“While our economy is enormously complicated, it seems reasonably clear that the current slump has turned into the “worst downturn since the Great Depression” precisely because of the ill-advised policies of the Obama administration. Those policies contradict the lessons of history, and there is no reason why their failure should be unexpected.” –John Hinderaker
It’s not like we haven’t been through this before. We know what economic policies work and which ones don’t. The economy is in the state it is because the US government refused to reign in the credit bubble over the last decade. Market distorting actions of Fannie and Freddie along with the push for a higher rate of homeownership drove housing prices higher into a bubble land. Bank deregulation allowed incredibly risky, highly leveraged options and derivatives to be created and sold by parties that KNEW they would decline in value. Because of regulatory capture, federal regulators refused to take any actions to halt the banks’ gravy train.
Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their fellow co-conspirators used the resulting economic crisis to try to remake the US into a European style socialist state. They’re not interested in the state of the economy because like all good socialists they think that they can “scientifically” manage the economy because they’re just that smart.
None of the results were unexpected.
They just thought you were too stupid to blame them for it.
Hmmm… Interesting. Why on earth would they do that?
Mr Medvedev told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that long-term direct investment was “necessary for modernisation”.
While Obama tries to turn the US more socialist, the former socialists (who probably know a thing or two about the joys of socialism) are cutting taxes to stimulate long term capital investment.
Unemployment is growing despite the number fudging from the Obama administration. The country is still in a recession despite the claims otherwise from the Obama administration. The Euro is tanking and the whole world is teetering on complete financial collapse.How is a decrease in retail sales unexpected?
How did the six ideological groups do overall? Here they are, best to worst, with an average number of incorrect responses from 0 to 8: Very conservative, 1.30; Libertarian, 1.38; Conservative, 1.67; Moderate, 3.67; Liberal, 4.69; Progressive/very liberal, 5.26.
Americans in the first three categories do reasonably well. But the left has trouble squaring economic thinking with their political psychology, morals and aesthetics.
Read the whole thing. Liberals and Progressives consistently get more questions of basic economics wrong. These aren’t political questions, but questions of basic economics that virtually all economists, left or right, agree on.
The withdrawal of federal tax credits for home buyers led to a steeper-than-expected plunge in May home sales in much of the U.S., as the housing market struggles to wean itself from government support.
Are you fucking kidding me? No one expected the house sales to drop through the floor when the government subsidy went away? Were they all asleep in Freshman Economics?
This is what happens when you have ivory tower “experts” in charge. Reality will NEVER match the model. Just ask a meteorologist if you don’t believe me.
Ever wonder why “the government” is so incompetent?
One reason is that morons like this are in charge.
Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that he is calling upon Walter Williams, a nationally syndicated columnist, to apologize for his ‘breathtakingly stupid’ comments about the productivity of Samoan cannery workers.
The comments in question are from this article by Walter Williams about the failure of minimum wage increases in American Samoa.
Unfortunately for (non-voting)Congressman Faleomavaega, stupidity and wishful thinking will not change reality. Unproductive people will still be poor despite his press releases. Minimum wage laws will always increase unemployment despite his wishes. Nothing he can say or do will make a business operate at a loss.
(I notice that Faleomavaega also opposes free trade and consistently lobbies for more handouts for American Samoa. Figures… he is a Socialist Democrat, after all.)
One of the reasons the US (and the world in general) is having an economic crises now is that for too long stupidity and wishful thinking have been the basis for decision making among the political class. Fortunately, those ideas are not sustainable in the long run. Unfortunately strife and bloodshed usually accompany their inevitable downfall.
Let’s hope the overthrow of socialism in the US is as bloodless as it was in the former USSR.
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