In hindsight, I guess the argument can be made that out of control gov't spending was seeded in the 1980s, at least it looks that way.
Correctamundo! The "reason" the government runs deficits is greed... trying to get something for nothing, regardless of the damage it does in the long run.
Ok Larson. Reagan tried to do some things that were positive. But, like Obama, he was surrounded by people who didn't always give him great advice. Stockman was one of Reagan's economic advisers. Now, he comes out and says the advice he gave was not technically sound. Go figure...
von Mises: Bernanke is a fool, condemned to repeat history "There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final total catastrophe of the currency involved."
If you are thinking of the 1987 October crash you will find it very clearly explained in Bookstaber's nice book: "A Demon of our Own Design". If your referring to Volcker, he didn't cause it.
I have a good friend, a well Berkeley educated architect. He tells me the US has perfected imperialism. (Perhaps modeled after the UK.) There may be an opportunity for yet another mutual fund here. One that exploits both U.S. imperialism and its love of monopolies and cartels after the capitalist model. Let's call it the "Cynic's Fund". It will only invest in "securities" of the "defense" and medical industries. The prospectus will put the words "defense" and "securities" in quotes with a footnote that explains that these are the politically correct terms for "aggression" and "lottery tickets", respectively.
+1 Ya can't buy voters and influence lobbyists (whose interests generate re-election contributions) without spending money in Washington. They don't call them "Beltway Bandits" for nothing. It the same old story banished from the public's consciousness with the likes of Ross Perot. What fun to be part of the largest democracy in the world. Seems the pro's are hell bent on auguring the real economy under the moniker of saving the institutions of wealth which screwed the pooch in pursuit of the world's oldest profession (masters of greed). ON BALANCE - Since most are here to help figure out how to get "our slice", I guess its better to stop bitching about it and just trade it
Yeah...that NJ guy for Pres and Volker to replace Bernacke...Could be a intersesting Palin sandwich no?