Home > Jay Bookman > Archives > 2008 > December > 28 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USA one-word explanation? Greed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The secret to capitalism’s success is its ability to take one of mankind’s most powerful emotions — greed — and harness that emotion to drive economic progress. By greedily pursuing our own individual self-interests, the theory goes, each of us contributes almost accidentally to greater prosperity for everybody.
And for the most part, that’s how it has worked. The innovation and risk-taking encouraged by capitalism have given billions of people a quality of life and security that would otherwise be unimaginable. If there is a better, more productive system for meeting the physical needs of human life, we haven’t found it yet.
But then comes a year like 2008, a year in which capitalism has faltered and the security of millions of Americans is threatened. Trillions of dollars of wealth has disappeared in a remarkably short time, along with millions of jobs. Fear rather than optimism dominates the landscape, and everyone from economists to hairdressers to members of Congress is wondering just what went wrong and how to fix it.
There are technical explanations, political explanations and folk-wisdom explanations. There are explanations that attempt to get down into the nitty-gritty details and those that offer a big-picture analysis.
My own one-sentence assessment? Capitalism works by getting the best out of greed; it fails when we let greed get the best of us.
And that is a constant, never-ending problem. We have always known that greed is dangerous. Going back into time as far as the written word can take us, every major religion, every major culture has warned against the dangers of greed.
In a capitalist system, the knowledge of greed’s dual nature — its power when harnessed, its danger when it is not — sets up a permanent, enduring tension. The trick is to give greed enough play to reap its benefits while minimizing greed’s danger. In that sense, a greed-powered economy is like a nuclear-powered submarine. Both are driven by a potentially boundless but destructive source of energy that must be kept within bounds to operate safely.
But greed by its nature is seductive. Greed always seeks more, a little more, just a bit more, please. And greed can cause us to rationalize things that cannot and should not be rationalized.
(As one measure of its power, for example, greed has helped to transform a religious celebration of the birth of a poor, humble baby in a manger into a festival of consumerism and consumption. But I digress.)
As the economic crisis continues to play out, a lot of attention is being focused on the failure of legal and regulatory controls on greed. How can a $50 billion Ponzi scheme go undetected for years? How can rating agencies give their most-secure rating to high-risk bonds? How can Wall Street financiers collect hundred-million-dollar bonuses on profits that weren’t really profits in the first place?
The short answer is that people who know better begin to not know better. They convince themselves — or allow themselves to be convinced by others — that a little lighter touch on the reins will produce even more riches, that previous controls on greed are really unnecessary or counterproductive.
And in the end, legal and regulatory controls on greed will always be subject to manipulation. That’s because laws and rules are merely formalized expressions of the underlying and unwritten cultural, moral and ethical attitudes toward greed.
And it is those attitudes that have changed so profoundly in the past generation or so.
Left unchecked, greed overwhelms any sense of proportion, fairness or morality. We as a culture and as individuals came to believe that if greed is the engine that drives progress, any attempt to curtail greed thus curtails progress. We thought that since greed is good, unrestrained greed must be an unrestrained good.
What we’ve discovered — yet again — is that when properly harnessed, greed makes an effective, productive servant.
But it makes a terrible master.
Comments
By Bud Wiser
December 28, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this
Somebody sounds like they were naughty and Santa overflew the nest.
By AJC/DNC Management
December 28, 2008 9:15 AM | Link to this
But greed by its nature is seductive. Greed always seeks more, a little more, just a bit more, please.
Yeah, like the bidding war for Obama’s empty Senate seat.
greedy, greedy, greedy, blago, rhamn, jesse, oblahmi, gimme, gimme, gimme.
But then comes a year like 2008, a year in which capitalism has faltered
Easy now, toady, careful.
How about if we detach the government parasite from it’s capitalist host and let the host keep some of those c gains taxes the government bleeds it for?
everyone from economists to hairdressers to members of Congress is wondering just what went wrong and how to fix it.
Apparently Oblahmasan has “thrown caution to the wind” and will not seek “change” in the form of regulatory oversight, despite a two year kkkampaign saying he would, greed hopeandchangeblahblahblah. (Probably a distant foggy memory for you dullards, ain’t it?) So far, so good, Oblahmi has kept exactly 0% of his kkkampaign promises.
So now Bookman has to undertake a virtual world web scrubbing for hisself and the democrat party, exorcising away any remnants of the lax oversight boogeyman, replacing it with evil human greed straw man.
