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From: TheYoungTurks
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  • One global currency...

  • the only comment on this comment page not from marsCubed or johncisney15, is mine

  • Derivatives are made of not just US Investors, but global investors. Both credit swaps and derivatives were deregulated when Clinton signed the "Modernization Act" of 2000. The act was suppose to regulate the amount of single shares one could hold of petroleum futures and was intended to keep oil prices low. But like every other bill on the hill, there is always something attached to garner support for said bill. In that instance, it was deregulation of those markets. TYT needs to read more.

  • Good rant. One of the very few guys who gets the picture...except he seems to think Geitner works for the US government and people...but Geitner works for Wall St. and Wall St has run the US treasury for years. In fact the US government is a middle-management agency running America on behalf of the elite.

  • @Drastam You are confusing the Fed with the Treasury. What you are saying may be apro-po to Fedral Reserve policy not Treasury.

  • @luke55664 Paulson was a former Goldman Sachs CEO; a Wall Street employee. The same people who own the Fed own the major banks on Wall Street too. The US Treasury and Gov is run by the financial elite, for the elite.

  • @Drastam The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue........ The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created in 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act and its authority (Unlike the Treasury that follows IRC code), is derived from the U.S. Congress and is subject to congressional oversight.

  • @luke55664 The Fed is entirely independent of Gov and has never been audited. If you dont believe me that it is not subject to any Gov agency then hear it from Greenspan himself.

    watch?v=pVmxQsvj6lo

  • @luke55664 Also it is useless quoting civics 101 info; it does not reflect at all how things are done in reality. Since the founding of the US system capital has entirely usurped the political and social order and America is today a corporatocracy - which is the very definition of a fascist state. The cancellation of so many constitutional rights in the past years should alarm you.

  • @Drastam If you say so...........Interesting how you call those that excel at high finance the "Elite" ......and to suggest they may find their way into all areas of finance both public and private.........I'm shocked! I am absolutely sure there are no barriers/boundaries that would preclude you from submitting a resume. I'll be happy to hear all about those "Constitutional" rights that have been "Canceled." Then maybe, I'll think about being alarmed.

  • @Drastam Also, you have failed to see the distinction between the two as has been the case. One has Congressional oversight while the other doesn't. One with a 9th grade education or better, could see the distinction made by my post. I am sorry you weren't able to follow.

  • @luke55664  Oh well none so blind etc. Cheers :)

  • OMG Cenk, Freaking BRAVO! Now people wont think I am quite as crazy.

  • Keep talking about it and maybe some will hear you.

  • Glass-Steagall the f'ing bastards, and after that they can go park some cars at Lefty's 8-mile Valet Parking in Hamtramck.

  • "600 trillion thats larger than our GDP" its larger than the WORLD'S GDP many times over

  • The US GDP is 14 T.

    Credit Default Swaps = 60 Trillion.

    I read that ALL derivatives, including OTC, is up to 1200 Trillion.

    The derivatives inflated their "vault" using fraud. Then there was "profits". Wow. So they took profits and bonuses. Of course the "vault" deflated. It had to crash, eventually, because it was artificially inflated on false pretenses w cheap credit and fake "assets" that were purposely mis-rated.

  • Meawhile, speaking of "Homeland", which is not and has never been a common American usage:

    "In German, homeland is translated as 'Heimatland', and this was a term used by the Nazis to refer to the more common German term 'Vaterland' ("Fatherland"). It was also the name of a strongly pro-Nazi magazine edited by Wilhelm Weiss during the rise of the Nazi party in Germany."

    wiki

  • Note also that the state of Israel is widely advertised as "The Jewish homeland".

    On the other hand, many immigrants use "Homeland" for the country that they left but which still has significant for them as a place of a certain ethnic culture or language.

  • Who came up with the "Homeland" in "Homeland Security" and why?

    It is possible, on supposes, that it was a PR professional or political amateur that was working on the analogy of "Home Security".

    Don't you all fee safer now?

    Especially with a $700 million dollar wall against Mexico built and supervised by the Homeland Security "Czar" Cheroff.

  • On the other hand, one somehow doubts it was a PR professional that came up with "Homeland".

    It is much too grating to an American ear, with not only of the NAZIs but of the old world.

