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1oregonobsessionz
A very entertaining interview, in which Robert Siegel of NPR attempts to elicit Fred Thompson's plan for dealing with the economy.
2geneg
I see one of Thompson's stimulus plans involves giving me money to spend. I can't speak for anyone else, but when I feel an economic pinch and the future is uncertain I tend to stop spending and hold my money close for real emergencies.
It seems to me, one of the basic problems we have in this country is our rather unpleasant over the top materialism. I think this is a flaw with the American character, seeking solace in goods rather than in community with our neighbors.
We are constantly bombarded with two messages: indulge your vanity and spend, spend, spend. What kind of message about the quality life does that send our children? How does engaging massive personal credit card debt help our economy? How does it help each of us be a better person? How does it teach our children responsibility?
It used to be there were far more Mom and Pop businesses than there are now. Many of them have been run out of business by predatory corporations and Mom and Pop have had to go to work for them. This gives us such wonders as four or five companies providing all the news we get that's not off the internet. It's given us a lot of low wage jobs. And it gives us the phenomena of the money changers.
Corporations now, rather than having the client as their first customer, employees as partners in providing the customers needs, and the market as a place to go for additional money, now have it backwards. The customer has become the market, the product has become increasing profits, employees represent unwanted, possibly unnecessary costs, and the goods or services provided are an afterthought. Increased productivity has become God, and the customer for the goods and services represent a kind of secondary business partner, important, but not as important as the bottom line.
Quality declines, goods are bought from Asia, it's less expensive to import higher quality goods than it is to buy lesser quality manufactured here. The pressure to continue improving profits quarter by quarter has reduced the pool of potential purchasers for goods and services, while there is enough money in the market to inflate it.
If the economy is judged by market performance times have never been better. If the economy is measured by debt, we are in deep stuff. It appears debt is beginning to take over from profits as the driving market force.
There is so much new money in the market that new instruments come into play such as high cost, high risk, high yield hedge funds which essentially shift money around different pockets. Money is the new god, it has become more important than people, a situation that will lead to disaster for this nation.
I thought "the market" was to facilitate the movement of money efficiently from where it sits to where it is needed. The linkage of world markets has reduced any sense of national loyalty corporations may have in favor of profits wherever they may be, and interchangeable, international work force where a worker can be bought cheap. Americans lose jobs, Wall Street gets fat, the market moves blithely along, neither knowing nor caring about anything but profit and loss. The market has become an end in itself. Less money is made by people producing goods and services than is made by the market. this can only end in disaster for the market. Money, in and of itself, is nothing more than electronic bits, and when the electricity goes out, those bits will vanish.
When that happens, the first thing we do is close the airports so the bastards can't get out.
It seems to me, one of the basic problems we have in this country is our rather unpleasant over the top materialism. I think this is a flaw with the American character, seeking solace in goods rather than in community with our neighbors.
We are constantly bombarded with two messages: indulge your vanity and spend, spend, spend. What kind of message about the quality life does that send our children? How does engaging massive personal credit card debt help our economy? How does it help each of us be a better person? How does it teach our children responsibility?
It used to be there were far more Mom and Pop businesses than there are now. Many of them have been run out of business by predatory corporations and Mom and Pop have had to go to work for them. This gives us such wonders as four or five companies providing all the news we get that's not off the internet. It's given us a lot of low wage jobs. And it gives us the phenomena of the money changers.
Corporations now, rather than having the client as their first customer, employees as partners in providing the customers needs, and the market as a place to go for additional money, now have it backwards. The customer has become the market, the product has become increasing profits, employees represent unwanted, possibly unnecessary costs, and the goods or services provided are an afterthought. Increased productivity has become God, and the customer for the goods and services represent a kind of secondary business partner, important, but not as important as the bottom line.
Quality declines, goods are bought from Asia, it's less expensive to import higher quality goods than it is to buy lesser quality manufactured here. The pressure to continue improving profits quarter by quarter has reduced the pool of potential purchasers for goods and services, while there is enough money in the market to inflate it.
If the economy is judged by market performance times have never been better. If the economy is measured by debt, we are in deep stuff. It appears debt is beginning to take over from profits as the driving market force.
There is so much new money in the market that new instruments come into play such as high cost, high risk, high yield hedge funds which essentially shift money around different pockets. Money is the new god, it has become more important than people, a situation that will lead to disaster for this nation.
I thought "the market" was to facilitate the movement of money efficiently from where it sits to where it is needed. The linkage of world markets has reduced any sense of national loyalty corporations may have in favor of profits wherever they may be, and interchangeable, international work force where a worker can be bought cheap. Americans lose jobs, Wall Street gets fat, the market moves blithely along, neither knowing nor caring about anything but profit and loss. The market has become an end in itself. Less money is made by people producing goods and services than is made by the market. this can only end in disaster for the market. Money, in and of itself, is nothing more than electronic bits, and when the electricity goes out, those bits will vanish.
When that happens, the first thing we do is close the airports so the bastards can't get out.
3maggie1944
Yup, I heard that sending money directly to low and moderate income people so they will spend it and get the economy moving was the idea of the day, I almost spit my coffee out onto the computer screen! Reminds me of the favorite rationalization of the alcoholics, "hair of the dog" cures handovers. Ya, and perpetuates the cycle of drinking to drunken stupor. Strikingly similar rationalizations, I think.
Go to gold.
Go to gold.
