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Eventually you will see the majority of public sentiment against bankers and corporations, but I am not sure if there is enough suffering yet to get everyone behind this movement.
The suffering will get worse going forward though, as the government and Fed run out of smoke and mirror tricks to stimulate the economy and, deleveraging reasserts itself, as it must to equalize asset prices and incomes.
I'm hoping it keeps up until Congress acts to restore balance to the economy. Having the majority of the wealth in the hands of a few leaves the rest of us fighting for their scraps.
Having the majority of the wealth in the hands of a few leaves the rest of us fighting for their scraps.
This is assuming that new wealth cannot be created and that the wealthy are profiting at the expense of the poor. Its like thinking of wealth as an orange tree that grows 100 oranges. The wealthy get 90 oranges and the poor get 10 oranges. The statement above would assume that we never plant more orange trees. If you want to make the poor better off all you need to do is plant more orange trees. In other words, the standard of living of the society is based on the amount of goods and services produced.
The major problem comes when the rich are getting subsidies and bailouts from the government or the government is passing legislation to favor one business over another. That's what happens when the government is too big. People favor bigger government thinking its going to protect them or help them out. In reality, the big government politicians sell out to special interests. Which is basically anyone with money who is willing to give it to politicians either directly or indirectly. Meanwhile, you are left with nothing and end up protesting in the streets. This cycle has repeated for thousands of years (ie. class warfare).
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I'm hoping it keeps up until Congress acts to restore balance to the economy.
and what specifically would that require congress to do? Let me guess, higher taxes on the rich and the corporations?
Eventually you will see the majority of public sentiment against bankers and corporations, but I am not sure if there is enough suffering yet to get everyone behind this movement.
The suffering will get worse going forward though, as the government and Fed run out of smoke and mirror tricks to stimulate the economy and, deleveraging reasserts itself, as it must to equalize asset prices and incomes.
I'm pretty sure the majority sentiment is already against them... but people do riot better when they are starving and hungry.
I'm hoping it keeps up until Congress acts to restore balance to the economy. Having the majority of the wealth in the hands of a few leaves the rest of us fighting for their scraps.
Pitchforks and broomsticks!!
Are you talking about lining them up against the wall?
This is assuming that new wealth cannot be created and that the wealthy are profiting at the expense of the poor. Its like thinking of wealth as an orange tree that grows 100 oranges. The wealthy get 90 oranges and the poor get 10 oranges. The statement above would assume that we never plant more orange trees. If you want to make the poor better off all you need to do is plant more orange trees. In other words, the standard of living of the society is based on the amount of goods and services produced.
The major problem comes when the rich are getting subsidies and bailouts from the government or the government is passing legislation to favor one business over another. That's what happens when the government is too big. People favor bigger government thinking its going to protect them or help them out. In reality, the big government politicians sell out to special interests. Which is basically anyone with money who is willing to give it to politicians either directly or indirectly. Meanwhile, you are left with nothing and end up protesting in the streets. This cycle has repeated for thousands of years (ie. class warfare).
and what specifically would that require congress to do? Let me guess, higher taxes on the rich and the corporations?
I tend to agree with the general analogy.
As I recently wrote elsewhere, the underlying problem with the US economy is that the US ruling classes have as a priority their power position in the global economy, while stewardship of the economy on US soil and its inhabitants is by now, for them, second fiddle.
For as long as the bulk of people on US soil do not see past that smoke screen (reference in the specific instance was to housing, but see below) and focus their efforts at being productively competitive (and I do not mean pencil-pushing and other meaningless service jobs) in the global economy, their station in that same global economy will continue to sink
And key to being competitive globally is real productive investment locally.
So I think that average US workers have largely themselves to blame, as reflected in their moral and cultural choices over the past 50 years or so, and the ruling classes have given them exactly what they deserve with the advent of information and communications technology and the globalization of industrialization.
Having said that, there is some chance that pressure from below could help to refocus the ruling class's priority on the economy on US soil.
But any such protests would have to be likewise keenly focused, and I expect that the ruling classes, as they have done for thousands of years, with episodic exceptions, will have the wherewithall and means to disperse the energies of any such protests, employing the usual smoke screens: red-herring social issues, promises of easy credit, subsidised psuedo-executive housing, cheap entertainment, etc.
Most likely, then, the ruling classes will re-assign priority to the economy on US soil when that by now expensive and culturally meaningless nuisance, the middle class, is pretty much gutted.
Prove me wrong through wise moral and cultural choices, keenly focused protests, and shrewd voting at the ballot box.
But any such protests would have to be likewise keenly focused,...
So far, the protests have had almost no specific focus. It is a sort of generalized resentment and frustration which is coming out. It will truly be interesting to see how long the protests continue, how much participation they draw, and how widespread they become geographically across the country.
So far, the protests have had almost no specific focus. It is a sort of generalized resentment and frustration which is coming out. It will truly be interesting to see how long the protests continue, how much participation they draw, and how widespread they become geographically across the country.
Exactly. What is it that these people want? What specific reforms or changes do they seek? Do they think they would have been better off if no "bailout" had taken place and the financial system had collapsed? I think their opinions might have been very different had the system collapsed and they learned their debit card didn't work and there was no way to buy food and gasoline to get them through the weekend.
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Lack of focus
