Friday, January 9, 2009
Economy A Moral Crisis
Posted by Anthony Hecht on Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 12:19 AM
The financial crisis in America is really a moral crisis, caused by the series of proofs which the American public has received that the leading financiers who control banks, trust companies and industrial corporations are often imprudent, and not seldom dishonest. They have mismanaged trust funds and used them freely for speculative purposes. Hence the alarm of depositors, and a general collapse of credit.- The Economist, 1908
via Signal vs. Noise
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1
???
"Nothing is new under the sun."-Sherlock Holmes quoting...some religious text.
Excellent post, Mr Hecht.
"Nothing is new under the sun."-Sherlock Holmes quoting...some religious text.
Excellent post, Mr Hecht.
3
I would call it an ethical crisis as opposed to a moral crisis.
But will someone ask the Economist, why should we trust our banks NOW? And has anyone else had your employer bring in your companies 401K advisor in the past three months to try to calm everyone down. (ie to make sure we don't all start to say, fuck the 401K I'm putting my money into a savings account)
The real problem is all of these financial advisors only know how to say one thing and one thing only: "BUY BUY BUY!!! The market is going up? BUY!!! The market's tanking? It's an opportunity to BUY!! An astroid the size of Mars is heading towards Earth? Well, BUY BUY BUY!!!"
Seriously, anyone who listens to Suzie Orman or James Crammer on CNBC and can't see them as whores for Wall Street deserve all they have coming to them.
But will someone ask the Economist, why should we trust our banks NOW? And has anyone else had your employer bring in your companies 401K advisor in the past three months to try to calm everyone down. (ie to make sure we don't all start to say, fuck the 401K I'm putting my money into a savings account)
The real problem is all of these financial advisors only know how to say one thing and one thing only: "BUY BUY BUY!!! The market is going up? BUY!!! The market's tanking? It's an opportunity to BUY!! An astroid the size of Mars is heading towards Earth? Well, BUY BUY BUY!!!"
Seriously, anyone who listens to Suzie Orman or James Crammer on CNBC and can't see them as whores for Wall Street deserve all they have coming to them.
4
Face it, power corrupts. I would say corruption is the opposite of ethical or moral. But the rightest ideology that markets be left to regulate themselves, even at the cost of people's hard earned savings, is ignorant and irresponsible. Add that to the fact that greed is a part of human nature. So we have corruption, greed, ignorance and irresponsiblity. Government can and should ameliorate these problems. Nothing can eliminate them completely.
5
WaMu looks like an open-and-shut failure of corporate governance. Where the fuck was the board when the CEO decided on a business plan of loading up on lousy debt for short-term profit?
Government regulations are incredibly clunky. There needs to be strong self-interest among board members to make sure corporate management is serving the long-term needs of the corporation.
Government regulations are incredibly clunky. There needs to be strong self-interest among board members to make sure corporate management is serving the long-term needs of the corporation.
6
What you get is what I call the "Hansen Economy", with dropping consumption, and dropping prices. I've come to enjoy not buying very much, and buying used instead of new, or at a heavy discount. If everyone did that we would have just about what we have now, a near collapse of the market economy.
http://you-read-it-here-first.com/viewto…
http://you-read-it-here-first.com/viewto…
8
This is a great example of the relevance of studying history. Truly, nothing is new under the sun, but if you know nothing about what has come before, you get to relive the past in the most painful ways.
9
We both alike know that into the discussion of human affairs the question of justice only enters where the pressure of necessity is equal; that the powerful exact what they can, and the weak grant what they must.
10
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has already been, in the ages before us. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.
11
Can we just bring back flogging? We can give criminals a choice between "X number of years in prison" or "X number of lashes with a cat-o'-nine-tails". Seriously, I bet it would seriously reduce recidivism and reduce prison overcrowding.
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