Paul Volcker for years has been adamant that banks should not be allowed to use federally insured money to gamble on the market.
Hard to deny that we need to make changes in the way Wall Street and Big Banking does business; remember, we’ve done nothing but bail them out and allow them to make record profits using tax payer money.
I personally believe the right solution is to tax big banking and to make it more profitable for them to break up into smaller (more easily regulated) business units. This would also make small banks and credit unions much more capable of competing as well as prevent an economic collapse when one or two banks make bad investment decisions.
Yesterday Apple announced another record quarter in sales. In fact, iPhone sales doubled in Q4 2009 (a good holiday present for Apple).
Tomorrow Apples announces a new tablet computer (at least that’s the rumor of what they will announce).
Google has a lot of ground to catch up with Apple in the phone market, and it certainly doesn’t appear that Apple is going to just stand by and wait for them.
I guess the one thing that Apples numbers show is that there is money to be made in economic hard times if you’ve got something people want.
Obama may propose a discretionary spending freeze for three years.
Hopefully he’ll fully define what discretionary means; I remember the budget surplus (you know, “extra” money when the country had a trillion dollar debt) so I don’t make any assumptions what politicians in Washington mean by any term that they don’t have a clear track record using.
Of course, he’s already exempted the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs (sound like he’s playing to the political right) from the freezes.
I think it’s great to implement “new” ideas to reign in government spending — of course I’d like to see some the “old” ideas (you know — those campaign promises Obama made that got him elected) implemented.
In the back of my mind I see this a yet another failure looming for the Obama presidency.
Many of my friends and I have engaged in intellectual discussions about the evils of society and what most needs to be fixed.
Views of what’s evil, though, largely depend on your perspective — social liberals might call something evil that a fiscal conservative feels is simply just; and vice-versa.
If you’re a conspiracy buff you’ll enjoy reading through the TheHiddenEvil.com. Volume I contains a number of factoids, and draws interesting conclusions (I’m certainly not going to say I agree with any or all of them). Volume II builds on Volume I to make some fairly remarkable assertions — of maybe they’re just hard to believe (or hard to read without a giggle or two at least).
With disinformation an accepted practice of government, organized religion, and business it’s always hard to say definitively what is true and what is a shade of gray.
Retailers started releasing fourth quarter earning reports yesterday.
There’s no surprise here — Target, the number two retailer in the US, announced on Christmas Eve that sales would not meet there expectations; and Master Card also indicated that spending (via credit card) was down.
Wal-Mart, of course, tipped everyone off that they expected a bad retail season when they started their “Black Friday” sales three weeks before Thanksgiving and most retailers followed suit with deep discounts through out the retail season.
While a bad retail season doesn’t by itself mean that the economy will continue to slump, there are certainly enough signs to that effect (personally I’m ignoring the US Department of Labor’s unemployment numbers… they simply don’t make sense, they don’t seem to reflect reality, and they are designed to be misleading).
I certainly don’t have a crystal ball, but the long the economy continues the slide downward the harder it will be to revive. My instinct tells me that this downturn, like The Great Depression, will not be ended by planning and programs — but by aggression, greed, and exploitation.
It would be interesting to know who future historians will characterize the first decade of this millennium; and what they will have to say about the causes of our plights.
Today; however, we don’t have the advantage of hind sight on today — nor can we really have good perspective on the recent events that have gotten us to where we are.
Each generation looks to it’s time as a decay of what was, and longs for the “good ol’ days”… and for us it’s hard to imagine that these will be the “good ol’ days” of another generation — and much as we lament about today with dwell on fond remembrances of our past so will our children’s children.
Well, that is if the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an on coming train.
Today, California’s 1% increase in sales tax goes into effect; the term of the increase won’t be known until after a ballet measure is voted on.
California, like many states, has been spending far more than it’s been taking in — and this is yet another misguided attempt by the Governor and assembly to make up the difference.
In a down economy, let’s raise the sales tax — I’m sure that will jump start retail sales and put the economy on the fast track to recovery… GET A CLUE, it’s not like most people are spending money on luxury items right now, they’re just trying to make ends meet; and those with means to buy expensive items will just purchase them out of state.
It looks to me like the best view of California is in the rear view mirror leaving!
Hmm… maybe that should be all the bs that can be gotten away with!
When you read news articles or when people relay to you “facts” be sure and do your homework; read accounts of the same events on multiple un-related sources. In fact it’s often good to get a perspective from an international source.
Take a look at any of the facts, figures, and claims — try and verify those against an authoritative source.
If the information reported is important to you; check to see if any of the “facts” it’s based on, or claims it makes are updated over time.
Most journalists report the news impartially from their perspective; but it is from their perspective. Many journalists and news organization like to sensationalize the news or majorly spin it to suit their agenda.
The “Big Three” US automobile manufacturers are quick to tell you they’re not looking for a bail out, they’re looking for bridge loans.
Well… what’s the difference between a bridge loan to a business that’s likely to fail and giving them money for bad assets?
NADA!
It really doesn’t matter what the wording is, bail out, bridge loan, give away… it’s all the same. The money from hard working American tax payers being given to companies that have made bad decisions and are looking for someone else to pay the price.
And why isn’t part of the $700B we’ve already approved being used?
Why are we gutting a fund that’s been setup to help create automobiles that move us toward energy independence?
Like so many Americans are asking — Where’s my bail out?
It’s great the congress is grilling the auto makers before they hand out more money — but why didn’t they hold Wall Street to the same standards?
This whole thing is very suspect… I mean all the American who are out of work, are we going to extend unemployment benefits for as long as it takes to turn the economy around? They certainly didn’t contribute to these short sighted decisions… they don’t get $15 million in compensation per year…
I think before any more of the $700B is handed out, or before we approve more money for short sighted businesses we need to lay down a road map that helps us understand how the average American who’s been hit hard by these events is going to survive.
Maybe we need Twisted Sister to sing “We’re not going to take it…” at the opening of ever congressional hearing and session!
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