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Statement before the Joint Economic Committee-Hearing on “The Economic Outlook”[Ron Paul]
House.gov ^ | 02 Apr 2008 | Ron Paul

Posted on 04/03/2008 2:03:22 PM PDT by BGHater

Mr. Chairman,

I have never been opposed to regulation, although my idea of regulation differs from that of many people in Washington. The free market and its forces of supply and demand are the most effective regulator of the private sector, and have never been known to fail absent government intervention. But piling more public sector regulation on the private sector will have a detrimental effect on the health of our financial system and sow the seeds for the next financial meltdown.

What we in Washington should be discussing is increased regulation and scrutiny of public sector regulatory and oversight agencies such as the Federal Reserve Board, the SEC, and others. The Federal Reserve's actions got us into at least one depression in the last century, and have led to continued cyclical difficulties, including the current economic slowdown.

Back in the 1970s, government-caused inflation reached levels high enough that the Nixon administration decided to implement wage and price controls. Placing blame on greedy speculators, unscrupulous mortgage originators, or panicky investors, is a common reaction on the part of government.

The solution called for, despite the numerous documented failures of government regulation, is always more regulation, more government involvement in and control over the economy, and less free enterprise. Never is the blame placed squarely where it belongs, which is on the shoulders of legislators and regulators whose actions distort the market, prohibiting legitimate market activities and encouraging the development of labyrinthine and opaque financial schemes.

The latest regulatory plan from the Treasury Department, with the potential to turn the Federal Reserve into a super-regulator overseeing state-chartered banks, bank holding companies, and acting as a guarantor of market stability, is another in a long line of half-baked government responses to financial difficulty. Recession after recession has not impressed upon government leaders the reality that the Federal Reserve's monetary policy activities are what lead to market instability.

The business cycle, contrary to what Secretary Paulson and others seem to believe, is not endemic to the free market. It is always and everywhere the result of monetary inflation and subsequent malinvestment, which when it is discovered must of necessity be liquidated in order for a true recovery to occur. Delaying the liquidation will only prolong the crisis and ensure that the next crisis will be more severe.

Every government intervention will result in a distortion of the market and a subsequent shock somewhere down the line in the future. It is about time that we recognize the failure of government intervention, get our hands out of the private sector, and for once allow the market to function.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: banking; economy; freemarket; regulation; ronpaul

1 posted on 04/03/2008 2:03:22 PM PDT by BGHater
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To: BGHater

Very good analysis. I do wish others had paid attention to what he actually has SAID instead of what the RINOs and MSM SAY he says. We might finally be on our way to having a Constitutionalist going to the White House instead of having our choice of socialist a, b or c.


2 posted on 04/03/2008 2:42:04 PM PDT by dcwusmc (We need to make government so small that it can be drowned in a bathtub.)
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To: CJ Wolf; Extremely Extreme Extremist; Toddsterpatriot; 1rudeboy; expatguy; AuntB

Ping-a-ling.


3 posted on 04/03/2008 2:44:58 PM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007 (Look at all the candidates. Choose who you think is best. Choose wisely in 2008.)
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To: BGHater; Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; akatel; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; ...
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
4 posted on 04/03/2008 3:26:55 PM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
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To: BGHater; dcwusmc
*BUMP* !
5 posted on 04/03/2008 3:59:29 PM PDT by ex-Texan (Matthew 7: 1 - 6)
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To: BGHater
Delaying the liquidation will only prolong the crisis and ensure that the next crisis will be more severe.

Yes, but the next crisis will likewise be softened by the actions of the fed, and this will continue until every manipulation tool is exhausted. Then, when someone else is in charge, TSWHTF. The free lunch will be served until then. This is politics Mr Paul, not economics. Sound fiscal policy is not as attractive short-term, and it is on this timescale that elections are decided. Just like social security and Medicare, the goal is not to prevent a crisis, but to defer it until dealing with the fallout is the job of someone else.

6 posted on 04/03/2008 4:39:43 PM PDT by M203M4 (True Universal Suffrage: Pets of dead illegal-immigrant felons voting Democrat (twice))
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To: dcwusmc

“We might finally be on our way to having a Constitutionalist going to the White House instead of having our choice of socialist a, b or c.”

