Free Republic

In The Long Emergency (2005, Atlantic Monthly Press), I said that we ought to expect the federal government to become increasingly impotent and ineffectual - that this would be a hallmark of the times. In fact, I said that any enterprise organized at the colossal scale would function poorly in years ahead, whether it was a government, a state university, a national chain retail company, or a giant midwestern farm. It is characteristic of the compressive contraction our society faces that giant hypercomplex systems will wobble and fail. We should expect this. It's tragic that the avatar of hopefulness himself,...

Our Frugal Future by Louis Scatigna, CFP November 10, 2009 For the last thirty years Americans have lived the most prosperous lives of any people in the history of the planet. We have been the envy of all other nations. The average family lived in nice homes, drove the newest cars, ate the best food and acquired big screen TVs, top stereo equipment, computers, Ipods and cell phones. Restaurants catered to a constant flow of Americans who would rather eat out than cook at home or pack a lunch. We did not hesitate to pay five dollars for a cup...

United States Catching The Argentinian Economic Disease Of Hyperinflation? Economics / US Debt Oct 31, 2009 - 12:54 AM By: John_Mauldin I have been in South America this week, speaking nine times in five days, interspersed with lots of meetings. The conversation kept coming back to the prospects for the dollar, but I was just as interested in talking with money managers and business people who had experienced the hyperinflation of Argentina and Brazil. How could such a thing happen? As it turned out, I was reading a rather remarkable book that addressed that question. There are those who believe...

Norway Becomes First European Country To Raise Interest RatesNorway has become the first country in Europe to raise interest rates since the start of the financial crisis as its economy recovers from a shallow downturn. Published: 5:00PM GMT 28 Oct 2009 Norway's economy has been buoyed by its vast offshore oil and gas sector. Norges Bank, the country's central bank, increased its deposit rate by a quarter point from record lows to 1.5pc on Wednesday. The rise will offset a significant fiscal stimulus package introduced by the government at the height of the financial crisis. Norway, buoyed by its vast...

US Is Seeking Tougher Powers In Too-Big-To-Fail Legislation Published: Monday, 26 Oct 2009 | 11:27 AM ET Text Size By: Albert Bozzo Senior Features Editor The Obama administration and House Democrats have made major changes to proposed legislation giving the federal government new powers to wind down the businesses of too-big-too-fail financial firms. The revised legislation, which is now being finalized, will be made public late today or early tomorrow, according to sources. The key changes in what is known as resolution authority affect compensation of creditors, shareholders and management, as well as the role of the Federal Reserve in...

The financial crisis is now more than a year old, and Americans are still angry -- angry that the economy tanked, angry that they're out of work. But mostly, people seem outraged by Wall Street bonuses. Seeking to assuage that ire, the Obama administration's "compensation czar," Kenneth Feinberg, last week announced plans to cut the pay of top executives at the seven companies receiving federal support through the Troubled Assets Relief Program. He has suggested that the cuts, which slashed pay for top executives by an average of 50 percent, should be a model for the rest of Wall Street...

King Dollar Forced To Abdicate Currencies / US Dollar Oct 23, 2009 - 04:12 PM By: Peter_Schiff For the most part, the value of the dollar is given cursory attention by the financial media. Typically, its movements are assigned an importance on par with much less determinative metrics such as natural gas futures and construction permits. It's only when major milestones are reached that anyone really takes notice of the dollar. We are living through one of those times. The great dollar rally of 2008-2009 has come full circle. When the financial crisis exploded in its full ugliness in mid-2008,...

And So It Begins (Dollar Warnings)Friday, October 23. 2009 Posted by Karl Denninger in Monetary at 08:47 I have been on a potential dollar dislocation - or collapse - for more than two years. Indeed, back in the fall of 2007, it was one of the themes of petitions to Congress and letters I sent under personal cover to all 535 members. The debt liquidation cycle of 2008/early-09 appeared to stop the deterioration. Unfortunately that cycle was interrupted - intentionally - by enabling a continuing pattern of lies and fraud within our government. This has reversed all of the gains...