    The PR consultant would like have commended the much cozier "Domestic Security", but that too has problems because of the obvious ambiguities of "Security".

    "Internal Security" is strictly out of the question for the same reason.

  • Mopsius,

    "Homeland" has a homey feel to it, if one forgets about Nazi ties. Homeland, God, Jesus, Mother, peach cobbler, lots of safety.

    Of course the wing of the CIA that does foreign meddling and assassinations (wing?) had instructed vassal states under Monroe Doctrine to focus on "internal security" post WW2. Examples are Argentina, Battalion 316, and various other Nazi death squad + torture regimes, against "commies" or "terrorists", sometimes under color-of-law.

    USA is doing that NOW.

  • Trying to--dilbertgeg--trying to. Part of the attempt at status quo ante.

    But things change.

    Incidentally, another first class flick, "Things Change", if you have not seen it yet.

  • One of Mamet's.

    Not a fan of Silverstein, who co-wrote, but Mamet kept him under control.

  • The bottomline is Hefner had really shit taste--or perhaps, as an analogue of the character in Parfum, no taste at all.

  • Most distinguished moment in the history of Playboy: when R. Crumb told them to take their money and go fuck themselves.

  • This is public knowledge.

    This is public knowledge.

    This is public knowledge.

    This is not public knowledge.

  • @susanmaria232 men watch boobies the way women watch babies.

    When a woman sees a baby, she may want to look at it and admire it in some way.

    she does not generally want to take it home with her.

    it doesn't mean she loves her own baby less.

    Men are the same with boobies.

    It might be that he is bored, or stressed, maybe you both need a holiday. or maybe he just likes boobies.

    But maybe ask him why is best.

  • LOOOOOOOOOOLLLL

  • @marsCubed I hereby pronounce you to be sexist.

  • @johncisney15 "I hereby pronounce you to be sexist."

    No I am not.. men and women are different, saying so is not sexism.

    Sexism is the woman hating shit and adapted KKK torture & hate humor aimed at democrats you have on your channel you moron bigoted shit.

  • @marsCubed There is no Woman hating shit or kkk torture on my page. Get your facts straight. WHERE exactly on my page are the letters kkk? Nowhere. Where on my page does it say I hate women? Nowhere. And its not "hate humor" its honest to gospel truth just so you know.

  • @johncisney15 Humor aimed at democrats in which involve dehumanizing people into body parts.. it is just nasty.

    Not funny.

    People on the left do not talk about fixing problems by killing or trashing others in the community..

    But that is what seems to pass for 'humor' on the right..

    It is just nasty stupid crap. like a ranting cult led by cliche and jeering.

    The economy is fucked, people are losing homes and jobs. inequality is soaring, and you are laughing like a bigot.

    fuck you.

  • @marsCubed Dehumanizing people into body parts? Okay now Im curious, what the hell are you talking about??? And actually yes, people on the left make fun and insult people of the opposite political party just as much as people on the right do. A joke is a joke and whether its for democrats or republicans, I laugh. Thats the whole point of a joke dumbass. You and all the rest of the left are nothing but hypocrates and communist pussies now fuck off.

  • @johncisney15 It is lynch humor. no logic or irony, just cruel jibes.

    You will not fix a darned thing by targeting regular people, union members, women, democrats and making them enemies. It is thuggish and stupid pogrom mentality.

    I will risk a slap for any remarks I make and stand with women who have been treated unfairly every time.

    Solidarity of regular people is growing everywhere.. it makes bigotry and the right's attempts to fool the uneducated the joke.

    As PPL realize, it turns to anger.

  • @marsCubed Your party does the EXACT same thing. We dont make enemies any more than you do. Women treated unfairly? They have the right to vote, the right of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to own property and to get jobs. They can do anything men can do at this point and I am proud of that. What more do you want? You dont want equality because you already have it. All you want is for women to be dominant and enslave and hate men for something we had no control over.

  • @johncisney15 #1 humanity is my party, my policy is on union banners.

    Being a woman in a world of sexist stereotypes means lower pay and kids not getting what they need sometimes.

    Child poverty, health and education are worsening. amongst the most pressing concerns women have today.

    Those who jeer during hard times like this are anti-social twats IMO.

