Understanding the Financial Crisis (Johan Norberg)

[KanchoKomancho]

Markets are " a little bit turbulent now" ... :)

That was a good one

[deathrowjoeblog]

This video has a lot of facts wrong. Go to the FCIC website and review the evidence yourself. He obviously reached his conclusions before looking at the evidence.There is a mountain of evidence contradicting him on the FCIC site.

[1czelaya]

@UBSCARED By all means, explain what's called the housing bubble? Let's not resort to ad hominem. That's a sign of the absence of intelligence. Either way, GSE's are in the water, because like ALL government entities there is no mechanism that accounts for efficiency and overspending. And yes, corporatism was also a prime cause.

[MtMozart]

who is screwing with the audio on cato vids? Talk about big brother!

[ST0orz]

Ok, where's the next part where he solves the problem?

[Darusdei]

@ST0orz lol, it's the 'we need less government' "plan"



[enjoythewildUSA]

Listen to this man....we the sheeple have destroyed our perfect union by following idiots like George Bush and Barack Obama to the edge of the cliff...now they are telling us to jump with more wasteful spending, more denial.....

[slightlyndifferent]

when will our governments bury keynesianism? It's started to smell real bad

[mpc91]

@slightlyndifferent - They won't bury it, because it tells them what they want to hear. It tells them that government spending is good for the economy. It lets them spend other people's money to buy power for themselves.

[madcowhunter]

Portugal found solution to their debt!!! They legalized gay marriage. They think that this and low interest rates will boost their economy. Too bad Spain did so a couple of years ago. Freakin failed states Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, Hungary. My own country Poland is probably next in line to fall. We are governed by supposedly the most liberal party in parlament but they keep increasing spending.

[bertly71]

Outstanding video. Hits it right on the mark. This guy should replace Geithner and Obama.

[ghost9pm]

Score one for the Austrians!

[Th3Wab3]

the problem with capitalism is that it leads to socialism... bailing out big business socializes business and then u have socialism but socialism doesn't lead to capitalism who knows what America will become it's military still allows it to physically destroy any potential rivals.. the problem with short term govt each worries about pushing the collapse onto the next leader instead of dealing with the issues...

[philliproemer21]

@Th3Wab3 Well that may be what happened but that's not necessarily the case; capitalism isn't supposed to bail out businesses. 

[Th3Wab3]

@philliproemer21 well thats a whole other debate.. i personally think like everything political or any other organized institution how it acts, is exactly how it was intended to work and if the naive public thought it would perform in some pure, idealistic, fair, and just method they are sadly mistaken and obviously to indolent to research the nature of the institution... power doesn't corrupt. power is corrupt!

[classicalbunny]

@Th3Wab3: Capitalism doesn't lead to socialism, it leads to creative destruction, which is a good thing. The catalyst for the financial crisis was progressive government policy.

[Th3Wab3]

@classicalbunny well Ive said it b4 it sounds decent in principle just like game theory however it is not realistic. show me a capitalist society like this which provides humanity with a decent dignified existence... "creative destruction" is simply a euphemism for chaos a continual destruction of businesses will demand for govt intervention Employment insurance welfare hence govt then promoted long term corporations in order to prevent a chaotic perpetual collapse.. that is just the case...

[classicalbunny]

@Th3Wab3: You don't understand creative destruction. If what you are after is a dignified existence then how on earth would you find it accepatable to grovel to a government master? Capitalism is the only economic system that empowers the individual. When capitalism destroys a business or industry it is because individuals have freely chosen a different product. Typewriters, newspapers, LPs...those industries have all experienced destruction, due to the creation of what people want to buy now.

[Th3Wab3]

@classicalbunny i'm after a dignified existence for everyone. freedom to pursue any interests barring they don't infringe on others.. it's either grovel to a government or grovel to some unaccountable lawless corporation.. i'm not a fan of big govt but the continual abuses perpetrated by big business will force govt to expand to regulate.. pursuit of profit is not moral or considerate of the finite world. as a result greed and corruption are synonymous with profit. the black market is an example

[classicalbunny]

@Th3Wab3 : You say 's grovel to a government or a corporation...that's just false. If you don't like a particular corporation then don't work for them. No one is forcing you. If you don't like the government that's much more problematic. Go into business for yourself. Maybe you don't like "big government" but it appears you like government control. Pursuit of profit and greed are not the same thing. There is nothing wrong with profit. There is far more corruption in government.