Dow Falls Below 10,000 As 'Sell The News' Prevails By Elizabeth Trotta 10/23/09 - 04:24 PM EDT NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Dow fell below 10,000, and the major averages retreated Friday, as better than expected data and earnings from Microsoft(MSFT Quote) and Amazon(AMZN Quote) did little for other stocks in a "sell the news" environment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 109.13 points, or 1.1%, to 9,972.18, while the S&P 500 gave up 13.31 points, or 1.2%, to 1079.60. The Nasdaq edged down 10.82 points, or 0.5%, to 2154.47. Microsoft and Amazon shares were higher by 5.6% and 26.7%,...

Dow Could Go To 13,000. But Will Likely Reverse (Suddenly) By More Than 20% Stock-Markets / Articles Oct 20, 2009 - 07:21 AM By: Andrew_Butter This is the analysis used to predict in May that the Dow would reach 10,000 without a major reversal, (personally I didn’t expect then that it would happen so quickly). I’ve put on my estimate of where I reckon it is now (in red). It’s approaching the “danger zone” (dotted black ring), although reversals when the mispricing is negative tend to be more restrained. That analysis was based on two lines of logic, the first...

Inflation Fears Drove Rate Rise, RBA Minutes Show (Australia) James Glynn October 20, 2009 Article from: Dow Jones Newswires GROWING concerns that inflation could increase were a decisive factor in the Reserve Bank's decision to raise interest rates, the central bank's minutes released today showed. The elevated rhetoric on inflation supports the prevailing view in financial markets that the RBA is set to continue hiking the cash rate target over coming months and through 2010, seeking a return to more normal levels around 5.0 per cent. "Underlying inflation was still, on the latest data, above the target and, while current...

Experts Warn Of 'Deluge' Of Insolvencies To Come In The UKInsolvency experts have warned that there will be a "deluge" of business failures next year. Begbies Traynor said 134,000 business are currently showing "material signs of distress", although this is a fall on the 149,500 in the previous quarter. It said the UK was at the "midpoint of a 'W'- shaped recession, with a deluge of business failures likely in 2010". By Rupert Neate Published: 5:39PM BST 20 Oct 2009 Ric Traynor, executive chairman of Begbies Traynor, said: "The UK may be in the eye of the storm. The well-intentioned...

Wall St. Is Winning: Elizabeth Warren "Speechless" About Record Bonuses Posted Oct 16, 2009 10:58am EDT by Aaron Task in Newsmakers, Banking Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, is the rare public official who doesn't mince words. But Warren admits to being "speechless" at reports of record bonuses on Wall Street. "I do not understand how financial institutions could think they could take taxpayer money and turn around and act like it's business as usual," Warren says. "I don't understand how they can't see that the world has changed in a fundamental way - it's not business as...

Recession Over But British Economy Will 'Bump Along The Bottom' For 18 MonthsThe recession is now over but Britain's economy will manage little more than to "bump along the bottom" for the next 18 months, according to one of the country's leading forecasters. By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor Published: 8:54PM BST 18 Oct 2009 The economy will grow by a meagre 1pc next year following an almost unprecedented 4.5pc collapse in economic output in 2009, the Ernst & Young Item Club has said. The prediction comes only days ahead of the release of official gross domestic product figures expected to...

Wall St Week Ahead: Earnings Blitz To Test Market's Mettle Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:53am EDT By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks could slip this week if the spate of earnings from bellwethers including Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) do not live up to heightened expectations. After a 60 percent run-up in the stock market since March and the Dow again eclipsing 10,000, investors believe the market is priced to perfection. So if earnings fail to hold up their end, stocks could come under pressure.[snip]

Debt Spiral Financial Holocaust Fiat Currencies Zero Bound, The Next Down Leg Stock-Markets / Stocks Bear Market Oct 18, 2009 - 11:10 AM By: Ty Andros The demise of the G7 financial systems, currencies and economies continues to march along as incomes collapse. The social welfare states and their banking system’s Ponzi finance-based economies are BROKE, their obligations and promises irredeemable and unpayable. A debt spiral is in full view, irreversible with policymakers unable or unwilling and opposed to making the changes required to CREATE PRIVATE SECTOR INCOME GROWTH and control SPENDING, and which must be done to avert the...

