Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer »
Posted By Nixie 1 year, 1 month ago in Business & FinanceThis bailout was a terrible idea. Harvard economist explains why.
Read Full Story at cnn.com »
1583 Views Share Story 44 Comments Report
Submitted By:
Nixie
"It was thus the fountains were dancing to the moon in Arabia; it was thus the Nixies shook their white limbs on the haunted banks ...
RSS Join the Discussion
+ Add CommentShowing 108 of 111 Comments (view all)
-
78%
Nixie1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Highlights of this article:
Reply
-Jeffrey Miron: Government encouraged lenders to relax their standards
-Mortgages were given to people unqualified to repay them, he says
-Miron: Rather than a bailout, government should let firms go bankrupt
-Talk of economic Armageddon is scare-mongering, Miron says -
93%
memestryker1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I mostly agree. The American taxpayers are hurt either way, but at least this is the clean and ethical way to act, and this is what would happen to you or me.
Reply
People buying homes they can't afford is the same type of credit abuse that caused the Great Depression. A better way for government to have intervened would have been to force builders to build more affordable homes on smaller lots instead of only McMansions.
Organizations like ACORN may not have helped, either, allegedly intimidating lenders to offer unqualified people loans they couldn't repay.
But those people who budgeted themselves and lived within their means should not lose twice--both with a recession/depression and bailing out those who made bad investments and sought to live above their means.-
67%
Wolfie20071 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
memstryker
Reply
Now what would be good about the government forcing builders to build homes they say would be affordable? Haven't you figured it out yet the government needs to get of of the private sector. The government can do two things to help people afford homes cut taxes and spending. Those are things the government can do that make sense.
-
-
80%
Wolfie20071 year, 1 month ago
-
80%
nostalgia1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
This plan is on the Dave Ramsey website
Reply
He put it together based upon the ideas which economists and financial types have discussed on his show
And it's only one page long!!
The Common Sense Fix
http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/the_common_sen...
He was encouraging people to send it to their House member and Senators -
-
-
-
38%
mesodude1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Judging by the desperate clawing and scratching to blame Democrats for your poor judgement in electing Bush twice and "Breaking!" stories being posted by cons every five minutes, one would think you're the ultra wealthy who got war time tax cuts while the rest of us got crumbs. ;-)
Reply
-
-
-
27%
Tcaros1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Listen to Nancy Pelosi. She asked "how did something so big just creep up on us."
Reply
Did President Bush know about this prior to the Republican Convention?
If Bush knew how would McCain not know?
I think Obama's camp is missing an opportunity to point out "again" how much of a sneaky criminal we have in the White House.
Why didn't he mention it before now? That's and important quetion. It may sink "man of action" McCain's numbers.-
-
75%
Engnr1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
How did Senator Obama not know? He was part of the cause.
Reply
Well, maybe BO should just stay away and let McCain handle it.
Everyone knows that as a Community Organizer he was suing banks so they had to make risky sub-prime loans based on CRA. It is not all his fault, but he was part of the machine.
-
bennyzebraComment removed: Spammer
-
67%
Georgia501 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Wow. I was nearly 100% in favor of the bailout, but for the principle of the thing that annoyed me. Seems I should have been more tenacious at holding on to my principles. This guy totally turned my thinking around in the direction it should have maintained in the first place.
Reply -
71%
nostalgia1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
After you skim through the Senate version you will literally be sick
Reply
The new bailout is 451 PAGES and loaded with a pet project for EVERYONE
It is absolutely DISGUSTING!
http://senateconservatives.files.wordpress.com/200...
A few of the earmarks stuffed in the bill:
- Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
- Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
- 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)
Tax earmark “extenders” in the bailout bill.
- Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
- American Samoa (Sec. 309)
- Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
- Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
- Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
- Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
- Railroads (Sec. 316)
- Auto Racing Tracks (317)
- District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
- Wool Research (Sec. 325)
I just emailed both of my Senators
The Congressional email server was very slow, they must be overwhelmed!-
100%
Wolfie20071 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Nostalgia
Reply
I just called my senator's office and spoke with one of his aids who claims there are no earmarks in the bill because she has looked through all 451 pages. I told her to check Sec. 504 she fumbled around with papers and then told me that all earmarks had been removed from the bill. This was Senator Pryor's (D) office. If you or someone else reading this is fortunate enough to have a republican senator, please call, (800)833-6354 and ask them about the earmarks.
