Bailout. Stimulus programs. Health care. Subprime. There are lots of problems, or as one of my mentors would say, lots of “opportunities.”
Which Presidential candidate “gets” the subprime fix in which we find ourselves? Great minds must think alike, as Jay wrote about the subprime issue yesterday.
We need a leader who will have the integrity and boldness to do nothing – let the markets sort themselves out. Artificially delaying the inevitable? Great idea.
60 Minutes did quite the story this evening on the subprime problem, summed up with this quote:
“An invitation to fraud … they are being paid not by the veracity of the information but by the consummation of the deal.” … “It would never end; except that it did.”
The economy, not just the American economy, but the economy – the worlds’ economy, is broken.
Excluding all other issues – military, social, international – and focusing on economics and the subprime problem specifically, which of the candidates in the never-ending saga known as the race for the Presidency?
Might it be this one?
“If you believe in free enterprise and capitalism,” (he) said, “you should have the market forces determining interest rates.”
It’s the distortion of interest rates by manipulating the money supply that causes bubbles, like the one in housing, to form, he said, and rarely does the Fed take responsibility when these bubbles burst. “They’re not held accountable,” even after the “total chaos” of the past year.
What do you think? Which one do you trust the most; which one do you mistrust the least?
Where do we go from here?
Port Orange Homes For Sale says:
You said it the Subprime Mortgage Market is the next Enron and wonder who will be held responsible on this one.
January 28, 2008 — 6:00 am
Don Reedy says:
Jim,
You write “Excluding all other issues – military, social, international – and focusing on economics and the subprime problem specifically, which of the candidates in the never-ending saga known as the race for the Presidency?”
Are you kidding? Above all, the economy is integrated with every aspect of our lives. I don’t know what Greg Swann would categorize this as (my Latin is long gone), but recductium ad absurdium is my take. Ron Paul speaks with some wisdom as he addresses individual issues. His weakness, really a complete and utterly destructive weakness, is that he can’t see the integration of the world he now seeks to explain to his constituency.
“The economy, not just the American economy, but the economy – the worlds’ economy, is broken.”
No it’s not. It’s changing. It’s alive. It’s personal. It’s a race for philosophical and political ascendency. It’s just the progression of hunters and gatherers, our most basic of instincts.
Who do we trust, and where do we go from here? The simple answer is this: Trust in the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, but don’t trust that any single individual will be of enough importance to dent the economy. Every day, with resolution and with integrity, do what YOU do, act on what YOU believe, and leave talk about trust to the talkers. Believe me, it’s those who are doing that are of import.
January 28, 2008 — 1:40 pm
Jim Duncan says:
Don –
Thanks for the comment. I agree that all the issues are integrated, but I deliberately attempted to isolate the economic policy issue, specific to the subprime situation/mess/issue.
I reiterate my question – which candidate “gets” the subprime problem we have now? All but one are advocating some form of governmental intervention, and I believe that the economy is as you say – an organic system with fluctuations that will eventually work themselves out.
The world’s economy is integrated and right now, is broken – the loans that were written, packaged and shipped overseas to other countries as commodities are either a symptom or a cause of the break in the system. We are certainly not in an irreparable situation – but should anything be done, and if so, which of the current candidates offers the best policy?
I trust that one person can choose to leverage the fear in the economy to further damage the system. Pandering to the lowest common denominator – the easy way out – is something that comes to candidates and politicians in a facile way – and that is something that I fear.
I didn’t ask which candidate is most electable; that seems to be an entirely different discussion.
January 28, 2008 — 1:53 pm
Don Reedy says:
Jim,
Now you and I are in complete agreement insofar as your comment on “leveraging fear…”
Whether it’s Bush on TV telling us straightout about things that just aren’t, Bill Clinton wagging his finger and exclaiming “I did not have sexual relations with that woman…”, or ALL of the current candidates, there really should be an undercurrent of fear amongst those of us who value Jack Webb’s “Just the facts, mamm” approach.
So now I’ll answer your question in this newer light. I fear most the strong feeling I have that the “American public”, diffuse, esoteric, divided and without the foundations of corporal solidarity toward the great instruments I mentioned earlier, are doomed to hear just enough truth to keep us from acting more forcefully to exert our positions. Yes, Jim, your fear is well founded. Our intellect and discourse may free us from the shackles of feeling impotent, but these devices are in insufficient use throughout America and the world now, and thus we may yet be chewed up by the system we no longer seem to control.
January 28, 2008 — 2:31 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Interest rates, like the price of widgets should always be set as a consequence of supply and demand. Every time gov’t tries to ‘control’ the free market it’s not long ’till we begin hearing reports of the trains heading towards each other.
January 28, 2008 — 6:11 pm
Mike Volpe says:
In my opinion, no politician on either side in any branch of government gets sub prime or the mortgage mess as a whole. They are all fascinated with the concept of “reasonable ability to pay”. As if that isn’t what banks try to do when they decide on approving a loan. Most of the so called answers are political and they are naive. The scariest part is that the Fed is no less clueless than the rest of them.
The subprime mess is a serious problem but not nearly as serious as some of the so called solutions to this mess. Most of these so called solutions are political in nature rather than problem solving. They assign blame and assign victims, they don’t try and solve anything.
I don’t think any of them get it. Here is how I wrote about it…
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2007/12/responding-to-mortgage-crisis.html
January 29, 2008 — 8:56 am