More thoughts on the fake recovery

tvsterling at 20:54 2009-05-24 said:

I beg to differ on one point raised. The global economy is not naturally boom-bust in nature. The controls put in place during The Great Depression were crafted out of hard experience to tame the boom-bust cycles. They were not perfect but they made a repeat panic MUCH less likely. The foolish & greedy financial sector grew impatient with the pace of steady, reasonable & sustainable growth. They used their power to repeal the safeguards & the rest is history. The global economy TENDS to be cyclical but with wise & prudent controls cycles do not degenerate into boom-bust roller coaster rides. Even now the same greedy faction (a mere 5% of Americans) are trying desperately to preserve their undemocratic power base & thwart a return to sound fiscal policy. I don't know about the fake recovery; it seems quite plausible but not inevitable IF we return to proper controls on the financial sector & NOT FORGET this second lesson about what happens when greed not reason rules our lives & economy. Proper controls mean AT LEAST a return to ALL of the Great Depression reforms AND STICKING WITH THEM. In the present complex & interconnected world total free enterprise is no longer possible. The decline of the middle cla$$ over the past 35 years coincides EXACTLY with the demonization of the unions & the accompanying dis empowerment of all American workers. Don't even get me started on the use of Free Trade politics to complete the destruction of the middle cla$$. Permalink