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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
 Posted - 04/04/2009 : 15:58:42
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http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/04/its-depression.html
| This is still not the Great Depression of the 1930s, but it is a Depression. And the only way out is government spending on a very large scale. We should stop worrying about Wall Street. Worry about American workers. Use money to build up Main Street, and the future capacities of our workforce. |
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I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Maverick
Skeptic Friend
Sweden
385 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2009 : 03:46:10 [Permalink]
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It's not exactly the same, because we have more and better safety nets and welfare systems now, and so unless there is a complete collapse I don't expect people to become homeless or perish from starvation. Sure those systems will be more costly now when more people will have to rely on them, but it would take a lot before we would have to make drastic cutbacks there.
I do agree that government spending is one way out of this. Now would be a good time to build more apartments and improve infrastructure, and not cut back on education and research. |
"Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy." -- Carl Sagan |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2009 : 18:26:34 [Permalink]
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The economic problems we have are complex, but they stem (mostly) from a single thing: Deregulation of banking. The laws that prohibited investment banks from also being normal banks and insurance companies were put in place for a reason after the great depression.
So I'm not sure large scale government spending is such a great idea until we change banking laws. The megabanks need to be broken back up first, and the allowed leverage reduced to levels we know are sustainable (less than our current 35:1, obviously). If the economy still needs a boost after that, then lets launch the big infrastructure improvement programs.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2009 : 18:29:53 [Permalink]
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An analogy: You are spurting arterial blood from a severed artery, and you doctor decides that giving you a blood transfusion is more important that getting the artery tied off.
If we don't fix the reason why the economy is broken then no amount of money spent will solve the problem.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Time to use the 'D' word?
