Excellent explanation of the roots of this crisis...

[Ma'ake]

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ed...asics_banking/

I'm not ignoring the trouble with pushing loans onto folks who really shouldn't own homes, but Kuttner nails the underlying explanation of how things got out of hand, how the house of cards came down. Our financial system "innovated" far too creatively & extravagantly, much of the time to avoid regulation. You know there is a problem when our mathematical wizards are employed on Wall Street while the Chinese use theirs in science.

Time for a back-to-basics system, with the political will to prohibit the creation of exotic - and, as we've seen, potentially unstable - financial instruments.

I know this is hard to understand for some of my conservative friends, but government is really not the root of all problems. There is such a thing as responsible & reasonable government, and we need it to temper the unbridled greed that powers our economic system.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by Ma'ake

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ed...asics_banking/

I'm not ignoring the trouble with pushing loans onto folks who really shouldn't own homes, but Kuttner nails the underlying explanation of how things got out of hand, how the house of cards came down. Our financial system "innovated" far too creatively & extravagantly, much of the time to avoid regulation. You know there is a problem when our mathematical wizards are employed on Wall Street while the Chinese use theirs in science.

Time for a back-to-basics system, with the political will to prohibit the creation of exotic - and, as we've seen, potentially unstable - financial instruments.

I know this is hard to understand for some of my conservative friends, but government is really not the root of all problems. There is such a thing as responsible & reasonable government, and we need it to temper the unbridled greed that powers our economic system.

Government isn't the root of all problems, just most of them. And a good example of what helped us to get into this mess can be traced to the Clinton administration's push to relax lending standards in order to increase home ownership. This is an article from Feb. of this year, but it points to how government screws things up by meddling:

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thre...ons_drive.html

Regulation is necessary in some areas, but the less there is, the better off we are.

[MikeWaters]

how do you ban "exotic instruments", and why is this a good idea?

it's funny how many people are willing to give up on capitalism after one lousy month. actually it's not funny. It's scary.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

how do you ban "exotic instruments", and why is this a good idea?

it's funny how many people are willing to give up on capitalism after one lousy month. actually it's not funny. It's scary.

Agreed. It has to hit bottom before it can get better. It's a rough month, but if the government will stay out of the way, the market will take care of itself. It can't hit bottom with foolish bailouts for idiots.

[Ma'ake]

Kuttner's point is these products are so complex, were intended to provide stability & reduce risk to neglible levels, but have had the opposite effect.

The thing is, developing derivatives & complex securities that require a PhD in math to understand isn't capitalism. The Chinese have nothing like our level of "financial sophistication" yet their economic progress proceeds uninhibited.

There are a lot of folks around the globe that are fed up with capitalism at the moment, are suffering acutely based on decisions they had nothing to do with, thousands of miles away.

The irony is Obama could help restore faith in market economies outside the US, while inside the nation he would be skewered as a marxist.

Better regulated capitalism is still capitalism. It's not as though the only two choices are the wild, wild west vs totalitarianist oppression.

[MikeWaters]

God, you really are a communist.

The lessons of history, can never be learned by morons like this.

[Ma'ake]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

God, you really are a communist.

The lessons of history, can never be learned by morons like this.

LOL - you make me giggle, Miguel Agua

[Cougar Hunter]

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

Government isn't the root of all problems, just most of them. And a good example of what helped us to get into this mess can be traced to the Clinton administration's push to relax lending standards in order to increase home ownership. This is an article from Feb. of this year, but it points to how government screws things up by meddling:

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thre...ons_drive.html

Regulation is necessary in some areas, but the less there is, the better off we are.

The theories attempting to link the sub-prime crisis on Clinton's policies to reduce discriminatory credit practices hold no water.

http://www.businessweek.com/investin...ity_reinv.html

Try to keep up.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Originally Posted by Ma'ake

The thing is, developing derivatives & complex securities that require a PhD in math to understand isn't capitalism. The Chinese have nothing like our level of "financial sophistication" yet their economic progress proceeds uninhibited.

One of our problems is that we expect a bunch of political science majors (and, admittedly, lawyers) to be able to understand, much less regulate efficiently, the incredibly complex capital markets. I support government and judicial oversight if it can be done efficiently, but I seriously wonder if we're up to the task.

And praising the Chinese economic system is a bit like praising Cuba's medical system. They both have certain advantages, but on balance, where would you rather start a company or get open heart surgery?

[ute4ever]