[Th3Wab3]

@classicalbunny either way when people gain resources (money) it isn't hard for them to implement tactics to limit comp and continue to grow...usually with govt help... and these practices often lead to an effective transfer of wealth from poor to rich leading to social democracy and a quasi socialism (since the marginalized workers never do own the means of production).

[classicalbunny]

@Th3Wab3: What you are describing is corruption, not capitalism. In any system there will always be some corruption, but in capitalism there is both greater incentive and greater ability for an underprivileged person to create wealth.

[Th3Wab3]

@classicalbunny realistically the majority of people do not want to work in a field in which they can be sacked at any given time do to free market comp.. they still have families to look after and job security (unions) offer this even at the risk of halting creativity and advances...

[classicalbunny]

@Th3Wab3: realistically, I would far prefer the risk of job loss, in order to enjoy the benefits of living in a free society. The competent never mind competition, they embrace it.

[Th3Wab3]

@classicalbunny just like in Atlas shrugged the "competent" are a minority. given that reality the world will continue to support a ego-based dangerous environment where human lives are dictated by a few... i don't even what free society you are talking about wage slavery is not freedom.. being forced to work meaningless wasteful jobs is not freedom.. it's delusional. how can someone be born in a world in which he has access to nothing...

[classicalbunny]

@Th3Wab3 : LOL. Atlas Shrugged is fiction. Don't confuse fiction with reality. I don't know what you mean by "meaningless wasteful jobs". Not everyone has a job that they find deeply fullfilling, whether the system is capitalist or socialist, but in a capitalist society there is more freedom of movement. I don't understand your last question. Some people are born with more than others. In a capitalist society, a person of low birth has more opportunity to achieve.

[Th3Wab3]

@classicalbunny this discussion is getting of topic... "meaningless..." in order to understand this you must have an understanding of negative externalities, planned obsolescence, dated industries, the true amount of production which is trash, manufactured consent... aside from that most mall jobs that marginalized teens do are meaningless. capitalism fails in that it forces people to have perpetually destroy natural resources for sake of creating profit/surplus.... infinite vs finite

[rllang01]

The audience reaction is hilarious in this video.

[drkevincampbell]

Excellent. We are heading into the most massive Deflationary Depression in history. Johan unfortunately too late to stop the coming wipeout!

[Slipknotyk06]

@drkevincampbell - I don't know. Both the case for deflation and hyperinflation have been made. Deflation would demolish the US gov, but I see that hyperinflation is more likely, because it can be used to keep the debt in check, though it would really, really piss off the chinese.

[aaron0883]

I thought that CATO Institute believed in voluntary interaction. At 2:32 it seems they must have violated their beliefs. There is no chance those people are their be their own volition

[Thorbie]

@aaron0883 Lol. You're right. How horrible though. I would love to have been there.  I'd stay in that auditorium all day so long as they had speakers.

[kerberos623]

Johan Speaks the truth and has done so for many years.He is one of the brighest minds to come out of Sweden. I higly recommend following his blog at johan norberg .net

[1czelaya]

Johan Norberg's book, Financial Fiasco is a true testemant about the housing debacle that the media never put forth.

In the end, GSE's and government coercion have cost the taxpayers billions.

The politicians blame the free market, not even knowing what the free market is nor how their, well to do, policies have bankrupted America.

[boxant]

Excellent video.

[KhmerD0g]

one world about the financial crisis "debts".

it is so easy to understand.

debt is THE problem.

[bamatecangel7]

Love all the Cato vids, wish we could get wider viewership. I send links but it seems most adults would rather watch a kid blow up a coke bottle or fall down a flight of stairs with their YouTube time than learn anything.

[GammaSigmaBeta]

@bamatecangel7

You're so right, and what a shame.

Great video.

[r3tex]

Jag har Johan's autograf :D