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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus17-2008sep17,0,2186787.column?track=ntothtml
Sadly, I simply have my eyes open. I still think that the real rook job isthe pseudo-governmental Federal Reserve and now these ridiculous bailouts. They are proving daily that this intervening step between the Treasury and the commercial lenders is nothing but a glorified ponzi scheme that is subject to abuse. And when they really screw up, oftentimes because of too much government meddling (e.g. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, S & LIndustry), they are deemed "too big to fail" a ridiculous euphemism for "do over at taxpayer expense". The article cited above is a pretty brave statement among a mostly complicit bunch. Consolidation of airlines, telecom, oil companies,and even the auto industry seems defensible given that these industries are so heavily dependent upon huge capital investments and vertically integrated processes and distribution channels. If you look at the cost of airfare today versus 1980, or even oil and gasoline today versus 1980, or your phone bill, etc. the consumer has benefited greatly. Computers cost a fraction of what they once did in real dollar terms. Banking on the other hand has gotten SO much more expensive and it is such a huge skim (with fees out the wazoo) - banks surely don't need to be so big for purposes of efficiency. Likewise, the mortgage business. Investment houses. Hedge fund manager salaries. Was reading recently that whereas corporations carefully scrutinize legal expenses, investment firms such as Merrill, Goldman, Lehman, etc. let the firms bill at full tilt. The big NYC firms (except those with robust bankruptcy practices) will be a casualty of this mess, which I don't mind seeing one bit. I mean, if you wanted to, you could start up a bank in two weeks if you got all the paper approvals and some investors. Chase, Citibank and now BofA do not achieve any economy of scale in continuing to grow and in being an intermediary for the Treasury/Fed; instead they just gain more influence and monopoly control of the flow of capital. And when they make bad investments, they simply beg for their rich (but hugely overextended) Uncle Sam to open up the discount window with some monopoly money created out of thin air that they will simply sell to a high-bidder and pocket the difference - usually doleing out a princely sum to a fraction of a percent of the people involved (i.e. CEO, CFO, Controller,etc.). The proof is in the pudding because in this arena there have been no appreciable benefits to consumers - in fact the consumer / investor is now being harmed. Same with insurance, lots and lots of interference and consolidations and the product is now more scarce, more expensive and less responsive to the customer. Now AIG will be owned by the U.S. Government and before this intervention, the federal government barely even regulated insurers - that's always been the province of state governments. Hank Greenburg is a whining crybaby. I hope all his wealth shrivels into a little raisin. But back to Chomsky's observations in Manufacturing Consent...In my opinion, the FCC has been asleep at the wheel and has allowed way too much consolidation of the media sector. As far as the interface between all these "candidates" and the voters, there are three strategies working in sequence: make your guy or gal look like a pop culture icon or borrow the support of hollywood darlings at any available opportunity; co-opt the media and control the dialogue so as not to actually engage in policymaking or real debate; and finally, let the real economy operate outside the fray of the media circus having your candidate feign sympathy and act like he or she can affect this dynamic. To me, it underscores the fact that Obama/Biden/Clinton/Reich/Bush/Rice/McCain/Shumer/Pelosi etc. etc. are simply pawns who pretend to be in charge. Its a joke. The architects/gatekeepers of this system (Soros, Cheney, elder Bush, et al) keep all this in play and maybe need to leverage this strength to pay off Sunnis not to kill Shiites, or pay Iran not to develop nukes, or pay Boeing and Lockheed and Northrup to build 1.3 billion dollar aircraft. Those folks undoubtedly look down their nose at people who actually think that the elections make a difference from a representative governmental standpoint. Ok, they make a difference in that its either George Soros as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, or its Dick Cheney. That's what our vote means. That government is best which governs least. We should kick these free riders to the curb and just maintain a road crew in each jurisdiction and a school of last resort that would compete with a largely private school system funded, in part, by regional employers, churches, mosques and synagogues; a federal army with 2 year mandatory conscription for males (including immigrants with or without credentials) and don't get bent out of shape ladies - you could still volunteer if you choose. Policing could be done locally and fire protection should be supplied by a cooperative of industries, homeowners' associations or by their insurers, if they deem it worthwhile. Likely, they wouldn't. Cats would need to find their own way out of trees.
