Comments on: High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs

By: Dr. Paul Biri

Dr. Paul Biri — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:47:32 +0000

In the financial crisis on 1991-1994 Finland did not nationalize any banks. The government created junk banks to mop up bad loans. Taxpayers paid 8% of GNP to banks and insurance companies as unemployment hit 16%. Swedish solution was half as expensive and much more moderate.
In Finland GINI index increased faster, economic inequalities grew. But the high-tech boom with NOKIA as the spear head revived Finnish economy.
For the USA there are no export driven fixes to wait. There is no sense to American taxpayers to offer and suffer as much as the Finnish ones did.

By: Bank Bailouts Aren’t The Only Answer — “High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs” « A New Way Forward on Economic Recovery

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:02:02 +0000

[...] the Baseline Scenario Blog, we find cogent arguments on different alternatives to our economic crisis. Simon Johnson’s [...]

By: Constructive

Constructive — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:28:47 +0000

I think a first step towards recovery is for the taxpayers to claw back the hundreds of billions paid in bonuses at Wall Street banks that are now receiving hundreds of billions from taxpayers.

This is not to quell populist anger, but is merely a matter of basic fairness. That it may mollify the public is a side effect.

The WS massive and egregious bonuses were premised on the notion that they were earned for brilliance and creativity. It turns out the WS wizards were not brilliant, nor creative, just incompetent, and hence unworthy of these astronomical sums. Normally, this would be just an issue of corporate governance, not an issue of the taxpayers, but in this case, it turns out that the losses are not just shareholders’ money, but taxpayers’ money that has been improperly advanced to these bankers.

By: sasha fokin

sasha fokin — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:47:33 +0000

one more thing that simon didn’t touch. someone should stop rating agencies like moody, s&p, etc. to rate anything, since their mathematical corrupted models failed from the beginning, not to mention loser’s analysts from citi, bac, etc. we all remember how lehman or bear downgraded someone just before their collapse. if it’s not pathetic and tragic i don’t know what is.

By: sasha fokin

sasha fokin — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:17:09 +0000

i wish it was structured like this: bloomberg for president, obama for vise president, and simon for treasury sec. enough of goldman “dogs” who will always
listen their owners. as simon said it was necessary to
break down the power of small group usually associated
with third world countries. we should probably learn from swedes not to put band aid over toxic, but to start business from scratch…much cheaper and more efficient. sad to see smart people standing on the side
while the states going under.

By: Et provo-indl�g om bankerne - Boligdebatten.dk

Et provo-indl�g om bankerne - Boligdebatten.dk — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:11:50 +0000

[...] Simon Johnson forhenv�rende chef�konom hos IMF har et lille provokerende indl�g p� denne blog. High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs Interessant synspunkt at bankv�senet m�ske ikke skal have lov til at konsolidere sig til nutidens [...]

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:37:05 +0000

Mr. Torpey (16 Feb, 3:47PM):

It is well to ridicule those who voted for McCain, but electing Obama will make no difference, for he is as much an insider, a man of the entrenched and corrupt system, as McCain is, perhaps more so. After all, look where Obama learned his political craft – in arguably the most corrupt city and state in the United States, Chicago, IL. You know, a place where dead people and seven-year olds vote, where the governor sells to the highest bidder, and where the Daley machine has run our schools and other public institutions into the ground…

I hope I am wrong, but things will get considerably worse before they get any better, is the view here. If the crisis affects only the common man, and not the big shots, nothing will get done to change things. The elites have not yet suffered enough, hence the status quo will remain in place at least for now.

By: Joe’s Investo-Blog » High Noon: Geithner v. The Bank Oligarchs

Joe’s Investo-Blog » High Noon: Geithner v. The Bank Oligarchs — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:46:45 +0000

[...] http://baselinescenario.com/2009/02/08/high-noon-geithner-v-the-american-oligarchs/ [...]

By: A very important article by an expert, discussing the necessary next step to solve the financial crisis « Fabius Maximus

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:01:34 +0000

[...] advice from an experienced professional. I strongly recommend reading this in full; ”High Noon: Geithner v. the American Oligarchs“, Simon Johnson, The Baseline Scenario, 8 February [...]

By: William F. Torpey

William F. Torpey — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:47:50 +0000

It’s not just Geithner vs the oligarchy, but the millions of sheep who are corraled by the right wingers into thinking they’re one of them. Why else would more than 58 million Americans vote for John McCain. To get us out of this mess, we need to make sure that all Americans know which side their bread is buttered on.

By: We, the oligarchs vs. you, the chumps | The Humane Economy

We, the oligarchs vs. you, the chumps | The Humane Economy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:23:02 +0000

[...] TV. Bill Moyers, after catching Simon Johnson’s post on The Baseline Scenario entitled High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs, invited him for an interview on his PBS television program, Bill Moyers [...]

By: May

May — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:18:09 +0000

Let’s see what happens. Will the Govt have the resolve is the question.
This post reminded me of two items I had recently read which also discussed aspects of the same:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/reynolds/reynolds19.html
Timothy Geithner and the Ruling Class

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a8mdg7z0u7Dw&refer=home
U.S. Housing Slump Has ‘Just Begun,’ Says Forecaster Talbott

By: Economic Principals » Blog Archive » To See Ourselves As Others See Us

Economic Principals » Blog Archive » To See Ourselves As Others See Us — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:10:18 +0000

[...] or Korea, but not the way Americans are accustomed to thinking of themselves. In a post last week, High Noon: Geithner vs. the American Oligarchs, Johnson [...]

By: Simon Johnson, IMF economist, on banking crisis « Crisis Diary as it unfolds ….

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:00:05 +0000

[...] strategist, really break with the vested elites that got you into this much trouble?“ Simon Johnson, professor economics at MIT, former chief economist [...]

By: Reality Check

Reality Check — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:18:28 +0000

I like all the outrage. I’m just wondering where it was a couple years ago, when everybody was making money hand over fist and getting “rich” (on paper). Just as evidenced by the Madoff fiasco, you all were very happy to turn a blind eye to the deep corruption in the system when it was benefiting you, and only “discover” it now that you’re getting back to the reality of being poor.
Nice! Rage on!