Thank you, Mr. President, for doing what should have been done long ago, by moving forward to open up diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba.Not only is it the right thing to do from a human rights point of view, it will enhance the economies of both the United States and Cuba at a time when any stimulus to economic activity is an answer to prayer.
The sooner those banks which don’t need Federal Government loans – Goldman Sachs? Morgan Stanley? Wells Fargo? – can repay them, the better. Because then those healthy financial institutions will be able to compete head to head with their major competitors, now in essence under the control and management of the Federal Government. When that day arrives – and it can’t come too soon – there will be a real test of private enterprise versus the Government, of capitalism versus socialism. I know where I will put my bet for who will be the winner, and it ain’t with the Federal Government.
Lowering taxes in the midst of a recession is considered, in the science of economics, to be an expansionary move, i.e. one that will help to stimulate economic growth and end the recession.
The obvious corollary is that raising taxes during the midst of a recession is an economically contractionary move, one that will act to remove a stimulus to economic recovery and which will impede growth. So purely from an economic and mathematical point of view, it seems that the tax increases proposed in the current budget plan will only serve to lengthen this already seriously deep recession.
The stimulus package is a real disappointment because it could have provided a serious punch to shock the economy into action. Instead it is a typical – albeit much bigger than normal – spending bill, which means it is has more than the normal amount of pork and less of the incentives needed to stimulate capital investment, jobs and profits. But frankly, given the dismal state of the economy, I’ll take any spending in almost any form at this time – yes, even pork – provided it is done soon and in a big way. The economy can’t wait much longer.
Monday’s Wall Street Journal had an encouraging article regarding Federal Regulators’ putting curbs on interest rates that banks and credit card companies can charge consumers on their balances. This is very good news, and would only be better news if it could be implemented now (rather than mid-2010 as indicated) and if rates could actually be rolled back rather than just not allowed to rise. In fact, it is surprising to me that there is not more consumer advocacy on the subject of credit card interest rates. They are utterly abusive to consumers while reaping extraordinary profit margins for the lenders.
Or put another way, beggars can’t be choosers. Over the last few weeks, the world witnessed the impending annihilation of the financial markets worldwide with grave ramifications for capitalism globally. It was scary. And then help came in the form of Government intervention through a massive injection of equity capital into the banks. The UK led the way, and once it had taken that giant step, the U.S. had no choice but to follow suit.
It came home to me loud and clear by mid-day yesterday why so many members of Congress simply could not vote in favor of the rescue bill before them now. The responses to my blog yesterday on CNBC.com “Why You Should Write Your Congressman” (Main Street, Wake Up… on my website) were easily ten to one in opposition of my support of passage of the bill. The language in some of the emails was simply unrepeatable and the vitriol and anger brought me back in time to my study of history. I had an image of Robespierre at the onset of the French Revolution with hordes of angry French citizens railing against the Crown.
Dear American Taxpayer and Voter,
For your own sake, I implore you to get over your anger at Wall Street fat cats – they have already lost more money than you will ever make. Neither you nor your Government gives a hoot about the loss of their personal wealth. Those fat cats have always known that theirs was a high risk career, which meant that in the good times they made scads of money and in the bad times they stood to lose it all. You could say they live by the sword and die by the sword and right now you are witnessing many of them dying by the sword.
Last Friday, behind closed doors, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulsen and Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, gave Congressional leaders the Armageddon scenario for financial markets and the US economy and provided an emergency solution in the form of Government intervention. Because they are not fools, our Government leaders saw the light and in a televised speech they announced that they would set aside politics and join forces to enact legislation to secure the viability of the financial markets. That was last Friday.
In the beginning – there were bad lending practices. And they are at the core of this extraordinary mess.
What was at the heart of the bad lending practices? The Federal Government!! Under both the Clinton and Bush administrations, it was government policy to encourage the private sector to ease underwriting standards in order to expand housing ownership in the U.S. The Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan was an enabler in that development, by employing a monetary policy that kept interest rates exceedingly low, to the benefit of mortgage seekers. So lay blame on the US Government for bad policy.
You are currently browsing the Ravengate Partners – Global insight by Patricia Chadwick blog archives.
(0 new)