From your keyboard to God’s ears!


7 posted on 04/03/2008 5:33:57 PM PDT by FReepapalooza (Joshua 3:4 ..."for ye have not passed this way heretofore.")
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To: FReepapalooza

Indeed. I pray constantly that God will intervene and give us a Godly man who knows what the Constitution means and what limits to power are...


8 posted on 04/03/2008 5:44:40 PM PDT by dcwusmc (We need to make government so small that it can be drowned in a bathtub.)
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To: dcwusmc
Indeed. I pray constantly that God will intervene and give us a Godly man who knows what the Constitution means and what limits to power are...

I join you in that prayer.

9 posted on 04/03/2008 7:07:27 PM PDT by murphE (I refuse to choose evil, even if it is the lesser of two)
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To: murphE

The man is a genius and I just can’t understand why FReepers aren’t behind him, en masse.


10 posted on 04/03/2008 8:36:32 PM PDT by Stevieboy
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To: BGHater

http://www.dollardaze.org/blog/?post_id=00360

Another Ron Paul article on money, inflation and the government.


11 posted on 04/03/2008 8:42:10 PM PDT by TruthConquers (Delendae sunt publici scholae)
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To: Stevieboy

>>The man is a genius and I just can’t
>>understand why FReepers aren’t behind him, en masse.

His foreign policy; Specifically what many view as a “cut and run” stance on Iraq.


12 posted on 04/03/2008 9:26:36 PM PDT by LomanBill (A bird flies because the right wing opposes the left.)
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To: LomanBill; Stevieboy

It’s not just Iraq, I saw a video of Ron Paul speaking on foreign policy and for a few moments I thought he was quoting Obama. Literally stuff like “we need dialog with the enemy, not bombs, we need to talk with people, with Syria, Cuba...”

I like Ron Paul, I think he’s 100% right on most issues. And to an extent he’s also right we should not put American lives at risk to “police” the world. Does Paul understand the threat of radical Islam? Or...is he seeing a larger picture?

Until recently I was gung-ho on any military effort against terrorists, kill them all. But after the Haditha Marines and the Evan Vela situations, I really wonder, is it worth it? Are Iraq and Afghanistan just distractions, our troops pawns in a political game, while our leaders on both sides are dupes of the Saudis?


13 posted on 04/03/2008 9:58:23 PM PDT by baa39 ('Whoever spares the bad injures the good.' - Syrus)
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To: baa39
Or...is he seeing a larger picture?
That's the key point, IMO, he DOES see the bigger picture. America was founded on the principle of live and let live. If some psychos wanna come and kill us, we'll take 'em down - otherwise stop trying to police the world because you can't.
14 posted on 04/03/2008 10:17:34 PM PDT by Stevieboy
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To: baa39
Does Paul understand the threat of radical Islam? Or...is he seeing a larger picture?
 
Dr. Paul has not articulated a plan on how to put the radical Islamic genie back into the bottle.   
 
When we consider that Al Qaeda was created by Zbignew Brzezinski and the Carter administration,  then we must consider the motives of the folks who rubbed the lamp; and decide for ourselves whether or not it's in the best interest of the United States and her citizens to serve the genie's masters.
 
It's a complex situation, and it's compounded by the sacrifices that have been made in Iraq -- how do we walk away and write off that cost?
 
Warfare should not be profitable; but as long as it is, conflicts such as ours in Iraq will be inevitable.  Perhaps this is part of the "larger picture" you're referring to?  
 
while our leaders on both sides are dupes of the Saudis?
 
Who empowered the Saudis?   It's not the first time a British dog got off its leash in the past century. 
 
"Special Relationship" my arse.   Let the royals eat cake.
 

15 posted on 04/03/2008 10:59:09 PM PDT by LomanBill (A bird flies because the right wing opposes the left.)
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To: LomanBill

Egads! I just read the articles at your link. If these things are true, does it even matter who become president? Each will just tinker around with matters that have no far-reaching impact, while the momentum of these larger yet hidden issues play themselves out.


