Posted on 02/01/2009 12:14:24 PM PST by NormsRevenge
DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) – The world is entering an era of big government with only state muscle powerful enough to fight the economic crisis, top leaders signalled at the Davos summit.
News of mass job losses and fears of social unrest and protectionism reverberated around the gloomy halls of the World Economic Forum.
But the absence of any senior member of President Barack Obama's US administration in the Swiss resort and nationalist rumblings in Washington left doubts about how closely the major powers will take up the battle together.
The "go-go years" are over, admitted HSBC chairman Stephen Green talking for beleaguered bankers at the elite gathering. And Europe's main leaders made it clear that they want a greater grip on the international financial system.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed a UN economy council on the lines of the Security Council that kept squabbling nations apart after World War II.
"Freedom is a necessary precondition for market forces to operate," she said in a speech which condemned "unfettered markets".
"Individual freedom needs to be limited if it takes freedom away from others."
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a "global regulatory system" with a toughened up International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Governments have already spent one trillion dollars bailing out banks, he reasoned. The government does not want to be a shareholder in banks but "you cannot leave everything to the market," Brown declared.
Several ministers raised the spectre of dark days ahead.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The puppet of an anti-WEF activist organisation is surrounded by police forces during a demonstration on January 31 in Geneva. The world is entering an era of big government with only state muscle powerful enough to fight the economic crisis, top leaders signalled at the Davos summit. (AFP/Nicholas Ratzenboeck)
“Freedom is a necessary precondition for market forces to operate,” she said in a speech which condemned “unfettered markets”.
“Individual freedom needs to be limited if it takes freedom away from others.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Uh, yeah, sure. What the hell is he trying to say?
Idiots. The governments’ intervention in economies is the problem. Check out Ludwig von Mises. Keynes was a self-serving ass.
"THE ERA OF BIG GOVERNMENT IS OVER"!
“Uh, yeah, sure. What the hell is he trying to say?”
He’s saying that it’s ok to restrict personal freedom to ensure personal freedom. Does that clear it up?
Expecting government to “fix” the economic “crisis” is no different that expecting the guy who set your house afire to put out the blaze.
I will have to ponder that statement for a few years, for it to make any sense.
He’s saying that it’s ok to restrict personal freedom to ensure personal freedom. Does that clear it up?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I had this sneaky suspicion that that’s what it meant.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.