20/20 - Bailouts & Bull**** - Pt. 2 of 6

Originally aired on March 13, 2009. Whether the government should fix the economy; the attainability of the American Dream; a proposal for universal pre-kindergarten; fencing in the U.S. border; increasing traffic and killer commutes; medical marijuana.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• stossel
• john stossel
• 2020
• 20/20
• bailouts
• government
• marijuana
• border

[ca1cifer]

It seems like people need to understand that profit isn't a bad thing.  Instead of only associating greed with profit, people need to understand that profit means a creation of wealth for everyone. It always baffles me that people don't realize that "big corporations" are made up of individual people.

[wisted]

@ca1cifer That's an excellent point. Meddling with the markets and punishing corporations creates the following devastating consequences: Private benefits wither away, bonuses cut or eliminated, layoffs galore, hiring freezes, and many employees migrate to the reckless public sector--seduced by the 'perks' of collective bargaining--where they become part of the problem. Yeah, I'm sorta disturbed by the undermining of the private sector.

[butchster2012]

Privatizing highways is a terrible idea. Sure highways will get built faster and maintained better, but the tolls will be ridiculous. 2:45 $9!? And they talk about competition. This won't be like a Target across from a WalMart. There's really gonna be 4 roads of varying quality side by side competing for drivers? No way! Any lower class person won't be able to afford to drive to work during the peak times. And don't think your taxes will lower cuz the government doesn't pay for roads anymore.

[wisted]

@butchster2012 While I agree with you that our taxes [probably] wouldn't go down, the private road system is conceived to be an adjunct rather than a replacement. Also, if tolls were too high for most people, new private mass transit solutions would appear to alleviate the cost. This would force the operators to reduce the tolls and increase traffic once again. Free market is always smarter than central planning, unless they're in collusion with one another.

[madtrade]

@wisted

hahaha this is fucking bullshit

look at us in france with our highway since its privatised they are priced higher then ever!

and they do less work on em ! privatisation who would lead to a competitive price dont work. they just make a cartel !!!

[wisted]

@madtrade Last I checked, France wasn't much of a free market.

[mathproof]

Of course, they would. Government never doesn't a good job at operating efficiently. The easiest explanation is lack of competition. Now, apply this conception to health care and observe people in line versus automobiles.

[AngelDiceII]

Recessions are good, necessary and unavoidable. The only time they are bad is when the government prevents the adjustment from happening.

[ca1cifer]

@Spjungen The recession is part of the business cycle, but we would have had a smaller one if the gov left the housing market alone.

[Spjungen]

@ca1cifer What people NEED to understand is that recessions are part of the business cycle. Period. Some firms stay in some firms die out, it's evolution, survival of the fittest, applied to business. We tried to have our cake and eat it by preventing recessions through bailouts, it is the worst idea ever, it is the biggest ponzi scheme, it is completely agaist the laws of economics and it results in bankruptcy.

That's why liquidation NEEDS to happen.

[ca1cifer]

The world will be a better place if everyone was is an economist...or at least know basic econ.

[drkshad0]

@butchster2012 "Sure highways will get built faster and maintained better, but the tolls will be ridiculous." Well, maybe they will reflect the true price/cost of highways - rather than the 'subsidised' federal ones.

And higher prices on roadways may not be an "all bad" thing - it's the perfect incentive to spur research into reducing cost through alternative energy and perhaps utilize more railroad Vs trucks for shipping...

[whothaplaya]

@butchster2012 Do no how much it cost to cross the GW bridge now? $8. So $9 will be cheaper because the there would be no excise tax and other road maintenance taxes.