Recession is a CRISIS, the result of Rightwing ideology-1/3

Economics Journalist Robert Kuttner on the "Most Serious Financial Crisis Since the Great Depression": "This is the Result of Rightwing Ideology and the Political Power of Wall Street"

Amid growing fears of a worldwide recession, the Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday, the biggest single cut in nearly a quarter of a century. Meanwhile, President Bush and congressional leaders pledged to work together on a stimulus measure that would inject about $150 billion in additional money into the economy. But many economists are skeptical over whether any measures can turn around a severe slump in the housing market and the subprime mortgage crisis, signs of growing unemployment and weakening consumer spending and the added blow of record high oil prices. We speak to veteran economics journalist Robert Kuttner and Robert Weissman, co-director of the corporate accountability group Essential Action and editor of Multinational Monitor magazine. [includes rush transcript]

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• depression
• recession
• rightwing
• wall
• street
• federal
• reserve
• democracy
• now

[uclaztec2]

There is nothing I disagree with in this video. CNBC doesn't want to talk about this matter, but want to focus on how the stimulus package is turning investment sentiments positive. CNBC's take is far from reality.

[JUKIO01]

the economy is going to collapse, then the north american union wil come into play and the amero

[TheNodnarb88]

I think the lesson to be learned from what's said in this video isn't that we need more regulation, but that gov't is incompetent of regulating, and when they try they distort markets and encourage risk taking. Remember that greed in a free market is accompanied by fear. What the gov't and federal reserve did during the Bush/Greenspan years was take the fear out of the equation with low interest rates and government guarantees. Had it been market oriented, fear would've prevented recklessness.

[SPS148669]

It;s funny that "Bolivia" that Native American country in the far south has the only growth in all of the Americas te last 4 years depite they are SO CALLED "Sovietism"

[christo930]

I did watch the video and he even said that the gov failed to enforce it's regulations.

By bailout the banks, they have made them even bigger and have virtually guaranteed that they will be bailed out again.

I don't have "idols", but I do believe in Austrian economics and I certainly believe in personal freedom. I guess you don't believe in freedom? I guess you think we should keep growing gov and blowing people up all over the world? Keep locking citizens up for consent 'crimes'?

[edschaeffer]

Why don't you just watch the video dude. You have the best minds telling you what happened (which was deregulation not failure of regulation) and you turn a blind eye in support of your idols.

[christo930]

Gov regulation fails and that's the markets fault? OK.

Just take regular bank accounts. Do you know how your bank manages your money? Do you know what their debt ratios are? Do you care? Of course not, the gov guarantees your account. Absent the FDIC, services would exist which would rate the banks, banks would lower their debt ratios and you would care what they did. if they tried to leverage up and you knew you wouldn't get your money back, you'd withdraw it.

[christo930]

The financial crisis is a failure of government, not of free market. We don't have anything even close to resembling a free market. We have crony capitalism. None of this could have happened without the gov

1) Setting interest rates

2) Gov guarantees

3) Bailouts

I am not totally against regulation. We need sensible regulations. Things like the EPA, OSHA, FDA (although not in their current form) and sensible banking regulations such as maximum consumer interest rates.

[edschaeffer]

Even broke clicks like Peter Schiff and Ron Paul sometimes tell the right time. However, they were right for the wrong reasons.

You should pay attention to the three parts of this video. As you can see Robert Kuttner correctly predicted the crash, and he definitely doesn't subscribe to the Austrian school.

The difference here is that these corporations found a way around "The State's" regulations (your wet dream) and exploited capitalism. This ultimately caused the crash, your ideology.

[edschaeffer]

No, freak "libertarians" are generally considered farther to the right than conservatives. I'm sorry that you don't trust government, but I don't trust a world without it. If the last financial crisis was left up to the market's devices things would've been far worse than they are today.

Von Mises is to economics as Freud was to psychology. Both were studied in the beginning chapters, and both are outdated.

[christo930]

I stand corrected. Why do you keep referring to libertarian thinking as crap? The idea of freedom is crazy to you? The idea that we don't need our betters to tell us how to spend our money is crazy? Nobody is talking anarchy here, just the minimum gov needed.

Austrian economics fully predicted everything that happened, in detail and how. The same can be said about the 70's stagflation and how was that fixed? Do you remember? High interest rates.

[edschaeffer]

I'm talking about the bubble when it bursted. Massive supply is driving house prices downward.

Tom Woods doesn't have a degree in economics and I don't even think he has a Nobel Prize. (where did you get that info?) Secondly, Peter Schiff said gold will go to $5000. I'm saying it won't pass $2000 and my target price for it is $1350. When it crashes hopefully you'll get over this crazy libertarian crap.