Article

2011-11-19 Economy

Wall Street Has A Much Bigger Worry Than Obama

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Posted by tipper 2011-11-19 10:58|| || Front Page|| [1 views ] Top

#1 The stated worry almost seems too theoretical, as several Republicans have stopped defending big banks, leaving Wall Street few allies in DC.

Once bought, they're suppose to stay bought! Don't they know who they're suppose to be working for! /sarc off

Posted by Procopius2k 2011-11-19 13:21|| 2011-11-19 13:21|| Front Page Top

#2 I don't know about the 'bought' part. Wall Street pretty much has gone for the Democrats the past few elections.

It ain't fat-boy WASPs any more. It hasn't been for decades.

Posted by Pappy 2011-11-19 14:19|| 2011-11-19 14:19|| Front Page Top

#3 Biggest concern is clearly American party politics, don't worry about the collapse of the Euro, or the bursting of the real estate bubble in China, or the rise of radical Islamic governments across the middle east, or worldwide commodity inflation, or US debt, or ...

Posted by Cincinnatus Chili 2011-11-19 14:41|| 2011-11-19 14:41|| Front Page Top

#4 Sarah Palin is the only leading Republican who has clearly come out against 'crony capitalism' aka
'defending the big banks & financial industry.' Herman Cain having worked for the Federal Reserve will probably work hand in glove with that interest.
There is some grass roots thinking by GOP'ers which may become more popular, see Jerry Pournelle:
THE 2012 campaign issue: The real question is what can be done about the economy, and that requires an agreement on just what is the point of government, and who owns what. Is the purpose of government to reduce the gap between richest and poorest? That certainly was not the intent of the Framers, some of whom might have thought of that as a good idea, but it wasnt what the Constitution was intended to do. Lots of luck getting the electorate (especially the part that doesn't pay taxes) to agree on the point of our national government).
International relations & WOT: George Washington told us to avoid entangling alliances and not to get involved in the territorial disputes of Europe. Jefferson and Monroe sent the Navy to the shores of Tripoli, but not to build democracy or even to stay. The Marines did deliver the message: millions for defense and not one cent for tribute. The best Near East policy for the US would be US energy independence. Invest in developing US energy resources, rebuild the Navy, and let the Arabs sort out their own governments. We are the friends of liberty everywhere, but the guardians only of our own; but we can be a very generous people to those who are our friends. Peoples can have friends. Nations have interests.
On taxes: I have no great objection to reducing the disparity between richest and poorest, but I have a lot of objection to raising the governments revenue. The more money government gets, the more it will [I summarize] WASTE.
On TBTF institutions: I would very much like to see laws and regulations that limit the sizes of organizations, including private fortunes. The problem is that doing that has side effects. I do subscribe to the principle that any organization that is too big to fail is to big. I subscribe even more to the elimination of institutions that take high risks, keeping the winnings while saddling the public with their losses. It seems to me that we can go a long way in that direction fairly rapidly.

I would start with the banks: instead of a Big Five or Big Six I would have a not-so-big fifty or sixty. One way to do that would be to go back to the separation of commercial and investment banks, with investment banks unable to guarantee any funds or receive any bailouts. We had such a structure until about 2000. We also need to stop using public money to drive up the costs of education and housing. All this is relatively simple, and I suspect that all the necessary measures would be approved by both the Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party movements.

What we dont need is to rob the rich in order to give the government more money to [I summarize] WASTE.
I've been reading Jerry for years & find myself agreeing with all these points. An GOP candidate who could defend these policies might even get support from some of the OWS people, although not from the Free Lunch Party or Obama's core supporters who would follow him right off a cliff.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-11-19 15:32|| 2011-11-19 15:32|| Front Page Top

#5 We also need to stop using public money to drive up the costs of education and housing.

This was originally, and still in effect, part of the GI Bill. What has been forgotten or ignored was that there was a requirement of service first, then the opportunity followed. The obligation was removed from the equation via student loans and Fannie Mae. As a consequence, GI Bill after the WWII population had exercised their benefits was a much smaller influence upon the system than the give aways that were allowed to corrupt the processes.

Posted by Procopius2k 2011-11-19 15:53|| 2011-11-19 15:53|| Front Page Top

#6 There has always been a huge difference between GI Bill benefits and government 'driving up the cost of education and housing.' Certainly the government supporting a market in any way tends to drive up the costs in that market, and I'm sure this happened with the GI Bill. But overall, those GI benefits were a win-win situation all around. Unlike what happened with Fannie and Fraudie, which had much wider and more damaging application.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-11-19 16:30|| 2011-11-19 16:30|| Front Page Top

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