Loving the Financial Crisis
Paul Krugman of the New York Times loves the financial crisis. He gets to write daily op-eds about how the Obama administration should spend even more money. Publicly disagree with him, and he gets to write another op-ed in which he calls you a bonehead. This bonehead — I mean, Nobel Prize-winning economist — has calculated that for every $1 the government spends, $1.50 in new GDP is created. By that logic, the government should spend all of its money to buy paper, ink, and printing presses and then just as the kids say, make it rain up in here.
Comedians love the financial crisis because it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Have you heard about Ford’s new car? It’s a hybrid that runs on a combination of gas and bailout money (David Letterman). And you know Guantanamo Bay’s going to be closed. Yes, the economy’s so bad that even the terrorists are losing their homes (Jay Leno).
Rush Limbaugh loves the financial crisis. Rush has been on top of his game ever since the Democratic primaries, and now that the party is in control and recycling its failed “War on Poverty” policies and breaking its centrist campaign promises, there has never been a better time for him to ask America if this is what they voted for, and articulate alternatives. We can only hope that the White House attacks that have very likely doubled his audience in just the past few weeks help to create a grassroots conservative monster.
Hamas also loves the crisis. In October, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that the U.S. financial collapse was a punishment from Allah because we supported the Gaza siege. Now that we’re paying $900 million to rebuild Gaza and giving scholarships to Palestinian students, I assume that Allah will spare us.
Rahm Emmanuel and Hillary Clinton love not just the financial crisis, but any crisis. And why shouldn’t they? They’re not the ones who get stuck with the check when the government screws up.
Those infamous “community organizers” love the crisis. Perhaps you were wondering what ever happened to those rock throwing delinquents that have followed the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the G8 everywhere they’ve gone since 1999. (Except to Singapore. Nobody messes with Singapore.) Now they’re shutting down Greece, ousting prime ministers in Iceland, rioting in Eastern Europe, torching BMWs in Germany, targeting foreclosure auctions in New York and CEO’s homes in Connecticut, striking and picketing parliament in London, and waving the hammer and sickle in Moscow. Track their progress here. And 2.5 million people are striking in France, proving that it is possible to actually surrender to a recession.
Nouriel Roubini loves the economic crisis. Nicknamed Dr. Doom, he is interviewed by Forbes, Bloomberg, CNBC, and other news media whenever they want a dire prediction of multi-trillion dollar banking losses. We can assume that book sales and consulting revenues are up. His claim to fame is that he predicted the real estate crash and stock market collapse. Kudos to financial writer Eric Tyson for noting that this college professor, who has no special access to economic data, also predicted a recession in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Of course, he is just one of many analysts that have been forecasting financial Armageddon for years and are now enjoying the spotlight.
Even some banks love the financial crisis. Northern Trust, fed up by government condemnation of a lavish party that they threw in February, decided to give their TARP money back and said that they didn’t even want it in the first place. Northern was founded in 1896 and has a reputation for conservative management. It survived the Great Depression with no government assistance. And now, this medium-sized Midwestern bank is worth more than Citigroup and half as much as Bank of America. Perhaps instead of criticizing them, Congress should be asking for their advice.
And I love the financial crisis because I can write articles like this. Does anyone else love the financial crisis? Let me know.
And I love financial crisis because I can entertain myself reading smart articles like this one.
But admit it, financial crisis forced us to learned about truckload of interesting and important stuff, and woke our intellects from drowning in belly blubber.
Hey, you forgot to mention that Obama loves the financial crisis. As long as the economy is in the doldrums he has an excuse NOT to work. What is the latest, he was fine tuning his bowling game while making time to jet off to LA for the Tonight Show? Like his buddy Rahm says, “never waste an opportunity.” The worse it gets the more he can pass the buck to the teleprompter.
I like the fact that the Financial Crisis has quickly laid bare all of the lies and empty promises of the liberal Democrats. We are pointed at an economic cliff and Obama / Reid / Pelosi are hitting the gas.
