I saw Greenspan on TV Sunday, but I did not listen very closely to what he was saying. The guy is so overrated that it makes me sick to see the talking heads still interview him. He sat on one of the most important seats of economic power in this country and was blind to the happenings as they were taking place. As someone who came out of Wall Street, he should have known that regulations and its enforcement was a necessary piece of the equation, but instead he did nothing to protect the millions of families that had invested in our capital markets.
I take a very narrow view of the duties of a central bank such as our Federal Reserve Bank, but given the realities of our situation, a good Fed Chairman would have worked the system to protect the many and not the few running the investment banks and the greedy of Wall Street. In my opinion, Greenspan failed to do this.
A central bank in a system of fiat money must be concerned with the integrity of the currency first. The United States, because of her military strength and political stability, along with her economic strength, is regarded around the world as a currency to hold. That does not mean other countries sit with U.S. dollars in their vault, but that they are very comfortable to hold U.S. dollar denominated assets such as U.S. Treasury notes. But, even the United States has a top side as to how much paper foreign governments are willing to hold. By borrowing constantly, and the central bank keeping interest rates low, will eventually put pressure on our ability to borrow at home and around the world. The deficits that were created during the Bush administration from 2001 to 2009 will present a problem as the Obama administration tries to get our economy back to full employment. Can we continue to waste giving billions of dollars away to foreign governments that do not get the job done or are so corrupt that it is the same as pouring the money down a rat hole? You know a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon we are talking about real money.
Stay tuned.
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5 comments:
Hey! I am a rat hole. Where's my billion bucks?
First, become a country and ask for aid.
Second, if you don't get the aid, invite terrorists to set up camps in your country, and then ask again for aid to drive the terrorists out.
This should work if your terrorists that you invite in to your country are any good at what they do - spreading terrorism.
This is a Joke!!!!
Like the "Mouse That Roared" in 2009!
Some of what's happened to the country has to do with the educational focus (in the 1900s) on training workers for the steel mills and assembly-line factory work, at the expense of teaching students how to think and reason and ask questions. The lack of an informed citizenry has led to generations of dumbed-down Americans who can't a) think for themselves, and b) understand what it means to be a voting citizen.
The Comman Man totally abandoned his duty to stay informed, debate, question, and listen before exercising his hard-won right to vote!
Orwell's 1984 did not materialize quite the way he anticipated, but he was right about one thing: it's not too difficult to dull the senses of the proletariat and amuse them with mindless entertainments. When the masses are asleep, the Masters can do as they please.
We're teetering on the brink!
Summer
The Mouse That Roared!!! Someone is either a movie buff or showing their age. Folks, we are talking the '60s now. For all those born after 1970, that is what you think of as "Ancient" American History.
Ghee, I wonder when the Classics Library at UC, that's University of Cincinnati, will start buying books about American Ancient History?
Movie Buff for Peter Sellers! :o)!
(And Dr. Strangelove was also a wonderful political satire - for its time.)
Summer
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