Comments on: Mirabile Dictu! TARP Oversight Chief Dares Point Out the Obvious on the Paulson Non-Plans

By: joebhed

joebhed — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:07:00 +0000

Comments on comments.
Comments on causes and solutions.

Warren's principal observation appears to be that there is no stated and accepted CAUSE for the problem that we have, which is quite prescient even in its simplicity.
Without an acceptance of the cause, it is hard to know if we are throwing fuel or water on the fire.
Methinks it's fuel.
For I see the problem as so elementary as to be almost indescribable.
It is the debt-based nature of our, and the world's money system.
ALL money is created as debt - repayable with interest, which is never created.
To throw TRILLIONS regularly onto the pile of debt that is causing the economy to STOP, is kind of back to that definition of insanity.
MC5 correctly clarifies there can be no expectation of needed change from the Geithner/Summers team.
But I would invite that writer to ponder that the only means to provide the social benefits that are identified is NOT from the crumbs of ANY bailout provision, but rather through a Treasury System of debt-free money creation, coupled with a return to community-based banking that includes substantial increases in cooperative banks and credit unions.
The Chicago Plan.
Monetary reform.
Or, begin the grand march to a one-world-bank modeled on our private federal reserve system.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:03:00 +0000

Yes, he’ll probably see the warning, but I see no reason to leave pure obscenity posted on your site. If it had even a dollop of insight, I’d say let it stay.

By: Yves Smith

Yves Smith — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:45:00 +0000

Anon of 5:29 PM,

I am never certain what to do. I do delete longer, slobbering at the mouth type of offensive comments, partly because they take up so much content real estate that it is harder to avoid them.

I have also deleted nasty comments of this type. Mind you it fortunately doesn't come up often, normally once a month or so. Sometimes I get no pushback, sometimes I get a lot (and when I get arguments, I always wonder who is doing the arguing.....).

There were a couple of really over-the-top offensive comments over the holidays which I did not catch early enough. I am troubled by that. It may be a function of the general stress level.

Usually people like that come back to see if anyone fought back with them, so I suspect the offender will see the message.

By: Yves Smith

Yves Smith — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:11:00 +0000

foff,

Comment ad hominem and nasty. Another one like that and you no longer get to comment here.

By: MC5

MC5 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:37:00 +0000

MC5 said…
Does anyone truly believe that Summers and Geithner can think outside of the Wall Street/Harvard bubble they have lived in for 30 years? The underlying assets that “caused” the bubble are for the most part homes that working people can no longer afford to live in because their wages have been eroding for 35 years. Let’s break up CitiBank, GS, etc. and let the local community banks take up the task of lending and protecting families’ savings. Increase the minimum wage, execute a sliding scale to facilitate universal health care, lower taxes for working people, and take some of the crumbs that fall off the bailout table and invest in public education, including college education for anyone who can qualify for it. That would be at least a start toward a more fair and decent civil society.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:12:00 +0000

Can one be trapped by solvency when one has a fiat currency that can be devalued, making nominal debts less onerous? Please explain.

Zimbabwe.

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:19:00 +0000

I am noticing lots of assurance on the part of many commentors as to the root causes of the financial crisis. These causes tend to vary widely. Rather than touting my own cause, I would rather take this as an opportunity to point out the need for some important work. I see this phenomenon as manifestation of the need for humans to cultivate more accurate perceptions. ISHK works exclusively in this area. My wife and I have a project that incorporates many ISHK principles in demonstrating nature linked low energy living, EntropyPawsed
With problems come opportunities. These problems are big enough to present big opportunities if we approach them in a positive way:)

By: colonel klunk

colonel klunk — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:39:00 +0000

“And then the *real* political struggle begins.”

agreed…except the word ‘liberal’ should be in heavy quotation marks.

By: General Glut

General Glut — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:23:00 +0000

The luster of Bernanke’s “professional economist” credentials is finally, and rightly, fading fast. Up until the last week or so, liberals were blaming the politicians (Paulson and Bush especially) for the failures of every plan so far conceived to stem the bleeding. Bernanke was the sacred cow — by protecting him, they protected the general meme that all our problems are at root due to “ideology” and “incompetence”.

Once Bernanke gets fully tarred with the same brush used on Paulson, the ability of liberals to hide behind professional credentials and Obama’s team of uber-experts will be seriously compromised.

And then the *real* political struggle begins.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:34:00 +0000

I too have a favorable opinion of Elizabeth Warren (the Harvard bankruptcy law professor), from reading her book, ‘The Two Income Trap’. I think she has her head and heart in the right place.

Goodsoup