dinsdag 7 oktober 2008

Het Neoliberale Geloof 208

Heeft u al excuses gehoord van de neoliberalen voor de chaos die ze veroorzaakt hebben met hun deregulering en privatisering? De bankiers, zakenmensen en hun lakeien, de politici en journalisten? Ik vraag het even omdat nieuw-rechts excuses eist van iedereen die de moed had om tegen hun heilstaat te protesteren. Bolkestein en zijn ideologische volgelingen bijvoorbeeld zijn verdacht stil, terwijl ze anders zo luidruchtig zijn.
The End of American Capitalism? 5 Short Takes on Where the Financial Crisis Might Be Headed
Al Jazeera.

Five prominent economists share their thoughts on what's happening and how bad the situation really is. The past week has seen the US economy rocked by some of the worst global financial turmoil in decades, with venerable firms collapsing, global banks and governments pouring huge sums of money into financial markets in a bid to ease turmoil and thousands facing unemployment or financial ruin.
As US officials announce planned measures to tackle the crisis, Al Jazeera asked five prominent economists: Does the crisis signal the end of US-style capitalism? And if so, what are the lessons learned?
James Galbraith, economist, professor at University of Texas, Austin
This does not mean the end of the United States' position in the world economy.
The US dollar has not moved, which does suggest that the position of the US government is still very much intact.
I think what it means is that in the future the big firms will have a smaller presence.
The years when the US government took the position that financial firms can run the country as they see fit and that regulation could be dismised is finished. There will be a major examination of how the financial markets are regulated.
Such financial events will have a lagged effect on everyone ... its most likely consequence is that the credit crisis will get more intense and the foreclosure crisis will get worse.
We will have to wait and see. But people do not learn from mistakes. How many times do we have to go through this?
'Enormous mess'
A well-functioning financial system has rules and it's when the rules are relaxed that shady practices and get rich quick schemes abound, which is what happened in the [sub-prime] mortgage system in 2005 and 2006.
The banks' behavior was conditioned by Bush. [He] sent a clear signal that they could get away with everything, [that there was] no more effective supervision so go ahead and make toxic loans, we won't stop you, then everyone made a bundle and left an enormous mess.
The evolution of good conduct is defined by effective rules. John McCain [the Republican presidential candidate] lectures on the morals of Wall Street but they are no more or less corrupt than other humans.
A full recovery will only begin with a new administration with a different philosophy seriously committed to ... bringing in new people, giving them adequate resources and the legal authority.'

1 opmerking:

Sonja zei

Na de bailout van 85 miljard dollar spoedden de AIG executives zich naar het St. Regis Resort om zich eens flink te laten verwennen. Kosten: $400.000.

Appearing before the committee, Martin Sullivan, the AIG CEO until June, said the company was overwhelmed by a "financial global tsunami," and that "no simple or single cause" was to blame.
Robert Willumstad, the CEO from June to September, 2008, maintained AIG was a victim of a "crisis in confidence" and an "unprecedented global catastrophe."
On Dec. 5, 2007, Waxman said, CEO Sullivan told investors, "We are confident in our marks and the reasonableness of our valuation methods."
Sullivan was given a $15 million "golden parachute" payment after being replaced as CEO in June. (bron)

Hebzucht en corruptie komen bij alle ismen voor, alleen het kapitalisme heeft heeft van deze eigenschappen een deugd gemaakt.

Peter Flik en Chuck Berry-Promised Land

mijn unieke collega Peter Flik, die de vrijzinnig protestantse radio omroep de VPRO maakte is niet meer. ik koester duizenden herinneringen ...