Warning: Mildly rough language contained herein. Don't gripe, you were warned in advance not to read this if you'll be offended! You have to be kidding me..... From Larry Summers: "Financial institutions that have benefited from government support can, should and must use this moment to think about what they can do for their country -- by accepting the necessary regulation to protect the American people," Summers said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Economist's Buttonwood Gathering in New York. "There is no financial institution that exists today that is not the direct or indirect beneficiary of trillions of...

Jim Rogers On The Next Ten Years By Heather BellOctober 17,2009 I’m moving to China … possibly to live in a bunker. At least that was my inclination after listening to a presentation by Jim Rogers Thursday. Now don’t get me wrong―Mr. Commodities wasn’t all doom and gloom. In fact, his talk was both informative and highly entertaining. But Rogers doesn’t sugarcoat things―he’s very matter-of-fact about his concerns and projections for the future. And most of them don’t bode well for the U.S. I’ll be posting an interview with Jim Rogers on the site in the coming week, but for...

Why Dow 10,000 Is About As Meaningless As You’d Expect By Rocky Vega 10/15/09 Stockholm, Sweden – Now that Wall Street hearts are a-flutter with Dow 10,000, it’s worth taking a moment to figure out what the Dow Jones Industrial Average actually tells us about its components. The Dow is a share price-weighted average, meaning that when the index is figured out the companies with larger share prices carry more weight. This means that the companies currently with the largest share prices make up a greater portion of the Dow’s weight than other companies with a lower share price. These...

Seriously Folks, The Housing Bubble Is Back Joe WeisenthalOct. 15, 2009, 5:51 AM We mentioned this a week ago, though this story has been kind of flying under the radar: The housing bubble is back. No, home prices aren't (yet) at overinflated levels again, but the housing market is seeing a return of enthusiasm, mania, and speculation, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time. Now CNBC's Diana Olick (via Calculated Risk) is talking about it. Here's an email a realtor sent to a friend of hers. The foreclosure capital of America, Vegas home prices are down...

Understanding A Systemic Banking Crisis Harald Uhlig 15 October 2009 The recent crisis was like a bank run, but it didn’t quite fit. This column describes six features that a model of the recent crisis ought to capture and describes a new theory with which we might analyse the crisis and policy responses. Bryant (1980) and Diamond and Dybvig (1983) have provided us with the classic benchmark model for a bank run. The financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 is reminiscent of a bank run, but not quite (Brunnermeier 2008; Gorton 2009). The following six features summarise the prevalent view...

U.S. Stock Markets Disconnected From Reality Stock-Markets / Market Manipulation Oct 15, 2009 - 03:57 AM By: John_Browne Earlier this year, I predicted that the 2009 rally in U.S. stocks could bring the Dow Jones Index as high as 10,000. It looks like that level has been achieved. If, at this point, the index reverses course, I would have made a fairly good prediction. However, it is important to get beyond the charts and look at the fundamentals. The furious six-month rally in the stock market has certainly not been mirrored by the economy as a whole. Instead, the country...

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The Goldman Sachs steamroller keeps chugging along. The big investment bank posted a $3.2 billion quarterly profit Thursday, crushing Wall Street estimates for the third straight quarter. New York-based Goldman (GS, Fortune 500) made $5.25 a share, up from $1.81 a year ago and well above the $4.24 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were forecasting. Goldman cited another strong quarter in its trading business, which has rebounded since the last half of 2008, when financial markets crumbled. Revenue at the fixed income, currency and commodities business soared to $6 billion from $1.6 billion a year ago,...

Boomers Have Their Backs Against The Wall By Bill Bonner 10/14/09 London, England Two important items in the news today: First, Bloomberg reports that retails sales fell 2.1% in September – the biggest decrease this year. Know what that means? It means the “Age of Thrift” is here…and that consumers really are cutting back – just like we said they would. And it means that the consumer economy is not going to return to robust growth anytime soon. And it means, too, that people will find it hard to find jobs for a very long time. Another thing it means...

