Comments on: Unscrupulous Finance Has Brought Us Down and Will Do It Again http://wallstreetpit.com/11235-chamber-of-commerce-has-it-backwards Tue, 22 May 2012 19:21:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Daniel Habtemariam http://wallstreetpit.com/11235-chamber-of-commerce-has-it-backwards#comment-71636 Daniel Habtemariam Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:09:20 +0000 http://wallstreetpit.com/?p=11235#comment-71636 I think the difference between now and 1937 is that the public overwhelmingly started thinking more progressively back then and voted out the right-wing politicians who obstructed them. Money was less of an issue in politics, and there were no right-wing propaganda networks to brainwash the public. As a result, we had Teddy Roosevelt's trust-busting tirades and Franklin Roosevelt championing the FDIC and Glass-Steagall. Banks should not be in the stock market at all, and should exist only upon their lending of money to business or individuals backed by conventional loan reserves. As soon as bankers had the ability to invest in the market, their interest in short-term gain overrode all else. Greed won, and will always win. We're growing more and more into a crisis-driven country. It takes a lot for us to act... I think the difference between now and 1937 is that the public overwhelmingly started thinking more progressively back then and voted out the right-wing politicians who obstructed them. Money was less of an issue in politics, and there were no right-wing propaganda networks to brainwash the public. As a result, we had Teddy Roosevelt’s trust-busting tirades and Franklin Roosevelt championing the FDIC and Glass-Steagall.

Banks should not be in the stock market at all, and should exist only upon their lending of money to business or individuals backed by conventional loan reserves. As soon as bankers had the ability to invest in the market, their interest in short-term gain overrode all else. Greed won, and will always win.

We’re growing more and more into a crisis-driven country. It takes a lot for us to act…

]]> By: Rick http://wallstreetpit.com/11235-chamber-of-commerce-has-it-backwards#comment-71538 Rick Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:08:35 +0000 http://wallstreetpit.com/?p=11235#comment-71538 Amen. What the rabid right seems to have forgotten is that Caveat Emptor is an awful customer service model. Yet every day we read or hear story after story about how this product isn't safe or the FDA doesn't require testing for e-Coli bacteria in hamburger meat (imagine not testing for bacteria in meat combined from thousands of cows across hudreds of slaugherhouses). It's not just out of financial hardship that consumers will stop spending - and stop investing. It's out of fear for their lives or their savings. How much money will Wall Street make if everyone goes back to buying CDs from their local banks? Great for the banks, but for Wall Street? Nobody trusts companies to deliver safe products anymore. Companies at this point ought to be begging for more testing and more regulation, but they're too dumb and short-sighted to do that. Maybe when we revisit 1937 they'll start thinking more progressively. Or, more likely, their political power will be gone and they won't have a choice. Amen. What the rabid right seems to have forgotten is that Caveat Emptor is an awful customer service model. Yet every day we read or hear story after story about how this product isn’t safe or the FDA doesn’t require testing for e-Coli bacteria in hamburger meat (imagine not testing for bacteria in meat combined from thousands of cows across hudreds of slaugherhouses). It’s not just out of financial hardship that consumers will stop spending – and stop investing. It’s out of fear for their lives or their savings. How much money will Wall Street make if everyone goes back to buying CDs from their local banks? Great for the banks, but for Wall Street?

Nobody trusts companies to deliver safe products anymore. Companies at this point ought to be begging for more testing and more regulation, but they’re too dumb and short-sighted to do that.

Maybe when we revisit 1937 they’ll start thinking more progressively. Or, more likely, their political power will be gone and they won’t have a choice.

]]> By: Daniel Habtemariam http://wallstreetpit.com/11235-chamber-of-commerce-has-it-backwards#comment-71508 Daniel Habtemariam Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:56:34 +0000 http://wallstreetpit.com/?p=11235#comment-71508 That's like saying our existing Consumer Product Safety Commission is bad for Walmart and other retail businesses because of government's heavy-handed limitations on what they can sell...like toys with lead in them. Daniel Habtemariam That’s like saying our existing Consumer Product Safety Commission is bad for Walmart and other retail businesses because of government’s heavy-handed limitations on what they can sell…like toys with lead in them.

Daniel Habtemariam

]]>