There has been a great deal of talk about the Federal Government’s spending, stimulus, to get our domestic economy moving again, but there has also been a great deal of criticism about the amounts of spending too.
My problem is not so much with the spending by the Federal Government as the lack of new rules for the banking and investment "game". Going forward with the mistakes of the past will not produce different results the next time around. As long as the attitudes on Wall Street and the regulations coming out of Washington remain the same, disaster is waiting for us just around the corner.
I am not very hopeful about the odds for change in the system. As I have said many times before, “money talks and bull shit walks.” Money and access make things happen in Washington, we all know that. The real question is: with all President Obama has on his plate, can he ferret out what is necessary with regards to securities regulations, the credit rating system and control people like Larry Summers and Tim Geithner to do what needs to be done? Wall Street & Washington, Inc. will not just rollover and give President Obama the level playing field that would ensure a speedy and complete economic recovery. The alliance between Wall Street and Washington is no secret. You do not have to be an Einstein to figure out that there is a direct pipeline of money moving north to south, Wall Street to Washington. The traffic pattern of money goes back to the founding of this nation in the 18th century.
There are large pools of capital to be invested here in the United States and around the world. What the managers of these large pools of capital are waiting to see is if the rules of the game will receive the corrective balance that the investor side of the equation is entitled. Once the investment “playing field” is made more “level”, we can expect the movement of capital from investor to borrower to restart our domestic economy and the rest of the world’s economy as well. We are still the economic locomotive that the rest of the world looks to. What is needed now is a better regulated, more transparent and enforcement of the rules. When Washington figures that out, perhaps the argument about what is too much spending can be solved. But, as things stand now, we are headed back to the place we just came from, another financial crisis and bond market meltdown.
Stay tuned.
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3 comments:
Patience, Fred. He knows. He also knows what inertia and political currency he's up against. But he has one thing in his pocket to spend that the hacks DON'T have - the will and goodwill of the American people.
Have you seen some of the FOX news programs recently? Some are just continually vile against Obama. I really think they are bordering on anarchy. They are worse than what they complained about when Bush was president....."it's unAmerican to debase the presidency".
13% of Republicans think Rush Limbaugh represents the Party. He never offers positve constructive criticism. It is just hateful rhetoric. I can see how someone as repugnant as a Hitler can rise to power.
I hope the multitude of our populace see behind what they are trying to do.
Lou, naturally I hope you are right, but I have my doubts. The banks are showing signs of coming back, and the lobbyists are hard at work fighting for no more regulations. If they don't make some real changes in the way business is done, we are just rearranging the deck chairs on a ship that, in time, will hit another iceberg.
Winslow, I don't watch FOX TV, except football on Sundays. I am disturbed by the things I hear. I know too much world history to not be concerned. Today we have one man going to the Holocaust Museum in Washington and start shooting. Yes, hateful talk is hateful talk, and you and I know what that kind of talk can do. Russ is not the first, nor will he be the last. There were men before him that made a living sowing the seeds of hate. He certainly does fan the flames of hate, and in my opinion comes very close to crossing that line.
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