We wouldn’t want to step on the toes of the new administration and their cohorts on Wall Street, now would we? We might cut off kkkampaign contributions with all that talk of “regulations,” and those peoples in Chicago don’t take lightened envelopes very well, do they?
And where is the fault of the government at, now that we have re re replaced the blame on “slobbering greedy human beings,” I mean weren’t the Feds the ones lowering interest rates and buying up/ guaranteeing all the bad mortgages, perpetuating the greed machine into it’s present oblivion?
Government can do no wrong, can it, unless of course, there is some innocent Republican around to blame.
Or is it just more exciting to blame your dull readership?
By spankmonkey
December 28, 2008 9:18 AM | Link to this
Greed is a plank in the Republican party’s platform.
By Taxpayer
December 28, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this
Good morning, Jay. Your point that greed is indeed the foundation from which both the “good and evil” of capitalism are born is well made. Of course, making such a point is fine from the perspective of studying human nature or the meaning of life. In fact, one can conduct similar analyses and conclude that love makes the world a good place, etc., but what do we, the people, do with this profound knowledge. What comes next. Do we attempt to learn something more from our mistakes. Do we take a slightly different course and try to identify causes for what ails us that can be acted upon or do we leave it as simply a matter of greed and that’s just the way life is.
By TN Gelding
December 28, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this
Fraud, greed, lack of oversight and incompetence have created the nightmare. I wish I understood it all, but they’ve made it so complex I don’t think they even understand it.
By Mrs.Godzilla
December 28, 2008 9:22 AM | Link to this
Some additional reading on this topic:
Laissez-Faire Capitalism Should Be as Dead as Soviet Communism
By AmVet
December 28, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this
Good synopsis, Mr. Bookman.
And it can be argued that it’s beginnings go back to the Reaganistas whose lifelong motto has been, “Screw everyone else, I got mine.”
There is NO doubt that this morally bankrupt administration and congress are the co-conspirators of the criminals and traitors who’ve tried like hell to financially bankrupt the nation.
And what can one possibly say about these ever-dwindling, boot licking, reality challenged morons who still apologize for BushCo and try desperately to convince themselves that these are men of honor who deserve their fealty.
And the soon-to-be new West Wing occupant?
I believe, as he is VERY beholding to the same criminal interests, he almost certainly will not seek justice, much less widespread prosecutions.
But he’s sure to wax eloquent about doing a lot of nothing.
Real change, yes indeedy.
The plutocracy and the two major political parties are all in it together, and the American sheeple who faithfully keep electing and trusting them, sit by like a bunch of Gomer Pyle’s when the sh!t hits the fan saying, “Shazam!”.
So tell your children and grandchildren how you voted for some of the most disgraceful men in history who not only allowed the wealth of the greatest nation on earth to be plundered by obvious liars and cheats, they participated.
Tell them you gleefully supported these men who orchestrated the final act of the attempted corporate destruction of capitalism.
But that you also remember a time when this country wasn’t led by a government “of the General Dynamics, by the General Motors and for the General Electrics” and the preceding one that Lincoln wrote about perished from the face of the earth…
By Road scholar
December 28, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this
Mrs. G: Thanks for the link. Did you get a good recipe for the cookies you wanted? Hope you had a good Christmas. How is your Pneumonia coming? Is the kithen finished? If so, Come do mine!
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 9:54 AM | Link to this
“The love of money is the root of all evil”
By AJC/DNC Management
December 28, 2008 9:57 AM | Link to this
“Never, never, never in our history in Gaza have we seen such a scale of killing in one hour,” said Dr. Eyad Sarraj, the founder of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, an independent nonprofit in Gaza City.-Urinal/Jihad
I would love to know what relevance the tax status of our boy’s foundation has with this blessedly good news but, since you at the Urinal brought the subject up, I must say that with all the crazed killers running wild in Gaza, I don’t think they should be getting paid for their “mental health program” either.
This has got to be some offshoot of Acorn, word has it that Oblahmi carried nearly 99% of the Palestinian vote.
What ever, now we get to see if they gave their “patients” enough sense to stop firing their rockets into Israel.
By Elrey Jones
December 28, 2008 9:58 AM | Link to this
Bookman is a complete idiot. Greed has a very bad meaning and to relate greed and capitalism shows what kind of idiot and brainless twit that Bookman is. The AJC can improve its paper 1000 percent by getting rid of Bookman and the racist black lady Cynthia Tucker and the white trash coloring book artist Luckovich.
By GOP is gone
December 28, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this
I have a better idea Elroy, why don’t you go away?