    Enslave men?

    Most people want a fair system, working towards sensible goals and good jobs.

    Not obscene & freakish inequality we have today.

  • @marsCubed Actually, it is ILLEGAL for women to be paid less than men just based on their sex. Sure, there are a few companies who can find loopholes in the laws but the majority of the time women get paid just as much for doing the same job as men do. And lets not forget all the special perks women get like maternity leave etc.Child poverty, health and education worsening are NOT just concerns WOMEN have today. Men have to suffer those same things too so dont try to play victim with me.

  • @johncisney15 Yes, things are better for people when they stand together to get laws, conditions, fairness and wage parity. Look up the chartist movement. Nothing worth having was handed down.

    I'm no victim, regular people standing together against austerity and divisive thugs & their ideology changes perspectives, countries, states, the world.

    I am just letting you know in case you missed it on the news.

    People are waking up. They ain't gonna take the BS anymore.

  • @marsCubed If you belong to any race, religion, or sex there are going to be bigots out there who will harass you for it.You think I never got denied a job because Im a man and they needed a woman to fill the position so they wouldnt get sued?Even though I had more credentials and experience?You dont think I was never denied a job because Im white and they needed a black person on the team to keep from getting sued?It happens to ALL races, sexes and religions.Its a part of life.Deal with it.

  • @johncisney15

    Most white people were made poor.

    finding themselves at the bottom of the heap with those many once considered poorer. a buffer gone.

    Worse since these figures;

    1% now have 43+% of all financial wealth in USA. (money in their accounts).

    The figures are startling.

    80% have less than 7% left between them & shrinking.

    No Unions., Wages stolen for decades.

    Everyone.. working people are uniting against the divide & rule ranting shits who stole our economy.

    There is no dealing with it.

  • @marsCubed Unions are just another way to take advantage and to get rich off the backs of the poor. They have become what they were trying to prevent. I remember when a teacher in my old high school beat a student in front of the entire class but still got to keep his job because the unions were protecting him. Two months later he molested a male student and raped a female student. They still would have let him keep his job if the parents didnt threaten to sue. Unions cant be trusted.

  • @johncisney15 What the heck are you talking about? USA has lowest rates of union membership in the OECD & nearly lowest in world. Reagan smashed unions up in the 80s.

    Wages have stagnated and fallen ever since.. Despite worker productivity soaring.

    The proportion bosses took as bonuses sky-rocketed, with predictable results.

    Places like Denmark and Norway have highest standards of living on the planet, most equal too.

    Highest tax on the top 2%.

    It was the market hype con-jobs that crashed.

  • @marsCubed Im talking about how those unions are getting too powerful for their own good. Teachers unions being a primary example. What the heck are YOU talking about?

  • correct

  • Look at cenk in this video--"that is a number so large".

    OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

    "went South"? Come again?

  • why is "going South" BAD?

    One seriously doubts cenk has the slightest idea.

  • Okay, I am making a fucking announcement: Whoever says "wake up" in an argument/political form is to be shunned from any form of politics from now on. That term has lost its meaning and it's just fucking annoying at this point. Not to mention you sound like a fucking lunatic. Oh, and "sheep" and any other form of such is now banned too.

    (If you guys want to stimulate arguments, try this. Many libertarians are left speechless without these two points. Effen' hilarious.)

  • "The natural assumption is that this phrase derives from the wearing of woollen wigs, which were fashionable for both men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries. The phrase itself is of 19th century American origin. The earliest example...is from the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel And Gazette, October 1839: 'And we ask one question that they dare not firmly answer, whether they are not now making a tolerable attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the people'..."

    The Phrase Finder

  • Very good but you left out calling people 'sheeple', or saying 'drank the koolaid', or making reference to fluoride in the water, and spouting off about the NWO or the Illuminati.

  • I mentioned sheeple with "sheep", but nice for you to point out their common phrase.

    How clever, they fused 'people' with 'sheep'! They are surely smarter then the rest of us, despite their horrible track running!

  • The ones who are not outright stupid are hopeless romantics.

    But you have to be careful.

    Part of it is linguistic cryptotypes--you follow?

  • The Right Wing is, obviously, neither "silent" nor a "majority " but they sure as hell manipulated a lot of dumbasses into thinking they wanted to be part of that supposedly immense quietude.

