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Who Actually Wants To Repair the Economy?

Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
Iceland has showed us the way.

In short, after Iclandic bankers dismantled the economy, Icelandic people got rid of the political cronies who allowed it, jailed the ******** who engineered it, and started over. They're doing just fine now, which is why you never hear about them in the news.

I linked one summary above, but if you'd like more info, just Google "Iceland prosecutes bankers" and click away.
 
dyanaprajna2011

dyanaprajna2011

Dharmapala
The problem with this, is that certain ideas have become ingrained in the mind of the average US person, and it has been this way for so long, that following in the footsteps of Iceland would be tantamount to treason. We've become convinced that the ways things are, are the way they'll always be, with no real hope of change. I'd love to see something like this happen here, I just wouldn't hold my breath while waiting for it to happen.
 
Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
dyanaprajna2011 said:
The problem with this, is that certain ideas have become ingrained in the mind of the average US person, and it has been this way for so long, that following in the footsteps of Iceland would be tantamount to treason. We've become convinced that the ways things are, are the way they'll always be, with no real hope of change. I'd love to see something like this happen here, I just wouldn't hold my breath while waiting for it to happen.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's that so much as apathy.
 
Penumbra

Penumbra

Veteran Member
Premium Member
That's a good article.

I learned about Iceland's problems a few years ago, and how deregulation resulted in enormous failures in the country, but haven't kept up very much with their recent progress.

I do think that putting more resources towards citizens than towards the institutions would be optimal.
 
Alceste

Alceste

Vagabond
I think Iceland has the right idea. Their situation was similar to that of Greece and Spain a few years ago, and they just told the banks to stuff it. The government refused to cover the gambling debts of the rich with public funds, and so did not need drastic austerity measures to be imposed by the IMF. Look, ma, no riots!
 
Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
Does anyone else find it telling that in over 24 hours, not one of our more conservative posters has seen fit to post in this thread?
 
Adramelek

Adramelek

Setian
Premium Member
One way to get our Economy here in the US back on track is to overturn Dodd/Frank, abolish the EPA and become energy independent, abolish the IRS and implement the Fare Tax. Also overturn the AHCA (Affordable Health-Care Act), and defund all non-essential government (entitlement) programs, legalize and tax drugs such as cannabis and others just like alchohol and ciggarettes. This would be a good start.

Xeper.
/Adramelek\
 
Storm

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
Adramelek said:
One way to get our Economy here in the US back on track is to overturn Dodd/Frank, abolish the EPA and become energy independent, abolish the IRS and implement the Fare Tax. Also overturn the AHCA (Affordable Health-Care Act), and defund all non-essential government (entitlement) programs, legalize and tax drugs such as cannabis and others just like alchohol and ciggarettes. This would be a good start.

Xeper.
/Adramelek\
Click to expand...
That sounds more like Somalia than Iceland to me. I agree with you about the drugs, but everything else strikes me as more a pipe dream.

At any rate, when I pointed out that I'd like someone who disagreed with Iceland's tactic to address the op, I didn't mean "please hijack my thread with cries for deregulation and other methods of completely dismantling the government."
 
Adramelek

Adramelek

Setian
Premium Member
I apologize Storm, I wasn't trying to hijack your thread, I was just putting forth some of my own ideas on how to solve our economic crisis here in the US. :shrug: Can you ever forgive me? ;)

Xeper.
/Adramelek\
 
V

Vile Atheist

Loud and Obnoxious
Alceste said:
I think Iceland has the right idea. Their situation was similar to that of Greece and Spain a few years ago, and they just told the banks to stuff it. The government refused to cover the gambling debts of the rich with public funds, and so did not need drastic austerity measures to be imposed by the IMF. Look, ma, no riots!
Click to expand...

And Canada was the smartest out of pretty much every other country by making bankers responsible for the losses of their gambling, as well as safeguarding depositor money. Canada also requires banks to keep their mortgages, IIRC.

That means that bankers can't get greedy and gamble away your money, and if they risk their own money and lose, they're dunbar. So there's an incentive not to make risky trades or toxic mortgages. Basically everything that happened that took the US economy down.

The only way the Canadian economy was even affected was by virtue of the fact most of our trade is done with the US.
 