Are Stocks Ripe For Another Black Monday? By Simon Maierhofer Tuesday October 13, 2009 Investors usually see red when Wall Street has a 'black' day. There have been a number of black days, such as Black Monday, Black Thursday, Black Friday and Black Tuesday. Even though the various black days have been spread out over centuries, there's one thing they all have in common. They arrived unexpectedly. If they were expected, they wouldn't be considered 'black.' Black Mondays In finance, Black Monday refers to Monday, October 19th, 1987. But did you know there were actually three Black Monday's?[snip]

Chronic Depression By Bill Bonner 10/09/09 London, England This week, the Australian central bank became the first to declare victory. It raised its key lending rate 0.25% and gave a whoop…signaling an end to the slump. The European Central Bank fidgeted and vaguely threatened to raise rates too. But the Americans stayed in their trenches. New York Fed governor Bill Dudley said that even though the economy is recovering, any rate hikes in the United States would be over his dead body. Then, word came that even Alan Greenspan thinks a recovery is underway. “This is what a recovery looks...

S&P: Dubai Is Nearly Out Of Cash Joe WeisenthalOct. 11, 2009, 12:07 PM Don't assume that the economic comeback means Dubai is out of the woods. Holders of its debt may be in trouble, unless the Emirate can raise more money. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An analyst at credit rating firm Standard & Poor's says Dubai has "insufficient" funds to pay back billions of dollars worth of debt coming due, putting added pressure on the city-state to raise additional cash. Farouk Soussa, S&P's head of Middle East government ratings, said Sunday that the sheikdom has about $4 billion...

The Most Hated Stock Market Rally In Wall Street History Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2009 Oct 10, 2009 - 05:06 AM By: Anthony_Cherniawski The rebound in U.S. consumer spending, driven by government stimulus, will wane as the unemployment rate surpasses 10 percent, a survey of economists showed. “You just can’t see a lot of strength on the consumer side given how battered income is from job losses and weak hourly wage growth,” said David Greenlaw, chief fixed-income economist at Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York. “We’ve got a gradual recovery in the overall economy, but it’s not vigorous enough...

Bank Earnings: Reality Check Ahead Michael Panzner October 11, 2009 Whether you call it a reality check... ...a wake-up call... ...or a splash of cold water reality,... ...based on the following MarketWatch report, "October Surprise from Bank Earnings?" it appears that lots of people are going to be caught out when banks announce their earnings in the weeks and months ahead (I guess they've been listening to the gang that couldn't rate straight): Some experts worry results may be much more negative than investors expect.[snip]

'Benign Currency Neglect' Could Spell Real Danger For US EconomyWhat's happening to the dollar? That's the question dominating the world's financial markets. Last week the US currency fell, on a trade-weighted basis, to a fresh 14-month low. The dollar's decline is now gaining momentum. By Liam Halligan Published: 7:22PM BST 10 Oct 2009 Many American economists say the greenback is falling because the global economy is recovering – so investors no longer need the dollar as a "safe haven". That's nonsense. The reality is that "safe haven" status has shifted away from the dollar and towards tangible assets that the...

Trending Towards Hyperinflation Economics / HyperInflation Oct 09, 2009 - 04:00 PM By: Paul_Tustain Seven short steps to the cost of living doubling or more inside 3 years... HYPERINFLATION is widely accepted as a period of out of control price rises, doubling the cost of living inside three years. It occurs when a currency loses its ability to store value, encouraging long-term savings to pour into circulation where they swamp the much narrower supply of consumer money, and cause the whole lot to lose purchasing power. There is no specific recipe, but the pattern we risk repeating today would be...

Financial Armageddon In Sweden? By Rocky VegaTuesday, 6 October, 2009 10/06/09 Stockholm, Sweden – Personally having a Swedish bank account with SEB, and having recently visited the Latvian capital of Riga, this piece from Naked Capitalism hits home…literally. According to the article, worsening financial conditions in Latvia could lead to an economic crisis and collapse similar to Iceland’s recent devaluation and potentially a major default. The blowback would hit Sweden especially hard because its major banks have lent substantial funds to the Baltic nation. Latvian loans from Swedbank have totaled roughly 61 billion kroner, 40 billion kroner from SEB, and...

