Posted on 12/02/2008 9:43:23 PM PST by rabscuttle385
CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer said on NBC’s “Today” show Dec. 2 that comparisons between the current economy and the Great Depression are “scare tactics.” Maybe he forgot about his own reliance on the juxtaposition.
“[T]hat’s got to be taken off the table,” Cramer told “Today” host Meredith Vieira about comparisons to the Great Depression. “There have been enough things done by this government to absolutely preclude that. I, myself, do not want to use that term ever again on the “Today” show even to compare it. Things are very different. We do need help from Europe; we need help from China. But take the Great Depression talk off the table. That is scare tactics.”
(Excerpt) Read more at businessandmedia.org ...
Sounds like it.
Prior to the election he was busy wiping up mass economic hysteria; now he can get back to being honest with his viewers - or at least a shade more so.
The Great Depression was “Great” because unemployment was still at 20% in 1939.
If Obama is intent on bailing out the auto manufacturers and conjuring up a bunch of make-work projects, then we just might repeat the economic performance of the 30s...
The real reason these idiots are asking for the comparisons to stop is they have succeeded in killing consumer confidence after 8 YEARS of Attacking Bush. Now that Obama is going to be President, they are trying to undo the damage they’ve caused.
Its like pushing a rock down a mountain now, and they are trying to stop it half-way. They’re going to get rolled. They got what they wanted but killed the economy to do it.
I’d rather be anal probed than watch that cretin.
The thing is that, while “Great Depression” comparisons are silly in terms of the actual economy RIGHT NOW (the number of banks going under, the jobless rate, etc.), we actually face potential economic bombs that would have made 1930s Americans faint with dread.
$700 TRILLION in derivatives. Subprime loans. Assets leveraged as much as a hundredfold. The result is that MASSIVE debt such as the world has never seen is lurking like some incredibly vicious monster. And any fool should recognize now that it can send the whole economy crashing down very quickly, and (seemingly) from out of nowhere.
None of the bailouts have done ANYTHING to fix the real structural problems with our economic system. And the fact that the $850 billion bailout package went from being used to buy bad mortgages to a completely different solution should kind of serve to tell you that they don’t really know WHAT to do.
We’re now talking about the US government putting itself on the hook for $7.7 trillion in obligations. Compare that to the following programs: the Louisiana Purchase, the Marshall Plan, the costs to get to the moon, the S&L crisis, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the entire NASA program all combined costs HALF that much.
And those expenditures took place over a long period of time; whereas this is happening over months. And unlike WWII, where we were spending in order to produce and build, now we are merely paying off what amounts to gambling debts.
Meanwhile - as we contemplate forking over billions to bail out our automakers - we need to realize that we’re entering an insane realm where there’s just no end to the companies and even states who are “too big to fail” and need a bailout of their own. And what of the moral hazard incurred by giving money to people, corporations, and states simply because were the biggest fools and failures? What impact will that have not only on the economy, but on the minds and hearts of honest people who played by the rules and end up with nothing to show for it?
What’s going to happen as our financial system tries to absorb these incredibly debts?
A lot of financial experts aren’t so much worried about what happens in the next months. We might well be able to throw so much money at the economy we can stimulate it again; rather, they are worried about 3-5 years down the road as our dollar devalues dramatically. You don’t just double an already insanely-out-of-control national debt without consequences.
So while it’s wrong to describe our present situation as “Great Depression,” the simple reality is that we might well experience an economic meltdown that will make the Great Depression look tame in comparison.
Cramer is unwavering in his support for Obama. Likes Hilary too.
What can you expect from a lib?
For your viewing enjoyment, whenever the Jim Crammer name surfaces, I like to look back to this meltdown live on CNBC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWksEJQEYVU
Where did you get that number? That is bigger than the GDP of the entire planet by a factor of ten. Your overall analysis is correct. We have way too much debt and spend too much, and don't save.
Well, then maybe Jim Cramer should muzzle himself a little more.
He has to be one of the biggest alarmists on TV.
He personally, has probably caused more panic in specific stocks than anybody. He may not talk “Great Depression” per se, but he comes close in his over the top rhetoric.
Here’s a couple links:
http://www.efinancialnews.com/usedition/index/content/2450894713
http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/derivatives-estimated-to-be-more-than-700-trillion/1505
Sort of makes you want to curl into the fetal position, don’t it? And yeah, it’s actually bigger by a factor of 14, from my source.
We not only have incredible debt, but now we’ve gone and leveraged it 50, 100, 200-fold.
Don't count on that.
There's still hundreds of billions of dollars that were lent out on mortgages building the housing bubble that will never be repaid, also needing to be worked out.
So, when will Cramer’s sponsors finally figure out he’s not an analyst? Actually, I’ve gone opposite of ‘The Wiz’ on several occassions and have done well. He’s just a shill for brokers banking on fools taking his advice.
Is this genius still touting Lehman Brothers as a great buy?
Everyone keeps talking about how the Great Depression had unemployment rates of 25%. That’s true - but that didn’t occur until 1933. The unemployment rate in 1929 was around 7.5% - pretty much where we are currently.
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Metal prices have already fallen more in the last 4 months than they did from 1929 until the bottom in 1933... that means NOBODY is buying for manufacturing ,, not the USA ,, not China ,, not Russia ,, nobody...
this guy told people to sell when the market was falling so fast! his motto buy high sell low! this guy is a huge clown!!!!!!!!!
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I haven’t watched Cramer for a few years although I have seen him sporadically in guest spots on other shows ,,, if he was advising people to sell ,, EVEN TODAY AT TODAYS LOW PRICES ,, he is doing people a huge service .. Funds of all kinds MUST SELL and will push prices lower ,,, Would you rather he tell people to “hold” while the big players do their selling? As I see it he was probably very slow to recognize that the company behind the stock just doesn’t matter when the entire market is being pushed down ... and kept recommending “undervalued” shares in great companies that just kept becoming more undervalued every day..
this guy told people to sell when the market was falling so fast! his motto buy high sell low! this guy is a huge clown!!!!!!!!!
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I just realized by your name you’re a real estate agent with REMAX ,,, using your thought process (hold onto those depreciating assetts, don’t dare sell them) it would be like you telling someone 2 years ago ,, just hold on the house; prices will go right back up! When they could have taken a slight haircut and sidelined their money for 5 years and rented a nice house...
On CNBC they just had an analyst say the economy is going to get better because Obama is a person who- wait for it- “inspires confidence: like Reagan”!!!!!!!!
I’m hoping to get back in the market, but remarks like that scare me. The nuts are in charge.
Yes, I saw it, I was amplifying it. I did a poor job of cut and paste.
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