Bad Economy: Who or What Is to Blame?

[BeFree]

Housing bubble?

Republicans from 2001 to 2006?

$4 a gallon gas in 2006?

???

[dkf]

1. Bob Rubin.

[sandnsea]

2. Mortgage/Derivative Scam

Wherein investment banks lost $3 trillion dollars.

[LiberalLoner]

3. This. n/t

[Greyhound]

4. Raygun, Bush, Clinton, Shrub, Obama & their owners.

Assuming the economy is bad depends one's POV.

This is all working out very well for them.

[Vincardog]

5. RE pubic CON "ideas" that have infected our society since RAY GUN. IE Government is the PROBLEM

Tax cuts Create Income
Free (Flat Earth) markets are the answer to everything
WE must get the restriction off those fine Corporate paragons of virtue so that they can make MORE MONEY while poisoning
us (The land air and water too)

IT all starts with the LIE that corporations have HUMAN RIGHTS

[lib2DaBone]

6. Free Trade... instead of Fair Trade.... NAFTA gave us the SHAFTA...

Supply Side Economics buried deep in the American pschye and pimped 24/7 by Faux News and CNBC.

[gratuitous]

7. Cutting taxes on the takers while launching two elective wars?

I'm not some fancy striped-pants economist with an MBA from some Ivy League school like our last president, but that would be my guess.

[Mimosa]

8. Dupe post deleted n/t

[notesdev]

9. Politicians of both parties and the whole financial sector

and insane trade and tax policy as well

[Mimosa]

10. Banksters, Corporations, Politicians and the Wars in the Middle East n/t

[w8liftinglady]

11. migration of tons of our jobs overseas

Lou Dobbs had a lot of issues,but this is one area he and I agreed on

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/popups/exporting.america/content.html

[Romulox]

12. Neoliberal economics. nt

[w8liftinglady]

13. I had to look that up-you are spot on...

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=376

[Romulox]

17. Thanks for the link. It's a very clear and concise explanation.

I think it's important to name the entire economic theory--which encompasses "free trade", deregulation, and corporate self-governance. These three trends all are hammering our economy.

The main points of neo-liberalism include:

THE RULE OF THE MARKET. Liberating "free" enterprise or private enterprise from any bonds imposed by the government (the state) no matter how much social damage this causes. Greater openness to international trade and investment, as in NAFTA. Reduce wages by de-unionizing workers and eliminating workers' rights that had been won over many years of struggle. No more price controls. All in all, total freedom of movement for capital, goods and services. To convince us this is good for us, they say "an unregulated market is the best way to increase economic growth, which will ultimately benefit everyone." It's like Reagan's "supply-side" and "trickle-down" economics -- but somehow the wealth didn't trickle down very much.

CUTTING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES like education and health care. REDUCING THE SAFETY-NET FOR THE POOR, and even maintenance of roads, bridges, water supply -- again in the name of reducing government's role. Of course, they don't oppose government subsidies and tax benefits for business.

DEREGULATION. Reduce government regulation of everything that could diminsh profits, including protecting the environmentand safety on the job.

PRIVATIZATION. Sell state-owned enterprises, goods and services to private investors. This includes banks, key industries, railroads, toll highways, electricity, schools, hospitals and even fresh water. Although usually done in the name of greater efficiency, which is often needed, privatization has mainly had the effect of concentrating wealth even more in a few hands and making the public pay even more for its needs.

ELIMINATING THE CONCEPT OF "THE PUBLIC GOOD" or "COMMUNITY" and replacing it with "individual responsibility." Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves -- then blaming them, if they fail, as "lazy."

[Selatius]

14. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, written by Phil Gramm, signed by Clinton.

This law removed the Depression-era prohibition against consolidation between commercial banks and investment banks. With the two free to consolidate, a fundamental conflict-of-interest arose where the conglomerate had the incentive to securitize Alt-A and sub-prime mortgages and sell them off at a profit to whichever firm was willing to buy them.

They were given AAA ratings by the ratings agencies, so people didn't realize they were buying potentially unstable securities.

That's the proximate cause, but fundamental flaws showed up in our economy long before this. For instance, we began witnessing massive out-sourcing of high-paying manufacturing jobs. This depressed wages, and aggregate demand for products and services could then only be propped up by easy credit. This is why so many people went into debt on things such as credit cards or took out second mortgages. They were using credit to make up for the lost income due to annual inflation.

[HughBeaumont]

15. No.s 1 and 2.

Add about 30 straight years of Free-Marketz Kool-Aid Republicanomics in charge. That's what killed America, thinking you could stagnate the wages here, send manufacturing and industry and technology jobs overseas and believe it won't be "zero-sum".

[AndyA]

16. It was a deadly combination that created this mess.

1. Reagan started the era of non-regulation, business-first policies.

2. Bush took a record surplus and quadrupled the deficit with tax cuts for millionaires.

3. Bush started two wars, and ran the costs for those wars off the books, as if they didn't matter.

4. The Republicans failed to protect America on 9/11, and failed to do anything about the recession that began in December 2007, long before Bush left office.

5. Bush and Cheney (two oil men) allowed their cronies to run up the price of gas in 2008, placing a huge burden on American families, who had to strain to put gas in their vehicles to go to work as well as pay the mortgage. People began to default on their mortgages, and well...the rest is history.

6. The Republicans failed to provide the checks and balances on speculative buying and selling of oil futures, also contributing to higher gas costs.

7. Telling people to go shopping, and if that means take out a second mortgage to do it, well...have at it! It's good for America!! Shop the hell out of yourself!!!

It's a cycle of fix - destroy - fix - destroy. The Republicans want to destroy our government. They hate government. They want everyone to fend for themselves, and for the wealthy to get what they want. They start wars, run up the deficit, and then find bullshit controversies to deflect attention away from the real problems.

2004 - Real problem: Two illegal wars, a pResident who lied to Congress and the American people, corruption with Cheney's Super Secret Energy Policy that almost quadrupled the cost of gas in a matter of years, appointing cronies to jobs they weren't qualified for, leaving the American people exposed and in danger, an administration that outed a covert CIA agent for political gain, illegal spying, torture, etc.

2004 - Bullshit controversy: Gay marriage/sanctity of marriage/gays are out to make American's children gay.

Today, they're doing it with Obama's birth certificate, high taxes (which are lower than they've been in generations), the Mosque at Ground Zero, etc.

The Democrats need to get a spine, and in unison, call out the GOP on their tactics. Use facts to kill the lies instead of allowing the GOP to just keep repeating lies so often that everyone believes them because so few are saying otherwise.

The Republicans get in power, destroy, the Democrats get in power, fix, then allow the Republicans to move back in a begin the destruction again. The cycle needs to stop. It's a waste of time and money. And we're running out of both.

Obama and the Democrats have given the bipartisanship excuse way too much of a chance. And now, it's going to come back and bite them (and us) in the ass. If they're really this stupid, they should be voted out. If they aren't, what the fuck are they really doing?

[mkultra]

18. Bush and financial deregulation