The Greenspan Depression?



Bro Deal said:
I am sure it was a complete coincidence. We all know that a lender stupid enough to give additional credit cards to people staggering under the weight of their current debt should be protected. It is all the fault of those who take the credit not those who extend it.

That's what I thought - utter coincidence. The same type of coincidence that keeps medical care excessively high/unaffordable, and why about 1/2 of all non-commercial bankruptcies are medical-related.
 
Wurm said:
That's what I thought - utter coincidence. The same type of coincidence that keeps medical care excessively high/unaffordable, and why about 1/2 of all non-commercial bankruptcies are medical-related.
There are a lot of coincidences that occur when the middle class gets robbed. If you did not know better, you might think that corporate crooks were making the laws to benefit their scams. That could never happen in our democracy though. Never, ever, ever.

We all know that an introductory college textbook on physics should cost $150. Even though it has the same Newtonian physics, electromagnetism, and optics that were being taught fifty years ago, and anyone can go to Barnes and Noble to pick up books on the most fringe of subjects for thirty or forty bucks.
 
Bro, those guys have to recover their costs. Do you realize how much bribery they have to partake in to get their book on the recommended text list? Or is this the subtle point that I missed in your post?

Bro Deal said:
We all know that an introductory college textbook on physics should cost $150. Even though it has the same Newtonian physics, electromagnetism, and optics that were being taught fifty years ago, and anyone can go to Barnes and Noble to pick up books on the most fringe of subjects for thirty or forty bucks.
 
Hein-V, the Wall-Streeter's are somewhat to blame yes, but I would say that Greenspan has never been seen sporting a halo, (at least not by any of the Great Unwashed):

...Amy Gluckman, an editor of Dollars and Sense, reported in the November/December 2006 issue: “During the Clinton administration, Greenspan was relatively ‘unembedded’—averaging only one meeting per month at the White House….

“But when George W. Bush moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Greenspan’s behavior changed. During 2001, he averaged 3.3 White House visits a month, more than triple his rate under Clinton and much more often with high-level officials like Vice President Cheney. His visits rose to 4.6 a month in 2002 and 5.7 in 2003.

“Whatever White House officials were whispering in Greenspan’s ear, it worked: Greenspan abruptly changed his tune on tax cuts, lending critical support to Bush’s massive 2001 and 2003 tax giveaways, and he loosened the reins by cutting Fed-controlled interest rates repeatedly beginning in January 2001, a gift to the Republicans in power.”

...

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6239

and,

...The underlying problem is not simply the Fed’s reckless increases to the money supply, but the growing “wealth gap” which is undermining solid economic growth. If wages don’t keep pace with productivity; the middle class loses its ability to buy consumer items and the economy slows.

The reason that hasn’t happened yet in the US is because of the extraordinary opportunities to expand personal debt. The Fed’s low interest rates have created a culture of borrowing which has convinced many people that debt equals wealth. It’s not; and the collapse in the housing market will prove how lethal that theory really is.

To large extent, the housing bubble has concealed the systematic destruction of America’s industrial and manufacturing base. Low interest rates have lulled the public to sleep while millions of high-paying jobs have been outsourced. The rise in housing prices has created the illusion of prosperity but, in truth, we are only selling houses to each other and are not making anything that the rest of the world wants. The $11 trillion dollars that was pumped into the real estate market is probably the greatest waste of capital investment in the nations’ history. It hasn't produced a single asset that will add to our collective wealth or industrial competitiveness. It’s been a total bust.

The Federal Reserve produces all the facts and figures related to the housing industry. They knew that trillions of dollars were being diverted into a speculative bubble, but they did nothing to stop it. Instead, they kept interest rates low and endorsed the lax lending standards which paved the way for millions of defaults. Now the effects of their "cheap money" policies have spread to the hedge fund industry where hundreds of billions of dollars in pensions and savings are in jeopardy.

Alan Greenspan played a major role in the housing boondoggle. On February 26, 2004, he said, “American consumers might benefit if lenders provide greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed rate mortgage. To the degree that households are driven by fears of payment shocks but willing to manage their own interest-rate risks, the traditional fixed-rate mortgage may be an expensive method of financing a home.”

Greenspan tacitly approved the whacky financing which produced all manner of untested loans—including ARMs, piggyback loans, “no doc” loans, “interest only” loans etc. These loans are a break from traditional financing and have contributed to the increase in bankruptcies.