WASHINGTON — The federal government is engaged in a massive mortgage modification program that's on track to send billions in tax dollars to many of the very companies that judges or regulators have cited in recent years for abusive mortgage practices. The firms, called mortgage servicers, have been cited for badgering, manipulating or lying to their customers; sticking them with bogus fees, or improperly foreclosing on them. Mortgage servicers are the middlemen between homeowners and the investors that hold their mortgages, collecting homeowners' checks and disbursing payments for the mortgages, property tax and insurance. They're a necessary player for any...

This time will never be different Review by Martin Wolf Published: September 28 2009 03:18 | Last updated: September 28 2009 03:18 This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly By Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff Princeton, $35; £19.95 The four most dangerous words in finance are “this time is different”. Thanks to this masterpiece by Carmen Reinhart of the university of Maryland and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard, no one can doubt this again. As the authors note, “If there is one common theme to the vast range of crises we consider in this book, it is that excessive...

Democrats on a key Senate panel backed off a plan to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on senior citizens with catastrophic medical expenses Wednesday and defeated Republican amendments on abortion, immigration and other divisive issues, aiming to bring a comprehensive health-care overhaul before the full Senate within two weeks. On the sixth day of a marathon debate in the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) declared that his panel has the votes to approve a package of reforms that would extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who lack insurance. He and Sen. Charles E. Grassley...

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. (CBS) ― TD Bank's computer system has been on the fritz for days, causing chaos with balance statements. Customers are furious. On Thursday night, TD Bank was scrambling to fix a computer glitch that has millions of customers angry and confused about their account balances. The bank is now promising to reimburse those affected by the frustrating malfunction. "Very frustrating, very aggravating and scary," said Norma Hernandez, whose account registered zero balance. Online computer glitches with direct deposit created a near run on the bank.

Senate committee winds up health-care debateThe Finance Committee, the last congressional panel to consider a reform bill, plans to vote next week. October 2, 2009: 7:49 AM ET WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate Finance Committee completed debate on proposed health-care legislation early Friday. The Finance Committee was the last congressional panel to consider a health-care reform bill. It finished its work at 2:18 a.m. ET and plans to vote next week, after the bill's final language has been made public and the Congressional Budget Office has provided final cost figures. Unlike several health-care reform proposals championed by House Democrats, the...

You have to love the "moral outrage" expressed in articles like this: The information that flowed from the banks, the ratings agencies, the regulatory agencies, and the mainstream media—the bedrock of the financial markets, in a sense—was viewed with great suspicion, and that created an opportunity for financial bloggers: a motley assortment of amateurs and professionals from all over the map. There are traders, economists, venture capitalists, financial advisers, and pajama-clad cranks all vying to explain the complex machinations that got us into this mess and to critique governmental solutions. Complex machinations? On the contrary. The only thing that is...

Rampant Debt Monetization Means U.S. Financial System Is Doomed Sep 27, 2009 - 05:25 AM By: Bob_Chapman Nearly half the nation's 25 biggest retail chains expect to hire fewer holiday workers this season than they did last year, another sign that retailers aren't counting on recession-strained shoppers to relax the tight grip on their pocketbooks this year. About 40% of stores surveyed across a broad swath of retailing, including consumer-electronic chain Best Buy Inc., teen-retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc., and luxury-goods seller Saks Inc., told the Hay Group, a human resources consulting firm, that they expect to hire between 5%...

The jailed Texas billionaire Sir Allen Stanford has been hospitalised after a jailhouse brawl with another inmate. Stanford was badly beaten but his injuries were not said to be life-threatening. The incident occurred at the privately run Joe Corley detention centre north of Houston, Texas. A US Marshalls spokesman said: "He got into an altercation with another inmate. He's being examined by medical staff and treated for his injuries." His lawyer Kent Schaffer added: "Mr Stanford is fine. Contrary to reports, he is not in intensive care at the hospital. "I understand his injuries are not serious enough to keep...

