The whole aim of practical politics," wrote H.L. Mencken in 1920, "is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
Posted on 04/23/2008 7:06:38 AM PDT by rightinthemiddle
"Mortgage Crisis," shouts the New York Times. The Times has used the term "subprime crisis" at least 11 times. Not in opinion columns -- in news stories.
The columns are worse. Paul Krugman writes: "A lot of the financial system looks like it's going to shrivel up and have to be rebuilt."
The "financial crisis," says Fortune's senior editor, "is threatening to bring down the entire system, with dire consequences."
When the current troubles aren't a "crisis," they're a "disaster". That's what John McCain called them, while Hillary Clinton prefers "crisis," saying, "This market is clearly broken, and, if we don't fix it, it could threaten our entire housing market."
Wait a second.
Where is this "credit crisis"? Did the supermarket reject your Visa card? I still see Ditech commercials offering fixed-rate mortgages at around 5.5 percent.
Sure, some lenders are skittish while things play out. Some investment banks and brokerage houses are sitting on shaky mortgage-backed securities. But why call that a "crisis"?
Do we have 25 percent unemployment, as we did during the Depression? Do we even have 7.5 percent unemployment, 12 percent inflation and 20 percent interest rates, as we did during Jimmy Carter's presidency?
(snip)
If we want to avoid disruptions like the current one, let's undertake a wholesale examination of government intervention in the economy. Freedom, not control, is the ticket to success.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
“Paul Krugman writes: ‘A lot of the financial system looks like it’s going to shrivel up and have to be rebuilt.’
This cannot be stated often enough, “Paul Krugman is a moron.”
Whatever Krugman says, does or predicts about the economy, the opposite will happen.
Stossel is a moron. The idea is to fix the problem early and cheaply before it becomes painful and expensive.
To get attention.
“Why? Because ‘crisis’ justifies making big government bigger.”
Exactly, John. :)
Isn’t Krugman a “theater” critic?
It’s amazing...say stupid liberal stuff, you get a forum in the MSM.
Use common sense, you get to post on RCP if you’re lucky.
Great article.
Its good to see a little sanity.
Isn’t Krugman a “theater” critic?
You’re thinking of Frank “The Butcher of Broadway” Rich. Krugman comes out of Princeton.
So, when do they start seizing houses that are paid for to redistribute them fairly like in Dr. Zhivago?
a voice of sanity in the cesspool of ignorance.
But isn’t it so much more FUN to worry that the sky really is falling?
The idea is to fix the problem early and cheaply…
And with other people’s money you confiscate under threat of imprisonment. Nice solution.
And who "fixes" it? And how do they do it?
Stossel's idea is at the end of this piece:
If we want to avoid disruptions like the current one, let's undertake a wholesale examination of government intervention in the economy. Freedom, not control, is the ticket to success.
EXCELLENT ARTICLE!
this part worth repeating again:
“Because “crisis” justifies making big government bigger.
It’s why we now have a global warming “crisis” and in previous years we had “crises” over avian flu, the Y2K threat to computers, imaginary cancer spikes caused by pesticides, killer bees flying up from Mexico, and uncontrolled population growth leading to a “Population Bomb” that will bring “riots and mass starvation” by the year 2000.”
Bingo! My family is doing much better than we were 8 years ago under Clinton. I would love to see a poll on Free Republic asking that very question. We are paying our mortgage with no difficulties, our taxes are lower(so we have more money to spend) and our credit cards are almost payed off. We are makiing major improvements to our home right now and paying cash for it. Where is the crisis?
It is time for us to stop buying into all of the liberal premises of America’s demise!
If one is invested in commodities, I guess it’s fun. Of course, I remember chasing tech stocks back in ‘99.
It was good while it lasted. Then, it was very bad.
It sounds like a better idea than it actually is.
Credit Crisis Ping.
The whole aim of practical politics," wrote H.L. Mencken in 1920, "is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
Its a shame he didn’t focus in on that one. There is plenty of material to show how government action (including the federal reserve interest rates) brought on this situation. More of these “solutions” would literally compound the problem.
You forgot the SARS epidemic and MRSA. Heck, I am sure there are more than that unaccounted for here in just the last 10 years.
I hear that all the time...”We did so much better when Clinton was president.”
