Dear Sirs, In his article today (" The Federal Reserve must prolong the party"), Martin Wolf refuses to acknowledge one obvious origin of the current financial crisis: the explicit policies of the Bush administration, pushed with the open support of the Greenspan Fed. These policies, via targetted tax cuts, massive corporate pork made possible by a war of choice, and lax monetary and banking policies, had as sole goal to make the rich richer. Stagnant wages, made possible by weakening of corporate regulation and increased access to the Chinese labor pool, were instrumental in making higher profits possible, and lax monetary conditions allowed bubbling financial asset values. Lower taxes made capture ofthat wealth easier forthe owner class, and share buybacks (instead of investment) was one of the preferred instruments. The debt bubble also had the great advantage of making it possible to hide from most Americans that they were not sharing in that wealth capture, by allowing them to keep on consuming - by spending money provided by easy debt instead of by actual income. The fact that spending was underpinned by debt and not by income, which is an invitable result of the neoliberal pollicies pursued, is the main cause of the American deficits and the need for the rest of the world to finance them. As US spending is directed at manufacturing based in other countries, their complicity has been easy enough to procure. At this stage, the imbalances are totally unsustainable and need to be corrected - in fact, they should have been several years ago. That correction will be painful enough; arguing for yet another round of the bubble merry-go round, will can only lead to a worse outcome in the end, is utterly irresponsible.
In his article today (" The Federal Reserve must prolong the party"), Martin Wolf refuses to acknowledge one obvious origin of the current financial crisis: the explicit policies of the Bush administration, pushed with the open support of the Greenspan Fed. These policies, via targetted tax cuts, massive corporate pork made possible by a war of choice, and lax monetary and banking policies, had as sole goal to make the rich richer. Stagnant wages, made possible by weakening of corporate regulation and increased access to the Chinese labor pool, were instrumental in making higher profits possible, and lax monetary conditions allowed bubbling financial asset values. Lower taxes made capture ofthat wealth easier forthe owner class, and share buybacks (instead of investment) was one of the preferred instruments.
The debt bubble also had the great advantage of making it possible to hide from most Americans that they were not sharing in that wealth capture, by allowing them to keep on consuming - by spending money provided by easy debt instead of by actual income. The fact that spending was underpinned by debt and not by income, which is an invitable result of the neoliberal pollicies pursued, is the main cause of the American deficits and the need for the rest of the world to finance them. As US spending is directed at manufacturing based in other countries, their complicity has been easy enough to procure.
At this stage, the imbalances are totally unsustainable and need to be corrected - in fact, they should have been several years ago. That correction will be painful enough; arguing for yet another round of the bubble merry-go round, will can only lead to a worse outcome in the end, is utterly irresponsible.
Amendments, comments, ideas? In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
"owner class" - how about "those with substantial ownership of shares and other financial assets, a small minority even in the US" In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
These policies, via targetted tax cuts, massive corporate pork made possible by a war of choice, and lax monetary and banking policies, had as sole goal to make the rich richer. Stagnant wages, made possible by weakening of corporate regulation and increased access to the Chinese labor pool, were instrumental in making higher profits possible, and lax monetary conditions allowed bubbling financial asset values.
Too many "possible" in my opinion.
capture ofthat wealth easier forthe owner class
Should be
capture of that wealth easier for the owner class
and
an invitable result of the neoliberal pollicies pursued
an inevitable result of the neoliberal policies pursued
To the barricades! Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
Dear Sirs, In his article today (" The Federal Reserve must prolong the party"), Martin Wolf refuses to acknowledge one obvious [cause] of the current financial crisis: the [] policies of the Bush administration, [carried out] with the open support of the Greenspan Fed. These policies, [through tax cuts targeted at the well-off , massive corporate pork made possible by a war of choice, and lax monetary and banking policies, had to making the rich richer as their goal] . Stagnant wages, made possible by weakening of corporate regulation and increased access to the Chinese labor pool, were instrumental in making higher profits possible, and lax monetary conditions allowed bubbling financial asset values. Lower taxes made capture of that wealth easier for the rich, and share buybacks (instead of investment) [have been] among the preferred instruments. The debt bubble also had the great advantage of making it possible to hide from most Americans that they were not sharing in that wealth capture by allowing them to keep on consuming through spending money provided by easy debt instead of actual income. That spending was underpinned by debt and not by income, which is an inevitable result of the neoliberal pollicies pursued, is the main cause of the American deficits and the need for the rest of the world to finance them. As US spending is directed at manufacturing based in other countries, their complicity has been easy enough to procure. The imbalances are totally unsustainable and need to be corrected - in fact, they should have been several years ago. That correction will be painful enough; arguing for yet another round of the bubble merry-go round, which will can only lead to a worse outcome in the end, is utterly irresponsible.
