, 2008-10-03 16:36
#40
[url=http://badamerican.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/congress-threatened-with-mar... threatened with martial law if the bailout didn't go through.[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaG9d_4zij8]Here's the video of Rep. Brad Sherman telling Congress that this is what they were told privately in an effort to scare members of Congress into voting for the bailout.[/url]
Fri, 2008-10-03 16:53
#41
Well, you know, what we on the left-- and now the right, in the States-- are asking for is an equitable sharing of power.
And those with power have never shared it without copious amounts of bloodshed.
We can pussy foot around it, and trick ourselves into thinking it can be weedled this way or that way, peacefully, but if it can be, it would set an historical precident.
Sat, 2008-10-04 06:46
#42
Michelle,
Thanks for the link. Sorry I have not been more communicative. Mom had a stroke three weeks ago and things have been difficult to say the least. I do plan on being at the rabble relaunch though.
This is truly a sad day I think, for many of us who believed, maybe a little bit, that we still had the workings of a democracy.
My blog post for today:
[url=http://tinyurl.com/3pyae4]http://tinyurl.com/3pyae4[/url]
It's hard not to be depressed.
Sat, 2008-10-04 08:05
#43
Sorry to hear about your mom, AE. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img] BTW, I tried to leave a comment on your blog but for some reason it didn't work. Maybe it was just my dumb computer.
Sat, 2008-10-04 12:20
#44
I feel badly for you, AE. My mother has not been well for a long time. It's stressful.
Sat, 2008-10-04 15:44
#45
Agent 204
Best wishes to your mother. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Sat, 2008-10-04 15:48
#46
M. Spector
quote:
It would be a grave mistake to underestimate the right's ability to use this crisis – created by deregulation and privatization – to demand more of the same. ... the dumping of private debt into the public coffers is only stage one of the current shock. The second comes when the debt crisis currently being created by this bailout becomes the excuse to privatize social security, lower corporate taxes and cut spending on the poor. A President McCain would embrace these policies willingly. A President Obama would come under huge pressure from the think tanks and the corporate media to abandon his campaign promises and embrace austerity and "free-market stimulus."
[url=http://www.poleconanalysis.org/2008/09/septembers-of-neo-liberalism.html... Kellogg has much more to say about the crisis.[/url]
Sat, 2008-10-04 17:32
#47
M. Spector
quote:
The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!
[url=http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2008-10-... Moore's rescue plan[/url]
Sat, 2008-10-04 18:01
#48
Well, too few people have too much money is the root of all this. And many of us have seen this day coming since the Regan administration.
The solution, of course, is simple. Take it away from them.
Sat, 2008-10-04 18:08
#49
That's rich. 400 richest Americans own more than 150 million on the bottom. Conservatives think so much of socialism that they want it all for themselves and them only. They know what works. And free markets are for working class slobs.
Sat, 2008-10-04 18:21
#50
Have we met, Fidel? You must have seen me eat, I think. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Sat, 2008-10-04 18:28
#51
This wasn't [i]you[/i] pictured in Paul Krugman's, The Great Wealth Txfer, was it Tommy? [img]eek.gif" border="0[/img]
[url=http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12699486/paul_krugman_on_the_...
