Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Here's what Capitalism looks like now

Rate this topic


adrock3215

Recommended Posts

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home

Nine banks take in $125 billion in taxpayer funded government handouts with the left hand; nine banks pay out bonuses and compensation of $108 billion in taxpayer funded government handouts with the right hand.

:( Most of these nine firms should be out of business right now, and the employees should be shining shoes on Wall St.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nine banks take in $125 billion in taxpayer funded government handouts with the left hand; nine banks pay out bonuses and compensation of $108 billion in taxpayer funded government handouts with the right hand.

That ain't capitalism, it's fascism. We're well past the point where we should be calling things by their proper names.

The reaction to this will help concretize the principle that government funding leads inevitably to government control.

(Parenthetically, though, I wonder what the banks should have done with the money, given that the government essentially forced it into their hands. Further lending to borrowers who couldn't pay back their earlier loans would just compound the problem. Part of the problem here is the irresponsible use of credit throughout the economy, and expanding lending makes that worse. A similar point can be made about interbank lending, given the lack of transparency of the bank balance sheets. There is no responsible action the banks can take with that money because they should never have had it in the first place.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The NY AG Andrew Cuomo is taking an even harder line:

"Attorney General Cuomo, in a letter to nine financial institutions, says that using Fed money for bonuses could be considered "illegal fraudulent conveyances," and lead to prosecution."

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/12509995?f=alerts

The Feds force you to take the money and then when you don't do what they want with it, you have apparently committed a fraudulent conveyance. Absolutely incredible.

I thought this was a particularly Orwellian and fascist thing for Cuomo to say:

"In this new era of corporate responsibility we are entering, boards of directors must step up to the plate and prevent wasteful expenditures of corporate funds on outsized executive bonuses and other unjustified compensation."

p.s. I'm sure Cuomo he sees this sort of thing as his ticket to a much larger political career.

Edited by gags
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wells Fargo, one of the banks listed in the article, is apparently trying to loan out some of that money the government has given them. Last year, I co-signed for a car loan for one of my employees with Wells Fargo. I had never had any contact with them before or since, until today that is. A woman from there called me to see if I was interested in a loan. To make a long story short, she told me she could make some sort of vehicle loan, where if I could provide her with a VIN number from a vehicle that I told her was worth $10, 000, she could cut me a check for $16,000. I dont know how common such loans are, but it struck me as quite a mark-up for a vehicle that will only depreciate in value over time. Maybe I am wrong, but it doesnt strike me as particularly wise risk for a bank to make.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course, we can't think that this money goes only to the employees of the banks. That would be selfish. No, some of the taxpayer-funded government money will simply be distributed to shareholders. This is atrocious. This is a hideous transfer of wealth DIRECTLY from taxpayers to employees and shareholders.

Edited by adrock3215
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That ain't capitalism, it's fascism. We're well past the point where we should be calling things by their proper names.

I've been calling it fascism for a while now. The government now owns interests in:

a. Insurance

b. Mortgages

c. Banking

And now, pending approval (which will come regardless)

d. Auto manufacturing

How many more sectors of the economy must be nationalised before we call a spade a spade? It's a short step from "the taxpayers" "owning shares" in these buisinesses to the government mandating how they conduct buisiness (even more so than they do do now through regulation - this will, eventually, be direct oversight).

This is naked National Socialism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone needs healthcare! it's a basic right! :P

Actually I'm waiting for the Government to fully socialize the agriculture and food industry. After all we need to eat, so it should be a right. I brought this up to a liberal once, and they thought it was "ridiculous". HA! It's insane. How does one NOT see the similarities in this line of thinking?!!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I'm waiting for the Government to fully socialize the agriculture and food industry. After all we need to eat, so it should be a right. I brought this up to a liberal once, and they thought it was "ridiculous". HA! It's insane. How does one NOT see the similarities in this line of thinking?!!?

Don'tca know food is cheaper and you can beg for it far more effectively than health care?

/END focus on non-essentials

(And how long until houses become a right? Those are NOT cheap. Oh wait, we already have virtually a right to a mortgage....)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, their next trick is that they're going to bail out / nationalize the auto industry. Isn't transportation a right? After all, we all need to get around. :P
I know this is very off-topic, and that this wasn't your intended effect, but lately I have no sense of humor or lightheartedness toward all of the government evils, and our likely future regulations and mandates... It all gets worse and more depressing. Do you honestly find it funny? (I'm serious, not prodding.)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's just gallows humor, JASKN; at least it is for me, when I say things like that these days.

Scary part is where the origin of that phrase is.

A gallows is a platform where they had hanged people years ago. The humor of stress came to them when they knew they were about to die.

And I agree, gallows humor is very important during stress. Relieves a lot of it. At least TRY to laugh, JASKN. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sure...after Obama bankrupts the coal industry and the oil industry for their carbon emissions, he can always steal a gold mine like his buddy Hugo Chavez.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government will take over and nationalize La Cristinas, the biggest gold mine in the country owned by Canada's Crystallex, Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Wednesday.

The move is part of leftist Chavez's socialist agenda that calls for nationalizing Venezuela's natural resources. Over the past year, he has taken over the electricity, oil, steelmaking, cement and telephone enterprises.

Too bad there isn't a real Francisco D'Anconia working that mine to make it worthless to the looters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this is very off-topic, and that this wasn't your intended effect, but lately I have no sense of humor or lightheartedness toward all of the government evils, and our likely future regulations and mandates... It all gets worse and more depressing. Do you honestly find it funny? (I'm serious, not prodding.)

Actually I find it so depressing that if I really let it get to me, I wouldn't make it out of bed in the morning. Hence the weak attempt at humor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I find it so depressing that if I really let it get to me, I wouldn't make it out of bed in the morning. Hence the weak attempt at humor.
OK, I get it. My own defense is not gallows humor but to instead "ignore" things. I try to keep it all at the very back of my mind, and try to stay optimistic whenever I'm reminded of things.

But, oh my god it really is so awful!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...