Obama can't catch a break, Gregg realizes he's a Republican

[Ed Oscuro]

But let's not talk about that. Best journalism ever.

[Acid King]

What do you expect? Gregg had previously voted to abolish the department he was tapped to chair. There was bound to be a lot of friction there.

[Turrican]

foreigners observe and ask: why is so difficult for Obama to assemble the right team?

[TripleA]

Why ask you? ^^ Man thats the Good US Government ^^ I hope Obama do the best i hope it for him. If he do shit. I will fight against the Politic in America. The American Politic is for the Ass. (War bla bla bla we are the best bla bla oh he have nuklear weapons bla bla ...) Only lies, Shit and alot of Incompetence. Bush was one of the most hated Person in the World i think. Next to the Thailand Chef and the China Chef and the Russians have not really a sin for Human rights And the German Poltic (Im German) is crap too they wanne see us pay but nobody have money ... The Politicians earn much more money then much more Difficult Jobs like 3D Animator bla bla

[Ed Oscuro]

foreigners observe and ask: why is so difficult for Obama to assemble the right team?

Big promises, too big really. Thankfully they're realizing it was dumb.

Gregg's party got to him. Republicans are thinking the reason they lost the election is that they didn't listen hard enough to Joe Wurzelbacher ("the Plumber") and so they're going to try to be the party of minimalist government. That'd be fine except no serious economist is calling for that right now. Prez Obama had a line during yesterday's Lincoln festivities about government needing to do some things that the private sector couldn't - this is basically what he's up against, I think it's fair to say.

[Acid King]

That'd be fine except no serious economist is calling for that right now.

"There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy."
— PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA, JANUARY 9 , 2009

With all due respect Mr. President, that is not true.
Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's "lost decade" in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.