  • "Sheeple" is amateurish, "Silent Majority" was a professional effort, with manifold cryptotypes, e.g:

    Silent Majority

    Loud Minority

  • Most Protestants, and especially White Protestants, were raised on steady diet of doublebinds.

  • No matter how sophisticated you think you are, Tyler1337Admin, don't be too sure you are completely immune.

    Not all responses to images and language are conscious.

  • "He is the strong silent type".

    As opposed to what--the weak, garrulous type?

    In fact the cryoptotype here implies a sexual role.

    "He does not say much but he means what he says"

    As opposed to someone who does not say much and everything he says is a lie, right?

    Fat chance--that last type has not even occurred to 90 percent of Americans.

  • "she wears the pants in that household".

    Come again?

    Even "household" has cryptotype.

  • This is all age level eight to High School--but that is about the psychological maturity of most Americans.

    The Republicans are even trickier: "SILENT MAJORITY".

    Designed to make the unthinking think in a channeled way.

  • jotuno,

    There were some 7-10 intersecting concepts of "NWO" in Wikipedia. (probly accurate) Some definitions w anti-Jewish tones, varying details.

    NWO ideas mired up w "Illuminati", which is really an obscure myth riffing on Protocols of Zion forgery. A few Enlightenment intellectual radicals (Weishapt) met in secret from Catholic rulers (a wise idea), to "rule the world".

    Most people mean some vague "satanic" entity.

    If anything, NWO is brutal Corporate Globalization, neo-Empire.

  • Holmes: I am honored to meet you, Professor Morelli. As you know, I am a humble student of your method.

    Morelli: You flatter me, Signor Holmes.

    Holmes: I have asked you here to tell me whether this painting is a forgery or not. It is a central point in a recent case.

    Morelli: Where is the painting?

    Holmes: Here, Professor.

    Morelli: Ah.....Ah....Ah--see here, Holmes, how the thumb is done. It is one of the master's signatures....

  • Morelli (continued): And here Holmes...the ear--see the ear how it is done. It is these seemingly unimportant details, executed almost unconsciously, that tell the tale.

    Holmes: It is a genuine work of the master in your opinion then, Professor Morelli?

    Morelli: No, Signor Holmes, it is still a forgery.

    Holmes: I don't follow, Professor--you note all the details are in the right mode.

    Morelli: Alas, Signor Holmes, it is still a forgery, but by a forger who has read Morelli!

  • Check out McNanamara and Rumseld some time.

    They put everything they said into numbers.

    So precise, so seemingly in control.

    Except ninety percent of the numbers they used were invented or meaningless.

  • Is there even a phrase in American English, "false precision"

    How about, "ersatz precision"--said by a Strauss or a Kissinger?

    Why do Americans fall for German accents?

  • If I remember correclty, the wounded to killed ration in Vietnam was 3.5 to one.

    Nowadays is it 14+ to one.

    In Vietnam terms, therefore, say around 4,000 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

    But that's misleading--partly because the military are covering up the real numbers and partly because of the military contractors who outnumber the combat troops.

    And where do you get figures on the military contractors?

  • Afghanistan vegetables--very expensive commodity.

  • Is anyone taking bets in Vegas when the US and NATO will exit Afghanistan?

    Or has Generalissimo Obama's Mormon Republican ambassador to the PRC already sold Nevada to the Chinese?

  • Who fucking needs Nevada?

  • Jeje, the Macanese may be interested, who knows?

  • Fuck it, they can take it. They can also divide Texas with Mexico and take Utah as well. We don't need those religious fucking morons. Let the Chinese handle it. (By the way, if the Texans make it over to mainland China, there's a chance they'll cause enough hell to allow China to reclaim the mainland. If Japan can somehow join in, the key is sealed, mother fuckers.)

  • Texans are nowadays mostly walking talking bullshit.

    Have been since WWII when they did not shoot their Briitsh Commanders before Monte Cassino.

  • Or string the buggers up at least.

  • The Israeli Right Wing has very close connections with India.

    With General Obama threatening Pakistan the wicket could get very sticky quick.

  • On the other hand, Generalissimo Obama just sent 30,000 new targets to Afghanistan.

