« Obama and Mecca
Quotes From The Blogosphere »



Bailout Bungling Likely To Continue

December 4th, 2008
By MICHAEL SILVERSTEIN

Print Print

Huge government bailouts have not solved this country’s basic economic problem because the people awarding the money don’t understand what the real problem is. It isn’t a financial crisis that has spilled over into the general economy. It’s a debt-based economy-wide problem with financial industry overtones.

Making the financial industry whole does nothing to address this basic problem. It simply replaces money lost by greedy, arrogant and incredibly foolish hucksters with public funds being created by overworked printing presses. Nothing new of value results from such a process. At best it would be a zero sum game in economic terms. More likely it is destined to pull government finances into the black hole the financial industry has dug for itself.

There’s some common sense in new policies announced to date by President-Elect Obama. Giving government largesse to improve infrastructure and develop new energy sources will actually increase wealth, not just replace it. The payroll tax holiday being discussed in some quarters would do even more for Main Street’s consumers and businesses.

But the main thrust of a new Administration, alas, will probably be a continuation of Bush policies. Hank Paulson’s gang is being succeeded in top positions by Bobbie Rubin’s crowd. The same ilk. The same mindset. The same kind of financier/banker/economists who got us where we are today.

Hang on to your hats for a long, nasty ride.



This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Random Reads, Financial Crisis, Bailouts, News Roundup, Michael Silverstein Poetry, Economy, Take A Peek, Miscellaneous. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 1 Comment

    • ^
    • v
    The prospect of a federally managed bankruptcy of the Detroit Three (or, say, a forced "Penn Central" merger of Chrysler and GM, then to be periodically infused with taxpayer funds as the ultimate form of "American Leyland" or "Amcars") is bad enough. But the rest of bailout fun and games have only started. The states are expecting a lot from Washington and from the new Obama administration. (Santa Claus will be arriving after Christmas this time.) At least some cities are going to ignore constitutional federalism and smaller, shallower pockets and look directly to Washington for bailouts. (How much taxpayer money will go to the NYC metro area, and not only to its Metropolitan Transportation Authority if certain people in NYC metro have their way?) None other than Bernanke is now saying that the federal government needs to do more for homeowners in trouble with their mortgages, and the plan by Sheila Bair may be pursued, or something like that, soon. (Barney Frank & Co. like Bair, though Obama may want her shoved aside or kept in a lower profile than people like Frank would want. But the plan may still get reconsideration.) Change of one kind or another is coming eventually, that's for certain.
 
close Reblog this comment
Powered by Disqus · Learn more
blog comments powered by Disqus

« Obama and Mecca
Quotes From The Blogosphere »


By posting comments on The Moderate Voice you are acknowledging and agreeing to the following general comments policy:

(1) The Moderate Voice's comments are hosted by Disqus (http://disqus.com). If your comment doesn't appear immediately, please be patient since it is an off-site system.

(2) All e-mail received from readers by The Moderate Voice is considered intended for publication unless otherwise indicated in the initial message from the writer. Please do not send us attachments unless you contact us and we agree to it.

(3)The Moderate Voice reserves the right to edit all e-mail and posted comments for content, clarity, and length.

(4) Our comment space is reserved for comments that relate to a post's topic. You should not reprint lengthy text from your own works or those of others, including news articles. You MAY link to them.

(5) Comments that are abusive, offensive, contain profane or racist material or violate the terms of service for this blog's host provider will be removed and the author(s) banned from future comments. Such comments also violate the very SPIRIT of this site -- which was created to encourage thoughtful and vigorous discussion among readers who may share differing viewpoints.

(6) All points of view are welcome on The Moderate Voice, with the following exceptions:

(a) Comments posted several times a day with the intent of dominating, re-directing or hijacking the thread by turning a discussion into the equivalent of a bitter shouting match.

(b) Comments posted several times a day that insult or call other commenters or blog writers names or repeatedly make the same point with the effect of or clear intent to annoy other commenters or blog writers.

(7) Name-calling, personal attacks, racist comments or use of profanity by any commenter, whether they are by persons who agree or disagree with the views expressed by The Moderate Voice will NOT be tolerated and will result in the deletion of the comment and the banning of the commenter's ISP address, without notice. In some cases a comment may be deleted and the writer will be given another chance. Commenters who virtually ASK The Moderate Voice to ban them by ignoring any warnings or daring TMV to ban them will quickly get their wish.

(8) Anonymous commenters should identify themselves with the same moniker, so readers know their comments are coming from a single individual. If they don't, they are subject to a banning.

(9)If we have problems with inappropriate or inflammatory comments from a commenter who it turns out gave a fake email address that person is subject to immediate banning.

(10) Quotes from material appearing on The Moderate Voice with attribution are allowed. Reprints are allowed only by permission from The Moderate Voice. You may request permission by e-mail.

(11) The Moderate Voice is a personal site. It is not the Government. It is NOT aligned with any political party. It is NOT promoting any specific candidate for office. It is not a public institution or a media organization. It is not a neutral site. It is intended to express and disseminate the authors' varying points of views. Writers on this weblog WILL take positions. It reserves the right to limit comments to those that, in its view, comport with its stated comment policy. Comments that do not comply are subject to deletion and banning of the author's ISP.

Disclaimer:

--Reading and posting comments at The Moderate Voice constitutes acknowledgment of and agreement to the terms outlined in this comment policy. This comment policy may be revised in part or in full at any time.

--All comments must comport with applicable state and federal laws. The Moderate Voice has no obigation to monitor, edit, censor, or take responsibility for comments. It may or may not act upon a violation of its comment policy once a suspected violation has been brought to its attention. Therefore, commenters are solely responsible for the content of their comments and should ensure that that their comments are lawful and fall within the stated guidelines of both The Moderate Voice and its hosting company.

--The Moderate Voice is not be responsible for injury or liability to any reader or commenter resulting from its own communications or those of commenters, that may be offensive, misleading, inaccurate, illegal, or otherwise unsuitable in the view of the reader. Readers and commenters further agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Moderate Voice from claims resulting from the use of any material appearing on The Moderate Voice which damages the reader, commenter or any other party.

--The Moderate Voice is not responsible for and might disagree with material posted in the comments section. While we strive for accuracy in our posts and DO correct errors, material posted by The Moderate Voice in its posts -- or those left by others in the comments section -- may or may not be accurate.

Read and Post at your own risk.