A Mystery in Which Everyone is Guilty - Johan Norberg on "Financial Fiasco"

[JohnMYX]

I'd go gay for Johan Norberg

[hellofaname]

fuck! johan lost the ponytail.

[Myndir]

Re- the housing bubble, few people mention the China factor: cheap imports in most good suppressed prices, but the money supply had still increased dramatically. As a result, in a vindication of monetarism, people continued to spend and ultimately this had a price impact where external supply was NOT a factor: houses. You can't buy houses from China, so increased demand had a big impact where supply was least extendable. House price inflation, as all inflation, was a monetary phenomenon.

[3martijns]

DEM LIBS were main cause, with ACORN, FANNIE, FREDDIE.

[oiuoiu988]

because the cato institute doesnt want to project legitimacy onto austrian economics because a lot of government economists would be out of work if they acknowledged the legitimacy of the austrian business cycle.

[bittergunowner12]

Johan hits the nail on the head. I might get this book.

[oiuoiu988]

it took him an aweful long time to explain austrian business cycle theory and he didnt mention austrian business cycle theory.... curious.

[wreagfe]

He is with the CATO Institute, a political correct pseudo-free market economics Chicagoite institute. On his blog you can find some Mises and Hayek quotes on the ABCT/their prediction of the 1929 bust. It's a matter of strategy wherein the truth has somewhat gotten out of sight.

[oiuoiu988]

he says cum bubble at 3:12

[bertly71]

Thanks for telling the truth about this mess in terms anyone could understand.

[watcherjohnny]

Johan has got the big pictured nailed! Sounds like it might be a good read.

[oiuoiu988]

ok, this is a coincidence that i found your comment on the day we were commenting back and forth about austrian economics but the guy in this video is describing austrian business cycle theory (see my comment below). austrian economics is part of praxeology, which you may have found out by now is the science of human action. kinda weird running into YOU here lolol

[Arktigs]

Here is the REAL PROBLEM:

CORRUPTION

It's the responsibility of the public to solve it. The government has become utterly corrupt along with many large private institutions. The checks and balances have been overwhelmed by corporate corruption. Getting rid of corruption is YOUR duty. Criticize both sides, remove corporate personhood, reform campaign finance and lobbying. Keep corporate money and jobs away from elected officials. Lots of work for YOU!

[787Bisurdaddy]

Right, use the system designed to monopolize the control of power to end that monopoly. Pipe dream. The only way that people can control corruption is for them to realize that it's bogus for one group of people to monopolize the use of force, law-making, and all the other shit that government tries to tell us we need it for. We can all provide those things for ourselves. We do not need a state to do it. The state will always be corrupt, as corruption is the basis of the state.

[Moragauth]

It is incredible how many people blindly trust in the gov't, when it's the mother of all monopolies.

[samm1809]

@Moragauth oh my god. it's quotes like that that are remembered for a thousand years.

[Skyler827]

if a corrupt corporation lives beyond its means and becomes a financial burden to society, it can go out of business. If the government becomes a financial burden to society and lives beyond its means, it will NEVER go out of business, because it is backed by illegitimate force. That's why libertarians and many republicans believe anything that can be done by the private sector SHOULD be done by the private sector. We also are very unhappy that corrupt corporations are being bailed out.

[jvillard]

What illegitimate force?

[Skyler827]

Ok, I think It's an overstatement to say illegitimate force. We all have to pay taxes, even if we don't like how the money is spent. The main thing I was saying is a government is allowed to run huge federal deficits, but companies don't have that kind of authority, and go out of business (in theory) once they go under. The federal government just tends to accumulate debt, while companies and corporations just tend to accumulate profit. That's why the economy needs to be left to co./coorp.s

[Arktigs]

I can help the poor chap out: CAUSE OF DEPRESSION 1) Failure of unbalanced trade aka "globalization" 2) Failure of bank regulation (New Deal repeal) 3) Bailout of corrupt institutions which further depressed the honest ones TO DO * Financial reform: return Glass-Steagall, TAX DERIVATIVES * Balance the trade - import/export certificates * Control health care cost (Single payer) * Stop the wars (can be first) * Balance the federal budget * Reduce red tape and monopolization in the economy

[migkillertwo]

"1) Failure of unbalanced trade aka "globalization""

Trade is balanced...by definition

"bank regulation"

Right, surely the banks were not regulated. Forget the whole Federal reserve and Fractional reserve banking. Those had nothing to do with the depression.

"return glass-steagall" The "too-big-to-fail" banks wouldn't exist without a fed.

"balance the trade"

*facepalm*

"single payer"

*facepalm*

[Arktigs]

"Trade is balanced...by definition" ----- You have never seen the US trade balance...

"Forget the whole Federal reserve and Fractional reserve banking." ----- I didn't say to forget it, it needs to be regulated better too... now it isn't. Separating investment and commercial banking is ESSENTIAL. The rest will take more time. It's a mess.