  • Which leaves open, by the way, who's going to grow the bananas.

  • Capitalism is not a static.

    Sorry about that guys, I know that is a big surprise to you.

    In fact, no economic state is static--and the less so the harder you try to keep it that way.

    Bon appetit, mes enfants.

  • "We're gonna come out of this war rich! "

    Milo Mnderbinder

  • "..the modern Credit Default Swaps were invented in 1997 by a team working for JPMorgan Chase.They were designed to shift the risk of default to a third party...the first CDS involved JPMorgan selling the credit risk of Exxon to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development.

    Credit Default Swaps became largely exempt from regulation by the ...[SEC]...with the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which was also responsible for the Enron loophole."

    wiki

  • This stuff is hilarious--if it did not exist, and you made it up whole cloth, no one in his right mind would find it persuasive.

  • @mopsius

    Wow, I never knew Enron went down because of Credit Default Swaps...

  • Maybe Obama should grow a handlebar moustache and design his own Banana Republic unifiorm--big epaulets, lots of gold braid.

  • Riding whip and boots.

  • Peaked cap with lots of scrambled eggs.

  • But remember--general officers can design their own uniforms.

    Maybe a completely new hat style for Obama, say,a stovepipe but with gold insignia and oak leaf embellishment.

  • It is not absolutely certain yet, but if things continue as they are, the next big trend in trickle down economics will be trickling down blood.

  • Campaign Finance Reform, anyone? Anyone at all? No?

    Hmmmm, looks like the members of Congress don't want to present a bill that will get them fired from their future, high-paying jobs at AIG, Citi, and JP Morgan.

    It's pretty weak that a Politician will sell out 300,000,000 people for some extra dough. Fucking losers...

  • What has always surprised me is how little they sell out for.

    But the Republicans are definitely superior to most Democrats in that regard. They sell the whole fucking executive branch whenever they get the chance, and everything they can get their hands on from that perch.

    It is too late for Campaign Finance Reform to matter much, and it will not work within the present structure anyway.

  • @mopsius

    the GOP are superior to the the stupid Dems, in every way, every time!!

  • Sure, sure--you just keep repeating that, genie0390, all the way to the cemetery.

  • you're an enormous fucking idiot btw

  • It's unfortunate that the Founding Fathers didn't add Separation of Corporation and State onto Separation of Church and State. That would have been a nice preventative measure....

  • Unfortunately capitalism as we know it today didn't exist back in the late 1700s.

  • "Capitalism as we know it today"?

    Is that like, "a great human being in his own right", TheDanLai.

  • The present state is called "Finance Capitalism", The DanLai.

    Lenin has an incisive essay on the topic, based on his knowledge of Britain, Germany, and Austro-Hungary, among other things.

    Or were you trained to regard all Marxist economic analysis as pornographic?

    That should get you reading even more eagerly.

  • @TheDanLai

    Yeah, the Industrial Revolution taking off in the early 1900's caused all this Corporate madness. We seem to be the only industrialized nation to have not added regulatory and separation laws.

  • The Industrial Revolution in Britain, which took centuries, killed off millions of people more or less deliberately. Many more if you count Ireland and overseas.

    The British Classic Liberals, for example, used "law" to exterminate the peasantry.

    That is one of the reasons "British cuisine" is an oxymoron.

  • Now recall, that the Paulistas and many pseudo-Libertarians are in effect Neo-British Liberals and Social Darwinists.

    Notice that most of them, along with the Austrians, seldom mention David Ricardo.

  • I am not so sure corporations as we know them even existed in any significant form back then...

  • @1RadicalOne

    Well, the only reason corporations exist is because of government charters, which I don't believe were around back then. I think you're right.

  • @IFloridaMotocrossI They did; before 1819 when the Supreme Court decided Dartmouth College v.Woodward, in order to get a corporate charter you had to get it from the state legislature who approved the purpose of the corporation. In addition, the charter would be up for renewal after a certain period of time. The watershed case giving corporations personhood status was Santa Clara v.Southern Pacific RR. Nowhere in the case is personhood given except in the dicta put in by the court clerk

  • @IFloridaMotocrossI who was a former railroad executive himself.

