Bailout Prevents Great Depression 2.0

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Both are claims to ownership of stored gold; both are trans- ferred similarly as money substitutes, and both have the identical three limits on their extent of use. ,

John74 of NV @ Oct 22, 2009 08:40:58 AM

A MAN FOR THE TIMES

If you think things are bad now you should see what it was like in the 1920s and 30s. One individual fought for the rights of the laboring class in Louisiana and America during the FDR and Huey Long era. Read more about him at www.thomastfieldsjr .com

Thomas t. fields Jr. of LA @ Aug 25, 2009 17:27:14 PM

A MAN FOR THE TIMES

If you think things are bad now you should see what it was like in the 1920s and 30s. One individual fought for the rights of the laboring class in Louisiana and America during the FDR and Huey Long era. Read more about him at www.thomastfieldsjr .com

Thomas t. fields Jr. of LA @ Aug 25, 2009 17:18:20 PM

Ejcplnob

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Ejcplnob of MT @ Jul 15, 2009 01:33:30 AM

Bailout made rich even richer

The bailout certainly hasn't helped me. The trust fund I had is wiped out forever. More than 80% of the value is gone and the bailout promises to keep me paying more to help those who stole it.

There is no hope. I'll never see the money back thanks to these robber barons. I was prudent, didn't spend the money, and thought it was reasonably safe. I should have sold everything but couldn't believe such greed without consequence was even possible. Perhaps I'll learn something new in the afterlife for there is no hope in this life.

Jim Morrison of NJ @ May 22, 2009 17:08:17 PM

What's left?

After we spend this $22 Trillion, yes, it's a total of $22 Trillion--if all fails--then what?

With all the money then spent, if we aren't fixed, then what?

Out of money, out of gas, and out of work. No one on the planet can finance our debt. Then the Fed can start the printing presses and economy will look like Germany in 1922.

Good luck with that.

Quinn the Eskimo of CO @ Feb 21, 2009 18:05:52 PM

RE: Depression

"WE have had depressions in this country for several hundred years, the great depression of the late 1800s cleaned my Great-Great Grandfather out. He lost several savings and loans and the Great Bend Kansas Newspaper, he moved to Kansas City and started over. We don't seems to learn from our mistakes and here we are again about to have another depression regardless with what the fat cats in Congress try to do. I am for term liments, 4 years and no more. Good Luck America, hope you are out of debt."

Bill,

The problem in the Free Banking Era was that we didn't have good regulation like the FDIC and the SEC. Banks were generally more conservative than now, because they couldn't rely on the Fed to bail them out, set rates, etc. However, on occasion we did have bank runs and bad lending practices. For instance, there was a panic back in the 1800s where almost 50% of banks went under due to speculation and easy lending. The answer to such problems is GOOD regulation, not over-regulation. The Fed was like dropping a nuke on an anthill that was leaking plutonium. It only exacerbates the problem and lines the pockets of its member banks. Think of it this way: our country is basically in the hands of a few dozen bankers. Now do you want to trust these guys? The same ones that are setting interest rates too low to bail out their own bubbles; lending to people that shouldn't have the loan in the first place; and buying politicians to allow the process to continue?

The cycle must stop! I for one want to see someone challenge the constitutionality of the Fed in front of strict interpreters of the Constitution.

Trae of VA @ Oct 08, 2008 21:36:19 PM

The Finger can be Pointed in all Directions, But...

Let's get real. This isn't a free market. A truly free market does need some (read: some) regulation, such as the FDIC and SEC. However, a free market does NOT involve a central bank that unconstitutionally sets interest rates! I suggest everyone read up on Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, as well as Jefferson's and Hamilton's debates about central banks, to gain some real insight into how lousy the concept of the Fed really is.

Keep in mind that JP Morgan Jr, along with 11 other banking families, strongarmed (successfully) some unwise Democrats in 1913 to create the Fed. All because of their "panic" in 1907. And, sometime after Woodrow Wilson signed it into law (i.e. the Federal Reserve Act), he commented about how he had "unwittingly" placed our economy at the feet of credit. Not exactly a successful policy, to base an economy on credit more than anything else (~68% of our "growth" is credit, last I checked).

I'd suggest everyone -- liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Independent -- do their own research about who is to blame for starting all this mess. A nice data flow diagram would look something like Bankers -> Government -> Bankers -> Government...and so on and so forth, ad infinitum. The bankers cry for bigger government and socialism when they lose their rears; they scare the Legislative and Executive branches; buy the Legislative and Executive Branches via campaign financing and lobbying; and get bailed out by the very same government when all goes awry.

Even proponents of a central bank, such as Alexander Hamilton, believed that having one provides both efficiency and convenience. Look around you: When is the last time any of these corporate behemoths were convenient for you, the depositor? When have they been efficient? Even poor Hamilton would have shuddered at the notion that the Executive Branch, via appointments to the Treasury and Fed, would have control over the creation AND regulation of our money.

Please folks, don't take my word for it. Look to our Founding Fathers for more insight. Do NOT listen to lawyers and businessmen, who are apologists for their own kind; they have the most to lose in the long run. Also, research the constitutionality of the Fed. If you read the Constitution and our Founding Fathers' debates, you will reach the same conclusions I have.

Trae of VA @ Oct 08, 2008 21:15:59 PM