Well, it was like a drunken party...ignore the problems, have fun. Clinton was the luckiest president in history. The Internet Boom in the market made everybody feel good. I remember watching my portfolio go up 10% in one day. The Media led the charge with in Internet revolution.
But, there’s a hangover: Damage to our security and our military. The expansion of terrorism. The “bubble” in the markets. Over regulation of our energy infrastructure. Excessive restrictions. Somebody has to clean up the mess after the party.
We have done will under Bush, considering all the stuff that’s happened...Katrina, 9/11, etc. Republicans have usually been good at cleaning up the Democrat messes, but I’m afraid the Republicans have lost their way.
I work with some folks who made a LOT of money during that timeframe, and not by chasing the stocks, but by selling the dot.com's various goods and services. With burnrates of who-knows-how-much a day, those companies were spending their money somewhere...
State of Fear!
The hang-over from the housing thing is going to be much worse. And it really hasn’t even begun yet.
NY Times op-ed columnist Frank Rich is formerly the Times theater critic.
Free market is a bad idea. Film at 11.
Ah. I get them confused because they spew the same crap.
It's too late for that. Early and cheaply would have been a law 8 years ago that required 10% down on all home loans. That would have kept the monster bubble from forming.
In the stock market a law says you have to put 50% down. This law came out of the 1929 crash and it works. It kept a similar easy money bubble from forming along with the housing one.
LOL....Read an article just this morning predicting worldwide wars due to ‘globul warming’...(eye roll)
And yes, the Democrats are trying to milk it prematurely for political advantage, but that doesn't diminish the seriousness of the situation. This one isn't going to end well.
Yeah, just like FDR did!
How do you have a totally free market in a world where a country like China can manipulate it’s currency, has access to virtually unlimited cheap labor, and central control over infrastructure?
For that matter, how do you have a totally free market where huge pools of money — hundreds of billions of dollars — are sloshing around the planet at the touch of a keyboard?
Also, do you want a totally free market in world where the value of the dollar is dropping like a stone?
You've convinced me: Ban Keyboards Now!
MGM just pink slipped 400+ people. I was just out there — a lot of window shoppers at the Forum shops, but the only folks buying were Europeans and Asians.
I talk to Wall Street guys two or three times a week. Six months ago is was all “models and bottles,” today it’s finding a safe home for last year’s bonus and not counting on a job in 2009.
Yup. There were so many companies started just to build a single website...they went public, got loads of cash, and spent it. The world was CHANGING!
But, it wasn’t long before people realized building a website wasn’t pure magic. These .com companies were victims of reality and advancing technology.
There are people making a LOT of money speculating on “green” technology, oil and commodities right now. These are all fueled by fear and the Leftist Media. Unfortunately, far fewer people are benefiting from this bubble and many more are feeling the pain.
It’s really kind of sad to see so many people misled and even brainwashed.
You add nothing of value to this discussion.
Good post!
We did horrible under Clinton!
I suppose we should start hording food and gas in anticipation of a dem sweep this November.
I don't think he defined "it" as a specific solution. He just called for a "wholesale examination" in the context that [market] freedom was the "ticket" to success rather than [government] "control".
I can presume, I hope, your not implying you think government control is a better approach than freedom of the market in a general sense (a notion that has certainly been completely discredited by history).
So do you have some specific action in mind that if we don't advocate we are idiotic?
bttt
Ping
Personally, I would like to see a more active role by the SEC; I’d like to know what went wrong with the bond rating companies; and a non-panic approach to the subprime market.
Ditto to that !!!!
Yep. I am seeing some "green" mutual funds popping up. What's interesting to me on the whole green thing is that opposed to most hysterics, this one has not only a fear component (the world is ending), but also a guilt factor (I MUST do my part to save the Earth!).
“Whatever Krugman says, does or predicts about the economy, the opposite will happen.”
You couldn’t be more right. In 1999 at the peak of the stock market Krugman was saying the market would continue to rise. In 2003, at the bottom, Krugman was telling people there was nowhere for stocks to go but down. He almost perfectly predicts the exact opposite of what happens. You can make a lot of money just doing the opposite of what Krugman says.
I would also like to see a tougher approach to China on everything from copyrights to currency.
Green is the new DotCom.
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