  • As I have several times said, the "elites", such as they are, are aiming at status quo ante.

    That is but another sign (semeion not tekmerion) of their thoroughgoing incompetence.

  • Another unpleasantry: there is not much of a US "real economy" to rescue or rebuild.

    And the infrastructure is not only aging, but it is thirty years obsolete.

    Rebuilding obsolete infrastructure, which Obama talks of now and then, is lunacy, pure and simple.

  • Democrats = the Gambinos.

    Republicans = the Genoveses.

    Wow, ain't the two party system great?

  • Though I should mention in natural monopolies we don't want competition as it harms the efficiency of the market, and thus simple government control of the companies through regulation or other means of control are the only solutions.

  • So you want to impose infinity powerful barriers of entry to combat high barriers to entry?

  • Consider the following statements, Robertz 1986:

    (1) Capitlaists buy any state that is buyable.

    (2) When Capitalists buy any state that is buyable they also buy, directly or indirectly, any regulation or regulators that are an aspect of that state.

    True, false, or neither?

  • So far Obama is Bambi in the headlights.

    He may be above average intelligence, but not much.

    As mopsius observed before th election by far his worst disqualification is being educated as a lawyer.

    So far he has approved a long string of measures, ranging from moderately important to dreadfully important indeed.

    And he has fucked each of them up beyond comprehension.

  • Someone has no idea of what derivatives are. Spewing such ignorance is sickening.There can be 4 quadrillion in notional amount :P. The effect of a trigger only depends on the differential effect of heterogeneous agents.

  • Exactly right, ax893. The "size" as cenk understands it is irrelevant.

  • Prosecuting the various officials of the Bush Cheney regime, including Bush and Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, et al. for various crimes, including war crimes is a needed and positive measure.

    It will do nothing to solve the financial and economic collapse however.

    On the other hand, it may have indirect effects in providing a climate in which an important part of the problem--though just a part--may be resolved with just the right subsequent moves.

  • The US is bankrupt already.

    That is a central fact.

    However, like many central facts that are abstract, it can be delineated in many different ways.

    All the different ways it is delineated are logically valid if they satisfy the mechanics of the underlying event.

  • The US is not the largest economy in the world.

    The US is the largest economy in the world in USD.

  • Paul personally is a jiveass hypocrite and economic moron.

    Not all of his followers are dumbasses but most of them are naive.

    In essence they ascribe to a nostalgic version of Classic British Liberalism and Social Darwinism based on an utterly false picture of American history.

    A commodity currency based on gold will not work.

    It is too late for that.

  • One might consider redesigning the dollar bill as a pigshit certificate--redeemable by the bearer, say, by one liter of pigshit.

    One might also replace the cartouche of Washington with Porky Pig, and change the motto to "In Pigshit we trust."

  • Sounds like a slap on the wrist deal. And of course they'll get away with it and keep on doing it.

  • $600 trillion dollars?!?! who even knew such amounts of money existed in the world. actually does this amount of wealth exist in a physical, tangible form? or is it all electronic money?

  • It doesn't exist, that's the problem!!

  • It is not "money".

    It does not "exist" in that form.

    It is a tightly interlocked collection of timed contracts and financial instruments.

    On the other hand, most Americans, and the incompetent financial elite, and most US economists, don't understand "money" as a concept either.

  • No, this doesn't actually exist. It's all electronic. Wipe out the computers and it all disappears.

  • Ah, books don't exist either then, jefevonQ--right?

    Burn all the books and they disappear.

  • The money (in question) only exists as a concept, not a physical reality. No one has it locked away anywhere. Remember, printed money is a symbol of a a nations held wealth. The actual investments that are being discussed are purely abstract concepts. They are huge, and more that a little worrisome.

  • "Only as a concept"--your language give you away, jefevonQ.

  • "your language give you away,"

    And your use of the language gives you away.

  • Whatever you say, jefevonO.

  • I have to insist that Obama is not a corporatist fascist. George W. Bush was the closest to a corporatist fascist ever to sit in the oval office and Sarah Palin would be too if she ever got the chance. Obama is on the other end of this entirely. He is anything but a fascist, he is seemingly a socialist (in the Western European, not Eastern European sense of the word) and in fact much of the business world is raging against him for it. The Republicans have always been more cozy with big business.