I have mixed feelings about the financial crisis because we don’t know how bad it will get. The up side is we might just get our heads on straight about how the economy works and start fresh on a sound footing. And the less deluded liberals among us may be finally through with fantasies of socialist utopia. Meanwhile I hope to profit from the bull market in gold and silver while I worry the cash I make will be worth half of what it was before the Age of Obama.
In the times of a robust economy, a sudden installation of a socialist agenda doesn’t do as much damage and doesn’t do it as quickly. I suspect we will find this experiemnt a flop and spend a lot more energuy getting out of the mess obama is creating daily.
I love it because it’s time for Americans to get what they vote for. And it shows Obama for the radical leftist that he is. Also, the “crisis” entertains and motivates me to work hard while saving and investing conservatively. This is a time for partisan democrats and the mainstream media to open their eyes, and I hope this situation enlightens them.
My brother is an Independent living in TX. He buys into all the Global Warming crap, and we have short, bitter arguments about it. I won yesterday. Oh, he still believes in the nonsense. However, I explained cap-n-trade to him. He’d never heard of it. (There’s a clue for you.) At first, he thought taxing the carbon emitters was a great idea. Then I explained how it would double or treble his electric bill. He quickly sang a different tune. I laughed hard when I hung up.
The crisis is making these kinds of things possible, and I hate it, but I LOVE the silver lining! There’s nothing, NOTHING, like coming out ahead in a family argument!
Mrs. Rodriguez: yes, it is time for Americans to get what they vote for. Someone once said, “People should get what they vote for . . . . good and hard.” Obama and his band of socialists are transforming the country into a neo-European pansy-state, full of government hand-out seekers & limp-wristed, bleeding-heart, liberals, or as Schwarzenegger calls them, “girlie-men.”
“The crisis is making these kinds of things possible, and I hate it, but I LOVE the silver lining! There’s nothing, NOTHING, like coming out ahead in a family argument!
”
I’m usually the guy who sits in the corner and throws another question. A discussion about the electric car would come up. It would be all wonderful, just plug it in and so on. Then I would say; well then what happens to the truck drivers and gas stations? hehe
Tristan, sure the leftists can say that the free market doesn’t work. An entirely free market doesn’t work since it leads to corruption. A regulated free market works well when the regulators are there only to view the market. Once the corporations and the regulators are seen close then that leads to corruption too. It’s more of a balance thing then either extreme working well.
I don’t see Socialism approaching, I see something a bit darker. I think the term National Socialism might be more accurate, although what’s coming will be unique in its own way. Crisis and fear are prime tools of Statists; enough crisis and fear that any attempt at measured thought regarding the path offered will be ignored. This a danger well-documented in history. This is where we currently are.
If you want to understand the messy financial situation of the USA (and the World), and have the patience to read it, open the following link. I guarantee that it will SHOCK you.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover
I predict that in six months (or less) the name of Joseph Cassano (from AIG) will be a household name (along with Bernie Madoff, Mike Milken, Enron, et al)
Thanks for the comments – its why I enjoy writing for Pajamas.
For Knights13:
“The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage; and this when used with calmness and deliberation will prove strong enough.”
- Andrew Jackson, Letter to James Buchanan, June 25, 1825
I hate to say it, but I’m doing fine. I work in the nuclear power industry and we have always been a counter-cyclical industry. When times are booming, we’re limping along. When times are tough, people get serious about building new nukes. The last Good Times were under Carter until 20% interest rates killed a bunch of projects.
I know it is selfish but that’s the way things seem to work.
Tristan-
Great meta-perspective
You pretty much nailed it.
I am reminded of when the Soviet Union collapsed, and all the former republics declared their independence…
The West celebrated and said to the Russians “yes, it will be rough for you at first, but after you go through a period of ‘shock therapy’, you will see how democracy and capitalism drastically improve the average standard of living.”
And that is exactly what happened… Look at the average Russian’s standard of living now, compared to Communism.
With that in mind, I think if we took our own advice, and went through a little “shock therapy” here in the US (letting substandard institutions fail rather than propping them up), that would also bode well for our future and our kids’ futures.