President Obama & We The People

There are many fields of study far more difficult to understand than the field of finance. Money, banking and investments like many other fields of study has their own vocabulary of terms, but once you know the terms and their definitions, the rest is pretty easy. You will have to believe me on this one, just take my word for it. Over a lifetime of working with stocks, bonds and portfolio management and meeting and working with people from the BUY and SELL sides of the business, I can tell you that while there are some very exceptional people involved, there are a lot of people of no more than average intelligence and ability.

From the regulations and Acts of Congress that came out of The Great Depression to protect the investing public, Americans thought that while there was risk involved in investing, that there was also laws and regulations in place to look out for their interests and protect them against out right fraud. This most recent experience in the United States, and that extended around the world, that brought about the financial crisis, which included the bond market meltdown of mortgage-backed bonds and the crisis with our commercial banks as well, was not only man made, but was deliberate. Yes, greed played a key role, but it should be understood that it was more than the greed on Wall Street that produced the economic crisis.

I have talked many times about the fact that if it was simply the question of economics, the job would be so much easier. The reality is that the problem is the fact that it is the political-economy. Members of Congress and The White House have all played a role in the financial and economic disaster that we all are now living with. The argument that government is the problem and not the solution is a bogus argument. The laws concerning the Securities & Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve Bank and other governmental units such as the FBI, given the proper funding and attention could have prevented this crisis. But, as the old saying goes, “Money Talks and Bullshit Walks!” The mess we are in today was man made, and is directly related to the greed found in the towers in Manhattan and our capitol, Washington, D.C.

I hope there will be change as President Obama has promised, but the men working along side of him are the same men that brought about the problem. The talk that they are the only ones who know enough to get us out of this crisis is just plain bullshit. There are many knowledgeable people in the United States with degrees and certification that can do this work.

There are some key problems that need to be addressed, and it will be interesting if President Obama is smart enough to see through some of his adviser’s bullshit and call them out on these key issues. If President Obama can not do this, then it is up to the People, as in We The People, to inform him of what needs to be done.

Stay tuned.

P.S. Paul Krugman has said it better, or in another way in his piece in the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/opinion/10krugman.html?emc=eta1