Divorced One Like Bush (his internet nickname... don't ask) has published a devastating critique of the role of the financial sector in America's economy. It has to be the best thing I have ever read on the site - and includes any of my own posts they have published there.
Quotes:
There's a "head in hands" element happening here among a lot of econ-bloggers. As the financial situation gets worse, bloggers like Divorced One Like Bush are shaking their heads in frustration at the stupidity of overpriced Wall Street bigwigs and the policies they have helped to create. Things have moved on now from the "Watch out, something bad is going to happen if we don't do something soon!" narrative of the past 3-4 years to the "I WISH SOMEONE LISTENED TO ME! NOW WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!", narrative appearing now which is, of course, something I have been doing of late.
Quotes:
There is only one solution to this and no one, not anyone is pointing it out: Put the financial sector of the economy back in alignment with the productive sector. What got us in this mess is our (well not all of us) belief that the financial sector can stand on it's own as a primary wealth/money creator. It can not. Never could. But, believing it put the impetus to the creation of “vehicles” for creating trades. You know all those securitized whatevers, and alphabet monikers, and insurance for insurance for insurance based on alphabet monikers of securitized whatevers. What did people expect would happen when you turn the part of your system that is dependent on activity in an other part for it's existence into a stand alone money creator. If you are going to keep generating money from money, then you are going to have to keep coming up with new “product”.
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Get it? We take an industry subservient to the needs of production and turn it into a competitor of production. I can polish and sell rocks without a bank to borrow from. I can accumulate wealth over time. My business may grow slowly and so may my wealth, but I can do it. But, remove all none financial activities and what does financial do to survive? What does it do to survive with no one needing a loan, backing, no desire to produce in a way that increases our productivity such that we have more time to purse happiness (that constitution purpose)? We treat finance as if it is the chicken/egg question. It is not. Finance came second and is dependent.
There's a "head in hands" element happening here among a lot of econ-bloggers. As the financial situation gets worse, bloggers like Divorced One Like Bush are shaking their heads in frustration at the stupidity of overpriced Wall Street bigwigs and the policies they have helped to create. Things have moved on now from the "Watch out, something bad is going to happen if we don't do something soon!" narrative of the past 3-4 years to the "I WISH SOMEONE LISTENED TO ME! NOW WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!", narrative appearing now which is, of course, something I have been doing of late.
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