[787Bisurdaddy]

He's talking about free trade. The presence of government perverts the market; the US has NEVER had a free market, so try to use it as an example of "the failure of the free market."

Again, quality regulation can only come from the market. You are advocating a monopoly on regulation, which allows the regulators to not only fail, but to provide kickbacks, and suffer no consequences. In a free market, those regulators would go out of business and competent ones would take their place.

[charleshoskinson]

Single payer and balance the federal budget in the same post. You're not too bright are you sonny? Go back and get a second helping of the cool aid. You need it.

[truvelocity]

But, what about the unbelievable increase of the cost of homes? Financing is just a small solution, look at the property taxes that are unbelievable for those who live in a territory that is deemed prime property. This is another issue that is unfair and needs to be addressed.

[earthborg]

anyone that can think for themselves instead of the way tv tells them to could have told you this.

[0bodobod0]

blame everyone so no one is blamed.

[MooseOfReason]

I want to see a debate between Jonah Norberg and Naomi Klein.

That would be great. I'd even pay to see it.

By the way, if you haven't seen it, check the related videos section for the Reason video about "Shock Doctrine".

[iddqd138]

I think he invited her to one but she declined. Anyway, after seeing his hour-long review of "The Chock Doctrine", just hearing about this bitch pisses me off.

[PressForFreedom]

True capitalists such as Ron Paul have been warning of this for many years, lay the blame where it belongs on Washington, the Fed and their cronies in business.

[787Bisurdaddy]

I wish he would have touched a bit more on the fact that more regulation does not equal more constraint over businesses (and in fact, usually means LESS restraint, allowing toxic businesses to not only survive but maintain their market share by excluding competition). Also, I take issue with his use of the term "free market" in describing something that isn't remotely a free market.

[787Bisurdaddy]

Eh, I probably spoke too soon. He did go as far as to say that more regulations and bailouts are just damaging us even more. What we need is NO regulation: get the government monopoly to stop fucking with the market and allow the market to regulate itself. We need to operate in an ACTUAL free market, or otherwise these "regulators" and their corporate interests will continue taking advantage of people for their own gain.

[Arktigs]

It's not about quantity of regulation, it's about its QUALITY! There is NO such thing as NO regulation. NO regulation means no protection for freedoms. NO regulation means destruction, jungle and slavery. NO regulation means no civilization - try to find some without regulation, there aren't any. A free market can REMAIN free only if it is balanced. Unbalanced market leads to monopolization and economic dependency... it is not free. Balanced books is a rule of sanity, not a moral imperative.

[Betty5150]

a gold standard is the best regulator.

[migkillertwo]

"try to find some without regulation"

Ancient Iceland and Ireland.

Once again, trade is balanced by definition. Learn that the value of money is all subjective.

[787Bisurdaddy]

Right, it's not quantity, it's quality. And the best quality regulation, BY FAR, results from allowing the market to regulate itself.

You're right, there's no such thing as no regulation, because regulation emerges in a free market as the need for it arises. Of course, I was talking about government regulation; those laws, backed by illegitimate force, that seek to pervert the structure of production and provide kickbacks for various corporations and special interest groups.

[787Bisurdaddy]

No protection of freedom? Destruction, jungle, and slavery? No civilization? Your mind has been poisoned by public schooling. You clearly don't understand how a free market operates.

Your freedoms aren't protected by government! They are VIOLATED by it. A government that doesn't allow you to trade and interact freely as you wish is NOT providing you or protecting any freedom, it is violating it. Monopolies can only exist with the backing of government. Wake the fuck up.

[NeonKnight88]

are you still on this bullshit?

[terpis]

Facile neolib bullshit.

This "house for free" garbage is a false equivalence to the STRONG interest global investors had in degraded lending standards & the aggressive predatory marketing of subprime.

When the fuck did "the left" advocate for 'the poorest of the poor' to be preyed on by the pricks at Countrywide et al?

"Everyone is Guilty"...a nice wingnut-welfare-produced alt to the ugly truth.

Libertarians: servants (or stooges) of privileged system-gamers. It was ever thus.

[TenseAlcyoneus]

Well sure, the lending companies were taking advantage of the government money printing press. Reason, libertarians, and many conservative argued against bailing out the lending companies.

But in any case, it was government that provided the cheap liquor, and irresponsible lenders and borrowers got quite drunk.

Frankly, I don't give a damn if they have a hangover. Just stop taking MY money. I lived within my means.

[58robbo]

it was the libertarians who said let the banks fail, let those who have billions stockpiled with wall street brokers lose their cash! i really don't see how you come to the conclusion that libertarians are stooges for system gamers! the system guaranteed their holdings up to $100k no more. it would have been the great leveller!

[ronpaul101789]

Who caused it then? How did they cause it?

[Elasaltaculos]

Crisis in capitalism? Are you serious? Wouldn't we have to have free markets in the United States in order to blame the free market?

The crisis happens because we are moving away from free market capitalism.

[natdavi]

Perhaps that's the crisis?

[samm1809]

@Elasaltaculos they'll never learn.