Corporal, what are they greedy for then cookies, not money?
[why I am an Atheist]
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY-ZrwFwLQg)
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this
Today’s AJC has a two page spread of Luckovich’s supposedly great works.
You can find a perfect example of what I wrote yesterday:
“I see that Mike Luckovich’s anatomical caricatures of President Elect Obama are much less derisive and exaggerated than those he draws of President Bush - bias shows even in art.”
Thanks AJC for again bringing that to our attention on the same page !!
By AJC/DNC Management
December 28, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this
“I never expected that the civil defense headquarters would be considered a military target,” said Ahmed’s weeping father, Riyad Sinwar. “What was the sin of my 4-year-old son?”-Urinal/Jihad
It’s garbage propaganda articles like this that guarantee Palestine will forever remain a backwards 2nd century ruins, indiscriminately murdering their innocent neighbors and then grandstanding for attention in the pages of the POS AJC and other lovers of the Jihad, after they get blowed up in retaliation.
A “civilian defense headquarters?”
GFY (good for you.)
My question is, how long after the Israeli war planes left before these apes dropped a piece of concrete on the 4 year old so they could parade his corpse around?
What a great way to get into the AJC, huh?
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 10:16 AM | Link to this
To GOP is gone
Greed, like selfishness or anger or pride is a natural human condition … also known as a sinful nature.
It must be controlled but more importantly forgiven.
Other than that, you will have to take that quote up with HIM.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 10:32 AM | Link to this
Greed’s near relations are the Screws, the Skinflints, and the Graballs. But he will not own them, but always mentions his great-uncle, Squire Prudence, and his mother’s brother, Professor Economy, of the University of Accumulation.
A priest, who had heard the confessions of thousands of persons, said he had heard men confess heinous iniquities of every kind including murder but had never heard any man confess greed.
Charles Spurgeon
For our friends in Chicago ……
“A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but he who hates bribes will live.” Proverbs 15:27
By Taxpayer
December 28, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this
Why don’t we just take that Republican desire for Laissez Faire to the ultimate level — unregulated everything. A free-for-all. No rules. A cage match without the cage. A world where Madoff is the rule instead of the assumed exception. That should make the Republicans happy if they can ever truly be happy between now and their end of time on earth. Come to think of it, I don’t think there is such a thing as a happy Republican.
By Taxpayer
December 28, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
Confucius - Born 551 BC
By Mrs.Godzilla
December 28, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
Road Scholar
Beacon Hill cookies - mission accomplished! Pneunomia cleared up…damn I hate taking anti-biotics.
Kitchen done except for crown moulding, dining room done and new wood floors installed in public rooms. It was not all complete when Mr. G finally came home, but $80.00 worth of Chinese food tempted all our kids over to finish up the details in one very long evening.
I’m real good at pulling up carpet, but a bit sloppy with grout!
When Mr. G heads back overseas early next year - bathroom floor tiling commences! Oh Joy!
To tie this into todays topic….we did the renovation because we too are a little greedy.
We’ve been in our home long enough to not worry too much, but we’ve seen the value slide. So being the average everday sort of greedy folks we are, we decided some sweat equity would help improve our long term financial position.
We (okay, I) knew what I wanted and I bought the pieces and parts I needed on sale, with cash, starting over a year ago. I would visit the wonder sink in the basement sometimes, dreaming of the day it would be installed.
We managed to get a super mega wonder sink and an over the range “nuker”, without bankrupting anybodies 401K. Watching Joe slide on the new floors is a hoot!
‘Course the whole project was regulated by our budget!
By Ray
December 28, 2008 11:03 AM | Link to this
Capitalism works fine as long as there is not a safety net for those who fail. Over 90% of start up small business fails to produce a profit in the first three years. These potential entrepenures (sp) venture into the unknown every day with thoughts of success and the American dream but few make the grade. With our system of bailouts and forgiveness of debt, the safety net is erected, those who risk have few worries and greed is allowed to run rampant.
If you think that the 14.7 BN “loaned” to the automakers is not a gift, you are living on the wrong planet. Keep building a crappy automobile and the govt will not let you fail. Try that with start up business. Greed is indeed a symptom of present day govt’s spin on big business. Eliminate the guarantee of free bailout money and reality sets in with even the greediest of businesses.
By AmVet
December 28, 2008 11:16 AM | Link to this
Corporal, if by forgiveness you mean this definition:
I say to hell with them.