Democratic political committees have seen a decline in their fundraising fortunes this year, a result of complacency among their rank-and-file donors and a de facto boycott by many of their wealthiest givers, who have been put off by the party's harsh anti-business rhetoric. The trend is a marked reversal from recent history, in which Democrats have erased the GOP's long-standing fundraising advantage. In the first six months of 2009, Democratic campaign committees' receipts have dropped in comparison to the same period two years earlier. The vast majority of those declines were accounted for by the absence of large donors who,...

Madoff Victims Still Demanding That Taxpayers Reimburse Them For Fake Returns Yael BizouatiSep. 24, 2009, 5:15 PMMadoff’s victims will finally get their day in court Feb. 2. The victims have been fighting with Irving Picard, the bankruptcy trustee, about the right way to determine their losses. Now a judge will decide. The victims say their losses should be measured by the fictitious amount they thought they had in their accounts when the Ponzi scheme collapsed.[snip]

.....one thing I've been wrestling with a great deal the past few days is the issue of how married couples handle joint checking accounts, as apparently they do. My ignorance on this matter is due solely to that I've always been a Lone Wolf, and never had to deal with it before. I'm mystified as to how couples avoid mishaps. I have no idea what they did before I came into the world, but as long as I can remember, my own parents always had two checking accounts. In towns of circa 3,000 people, there are usually at least three...

Evaluating the Odds of a Double-Dip Recession Mike Mish Shedlock Sep 18, 2009 10:40 am OECD may call it over, but is it? If you have a job and it’s not in jeopardy, pull out the party hat and toot your horn. The OECD calls an end to the global recession. “The global downturn was effectively declared over yesterday, with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealing that "clear signs of recovery are now visible" in all seven of the leading Western economies, as well as in each of the key "Bric" nations. “The OECD's composite leading indicators...

World’s leading economies have already spent over $10 trillion on the anti-crisis struggle. This astronomical number makes up $10,000 per each tax-payer, economists with the International Monetary Fund said. The United States and Britain take the lead in terms of the anti-crisis spending. World’s largest financial centers – New York and London - are located on the territories of these two countries: it is simply impossible to overestimate the significance, which these two centers play in the formation of the crisis. The largest bailout programs were passed in the USA and Britain, the BBC said. The States used $3.6 trillion...

The Financial Crash, U.S. Dollar, Cash and Gold Sep 16, 2009 - 09:21 AM By: Tarek_Saab With the Dow continuing its steady climb into September, economists are giddy with enthusiasm as they usher forth a stream of emotional pontification throughout the news media. Calls for a new bull market and an end to the recession are increasing with the rising levels of optimism (see: MarketWatch). How anyone can be bullish on stocks despite the innumerable economic warning signs is beyond my comprehension. The recent figures in the Daily Sentiment Index reporting that traders are 89-90% bullish is a testament to...

Barclays has been accused of "banking by sleight of hand" after creating a new company to take over its most toxic assets and ringfence future losses.

   The SPEAKER pro tempore.: Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann) is recognized for 5 minutes.    Mrs. BACHMANN.:    Mr. Speaker, the context of my remarks is engaging the issue of the current financial situation that the United States finds itself in.    Mr. Speaker, it was less than 1 year ago that the government began Bailout Nation, which was $700 billion in tax money that was given to the United States Treasury Secretary for the purpose of stabilizing America's financial situation. Let's take just a brief history of what has happened...

Stocks aren't the only things falling--America's confidence in Wall Street and banks is plummeting too. Last year this time, the markets nosedived after the Lehman bankruptcy on Sept.14, 2008. One year later, how has public opinion fared? How do Americans feel about the institutions that have dominated the headlines in our cascading financial crisis? Fortunately for students of public opinion, several survey organizations have been asking identical questions about our confidence in the financial world for decades. In 1977, Harris asked about people "in charge of running Wall Street," and 19% of those polled expressed a great deal of confidence....

The economic crisis of the past year, centered as it has been in the financial sector that lies at the heart of American capitalism, is bound to leave some lasting marks. Financial regulation, the role of large banks, and the relationships between the government and key players in the market will never be the same.More important, however, are the ways in which public attitudes about our system might change. The nature of the crisis, and of the government's response, now threaten to undermine the public's sense of the fairness, justice, and legitimacy of democratic capitalism. By allowing the conditions that...