-
-
Republicrat1844Comment removed: Retracted by user
-
60%
GLee1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
The more I read of this 'bill' before Congress the more I tend to agree that this is not the answer. Seems like we are putting of the inevitable which is the failure of these institutions. The only thing I see in not helping them is the fact that Carter and Clinton forced this issue on lenders. That puts the goverment back at fault thus the 'bailout' because it is Uncle Sam's fault. Sure is messed up.
Reply -
0%
Grancher1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
This seems fairly reasonable to me, but I don't know enough about economics to really think about it properly. It is worth noting that the author was writing to us idiots who know nothing about economics and as result didn't go into meaningful detail at all.
Reply-
-
100%
nostalgia1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Several House members have been on the business shows this AM.
Reply
They have a letter signed by 400 economists telling them not to do this bailout.
Keep in mind that the Paulson bill was written by someone from Wall St - Paulson was CEO of Goldman Sachs
He is not looking at this in economic terms. He is looking at what is best for Wall St
-
-
60%
acpeters1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
For those that still think that Bush is to blame for this economic mess, here is a video from 2003 that will make it a little easier for you to understand. Go to the 4min 40sec mark and just listen.
Reply
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?ma... -
50%
simonsez1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Trump was commenting that the bailout plan that Warren did with Goldman Sachs should be the plan the government uses to provide the liquidity these companies need to function.
Reply
I don't think allowing this situation to go down is the way to go. Other countries are stepping up their efforts to help and we should attempt to resolve the matter in the best way we can. -
-
100%
simonsez1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
An outline of the Goldman deal with Buffet.
Reply
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement to sell $5 billion of perpetual preferred stock to Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. in a private offering. The preferred stock has a dividend of 10% and is callable at any time at a 10% premium. In conjunction with this offering, Berkshire Hathaway will also receive warrants to purchase $5 billion of common stock with a strike price of $115 per share, which are exercisable at any time for a five year term. In addition, Goldman Sachs is raising at least $2.5 billion in common equity in a public offering. -
-
-
-
40%
dcfixer1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Let free enterprise and capitalism go unregulated, let greed go unchecked, let the rich get richer and the poor become more, and the few will end up controlling the many. I think a lasting society for the good of all has to be a balance of Democracy and Socialism. Either one by itself will fail. Mankind’s history on this planet has demonstrated that. If our country continues down this path of arrogance, self-indulgence and greed, either our children prepare their children with something that the ultra wealthy will always need or want, or our children prepare their children for a downfall and ultimately, revolution. Sadly, it just seems to be human nature. This is how the circus of Washington and Wall Street have made me feel lately.
Reply
I'm not against investing in the financial sector if it will help, as long as the tax payer has a very good chance of getting their money back, or maybe making a little. I DO NOT want to reward any greedy bums who had a part in this mess. I want oversight, accountability and regulations to prevent this from happening again. Is this possible? I don't know, and I don't trust anyone to tell me. No one here, or the experts know for sure what will happen. Economics is not an exact science, and there's no crystal ball. This whole thing is scary. I haven't read the Senate bill, cause I find our government's legislation language difficult to decipher, but if what is being said here is true, it sounds stupid, and more of the same.-
-
Neutral
memestryker1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Our government is a democratic republic, and is always a mixture of capitalism and socialism that varies as situations evolve and different administrations push it in various directions as they implement their own ideas of "solutions" to complex problems. One reason our government works at all is that it self-adjusts. All systems become corrupt, which is one reason it's good to have a government that can adapt.
Reply
Those you refer to as "greedy bums" self-select both for positions in money-handling and power. And even when a well-meaning soul decides to seek to become part of the power elite s/he quickly learns it is its own game. Lyndon Johnson had high hopes for his "Great Society" and was disappointed to learn that human nature is what it is.
Everything is an experiment (a WAG)--no one in government really knows how any act will play out, because there is always a ripple effect with unforeseen side-effects. It's always a best guess and added incentives to get the necessary votes.
-
-
-
-
-
More News
Daily Finance
Media World: NPR's Carl Kasell retiring as voice of reason (but he'll still rhyme)
Emergency Room docs offer inside scoop: How to get treated faster, better
The glass is half full: Why the U.S. economy will strengthen in 2010
Black Friday: A small step for bricks-and-mortar, a giant leap for online
IBM's quest for cognitive computers hits a milestone: Simulating a cat's brain
Add a Comment
Sign In With Your Propeller Account
Please keep your comments relevant to this story.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.