16 posted on 04/03/2008 11:23:09 PM PDT by baa39 ('Whoever spares the bad injures the good.' - Syrus)
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To: baa39; Stevieboy
American lives at risk to “police” the world.
 
It's not about policing.  It's about manifesting the vision of those who've long had the goal of creating a global, secular, financial empire.
 
"Novus Ordo Seclorum" means "New Secular Order"
 
Secular means without God.
 
There is no god in the corporatist/communist state where the thing to be worshiped is the structure, the state, itself; and that seems to be where we're headed. 
 
 
BTW, the Soviet / Russian government now has more capitalist billionaires than any other country in the world
 
Just a Coinkidink?   Is their Oligarchy better or worse than ours?
 

17 posted on 04/03/2008 11:33:25 PM PDT by LomanBill (A bird flies because the right wing opposes the left.)
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To: baa39
>>Each will just tinker around with matters that have no
>>far-reaching impact, while the momentum of these larger
>>yet hidden issues play themselves out.
 
A conclusion that is difficult to avoid.
 
Bill Clinton's mentor was quite upfront about it all in this book.
 
Welcome to the other side of the looking glass.
 

18 posted on 04/03/2008 11:44:04 PM PDT by LomanBill (A bird flies because the right wing opposes the left.)
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To: baa39
>>Egads!
 
Almost forgot the tastiest part:
 
       Zbinew Brzezinski is foriegn policy advisor to Obama.
 
 
B.Pawn to Q6, check.

19 posted on 04/03/2008 11:59:13 PM PDT by LomanBill (A bird flies because the right wing opposes the left.)
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To: LomanBill

For many years now I have been reading and thinking and trying to get at the missing pieces, which has been helped a great deal by knowing some people from other parts of the world, and the New Secular World Order is what comes more and more into focus.

What we see on TV, and even much of what we read on FR, is not what is really happening. Huge fusses are made over nothing, such as the Dubai Ports Deal, easy to paint black and white and get people into a tizzy on talk radio, but does anyone care we are in debt to that country for billions of dollars? We won’t import cigars from tiny Cuba, yet we have MFNS with China! People have no idea what’s really going on. They really think prescription drug coverage for seniors or No Child Left Behind are the critical issues of our time.


20 posted on 04/04/2008 12:05:53 AM PDT by baa39 ('Whoever spares the bad injures the good.' - Syrus)
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To: baa39
What we see on TV, and even much of what we read on FR, is not what is really happening.
 
 
Patrick Buchanan's assessment makes sense.   The events unfolding are not so much the result of a modern "conspiracy" as they are the result of institutional inertia - machinery set in motion over a century ago. 
 
The institutions in question, including the FED, were created in a WWI era environment; when men believed they could create a "New Secular Order" and achieve everlasting peace and the end of all wars.  Hitler ruined that plan when he attacked West instead of East and his actions resulted, instead of in achieving the desired result of mutual German / Russian destruction, in the post WWII birth of the Soviet Union.
 
The winds of change, blown by the apparent death of the Soviet Union, breathed new life into smoldering visionary embers -- and Rhode's flickering flame danced anew.

21 posted on 04/04/2008 12:41:24 AM PDT by LomanBill (A bird flies because the right wing opposes the left.)
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To: BGHater

How dare he make sense?!?!?!?


22 posted on 04/04/2008 3:52:04 AM PDT by Puddleglum
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To: LomanBill
B.Pawn to Q6, check.

Is that supposed to be black pawn or bishop pawn?

23 posted on 04/04/2008 8:23:16 AM PDT by Toddsterpatriot (Why are doom and gloomers (and liberals) so bad at math?)
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To: Toddsterpatriot

Does the religion of secular humanism have bishops?


24 posted on 04/04/2008 9:51:27 AM PDT by LomanBill (A bird flies because the right wing opposes the left.)
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To: traviskicks

BTTT


25 posted on 04/04/2008 11:39:27 AM PDT by murphE (I refuse to choose evil, even if it is the lesser of two)
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