JJS: The “only” way? Why not spread around the “concentrated” wealth and power? Why underestimate the power of economic justice?

“Faith in free financial markets grew into conventional wisdom”

JJS: But you just painstakingly demonstrated, markets are not free but orchestrated. And most “civil servants” are not fiscal savants.

“the economy can’t recover until the banks are healthy and willing to lend.”

JJS: Really? It has never has before? Again, the pseudo-supremacy of money — symbols over land — stuff. That human brain’s need for symbol — which takes so much pleasure in religion and astrology and so forth — can easily obscure reality.

“the Federal Reserve has taken on a major role in providing credit to the economy.”

JJS: To the “economy”? Not to me or anyone around here. It’s that scepter-centric worldview again.

Cleaning up the megabanks will be complex. And it will be expensive for the taxpayer.

JJS: “Complex” means don’t blame those responsible if it doesn’t work to takes too long. And it calls for self-styled “experts”. And sticking the citizen with the tab is not a foregone conclusion. Why underestimate the power of economic justice? Forget bailouts. Just de-tax efforts, charge full-market value for government-granted privilege (from EM spectrum licenses to oil leases) and pay the citizenry a dividend, as would any healthy economic entity.

The “solution”, after breaking up the banking cartel, is a political one, “thou shalt not grow or merge,” yet without correcting the condition that allowed concentration in the first place, which is the privatization of publicly-generated, mainly and classically the value of land, or location more precisely. Have government recover that and share it with us, and mortgages — at half size and no longer inflating — would never again be such hot commodities. And deeper still, you’d flatten the business cycle. Then, in widespread prosperity, the only problem is it’d take the limelight off economists and commentators.

Hahah, perhaps it is my turn to question your logic?!

“You are no more or less important than any other reader of this blog.” – James Kwak

I don’t see the logical connection with your quote above and how I’ve posted my comments. The commenting mechanism is readily available to all. I didn’t enjoy any special advantages that aren’t available to all others. The fact that my comments, in my view, are more valuable than the many meaningless rants not withstanding:-)

On the subject of fairness, the current commenting system rewards those who clicks submit first. Is that really fair to the guy that put in more thoughts into his comment? Shouldn’t the thoughtful comment get more attention?

Let me broaden the subject of fairness to a larger scale. Perhaps you should take a statistical look at how many comments are meaningless rants. From that you can estimate how much time a reader has to waste on them. Finally, multiple that number by all your readers! Is it fair for baseline scenario to impose that level of inefficiency on its readers?

Of course, to be fair, I know you are limited by wordpress.com. In that sense we are working around the limit of the underlying system. As a student of economics, my action should’ve pleased you right? I competed more efficiently than the next guy!

In conclusion, I disagree with you:

1. logically – I didn’t enjoy any special advantage!
2. objectively – Baseline scenario’s commenting system is fundamentally unfair and inefficient!
3. subjectively – My comments are more valuable than others’ meaningless rant!

I have to admit I am LOL as I write this! Honestly, you need to move to a better commenting system to take baseline scenario to the next level!

Take care,
Silly Thing

I don’t mind your comments. However, I do mind the fact that you “reply” to the first comment – even though your “reply” has nothing to do with that comment – simply to move your comment to the top of the page. You are no more or less important than any other reader of this blog.

If you do that again, I will delete your comment.

http://baselinescenario.com/2009/04/22/the-missing-witness/#comment-11515

I have said this before: nothing will change, until you march, armed, into Washington. Nothing. Your deeply corrupt politicians and business people don’t fear “words”. Armed citizens marching into washington….they fear.

AA

Command economies are dictated from the top down. When you have a process which tends to accumulate all value to those at the top, that is where we are headed anyway. Real growth is bottom up, not top down. The fact is that we need some top down order in order to function as a society in the first place. What I’m saying is not for the state to own everything, but to admit that it does create the monetary system. Whether it then leaves it to private management and profit taking is another matter. There are times when private banks and communities issued their own currency and they worked quite well, until they didn’t, for various reasons. We need a broad based currency. We don’t need a broad based banking system, although it needs to be regulated by whomever issues the currency in which it deals.
As I pointed out, if people do recognize that currency really is, which it already is, a form of public utility, then they would be much less inclined to monetize wealth in the first place. This serves to reduce the power and influence of those managing the currency!

Not much can be done if the problems are ignored or displaced rather than confronted.

As one who fully supported Obama, and held the high hopes that he (unlike any other) politician would actually honor his promises to give voice to the voice, – I am shattered, and frankly astounded that Obama has pursued a overtly onesided solution, and surrounded himself with supplyside, voodoo economics Wall Street insiders, and Goldman Sach employee’s exclusively. There is not a single progressive or liberal voice, and any representative of labor, and any industry outside of Wall Street in Obama’s cabinet. This is a grotesque betrayal of the peoples best interests and specifically the people who voted for him with the audacity to hope for real change.

Alas, what we see in many arena’s (accountability from the bushgov, torture, habeaus corpus, rendition, warrantless spying on Americans, Iraq, Aghanistan) unfortunately is the perpetuation of the status quo and the shameless advancing of the exact same penicious policies of the bushgov that undermined the credibility of the US globally, and weekened America politically, economically, legally, and morally.

As far as retaliation michael magnotta, – I agree with you that “…to have effect in this society has to mirror your proposed “solutions” rather than some uprising, armed or otherwise.” No one is condoning or promoting violence, – but I am attempting to shine light on the fact that many people are approaching crisis thresholds that once breeched will push some of those individuals to pursue asymetrical solutions. There won’t necessarily be any sound reasoning, or logic, or principles or morality, or law guiding these individuals (or groups of individuals) asymetric actions or retaliations, – but a more primal or animal forces will drive thier actions.

Restoring some sense of balance, basic fairness, legality, and equality, or egalitarian policies to the financial system could alleviate this ferocious strain and tension between thehaves and thehavenots. Reframing the unmitigated greed prevalent and systemic on Wall Street as unpatriotic and/or unhealthy could be a philosophical starting point.

But, if nothing changes, and from my perspective, – I do not see anything changing – there will come a point when the mob turns on the predatorclass.