Monday, February 09, 2009

It's More or Less Official: We're In a Global Depression

The pending question: Are we capable of learning anything from Great Depression Era economic policy blunders?

Chirpy blog entry on Saturday from "George Washington's Blog," one of our very favorites. Here's the lede:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the organization that audits the books of countries world-wide to determine their real financial health. The IMF is also responsible for bailing out countries in trouble, and stabilizing the world's economic systems.
The IMF has also performed a complete audit of the whole US financial system, and therefore has a clearer idea of American finances than just about any other organization.
So the fact that the head of the IMF is saying that the world's advanced economies are already in a depression carries great weight.
And here's the full writeup, which is filled with eye-opening links:
It's More or Less Official: We're In a Global Depression
As an added bonus, we present an instructive article submitted by one of our gentle readers over the weekend, which picks up on the same topic, and then draws some interesting historical comparisons between current economic events and government actions, and those of the 1930's. Among other things, the author, Mr. Scaliger, warns of the peril of aggressive and excessive government-interventionist policies... (and the unrestrained fiat currency printing press):
Parallels With the Great Depression
Food for thought, we think, as the congress and current presidential administration move forward at breakneck speed, to launch the next volley of multi-hundred-billion dollar financial industry bailouts, (with boatloads of other highly-dubious "economic stimuli" (pork) thrown in to boot.)

Brings to mind, we think, that old George Santayana ax, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Reader comments are invited, as always.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

U.S. Taxpayers Risk $9.7 Trillion on Bailouts as Senate Votes

Anonymous said...

Rudizink, I really appreciate the
time and effort that you exert in your preparation for this Forum.

Even more, I appreciate your trying to factually present the pros and cons of the current financial crisis in this country.

However, I am appalled by the lack of comments and apparent indifference by Weber County Forum readers toward the real crisis that faces us.

This crisis will not be a short term apparition. Survival is about more than having a job. Survival depends on understanding the reasons we have reached this crisis. A knowledge of how we got to this point is critical so that we will not allow it to happen again.

Copying what President Roosevelt did in 1933 is not the solution for now.

Printing more bogus money is not the solution. The only way we will recover is to forget about keeping the standard of living up for all persons and let the chips fall where they may.

Our government does not create money nor make money on its own. The only money the government has is what they first take from us.

We have created an elite government employee system that is better paid and better retired than the major citizenry who furnishes the funds for the government employees to even have a job.

The bright spot in this crisis is that perhaps we will be forced to reinvent our government according to our original constitutional
principles.

RudiZink said...

Thanks, Dorothy. Unfortunately most people who still have jobs won't even be forced to give up their mundane lives, and take a look at their present economic situation,until the shit hits the fan, and they're outta work, and/or their IRA retirement accounts are totally depleted.

Sadly, Americans prefer to be oblivious to economics... until they find themselves out of work, or in foreclosure, or both.

Anonymous said...

Our new President is an accomplished orator but he has a lot to learn about his own Democrat leaders in the U. S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate.

This proposed taxpayer giveaway of trillions is Senator Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker Reid's bill.
The bill was not put together by Obama because he can't even discuss the particulars.

Pelosi and Reid have crafted the bill in the traditional Democrat "share the wealth" thinking which takes the money from top producers in this country to benefit non-income-producing persons.

Half the people in this country pay no income tax. But they still receive tax credits for having children. And they want national health care which will be the next giveaway.

In the new handout of taxpayer funds that is supposed to quick- charge the economy, is a proposed $15,000.00 tax credit for a first-time home buyer. This credit is to bail out the home builders and developers who haven't been watching their own industry.

The concept of bailing out everyone to try to guarantee everyone a job and/or some spendable money is contrary to our form of government.

We have created a three-generation welfare system in this country with the programs we instituted years ago under this theory of taking from the producers to reward the non-producers.

Obama promises us a change from the old way of carrying on the government's business but he is not changing anything with this proposed trillion dollar handout of money that we do not have and which hasn't even been accounted for at this time.

The only way to solve our current problems is to let the chips fall where they may and let the individuals and businesses who need to go bankrupt actually go bankrupt and start over and be responsible for their own actions.

If the Democrats are determined to push this Stimulus Bill through then they should be talking about paying for it.

Paying for it could be done by stopping all foreign aid to countries that are our enemies and stopping aid to countries that are our friends but that we can't afford to maintain such as Israel.

Cut off funding for the United Nations and the World Bank and the World Health Organization, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Quit giving away hundreds of billions of dollars and pay off our debts and save this country.

Anonymous said...

Tonight's evening news should make a few of us apathetic taxpayers rise up and scream about the stimulus.

Can you believe that $646 MILLION DOLLARS is in the package to build a new headquarters for Homeland Security!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard.

Oh yes, anyone who buys a new American made car is supposed to get a tax credit, too.

How are the tax credits supposed to help people who aren't going to owe tax because they don't have any taxable income because they do not have a job.

We have morons running Congress.

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