Category: Economics Page 6 of 8
This is outright tyranny. Just like the trillions in bailouts that clearly aren’t working (see Warren Buffett’s comments from today, who himself is a liberal Democrat), this too will be crammed down our throats, without debate, without the consent of the people for whom Congress allegedly works, without any dialog or discussion, under the assumption of an unproven theory that man is causing the Earth to warm. This is simply outrageous. And it will raise costs on everything, especially energy, to levels we likely haven’t seen … and all this at a time when our economy is in one of the worst crises since the Great Depression and on the verge of possibly getting worse for a long time to come. Simply unbelievable. Yet this is the exact kind of nonsense that was warned against before the election. Kay Granger is up in arms on this one.
- Big government spending programs are turning out to have the opposite effect – AP – What a shocker!
- Ford to Face Tougher Rivals Following U.S. Rescue – WSJ – Example of government intervention stifling competition which leads to less incentive to buy, sell and invest and leads to less wealth creation overall.
- US Unemployment Rate Gallops Ahead of Expectations – voanews.com – All that money, gone, and nothing to show for it.
- US to Propose Wider Oversight of Compensation – NYTimes.com – When companies take from the government, even a little, they are wholly dictated to about how to run operations.
- Kennedy’s Healthcare Bill Will Increase Expenses, Decrease Employment and Encourage Outsourcing – Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis – The title says it all.
While there is a plethora of bad news that continues coming out concerning the economy, and the fog of economic uncertainty (and in some cases dire certainty) continues to creep in amongst communities all over the country, something we believers need to make sure we’re doing is responding to these trials in a way that glorifies God. And using this as an opportunity to share the Gospel to those who don’t know Him.
Though things may certainly not get as bad as many of the top economists and investment advisers in the country are saying it will get, certainly people are already being impacted by job losses, monetary loss, all kinds of loss. Yet, it is in these very times that God’s power shines its brightest in our lives. The Gospel works great power in weakness. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Why has the economy collapsed? The real, fundamental issue? “When you really get down to it, it’s the lack of ethics, the lack of morality that’s seeped into our society in the last decade that has largely brought us to this point.” – Eric Hovde.
These two three four five six radio programs on This American Life do an excellent job of giving an on-the-street perspective from the Wall Street investors to the lenders all the way down to the individual home-buyers and finally the results of the recession in everyday life. In addition, there is a very good explanation of how banks work and why they are becoming insolvent. If you haven’t dug in to understand how we have gotten into this mess, you must listen to these programs. Excellent journalism.
- The Giant Pool of Money (MP3) – 05.09.2008
- Another Frightening Show About the Economy (MP3) – 10.03.2008
- Bad Bank (MP3) – 02.27.2009
- Scenes From a Recession (MP3) – 03.27.2009
- The Watchmen (MP3) – 06.05.2009
- Return To The Giant Pool of Money – 09.25.2009
More in-depth economic analysis can be found here:
- http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/
- http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/
- http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
- http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/
(Update: 9.28.2009 – Though they don’t come to this conclusion in these shows, after much investigation and personal reflection on the events of the last two years, I have come to the conclusion that the Federal Reserve is ultimately at fault for meddling in markets, making money super cheap to obtain, and promoting an environment of pure moral hazard. Certainly, all those who took the bait, everyone from lenders, to consumers, to those on Wall Street, are all responsible in some manner. But ultimate responsibility for the over-arching cause of the crisis is the reckless policy decisions of our central bank over the last 30 years, starting with Paul Volcker (as I understand it), who is oddly one of Obama’s economic advisor’s. It is unfathomable to me that the same people who promoted reckless macro-economic policies are supposed to be the same people to get us out of this mess … by spending us even further in the hole. Unbelievable. And contrary to the assumption that “no one saw this coming,” think again … watch below.)
Excellent! Man this is good …