  • The Right Wing has to be exterminated.

    Obama is not smart enough or well educated enough to be a competent Socialist.

  • I'm consider myself to be quite liberal politically and socially, but I think eradicating the right wing is a bit over the top. As for these subjects involving economics, its important to remember that the people and the business world are not enemies, they depend on each other. The corporations do wield to much power, but that doesn't mean they own states and governments, simply that they wield disproportionate power within them. Obama is briliant, but the special interests are too powerful.

  • Capitalists cooperate, indeed they do--Marx himself said that.

    I am really not interested in what you consider over the top, Robertz1986.

  • Lenin, focused on Britain, Germany, and Austro-Hungary, has an excellent essay on Financial Capitlaism and Imperialism.

    It is almost eerily pertinent to the US currently, except in one particular, which has to be only slightly revised.

    You might read it sometime, Robertz1986.

  • One suspects even axe863 might appreciate Lenin's treatment of the subject.

    It strikes me as entirely possible that axe863 has even read Ricardo.

  • Are you a socialist or a communist? Do you believe in greater regulation of the economy, or do you reject economics as a field and call for turning over the economy to government ownership and control? The invisible hand does exist, and it isn't hard to prove even to young children if you set up an experiment. Its all very logical and intuitive. Regulating market failures is simply need for a healthy economy, but regulating without market failures always hurts the population as a whole.

  • Adam Smith was a dolt.

    The "Invisible Hand" is a bad joke.

    I am no fan of Rothbard but he disposes of Adam Smith quite expeditiously.

  • What is your proposal? The entire field of Industrial Organization within Economics revolves around how to prevent market power from being too greatly consolidated, how to prevent consolidated power being used to damage the economy as a whole, and how to stop companies from capturing control of the government in the process. Its not easy but economics has put a lot of work into it. If the invisible hand is a joke, what are you proposing? Another round of communism which inevitably fails??

  • Financial Capitalists also sell out Industrial Capitalists.

    You are a naif, Robertz1986.

    Have a nice day.

  • So you have no idea about what the economy should look like? Capitalism is wrong, there is no invisible hand, and.... what do we do? You could argue our system is corrupt, but is it inefficient? Is Communism less corrupt, more efficient, more successful? I think history would say its none of those, because ideology aside, there are certain truths that can't simply be disregarded. The problems that plague Capitalism also plague Communism, and I doubt you have a third option hidden up your sleeve.

  • At Harvard Law Obama was all "people skills".

    That will get him nowhere as President.

    And neither will his legal education.

  • 'Obama's rhetoric also sucks.

    Recycled Kennedy and Churchill.

    The US is in shit up to the eyeballs and it is not a rhetorical problem.

    Nor anything to be resolved by PR.

    Escalating in Afghanistan is a catastrophic move--in several different ways, including financially and economically.

  • 600 trillion seconds is almost 19,000 millenia.

  • thats amazing!

  • The economies of western nations are basically imaginary.

  • ignorant. $600T is what's called notional value. Sounds really really scary until you understand what it means.

    You and I make a bet like this:

    € is at $1.50 right now. If it goes up to $1.51 before it goes to $1.49 you pay me $1000. If it goes up to $1.49 before it goes to $1.51 you pay me $1000.

    Believe it or not, this contract has a notional value of ***$150,000*** (150X leverage), even though we're only putting up $1000 for the bet.

  • Yep, codediporpal--cenk obviously does not understand that aspect at all.

  • The "size" of the derivatives market, as cenk explains it, is not significant at all.

  • "Do you know who has that kind of money sitting in the bank".

    That too shows how naive cenk is.

  • Most of you folks seem to think that your so-called "money sitting in the bank" is, well, "money sitting in the bank."

    Sorry to break the bad news to you, it isn't.

    In fact the "money" you think you have in your hand isn't "money" either, though it is used as "money" in the US.

  • cenk makes a lot of mistakes, PainterofYou.

    His economic and financial understanding is shaky.

    Sure--you are entitled to your opinion.

    Anyway I give him credit for talking about the issues even if he is often out to sea.

  • Actually cenk is petty dull and confused on finance and economics.

    But that's all right--at least the talks about.

