The Anti-Capitalist Impulse on the Right

Townhall.com ^ | October 24, 2009 | Carl Horowitz

[Toddsterpatriot]

If Phil Gramm had not done Enron’s biddding in the first place by getting new commodities exchanges exempted from regulation, the Enron scandal would never have happened in the first place.

The Enron scandal was not due to unregulated exchanges or derivatives. The Enron scandal was lying to fraudulently boost their earnings. Keeping the Glass-Steagall Act intact would have done nothing to stop Enron's fraud.

[dirtboy]

Glass-Steagal was not the act in question that made Enron possible. It was the Commodities Futures Modernization Act, which exempted new commodities exchanges from regulation. And Enron was a big backer of that law.

[x]

May be worth reading. But for Mises, I'd substitute Hayek or Friedman.

Mises -- or at least the Mises we get from his fans nowadays -- was too much of a dogmatist.

Hayek was a less reductive thinker and Friedman more of an empiricist.

[Toddsterpatriot]

It was the Commodities Futures Modernization Act, which exempted new commodities exchanges from regulation.

How do you imagine this allowed Enron to cook their books? Please walk thru the steps.

What would Glass-Steagall have prevented them from doing, if it remained in effect?

[gogogodzilla]

Yes, but I think the question raised in the article is whether you would ban the making or viewing of such films by those that *ARE* interested in them.

[dirtboy]

The CFMA exempted an energy commodities exchange from regulation that Enron used. The lack of regulation was part of Enron cooking the books.

Also, I have no idea why you keep bringing up Glass Steagal, since I never mentioned it and I already said it was not the issue with Enron.

[Toddsterpatriot]

The CFMA exempted an energy commodities exchange from regulation that Enron used.

The CFMA didn't make cooking your books legal.

Also, I have no idea why you keep bringing up Glass Steagal

Usually when people whine about Phil Gramm, they're complaining about the repeal of Glass-Steagall and how that's to blame for our current situation.

[Clemenza]

The European Right has traditionally been hostile towards capitalism as an unstable force that undermines nobility, religion, family, and culture. This is a view shared by many in the Catholic Church, but is common among conservatives in non-Catholic European countries/regions as well.

In the United States, "Christian populism" has also been hostile to capitalism to a lesser extent. Most of their animus has been more towards the engines of capitalism, aka bankers/financiers. It is one thing to attack bailouts, quite another to rail against the international banking "conspiracy."

Socialism and populism have a place in the Democratic party, but NOT on the American Right, which is firmly rooted in the Classical Liberalism of the founding fathers.

[dirtboy]

The CFMA didn't make cooking your books legal.

It made it a lot easier to escape detection for a longer period. And when Enron finally got caught, the financial impact was catastrophic to a lot of people.

[Toddsterpatriot]

The CFMA didn't make cooking your books legal.

It made it a lot easier to escape detection for a longer period.

How?

[Toddsterpatriot]

It made it a lot easier to escape detection for a longer period.

CFMA became law on December 21, 2000. Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001. Wow, that CFMA was a powerful thing. It helped them escape detection for almost a year.

Maybe there were other things involved? Things that would have resulted in bankruptcy, even without CFMA?

Or was it all Phil Gramm's fault?

[Spok]

I agree, but religion is a personal decision, not a political one. As envisioned by the founding fathers, the government provides a framework but is not a solution or an ends. Morally and spritually, too many have lost their way, and looking to the government for an answer will lead to fascism.