The debt bubble also had the great advantage of making it possible to hide from most Americans that they were not sharing in that wealth capture by allowing them to keep on consuming through spending money provided by easy debt instead of actual income. That spending was underpinned by debt and not by income, which is an inevitable result of the neoliberal pollicies pursued, is the main cause of the American deficits and the need for the rest of the world to finance them. As US spending is directed at manufacturing based in other countries, their complicity has been easy enough to procure.
The imbalances are totally unsustainable and need to be corrected - in fact, they should have been several years ago. That correction will be painful enough; arguing for yet another round of the bubble merry-go round, which will can only lead to a worse outcome in the end, is utterly irresponsible.
"had [] making the rich richer as their goal"? In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
the rich richer
by spending money provided by easy debt instead of by actual income.
The fact that spending was underpinned by debt and not by income, which is an invitable result of the neoliberal pollicies pursued, is the main cause of the American deficits and the need for the rest of the world to finance them.
arguing for yet another round of the bubble merry-go round, will can only lead to a worse outcome in the end, is utterly irresponsible.
But it should be commented on as well that the Chinese have made incredible investments into their infrastructure, both in the manufacturing plants and equipment, and also in the cities and roads and subways and and and. Point being, (and I have no figures at hand to back this up), I am certain that they have been making the capital investments that the Americans have not...that the Americans have been doling out to the vulture class.
China only recently became a net creditor to the world, but they have been a net creditor to the US for quite a while. They have been buying from the EU, though again, I don't have the data stored and google is filled with too much to winnow. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
Dear Sirs, In his article today (" The Federal Reserve must prolong the party"), Martin Wolf refuses to acknowledge one obvious cause of the current financial crisis: the policies of the Bush administration, carried out with the open support of the Greenspan Fed. These policies, through tax cuts targeted at the well-off, massive corporate pork made possible by a war of choice, and lax monetary and banking policies, had making the investment class richer as their goal - at the expense of everyone else who participates in the economy. Stagnant wages, made possible by weakening of corporate regulation and increased access to the Chinese labor pool, were instrumental in making higher profits possible, and lax monetary conditions allowed bubbling financial asset values. Lower taxes made capture of that wealth easier for the rich, and share buybacks (instead of investment) have been among the preferred instruments to get it done. The debt bubble also had the great advantage of making it possible to hide from most Americans that they were not sharing in that wealth capture, by hooking consumers on a habit of corrosive easy debt which substituted for actual income increases. The fact that spending growth was underpinned by debt and not by income is an invitable result of the neoliberal policies pursued and the main cause of the American deficits, as financed by the rest of the world. With US spending directed at manufacturing based in other countries, their complicity has been easy enough to procure. The imbalances are totally unsustainable and need to be corrected - in fact, they should have been several years ago. That correction will be painful enough; arguing for yet another round of the bubble merry-go round, which can only lead to an even worse crisis later, is utterly irresponsible.
In his article today (" The Federal Reserve must prolong the party"), Martin Wolf refuses to acknowledge one obvious cause of the current financial crisis: the policies of the Bush administration, carried out with the open support of the Greenspan Fed. These policies, through tax cuts targeted at the well-off, massive corporate pork made possible by a war of choice, and lax monetary and banking policies, had making the investment class richer as their goal - at the expense of everyone else who participates in the economy.
Stagnant wages, made possible by weakening of corporate regulation and increased access to the Chinese labor pool, were instrumental in making higher profits possible, and lax monetary conditions allowed bubbling financial asset values. Lower taxes made capture of that wealth easier for the rich, and share buybacks (instead of investment) have been among the preferred instruments to get it done.
The debt bubble also had the great advantage of making it possible to hide from most Americans that they were not sharing in that wealth capture, by hooking consumers on a habit of corrosive easy debt which substituted for actual income increases. The fact that spending growth was underpinned by debt and not by income is an invitable result of the neoliberal policies pursued and the main cause of the American deficits, as financed by the rest of the world. With US spending directed at manufacturing based in other countries, their complicity has been easy enough to procure.
The imbalances are totally unsustainable and need to be corrected - in fact, they should have been several years ago. That correction will be painful enough; arguing for yet another round of the bubble merry-go round, which can only lead to an even worse crisis later, is utterly irresponsible.