Alceste

Alceste

Vagabond
Vile Atheist said:
And Canada was the smartest out of pretty much every other country by making bankers responsible for the losses of their gambling, as well as safeguarding depositor money. Canada also requires banks to keep their mortgages, IIRC.

That means that bankers can't get greedy and gamble away your money, and if they risk their own money and lose, they're dunbar. So there's an incentive not to make risky trades or toxic mortgages. Basically everything that happened that took the US economy down.

The only way the Canadian economy was even affected was by virtue of the fact most of our trade is done with the US.
Click to expand...

Yay Canada. Actually, I was hoping the real estate bubble here would burst so I could think about owning a home, but oh well. I guess I will have to wait to inherit one like the rest of my generation.
 
L

Lavender

Member
What Iceland did was to address their problems quickly. Doing so was painful, but allowed for the country to begin down a path of recovery.

Other countries, in Europe, Japan, and America also, are doing the opposite, prolonging the pain, trying to keep alive what some refer to as zombie banks, with massive stimulus programs, money printing, etc. The economic ideas being tried have not helped the economy much, and are leading to social unrest in Europe. Another article I recall about Iceland and the approach they took to their economic problems.

"Learning From Iceland’s Recovery"

Learning From Iceland’s Recovery | Via Meadia

excerpt:

....The article rightly points out that the heterodox Icelandic approach is not universally applicable. But that’s not the important take-away from the story, as Via Meadia sees it. Rather, it’s that sometimes it is best to rip off the band-aid rather than prolong the agony. The pain was intense, and the crisis has left deep wounds on Icelandic society that may take years to scab over. But there is life after the crash.
Sometimes it’s better to take the hit and move on — and there is no moral obligation to rescue banks or bank stockholders when loans go bad. Capitalism is about risk, and while the general good may sometimes require financial bailouts and other methods at the height of a crisis, the moral hazards created by profligate and indiscriminate bailouts in the long run can be more costly and more destructive than a short and sharp financial crash.
Click to expand...

Also, thought Investors.com had a nice article this morning on what led to the financial crisis. Lots of blame to go around.

"Financial Crisis Caused By Bad Policies, Not Tax Cuts"

snippet:

....The roots of the financial crisis began with the excessive overregulation of President Clinton's National Home Ownership Strategy, unveiled June 5, 1995, though the same policies had been building for almost 20 years.
That involved more than 100 regulatory initiatives to force banks to abandon their traditional lending standards and create the subprime mortgage market. Included were a vastly beefed up Community Reinvestment Act, actual or threatened discrimination suits by Justice and HUD to enforce regulations, and regulatory mandates on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to finance trillions in mortgage securities backed by subprime mortgages.
The depreciated lending standards spread throughout the mortgage market, including higher-income borrowers speculating in second and third homes. All this extra mortgage money flowing into housing gave birth to the housing bubble.
The government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac attracted trillions in financing because their securities were seen as government guaranteed. That pumped up the housing bubble further.
The leading credit rating agencies failed to do their job in rating these Fannie and Freddie subprime mortgage securities AAA, misleading everybody as to the real risks involved.
But their ratings enjoyed privileged recognition in regulations governing investments by banks and other financial institutions, protecting them from competition so they had incentives not to rock the boat. Again, this was caused by too much regulation....
Click to expand...

Read More At IBD: Financial Crisis Caused By Bad Policies, Not Deregulation, Tax Cuts - Investors.com
 
dust1n

dust1n

Zindīq
Adramelek said:
One way to get our Economy here in the US back on track is to overturn Dodd/Frank, abolish the EPA and become energy independent, abolish the IRS and implement the Fare Tax. Also overturn the AHCA (Affordable Health-Care Act), and defund all non-essential government (entitlement) programs, legalize and tax drugs such as cannabis and others just like alchohol and ciggarettes. This would be a good start.

Xeper.
/Adramelek\
Click to expand...


A fare tax? Is that like... a fare on a tax? Or a tax on a fare?


Seriously though, and not that I'm staunchly against your other points (except the taxes), why in the world is the EPA considered non-essential?

Has no one read The Jungle?
 
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