    The size of the derivative markets the way cenk understands it means nothing.

    That is not the problem.

  • "at least he talks about them"

  • Except that NOBODY understands the dirivitives market. Not those who designed it, not those who trade in it, nobody. These people are trading in essentially complex mathematical fictions.

    And the problem with mathematical fictions is, that once the bubble collapses, there is nothing left.

  • Indeed, angerouslytalented--mopsius explained that same thing in great detail below.

    The derivatives market, however, was peripheral to the collapse except in two key areas, in which it intensified what was happening in more significant areas.

  • As dangerouslytalented has been saying often, this kind of thing has been happening because the people who are behind the dirivitives market are not subject to rule of law. They got rid of the regulations back in the 90s and went nuts.

  • What you say is partly true, dangerouslytalented, but it is only partly true.

    Even if derivatives had been tightly regulated (as they should have been) the collapse would have happened anyway.

    It may have taken a little longer to spread, that's all.

  • mopsius gives a hint below about the real problem with certain derivatives but it is only a hint and I am not going to expand upon it here.

    If you know derivatives you will recognize it immediately.

  • I would like to see Mopsius make a youtube video explaining the concept fully.

    The collapse of certain dirivitives would have been inevitable, after all, they are about managing risk, BUT, if they were subject to rule of law, only those who were able to afford the loss would be affected.

  • No thanks, dangerouslytalented--mopsius doesn't work for nothing or put up free stuff on youtube as public services to be too dumb to follow.

  • to the too dumb to follow

  • This is a job for Dangerouslytalented.

    I will make a VIDEO which will attempt to explain the dirivitives market. Or die trying. Or cry trying. Or die crying.

  • It will not be easy, dangerouslytalented, and mopsisu predicts--you will be partly right.

    Just try not to be dangerously wrong about the other parts.

    Anyway of you make such a video, mopsius'll watch it if you notify me you have it up.

  • mopsius does not challenge youtube's right to censor in any way they choose.

    But censorship arbitrarily imposed is impossible to comply with beforehand.

  • "only those who were able to afford the loss would be affected."

    Again partly true, dangerouslytalented--but only partly true.

  • Besides, dangerouslytalented, not only does youtube make money on all these dumbasses watching one another and getting nothing out of it, but they censor in arbitrary ways.

  • This censorship has mostly to do with assholes who tag videos as adults only and do false DMCA claims, not Youtube itself.

  • No, dangerouslytalented--they censor very arbitrarily--applying different criteria to similar items.

    mopsius does not challenge their censorship because of their fear of legal consequences, for example.

  • It's all imaginary money as far as I'm concerned.

  • No, it is not imaginary.

    The US borrows it from the Federal Reserve, which is private, against the collateral of US taxes.

  • Money is imaginary. Tell you what.... why don't you pretend to give me all your imaginary money.

  • USD is not "money".

    It does not even rise to the level of a fiat currency.

    But it is used as a currency.

  • I was referring to the derivatives, not currency.

  • USD is a derivative, terminaldeity.

    Stay calm.

    Let it sink in gradually.

    Then take two aspirin and get some sleep.

  • "SUSTAIN (Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion)

    Military officials have held a two-day conference with officials from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines to plan the SUSTAIN (Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion) program.

    The discussions were to see if it is possible that the US Military can use rocket transports enabling them to transport troops anywhere in the world in the shortest time possible."

    Armed Forces News

  • HAHAHAHA--and you dumbfuckheads foot the bill for this shit.

  • SUSTAIN is likely another concealed attempt at a nuclear first strike capability.

    The Russians and the Chinese are laughing their asses off.

  • Slim Pickens, USMC, rides the nose cone down, HAHAHAHAHA.

    The recruits that join the USMC get dumber every year.

    You are strictly cheap cannon fodder, you fucking dumbasses.

  • "CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN — When a couple of VM-22 Osprey tilt rotors joined a fleet of CH-53 helicopters, dropping out of the predawn darkness Friday in the northern end of the Now Zad valley in Helmand Province to deliver the first of more than 1,000 NATO and Afghan troops, it marked not only the first large assault since President Obama's announcement that the U.S. would be sending more troops here, it also was the first major combat operation for the Osprey...."

    McClatchy

    HAHA.