Burton Abrams, Univ. of Delaware
Douglas Adie, Ohio University
Ryan Amacher, Univ. of Texas at Arlington
J.J. Arias, Georgia College & State University
Howard Baetjer, Jr., Towson University
Stacie Beck, Univ. of Delaware
Don Bellante, Univ. of South Florida
James Bennett, George Mason University
Bruce Benson, Florida State University
Sanjai Bhagat, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
Mark Bils, Univ. of Rochester
Alberto Bisin, New York University
Walter Block, Loyola University New Orleans
Cecil Bohanon, Ball State University
Michele Boldrin, Washington University in St. Louis
Donald Booth, Chapman University
Michael Bordo, Rutgers University
Samuel Bostaph, Univ. of Dallas
Scott Bradford, Brigham Young University
Genevieve Briand, Eastern Washington University
George Brower, Moravian College
James Buchanan, Nobel laureate
Richard Burdekin, Claremont McKenna College
Henry Butler, Northwestern University
William Butos, Trinity College
Peter Calcagno, College of Charleston
Bryan Caplan, George Mason University
Art Carden, Rhodes College
James Cardon, Brigham Young University
Dustin Chambers, Salisbury University
Emily Chamlee-Wright, Beloit College
V.V. Chari, Univ. of Minnesota
Barry Chiswick, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
Lawrence Cima, John Carroll University
J.R. Clark, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Gian Luca Clementi, New York University
R. Morris Coats, Nicholls State University
John Cochran, Metropolitan State College
John Cochrane, Univ. of Chicago
John Cogan, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
John Coleman, Duke University
Boyd Collier, Tarleton State University
Robert Collinge, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio
Lee Coppock, Univ. of Virginia
Mario Crucini, Vanderbilt University
Christopher Culp, Univ. of Chicago
Kirby Cundiff, Northeastern State University
Antony Davies, Duquesne University
John Dawson, Appalachian State University
Clarence Deitsch, Ball State University
Arthur Diamond, Jr., Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha
John Dobra, Univ. of Nevada, Reno
James Dorn, Towson University
Christopher Douglas, Univ. of Michigan, Flint
Floyd Duncan, Virginia Military Institute
Francis Egan, Trinity College
John Egger, Towson University
Kenneth Elzinga, Univ. of Virginia
Paul Evans, Ohio State University
Eugene Fama, Univ. of Chicago
W. Ken Farr, Georgia College & State University
Hartmut Fischer, Univ. of San Francisco
Fred Foldvary, Santa Clara University
Murray Frank, Univ. of Minnesota
Peter Frank, Wingate University
Timothy Fuerst, Bowling Green State University
B. Delworth Gardner, Brigham Young University
John Garen, Univ. of Kentucky
Rick Geddes, Cornell University
Aaron Gellman, Northwestern University
William Gerdes, Clarke College
Michael Gibbs, Univ. of Chicago
Stephan Gohmann, Univ. of Louisville
Rodolfo Gonzalez, San Jose State University
Richard Gordon, Penn State University
Peter Gordon, Univ. of Southern California
Ernie Goss, Creighton University
Paul Gregory, Univ. of Houston
Earl Grinols, Baylor University
Daniel Gropper, Auburn University
R.W. Hafer, Southern Illinois
University, Edwardsville
Arthur Hall, Univ. of Kansas
Steve Hanke, Johns Hopkins
Stephen Happel, Arizona State University
Frank Hefner, College of Charleston
Ronald Heiner, George Mason University
David Henderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Robert Herren, North Dakota State University
Gailen Hite, Columbia University
Steven Horwitz, St. Lawrence University
John Howe, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
Jeffrey Hummel, San Jose State University
Bruce Hutchinson, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Brian Jacobsen, Wisconsin Lutheran College
Jason Johnston, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Boyan Jovanovic, New York University
Jonathan Karpoff, Univ. of Washington
Barry Keating, Univ. of Notre Dame
Naveen Khanna, Michigan State University
Nicholas Kiefer, Cornell University
Daniel Klein, George Mason University
Paul Koch, Univ. of Kansas
Narayana Kocherlakota, Univ. of Minnesota
