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This page contains all of the posts and discussion on MemeStreams referencing the following web page: Academics oppose bailout. You can find discussions on MemeStreams as you surf the web, even if you aren't a MemeStreams member, using the Threads Bookmarklet.
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Academics oppose bailout
by Decius at 9:25 am EDT, Sep 25, 2008 |
To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:
As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis. We are well aware of the difficulty of the current financial situation and we agree with the need for bold action to ensure that the financial system continues to function. We see three fatal pitfalls in the currently proposed plan:
1) Its fairness. The plan is a subsidy to investors at taxpayers’ expense. Investors who took risks to earn profits must also bear the losses. Not every business failure carries systemic risk. The government can ensure a well-functioning financial industry, able to make new loans to creditworthy borrowers, without bailing out particular investors and institutions whose choices proved unwise.
2) Its ambiguity. Neither the mission of the new agency nor its oversight are clear. If taxpayers are to buy illiquid and opaque assets from troubled sellers, the terms, occasions, and methods of such purchases must be crystal clear ahead of time and carefully monitored afterwards.
3) Its long-term effects. If the plan is enacted, its effects will be with us for a generation. For all their recent troubles, America's dynamic and innovative private capital markets have brought the nation unparalleled prosperity. Fundamentally weakening those markets in order to calm short-run disruptions is desperately short-sighted.
For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.
To be fair, this isn't very constructive. |
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RE: Academics oppose bailout
by skullaria at 11:08 am EDT, Sep 25, 2008 |
To be fair, this isn't very constructive.
It may not be constructive but I appreciate it. I have a friend that is so pro- the govt will do the right thing, trust them, that I am about ready to punch her. "My friends made so much money short selling before they made it illegal! Oh, see, the govt. is doing the right thing..." I could tell myself that 100 times but never believe it. I want a slower approach, a let's think this thing through and please let us have some oversight by elected officials... I'm reacting most viscerally to the 'scare the pants off them and then make them pass a bill real quick/don't give them time to think" smell of this. |
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RE: Academics oppose bailout
by Mike the Usurper at 12:28 pm EDT, Sep 25, 2008 |
Decius wrote:
To be fair, this isn't very constructive.
I would argue, it's enormously constructive. The White House is running around screaming, "Wolf! Wolf!" AGAIN! Having listened to W last night, it's plain, he didn't have a damn clue what the hell he was saying, and that version was boiled down to the point of Gerber Strained Carrots. Handing them a check for $700 Billion would be like walking up to Jason in a Friday the 13th movie and saying, "no no no, you don't want the french knife, here, use the chainsaw, it's much more effective!" We need people who know what they're talking about involved, Paulson and Bernanke are probably two of those guys since the government is involved, but thinking they should be the limit of that, which is exactly what these guys are arguing against, tells me I shouldn't be running for office, I should be selling bridges to gullible suckers. |
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RE: Academics oppose bailout
by Stefanie at 3:41 pm EDT, Sep 25, 2008 |
Decius wrote:
To be fair, this isn't very constructive.
I have to agree with Skullaria and Mike on this one. Whether one is for or against the bailout in principle, suggesting that we don't have time to carefully examine any plan for spending $700,000,000,000 doesn't seem very constructive to me. That's even more money than I've spent on anime. |
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