blueblood

Usury is what got the western world out of the dark ages and made the western world what it is today. It also allows you and I a better lifestyle than just about everybody on the planet.

Better than saving and investing nothing for retirement. Perhaps people should build smaller houses drive older cars and save some money?

No it doesn't change liquidy, it provides more. And they do fluctuate based on supply and demand. Why do you think commodities are so volatile? It's because of supply and demand, all the speculators do is do market research and go long/short of those commodities and investments based on said market research. It's not really gambling. For example with that much liquidity in the market it sends very clear signals of what kind of grain to put in production, when to sell, whether to keep it in storage for x amt. Of time, whether to invest in more machinery/inputs, etc, in the market you can't have the price constantly rising or people will lose money when they go short and buy back in. What your proposing makes price discovery impossible, and hurts growth.

Hurray for Jim crow!!! Should we go back to 1950s Alabama while we're at it?

Not to mention the even larger moral hazard than some beaureaucrat arbitrarily setting interest rates, loan requirements, etc. Banks have been around and worked for over 500 years. They work.

Like I said black people in the old south were free to go to their own black schools, restaurants, etc. If they wanted those things that was their choice.

Oh really, if I wanted to become a teacher I can't bargain for myself, have paycheck deductions, and have to join a union. What about the person who wants to be a teacher but doesn't want to join a union, what about their freedoms?

He enriched society by providing his clients with a service. Those clients are funds that help out with people's pensions. That person looks at fundamentals and goes long or short accordingly. The problem is what kind of money these foreign exchange traders are using. Is it sound money or is it money printed off the printing press?

Oh really, he's talking at them. Lets look at what a 3rd party journalist has to say about that... 18 minutes of civility Back to the drawing board eh?

The same banker who predicted it back in 05 and how severe it would be. I'd say he has some credibility on the subject.

That will remain to be seen, nothing like a credit downgrade to smarten up with spending, ask Paul Martin

Have a read at this... My link

Here's a bankers synopsis of OWS... My link Apparently people need to understand the economy better.

Slow down because we're stuffing money into banks with these bad bonds instead of investing in production.

You'd Think a rogue vessel starting an invasion would save their munitions for more juicy north american targets... That and I figure it would have to be a rogue vessel as it would be easy to spot mobilization of invading forces via satellite.

In this hypothetical north American invasion, wouldn't security be tightened up? Cold lake would be pretty hard to hit with a cruise missile by a foreign navy, subs or not. I don't think subs would waste their missiles on cold lake...

You don't think USA private sector dollars didn't prime Japan's pump to propel it to economy number two for 40 plus years? It was supposed to get worse in 1920-21, the gov't did nothing and the market reallocated. What if Keynes was wrong?

During wartime? With modern detection? I think a rogue ship or invading navy would have quite a tough time getting to within 12 miles, let alone pop off a missile

We already had our "financial crisis" back in the nineties, PMPM slashed spending with a green light from the opposition. It was a dramatic change from tax and spend, but it's been more of the same for the past 20 yrs.

How would a ship get close enough to north America without air superiority?

20% spending cuts is minor? Spending cuts and tax code reform are nutty? Do you know the financial situation of the USA? More of the same doesn't cut it anymore. I agree, if Romney gets in it will be same old same old down there, the can will be kicked down the road. However, we are not Americans and what may not be electable up here might work down there.

I'm talking about the big debate between the nominee and Obama. As for political will Canada pulled it off in the nineties and Ireland pulled it off iover the last year. As bc2004 says the economy trumps all.

Or govt got so big and had so much influence for sale to those contributors because of picking winners and losers through onerous regulations.

10. It's all about the collective

Ah, but we have the crisis that provides the opportunity for tax code change and economic fixes. I think this will be a very tight election that comes down to the debates. We have essentially two starkly different ideas for fixing the economy - Friedman vs. Krugman. The American people will choose what way they will want to go, all we can hope is that they will choose wisely...