Marek Kolar, Delta College
Roger Koppl, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Kishore Kulkarni, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Deepak Lal, UCLA
George Langelett, South Dakota State University
James Larriviere, Spring Hill College
Robert Lawson, Auburn University
John Levendis, Loyola University New Orleans
David Levine, Washington University in St. Louis
Peter Lewin, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
Dean Lillard, Cornell University
Zheng Liu, Emory University
Alan Lockard, Binghampton University
Edward Lopez, San Jose State University
John Lunn, Hope College
Glenn MacDonald, Washington
University in St. Louis
Michael Marlow, California
Polytechnic State University
Deryl Martin, Tennessee Tech University
Dale Matcheck, Northwood University
Deirdre McCloskey, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago
John McDermott, Univ. of South Carolina
Joseph McGarrity, Univ. of Central Arkansas
Roger Meiners, Univ. of Texas at Arlington
Allan Meltzer, Carnegie Mellon University
John Merrifield, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio
James Miller III, George Mason University
Jeffrey Miron, Harvard University
Thomas Moeller, Texas Christian University
John Moorhouse, Wake Forest University
Andrea Moro, Vanderbilt University
Andrew Morriss, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Michael Munger, Duke University
Kevin Murphy, Univ. of Southern California
Richard Muth, Emory University
Charles Nelson, Univ. of Washington
Seth Norton, Wheaton College
Lee Ohanian, Univ. of California, Los Angeles
Lydia Ortega, San Jose State University
Evan Osborne, Wright State University
Randall Parker, East Carolina University
Donald Parsons, George Washington University
Sam Peltzman, Univ. of Chicago
Mark Perry, Univ. of Michigan, Flint
Christopher Phelan, Univ. of Minnesota
Gordon Phillips, Univ. of Maryland
Michael Pippenger, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks
Tomasz Piskorski, Columbia University
Brennan Platt, Brigham Young University
Joseph Pomykala, Towson University
William Poole, Univ. of Delaware
Barry Poulson, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder
Benjamin Powell, Suffolk University
Edward Prescott, Nobel laureate
Gary Quinlivan, Saint Vincent College
Reza Ramazani, Saint Michael's College
Adriano Rampini, Duke University
Eric Rasmusen, Indiana University
Mario Rizzo, New York University
Richard Roll, Univ. of California, Los Angeles
Robert Rossana, Wayne State University
James Roumasset, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
John Rowe, Univ. of South Florida
Charles Rowley, George Mason University
Juan Rubio-Ramirez, Duke University
Roy Ruffin, Univ. of Houston
Kevin Salyer, Univ. of California, Davis
Pavel Savor, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Ronald Schmidt, Univ. of Rochester
Carlos Seiglie, Rutgers University
William Shughart II, Univ. of Mississippi
Charles Skipton, Univ. of Tampa
James Smith, Western Carolina University
Vernon Smith, Nobel laureate
Lawrence Southwick, Jr., Univ. at Buffalo
Dean Stansel, Florida Gulf Coast University
Houston Stokes, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
Brian Strow, Western Kentucky University
Shirley Svorny, California State
University, Northridge
John Tatom, Indiana State University
Wade Thomas, State University of New York at Oneonta
Henry Thompson, Auburn University
Alex Tokarev, The King's College
Edward Tower, Duke University
Leo Troy, Rutgers University
David Tuerck, Suffolk University
Charlotte Twight, Boise State University
Kamal Upadhyaya, Univ. of New Haven
Charles Upton, Kent State University
T. Norman Van Cott, Ball State University
Richard Vedder, Ohio University
Richard Wagner, George Mason University
Douglas M. Walker, College of Charleston
Douglas O. Walker, Regent University
Christopher Westley, Jacksonville State University
Lawrence White, Univ. of Missouri at St. Louis
Walter Williams, George Mason University
Doug Wills, Univ. of Washington Tacoma
Dennis Wilson, Western Kentucky University
Gary Wolfram, Hillsdale College
Huizhong Zhou, Western Michigan University


