- Sep 30, 2003
- 26,907
- 174
- 106
'Tread water' until the economy naturally reverses itself.
Everyone expects the economy would eventually turn around on it's own. I'm begining to suspect the hope that it will is the foundation of their plan.
When it turns around and homes prices start rising I expect many of our current problems (low home values, subprime mortgages and toxic derivitives) would 'heal' themselves.
The problems have existed now for several years. Home prices began falling substanialy in 2007.
Banks began failing in 2007 too.
My point is that has been going for a long time. Geitner was president of the NY Fed bank (starting 2003) and has been aware of, and a player in, all this throughout the years. It's not as though this were just dumped into his lap and he needs time to figure it out. I'm concerned that if he hasn't figured it out by now, he probably never will.
The stimulus plan seems mostly a hugely expensive 'bandaid' to help prop up jobs and provide 'welfare' to help those affected limp along until the turn-around comes. The large portion that was money for states etc will help them minimize cuts in jobs and services, again until the turn around appears.
Otherwise, there wasn't much 'stimulus' in the stim package. It was pitifully small amount allocated to roads & bridges etc.
Last week Obama spoke about how important health care reform, education and 'green' energy were to turning around the economy.
Really? I don't see it.
Health care is a domestic industry - our money spent on it is staying within the USA; how is reducing that sectors revenue gonna turn around out economy? So we can pay less for health care only to turn around and buy more big screen TV's from China? Don't health care professionals already spend that money. How is switching it from their pockets to ours gonna do anything different in big scheme of things? (I undertsand how it's desirable form own individual perspectives, but the economy doesn't care about it at that level)
Education is a pretty dang long-term way to affect anything in our economy. Sure, having a btter educated more productive citizenry is an economic benefit. But when will that manifest itself - 5 years, 10 years? How can that help with our current economic situation.
Energy policy? We've been committing a ton of money to many of these projects for decades. Will a little more government money suddently make a difference and transform them into profitable enterprises? I don't see it. It sounds nice but is far too hopeful for me to have any faith in helping our economy currently. Besides, green energy was probably the hottest venture capital sector over the past 5 years or so. I'm afraid much of that has dried up so I see our federal money just helping replace some of that which disappeared. I.e., I don't any more money going in there than what we had in the past - probably less in fact. How is it suddenly gonna produce anything revolutionary and new?
Has the economic crisis impaired Obama's ability to implement his (Dems) policy initiatives? I don't think so. Aside form throwing money around to help bridge us to the economy's own natural turn-around, he's pursuing health care, education and energy policy as if the economic problems didn't exist (other than than trying to wrap those up in an 'economic solution label' and sell them to us on that basis).
No, I don't think they have any answers (maybe nobody does). Instead they just wanna tread wtater and soften the blow until things turnaround mostly on their own. Not very inspiring or impressive, but maybe that's all that can be done and that's a bit scary.
I think the economy turning itself around is the 'Silver Bullet', and suspect waiting on the admin to unveil any great plan is a futile excerise.
Fern
Everyone expects the economy would eventually turn around on it's own. I'm begining to suspect the hope that it will is the foundation of their plan.
When it turns around and homes prices start rising I expect many of our current problems (low home values, subprime mortgages and toxic derivitives) would 'heal' themselves.
The problems have existed now for several years. Home prices began falling substanialy in 2007.
Banks began failing in 2007 too.
My point is that has been going for a long time. Geitner was president of the NY Fed bank (starting 2003) and has been aware of, and a player in, all this throughout the years. It's not as though this were just dumped into his lap and he needs time to figure it out. I'm concerned that if he hasn't figured it out by now, he probably never will.
The stimulus plan seems mostly a hugely expensive 'bandaid' to help prop up jobs and provide 'welfare' to help those affected limp along until the turn-around comes. The large portion that was money for states etc will help them minimize cuts in jobs and services, again until the turn around appears.
Otherwise, there wasn't much 'stimulus' in the stim package. It was pitifully small amount allocated to roads & bridges etc.
Last week Obama spoke about how important health care reform, education and 'green' energy were to turning around the economy.
Really? I don't see it.
Health care is a domestic industry - our money spent on it is staying within the USA; how is reducing that sectors revenue gonna turn around out economy? So we can pay less for health care only to turn around and buy more big screen TV's from China? Don't health care professionals already spend that money. How is switching it from their pockets to ours gonna do anything different in big scheme of things? (I undertsand how it's desirable form own individual perspectives, but the economy doesn't care about it at that level)
Education is a pretty dang long-term way to affect anything in our economy. Sure, having a btter educated more productive citizenry is an economic benefit. But when will that manifest itself - 5 years, 10 years? How can that help with our current economic situation.
Energy policy? We've been committing a ton of money to many of these projects for decades. Will a little more government money suddently make a difference and transform them into profitable enterprises? I don't see it. It sounds nice but is far too hopeful for me to have any faith in helping our economy currently. Besides, green energy was probably the hottest venture capital sector over the past 5 years or so. I'm afraid much of that has dried up so I see our federal money just helping replace some of that which disappeared. I.e., I don't any more money going in there than what we had in the past - probably less in fact. How is it suddenly gonna produce anything revolutionary and new?
Has the economic crisis impaired Obama's ability to implement his (Dems) policy initiatives? I don't think so. Aside form throwing money around to help bridge us to the economy's own natural turn-around, he's pursuing health care, education and energy policy as if the economic problems didn't exist (other than than trying to wrap those up in an 'economic solution label' and sell them to us on that basis).
No, I don't think they have any answers (maybe nobody does). Instead they just wanna tread wtater and soften the blow until things turnaround mostly on their own. Not very inspiring or impressive, but maybe that's all that can be done and that's a bit scary.
I think the economy turning itself around is the 'Silver Bullet', and suspect waiting on the admin to unveil any great plan is a futile excerise.
Fern
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