I'm having a hard time following, Jim; I think a demagogue is a person. And 'appauding' must be a typo. Other than that I assume you are taking up the Ayn Rand torch in her absence.
About a hundred years ago, we had a widespread national problem when some successful business owners cut costs by treating their employees like chinese peasants. So we established a few guidelines.
Then about 80 years ago, the financial markets collapsed after a run up in prices was fueled by excessive leveraging of paper investments and boisterous animal spirits. ('Animal spirits' being the economist's euphemistic shorthand explanation for why otherwise intelligent people invest irrationally as a herd.) As a consequence, several well designed laws were put into place to prevent financial institutions from engaging in wild short term speculation with other people's savings.
Beginning about 30 years ago, believing that we had entered a new more rational era, we repealed those laws. Not altogether surprisingly, their repeal has had a disastrous outcome.
What we should probably do is go back to separating depository institutions from proprietary trading activities. Also, we need to register financial transactions so that market participants are well informed. This simple strategy would provide immediate relief to investment markets. Lenders, borrowers, and speculators would all feel that they were once again on solid ground -- able to assess risk in a stable business environment.
It seems to me that the recent financial collapse has caused a widespread fear of further financial ruin. This seems to be surfacing as a lot of talk about socialism, anarchy, totalitarianism, and the like.
I don't see the relevance. The top tax rate, the year I was born (1959) was 91%. It's much lower now.
I do see the deleterious effect of irresponsibly biased mass media. I do see the pernicious loss of my personal rights. And as a businessperson I am all too aware of the explosion in regulations of all types.
So, I support political fixes to these problems and apply the maxim that 'Less is More.'
However, I'm far more concerned about tracking my cholesterol or my blood pressure than I am about terrorists. And I really don't see the commies making a big comeback anytime soon.
Luckily for us, advances in technology are and will continue to improve productivity in the workplace. The internet is only beginning to reap benefits -- with much more to follow.
One possibility is that life has never been better, and that it will continue to improve.
2 comments:
Extremely well said. I wish this could reach a wide audience, as it would serve to take the temperature down and deflate the hypertension currently suffered in many quarters.
I'm having a hard time following, Jim; I think a demagogue is a person. And 'appauding' must be a typo. Other than that I assume you are taking up the Ayn Rand torch in her absence,
Really?
You had a hard time following my point? The one where I mentioned "QUIT DIGGING A HOLE" several times?
Use of demagogue rather than demagoguery confused you so much that you had a hard time following the "QUIT DIGGING HOLE" part?
OK, I guess.
I do admire Ayn Rand, her being absent by being dead, but that was not the point of my "QUIT DIGGING HOLE" post.
My point was that all along, Mr Baxter has argued that tax cuts have lead to deficits and I have argued that given the opportunity L/P/S would spend us into oblivion and them demand huge tax increases which would explode the deficit (by harming the economy). And now just like "magic" here we are! And if Mr. Baxter and his party were serious about fiscal restraint they could at least start by "QUIT DIGGING A HOLE".
Now...a second little issue. See these folks really think the government is best, they really do. I know my use of the appauding may have confused you (applauded), but they really want the government to control everything. I know, weird, but they do. And I don't. Their plan is to mess up the country and then ride to the rescue with more of the same which got us into the mess. A viscous cycle...yes!
Lastly, gosh you had some good ideas, but what do they have to do with the government taking over 30% of GDP as they continue to "DIG A HOLE" showing no plans for fiscal restraint. (remember when they could not agree to eliminate $17B of earmarks?).
And, I can handle your cholesterol, that is easy, but you do need to worry about terrorists, less so however because our last President took them seriously.
Some days I just can't wait to get home.
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