Additional economists who have signed the statement
Lee Adkins, Oklahoma State University
William Albrecht, Univ. of Iowa
Donald Alexander, Western Michigan University
Geoffrey Andron, Austin Community College
Nathan Ashby, Univ. of Texas at El Paso
George Averitt, Purdue North Central University
Charles Baird, California State University, East Bay
Timothy Bastian, Creighton University
Joe Bell, Missouri State University, Springfield
John Bethune, Barton College
Robert Bise, Orange Coast College
Karl Borden, University of Nebraska
Donald Boudreaux, George Mason University
Ivan Brick, Rutgers University
Phil Bryson, Brigham Young University
Richard Burkhauser, Cornell University
Edwin Burton, Univ. of Virginia
Jim Butkiewicz, Univ. of Delaware
Richard Cebula, Armstrong Atlantic State University
Don Chance, Louisiana State University
Robert Chatfield, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas
Lloyd Cohen, George Mason University
Peter Colwell, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Michael Connolly, Univ. of Miami
Jim Couch, Univ. of North Alabama
Eleanor Craig, Univ. of Delaware
Michael Daniels, Columbus State University
A. Edward Day, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
Stephen Dempsey, Univ. of Vermont
Allan DeSerpa, Arizona State University
William Dewald, Ohio State University
Jeff Dorfman, Univ. of Georgia
Lanny Ebenstein, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara
Michael Erickson, The College of Idaho
Jack Estill, San Jose State University
Dorla Evans, Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville
Frank Falero, California State University, Bakersfield
Daniel Feenberg, National Bureau of Economic Research
Eric Fisher, California Polytechnic State University
Arthur Fleisher, Metropolitan State College of Denver
William Ford, Middle Tennessee State University
Ralph Frasca, Univ. of Dayton
Joseph Giacalone, St. John's University
Adam Gifford, California State Unviersity, Northridge
Otis Gilley, Louisiana Tech University
J. Edward Graham, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Richard Grant, Lipscomb University
Gauri-Shankar Guha, Arkansas State University
Darren Gulla, Univ. of Kentucky
Dennis Halcoussis, California State University, Northridge
Richard Hart, Miami University
James Hartley, Mount Holyoke College
Thomas Hazlett, George Mason University
Scott Hein, Texas Tech University
Bradley Hobbs, Florida Gulf Coast University
John Hoehn, Michigan State University
Daniel Houser, George Mason University
Thomas Howard, University of Denver
Chris Hughen, Univ. of Denver
Marcus Ingram, Univ. of Tampa
Joseph Jadlow, Oklahoma State University
Sherry Jarrell, Wake Forest University
Scott Kelly, Albany State University
Carrie Kerekes, Florida Gulf Coast University
Robert Krol, California State University, Northridge
James Kurre, Penn State Erie
Tom Lehman, Indiana Wesleyan University
W. Cris Lewis, Utah State University
Stan Liebowitz, Univ. of Texas at Dallas
Anthony Losasso, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago
John Lott, Jr., Univ. of Maryland
Keith Malone, Univ. of North Alabama
Henry Manne, George Mason University
Richard Marcus, Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Timothy Mathews, Kennesaw State University
John Matsusaka, Univ. of Southern California
Thomas Mayor, Univ. of Houston
John McConnell, Purdue University
W. Douglas McMillin, Louisiana State University
Mario Miranda, The Ohio State University
Ed Miseta, Penn State Erie
James Moncur, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
Charles Moss, Univ. of Florida
Tim Muris, George Mason University
John Murray, Univ. of Toledo
David Mustard, Univ. of Georgia
Steven Myers, Univ. of Akron
Dhananjay Nanda, University of Miami
Stephen Parente, Univ. of Minnesota
Allen Parkman, Univ. of New Mexico
Douglas Patterson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and University
Timothy Perri, Appalachian State University
Mark Pingle, Univ. of Nevada, Reno
Ivan Pongracic, Hillsdale College
Robert Prati, East Carolina University
Richard Rawlins, Missouri Southern State University
Thomas Rhee, California State University, Long Beach
Christine Ries, Georgia Institute of Technology
Nancy Roberts, Arizona State University
Larry Ross, Univ. of Alaska Anchorage
Timothy Roth, Univ. of Texas at El Paso
Atulya Sarin, Santa Clara University
Thomas Saving, Texas A&M University
Eric Schansberg, Indiana University Southeast
John Seater, North Carolina University
Alan Shapiro, Univ. of Southern California
Thomas Simmons, Greenfield Community College
Frank Spreng, McKendree University
Judith Staley Brenneke, John Carroll University
John E. Stapleford, Eastern University
Courtenay Stone, Ball State University
Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, UCLA
Scott Sumner, Bentley University
Clifford Thies, Shenandoah University
William Trumbull, West Virginia University
A. Sinan Unur, Cornell University
Randall Valentine, Georgia Southwestern State University
Gustavo Ventura, Univ. of Iowa
Marc Weidenmier, Claremont McKenna College
Robert Whaples, Wake Forest University
Gene Wunder, Washburn University
John Zdanowicz, Florida International University
Jerry Zimmerman, Univ. of Rochester
Joseph Zoric, Franciscan University of Steubenville

