Comments on: Die Hard Illusions

By: Will Stirrup

Will Stirrup — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:48:15 +0000

John, during the 1800s, the British had the British Dream… it didn’t last, and the american one won’t either.

The American Dream was largely built on the Brentwood Agreement, and not having to re-build its entire economy from the ground up like Europe had to.

Of course having a large Gold holding, and the world’s reserve currency gave it an advantage also when it came to buying commodities of all sorts.

By: blossol@earthlink.net

blossol@earthlink.net — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:36:51 +0000

Finally you said it loud and clear enough to be heard by those who want to hear;

Depression is the result of nation spending orgy which made us all high, and blind…

By: John

John — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:44:57 +0000

All this negativity, I choose to believe that in time, things will get better. In the short term however, they’re going to get worse…. a lot worse. We as a people, have to hit bottom, there has to be a fundamental reset in the way we think. That hasn’t happened yet. For far too long we have lived in a fantasy world of our own creation,at other’s expense I’m afraid. The “American Dream” will prove to have been a short lived historical anomaly but we will survive this and become of this the better for it.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:45:40 +0000

In 1945 the US dollar represented freedom and liberty.IN 2009 the US dollar represents an out of control socio nationalistico fascisto military/industrial/financial complex that invades countrys and blows their inhabitants to smithereens for fun so it can then appropriate their natural resouces. Whats wrong with this picture?

By: Will Stirrup

Will Stirrup — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:44:27 +0000

Harry, I htink you need ot read a little more before making such naive statements.

The British tried Laissez-faire capitalism in the 1700’s, and whilst it did wonders for us in terms of economic activity, it also brought about absolutely awful conditions and slavery, as people undercut one another. (Labour pricing is a function of availability, and skills levels.)

At the moment, the BRIC nations et-al, are undercutting the West. However, the value of currencies plays its part too, and the Chinese are not allowing their currency to float. Which would make their products slightly more expensive (in a true laissez-faire world)

Politics eh… Bugger!

By: remembergoliad

remembergoliad — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:08:29 +0000

Laissez-faire capitalism WILL WORK. What we’ve had is unregulated capitalism on one hand but a neat little socialistic safety net to prevent the experience of failure. When that safety net is there, people will do stupid things; however, without a safety net, people will take risks only after making a serious decision based on a very real possibility that it could HURT real bad to be wrong. Right now, Uncle Gubbermint is trying to protect people from the consequences of their poorly-thought-out actions, and when gummint gets involved, it’ll bring us ALL down and is doing so spectacularly. Ultimate socialism: We will all fail equally.

By: psiceobill

psiceobill — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:22:31 +0000

Ian said,
So unregulated capitalism doesn’t work as evidenced by our current depression, and state controlled, regulated economics don’t work. So what is it that will lead us to a sustainable economy?
……………..
Ian, a slightly regulated capitalism would work like a charm, but that is not what we get. Also needed are strong penalties for any wrong-doing. ………..
It is a shame that we lacked reasonable rules or laws in a few critical areas, such as capital requirements for the banks. (There would be no recession today if only the leverage and derivative area of the banks had been held in check through a minimum capital regulation.)
And we kept far too many idiotic politicians in place that should have been run out on a rail, because they are bankrupting us through their ridiculous excessive spending.

By: Tomsk

Tomsk — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:35:39 +0000

This-is-all-a-scam.Fascism-is-the-goal,recently
attained

By: Nate

Nate — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:34:28 +0000

So what really needs to happen is a less surplus of everything and less people. Since the price of household formation is still high, there will be a baby bust and a swift die off of the older generations. The first world populations will dwindle, and the third world populations will collapse. Only when the need for human labor is in high enough demand due to this population crash, will the world economy regain its footing(don’t anyone hold their breath, it’s over!)

5 billion by 2100 is optimistic and 4 billion looks more likely. Of course, an apocalypse unrelated to the economy could dwindle population numbers much more than a baby bust, but the die off has already begun, and has a long,long way to go.

By: Harry

Harry — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:00:26 +0000

Guess you haven’t been in an Apple store lately. People eagerly line up to buy phones that end up costing a minimum of $100/mo. Until that slows, and it has no appearance of doing so and actually sells more and more daily, I fail to see a consumer that’s actually fearful.