Millions of people who were hoodwinked into buying homes with “interest-only”, “no down” loans will now either lose their homes or be shackled to an asset of decreasing value for the next 30 years. They've been tricked into a life of indentured servitude.

...

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6209

...with a bit of help from the (anti)Bankruptcy Law of 2005 of course, which Greenspan AND Wall Street well knew was going to shift the onus from the predatory lenders to the under-compensated worker/credit-maxxed consumer.

So! Easy credit for all and a chicken in every pot.

Until the sh!t hits the fan and you find that the Fed now won't let you wipe the slate clean through bankruptcy, but they WILL be nice enough to let you spend the rest of your life paying it off.

A great scheme, as long as you're not on the wrong end.
 
Greenspan did not invent Wall Street steroids and Hedge Funds:

Neither did he scream or yell about them.

CDOs, SIVs, SPEs, dishonesty, hedge fund secrecy, Big Bank/Broker/HF partnering, lack of disclosure, waived underwriting, neg-amortization balloon loans, speculation, greed and off-shore banking lead to this global lack of trust (credit crisis). These methods undermine central banking power.

The commercial credit market is broken. Now the economy is at risk.

Major stimulation is required. By many means.

Audits, regulations were never in the mix--and they won't help now. It would be nice to have trust in the future---but that is like wishing for clean (drug free) cycling. It just won't happen.


Wurm said:
Hein-V, the Wall-Streeter's are somewhat to blame yes, but I would say that Greenspan has never been seen sporting a halo, (at least not by any of the Great Unwashed):



http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6239

and,



http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6209

...with a bit of help from the (anti)Bankruptcy Law of 2005 of course, which Greenspan AND Wall Street well knew was going to shift the onus from the predatory lenders to the under-compensated worker/credit-maxxed consumer.

So! Easy credit for all and a chicken in every pot.

Until the sh!t hits the fan and you find that the Fed now won't let you wipe the slate clean through bankruptcy, but they WILL be nice enough to let you spend the rest of your life paying it off.

A great scheme, as long as you're not on the wrong end.
 
Hein-Verbruggen said:
Greenspan did not invent Wall Street steroids and Hedge Funds:

But Greenspan and his partners in crime did nothing to stop it. He and his ilk knew exactly what would happen, and in fact encouraged it by his policies. "No regulation" is the mantra of these theives and crooks - under the rubric of "the free market" - and once again we're seeing the results of dereg run amok.
 
Well let's shoot Greenspan then. He is still collecting fat speaker fees.

Then what?

Wall Street will never do the right thing--yet they--not central bankers now run our unregulated theater show.

Debasing currency (via a loose monetary policy) is the only real trick central bankers have left (and open market junk paper injections/swaps)--and trash talk.

No hedge fund regs, audits or bank supervsion is on the table. The ponies are out of the barn anyway.



Wurm said:
But Greenspan and his partners in crime did nothing to stop it. He and his ilk knew exactly what would happen, and in fact encouraged it by his policies. "No regulation" is the mantra of these theives and crooks - under the rubric of "the free market" - and once again we're seeing the results of dereg run amok.
 
Find an appropriate title for the attached graph--other than "We're ****ed."

Does anyone have Shiller's book about housing? I have his "Irrational Exuberance" book, and it was a decent read of a subject that has been done before. His book on housing, which delves into the myths of real estate as an investment and looks to be ground breaking, should be very interesting.
 
Hein-Verbruggen said:
Well let's shoot Greenspan then.

Naw, too easy. I say we string him up by his shriveled nut sack 'til he begs for some "regulation" of his punishment.

"Then what?" The obvious answer is serious and meaningful gov't regulation & oversight, well beyond what exists today, AND real campaign finance reform. But most pols seem content to let the foxes run the henhouse, and won't willingly cut off their own gravy train.
 
Lim's lost library:
"The Smartest Guys in the Room" The amazing rise and fall of Enron
McLean & Elkind 2003

"Everything you know is Wrong" edited by Russ Klick 2002

"Evidence Dismissed" Tom Lange & Philip Vannatter 1997

"In Contempt" Chris Darden 1996

"Complete Conditioning for Football" Michael Arthur/Byran Bailey 1998

Lost books leave gaps.
 

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