[moonblood]

Politicians earn much more money then much more Difficult Jobs like 3D Animator bla bla

Sig-worthy

[Turrican]

To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.

Isn't that the Republican agenda? Like, there were eight years of W. to go with that program.

I'm afraid I'll line with Keynes for now.

[kengou]

I seem to remember from my history classes that when the depression started, Hoover believed the market would work itself out and the government shouldn't interfere, and look where that got him. Then FDR comes in with the New Deal, creates a ton of jobs, helps recover the economy, before WWII started and we fully recovered. Obama has said he's trying to implement policies that will lead to new jobs, as well as regulate things a little more so that what got us into this current mess won't happen again. I'm no economist but it seems like what he's doing is decent.

The bailouts, however, are another story. Giving money to the companies that screwed up doesn't seem like it's going to really help much.

[Ex-Cyber]

I seem to remember from my history classes that when the depression started, Hoover believed the market would work itself out and the government shouldn't interfere, and look where that got him. Then FDR comes in with the New Deal, creates a ton of jobs, helps recover the economy, before WWII started and we fully recovered.

The meme among the Republicans now (apparently popularized by noted economist and historian Rush Limbaugh) is that the New Deal actually prolonged the Great Depression, and it was World War 2 that ended it. So basically, government spending on the military is magic.

[kengou]

I seem to remember from my history classes that when the depression started, Hoover believed the market would work itself out and the government shouldn't interfere, and look where that got him. Then FDR comes in with the New Deal, creates a ton of jobs, helps recover the economy, before WWII started and we fully recovered.

The meme among the Republicans now (apparently popularized by noted economist and historian Rush Limbaugh) is that the New Deal actually prolonged the Great Depression, and it was World War 2 that ended it. So basically, government spending on the military is magic.

To that I would point to this
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/200 ... ailed-myth

And if Rush Limbaugh is a noted historian and economist...I don't even know what to say. He's a douche and an idiot.

[Ex-Cyber]

To that I would point to this
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/200 ... ailed-myth

Good article, but I doubt it'll convince any dittoheads.

And if Rush Limbaugh is a noted historian and economist...I don't even know what to say. He's a douche and an idiot.

That was just me being sarcastic, but there's an element of truth in it to the extent that his opinions on economics and history are (directly or indirectly) taken seriously by a lot of people.

[BulletMagnet]

foreigners observe and ask: why is so difficult for Obama to assemble the right team?

Because conservatives refuse to admit that their ideology and its applications have been proven miserable failures time and time again, and that they should step aside and let someone who actually intends to use the government to get something worthwhile done (as opposed to weakening it and using it as a scapegoat for their self-serving policies) have a shot at cleaning up the mess they made. Moreover, despite the fact that they've told everyone to Limbaugh's left to go to hell for the past 30 years, now that the other shoe has dropped they're demanding "bipartisanship" and a "spirit of cooperation" from liberals (and moderates, while they're at it), and the "liberal media" is buying it hook, line and sinker. Thus, even if a liberal is determined to head (as he should) in the total opposite direction of the previous administration in particular, "popular sentiment" forces him to set aside a place at the table for those who created the catastrophe we're trying to get out of. In short, despite several disastrous decades of the fox guarding the henhouse, the rooster on the roof (and safely out of said fox's reach) takes the fox's side in demanding that he be kept on "in an advisory role."

That was just me being sarcastic, but there's an element of truth in it to the extent that his opinions on economics and history are (directly or indirectly) taken seriously by a lot of people.

Nobody, including educated conservatives, actually takes that sort of thing seriously - the numbers simply don't add up. The reason they rally behind his fat ass (among others) is not that any of his ramblings make sense, but because they pretend to give weight to their preconceived, completely selfish outlook on life. The snarky mantra of "conservatives are morons" is totally false - it's not that they don't know about the issues that affect people, it's that they don't care.

[Acid King]

Isn't that the Republican agenda? Like, there were eight years of W. to go with that program.

I'm afraid I'll line with Keynes for now.

Regardless of what their platform says, that's not what they did. Government spending went through the roof, as did spending on regulation and indicators of economic freedom went down.

I seem to remember from my history classes that when the depression started, Hoover believed the market would work itself out and the government shouldn't interfere, and look where that got him.

Actually, he threw up tariffs and raised taxes, started the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, urged public works construction (The Hoover Dam, ring a bell?) to increase employment, increased federal lending and instituted measures to keep wages high. Federal spending shot up over 50% under Hoover.

[The n00b]

Why ask you? ^^ Man thats the Good US Government ^^ I hope Obama do the best i hope it for him. If he do shit. I will fight against the Politic in America. The American Politic is for the Ass. (War bla bla bla we are the best bla bla oh he have nuklear weapons bla bla ...) Only lies, Shit and alot of Incompetence. Bush was one of the most hated Person in the World i think. Next to the Thailand Chef and the China Chef and the Russians have not really a sin for Human rights And the German Poltic (Im German) is crap too they wanne see us pay but nobody have money ... The Politicians earn much more money then much more Difficult Jobs like 3D Animator bla bla

I like Chinese food and Thai food so obviously their cooks are doing something right. BTW how are you planning to fight against "politic in America?" We also like the feminine ass, yes we like it very much.

Okay kids you don't see me commenting about Australian politics and Chinese post-modern economic theory and this is why....

[BulletMagnet]

Government spending went through the roof, as did spending on regulation and indicators of economic freedom went down.

I'd assume that the former was largely due to the Iraq fiasco, and I find the latter stuff hard to believe offhand. Do you have a link to any data regarding any of this stuff?

Your larger point is inarguable though, namely that Republicans haven't actually acted upon much of what they say they stand for in recent years ("fiscal responsibility?" Record deficits since Reagan (which only slowed down under Clinton)! "Individual rights?" Terry Schiavo! "Personal responsibility?" Executive privilege! etc).

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh boy, we can't forget the handful of recalcitrant conservatives and libertarians! I see a WMU Econ 300 level professor in that second list...wonder what he's published lately.

Actually, [Hoover] threw up tariffs and raised taxes, started the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, urged public works construction (The Hoover Dam, ring a bell?) to increase employment, increased federal lending and instituted measures to keep wages high. Federal spending shot up over 50% under Hoover.

Spot the part that
a.) Is quite significant and
b.) is a mistake Obama will not be repeating and
c.) went AGAINST HOOVER'S REQUEST TO CONGRESS.

Great research there, Acid King. Hoover asked Congress to lower tariffs, but a couple Republicans raised them - and now you're blaming Hoover for it! :lol:

Much more important, however, was the role of the central bankers in the Depression.

The more watchful among us will remember that the original intention of the badly implemented original bailout bill was to increase the flow of money through markets. This is because everybody remembers that the central bankers, and in the U.S. the Federal Reserve, screwed the pooch on liquidity.

There was recently a speaker on this issue on either Diane Rehm or Fresh Air who's written a book about the central bankers, and we can also look at the Economics of the Great Depression section of this page.

The most relevant part:

The most important charge in the Federal Reserve’s charter is to be a lender of last resort. This means that when a bank is in trouble and cannot meet its depositors’ demands for cash, the Federal Reserve must provide the liquidity.

Public spending on works projects is a different matter; the intention behind the spending in this latest bill - and looking at the items they're all pretty essential unless you live outside the U.S. on a private island I suppose - is to stimulate the economy and keep people in their jobs. This is just a more modern way of doing what FDR did: Provide temporary job security for people when bigger businesses fail to provide it.

At the end of the day the question is whether people have a right to expect the nation to provide living security even if it saddles them (and future generations) with debt. I think the answer is yes in this case; people needn't starve because of theory worries that it will stunt future growth of arbitrary numbers. The here and now matters.

I say this notwithstanding Stratton's and Robert's Hoover Institution piece, which further along starts using libertarian terminology for no apparent reason (see the section "Costs of the New Deal" which simply is a baseless anti-government rant and does not directly approach any fiscal costs). Further in from where I quoted before there is the following paragraph:

In 1933 Minnesota responded to the economic crisis by protecting mortgage debtors (mortgagors) in default from foreclosure. No compensation was offered the equally straitened lenders. The purpose of a contract is to protect the parties from a lack of performance by either party to the contract. The Minnesota law constituted an uncompensated taking of this core constitutional protection, thus leaving future contracts subject to being rewritten in the interest of the nonperforming party. As Justice Sutherland observed, “If the provisions of the Constitution be not upheld when they pinch as well as when they comfort, they may as well be abandoned.”

The obvious problem here is that families matter more than the marginal utility of a lender's idle capital. To say otherwise is arguably immoral and sets you against home ownership and individual rights. More importantly, we've seen this time around how lenders were trying to get away betting dozens of multiples the value of their assets, and when they fail on a bad bet or entice buyers into mortgages they can't pay, it should be obvious whose side needs help. This "sanctity of contract" is preemptive moaning with the result that people don't question whether there is anything less than sacrosanct about a contract that is clearly abusive.

And, more to the point, the current legislation is again improved from the situation mentioned in this article. The government is stepping in to allow contracts to be rewritten in a way that companies can get back more on investment than a home they won't be checking and may be vandalized or destroyed before they find a seller. With a rewritten mortgage, the home buyer stays in the home they've been paying for, and the lender gets as much back as possible.

[Turrican]

Another question: is Newsweek's latest cover and the relative article ("We're becoming more French") an attempt to scare Obama's electorate?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/183663

P.S. the article seems to agree with Acid King that government spending began to rise under W. They see the whole thing as inevitable though... Sort of a necessary evil...

You're becoming socialists... Scary thought

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm no Euro economics expert, but JK Galbraith's grandson James K. Galbraith recently opined (a few weeks ago; I haven't heard him more recently when he was on earlier this month, Feb. 4th) that our financial system (I believe is what he said) was more modern in structure than the European one.

So, rather as the EU is becoming more religious and the U.S. less, it's more a result of the free exchange of ideas rubbing down some of the differences.

The U.S. is nowhere near moving towards the lower hours reportedly being worked in France and some other EU countries and so infamous in this country. If anything, we could look to Japan of the 50s to 91-ish (Bubble) period for the good results of lots of high working hours and of capital flowing like crazy through markets, or we could look to Australia today with its highly overworked workforce (second behind Japan; 22% of Aussies work over 50 hours a week).

[Acid King]

Great research there, Acid King. Hoover asked Congress to lower tariffs, but a couple Republicans raised them - and now you're blaming Hoover for it!

Nice that you lose the larger point of the decidedly non-laissez faire actions taken during the Hoover administrations tenure by picking out a mistaken attribution but i digress...

I'd assume that the former was largely due to the Iraq fiasco, and I find the latter stuff hard to believe offhand. Do you have a link to any data regarding any of this stuff?

Defense spending is included but much of the cost of the Iraq war was not done through the federal budget, but through "emergency " supplemental bills.

"Non-defense discretionary spending has grown twice as fast under President Bush as under President Clinton. Examples of discretionary spending increases between 2001 and 2006 include the following:

Education is up 62 percent, or 10 percent annually; International affairs is up 74 percent, or 12 percent annually; Health research and regulation is up 57 percent, or 9 percent annually; Veterans’ benefits are up 46 percent, or 8 percent annually; Science and basic research is up 40 percent, or 7 percent annually. and Overall non-defense discretionary outlays are up 46 percent, or 7.8 percent annually."
http://www.heritage.org/Research/budget/tst021606a.cfm

As far as regulation goes, there's been an overall decrease in the annual number of new rules but the number of pages in the federal register has increased by 14,000 and the government is spending more than ever on regulatory activities.
http://www.reason.com/news/show/130328.html

[Neon]

foreigners observe and ask: why is so difficult for Obama to assemble the right team?

Apparently cockblocking nominees for tax problems is pretty normal. Happened to Bush, Clinton, etc. Or so I'm told.

[BulletMagnet]

Apparently cockblocking nominees for tax problems is pretty normal.

The thing is, when it comes to some of these nominees (esp. Geithner, who should never have even been considered as allowed to stay on, considering his recent past performance), the tax garbage (which, I think, is by itself fair grounds to toss someone out of contention) is the least of my concerns about them.

[Neon]

The thing is, when it comes to some of these nominees (esp. Geithner, who should never have even been considered as allowed to stay on, considering his recent past performance), the tax garbage (which, I think, is by itself fair grounds to toss someone out of contention) is the least of my concerns about them.

Agreed. It will be interesting to see how the 'team of rivals' approach works out as well. One would think, especially given the present circumstances, that FDR is a better role model than Lincoln

OT, I can't get the Discussion link in your sig to work

[BulletMagnet]

OT, I can't get the Discussion link in your sig to work

Weird, it takes me right to the Glossary Discussion thread - anyone else having trouble with it?