In an age of total non-responsibility and non-accountability where such crimes are tolerated, I say JUSTICE and some ethical compensation first.
These immoral and lawless b@st@rds should swing.
Then lets talk about some compassion…
By getalife
December 28, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
The consequences of this greed will be felt in 2009 but much worse for your kids and their kids who are stuck with the trickle up socialism bill to save the greedy.
By Topspin
December 28, 2008 11:42 AM | Link to this
Reckless greed is undoubtedly one of the ingredients of the present mortgage lending disaster, but to say that it’s the driving force behind capitalism is unduly negative. A system that rewards individuals and business for improvement in output, benefits even those who are content with “good enough.” Moreover, reckless greed is certainly not unique to a capitalist system.
We as individuals are as much or more responsible for our over-leveraged society as our businesses and our lending institutions. No one made us take out loans we couldn’t afford or accumulate so much credit card debt. No, the present mortgage lending crisis is not inherent to capitalist institutions. Instead, it stems from the lack of adequate institutional and personal checks and balances against over-leveraging ourselves. It stems from our disregard for the boundary between what we’d like to have or do, and what is realistically attainable. We as a society have allowed ourselves to base today’s consumption too much upon tomorrow’s hopeful earnings. It is obvious that we need to behave more conservatively. 2008 is likely to be seen as the year that we learned an important lesson.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
To Amvet
I hear you but ……
God’s forgiveness and man’s forgiveness are two different events. I know which one is most important.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 11:49 AM | Link to this
Off Topic but a very interesting read:
Supposedly written by a former Federal prosecutor (anonymous for obvious reasons) in Chicago. Pay particular attention to ACT II :
Fellow Citizens: Since most of you do not understand the ” Chicago way” of doing things and come from places that are, relatively speaking, governed by elections, you may need an interpreter for news from Chicago , especially about Cook County politics. That’s why I’m here. You may think today’s story is about the crooked Illinois governor selling Obama’s Senate seat. What you don’t know is how the Bush Justice Dept. probably steered Obama away from disaster even before taking office . Here’s how the pieces of the puzzle fit, based on the known facts as well as those alleged in the Criminal Complaint, my knowledge of federal criminal case management and protocols, and some deductive reasoning.
ACT I As you know by now the beloved Governor of Illinois was arrested for, among other things, attempting to auction off Obama’s US Senate seat. The federal criminal Complaint (three pages backed up by a 76 page FBI affidavit) states that Gov. Blagoyovich (Blago) was attempting to set conditions for filling that seat with the Obama transition team. This implies a certain level of communication between Blago and Obama or their staffs, although the Complaint does not specifically state that. (You’ll see why not.) David Axelrod, Obama’s chief political stategist (from Cook County) said two weeks ago that he, Obama, and the Obama team had been in constant contact with Blago and his staff about filling the seat and had liked a number of the candidates mentioned. (He obviously hadn’t gotten the word then.) Today Obama himself denied having anything to do with naming his successor, denied having any communications with Blago, and generally felt sorry about everything. Now the press will ignore Axelrod, accept Obama’s statement, shift the spotlight to Blago, and search for the other conspirators, including who was willing to pay for the Senate seat. End of story for Obama; just another corrupt Cook County scam miraculously not involving Obama in any way. Yawn. But let me tell you what really went down and how the nation just averted a Constitutional crisis. Three critical facts must be noted. The Illinois governor appoints people to vacant US Senate seats. Second, the feds have wiretapped Blago off and on since 2004 in their “Pay to Play” investigation. You had to pay him money in order to play—bid for state contracts to manage money, pave roads, supply linens, etc. (That’s the Chicago way.) He is destined for a federal penitentiary because the tapes have been rolling for 5 years now. A number of his cronies have been indicted and convicted on the basis of the wiretaps. Third, and most important, Blago’s offices have been bugged by the feds for the past 4-6 weeks, possibly longer—that’s around election time for you senior citizens. (The feds probably detected sufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy on the wiretaps and through informants such that they could plant the bugs in Blago’s offices.) Obama’s hand picked successor for his Senate seat was Valerie Jarrett who is on his campaign staff. This was well known before the election and Ms. Jarrett had even announced her candidacy. She was a slam dunk. The ONLY question on the table after the election was what price Blago would extract from Obama for appointing Ms. Jarrett—appointing Blago as ambassador to Lithuainia, naming him20Secy. of Transportation, some Democrat party post, establishing a library and foundation a la Bill Clinton, whatever. Blago was constantly talking on the tapes of his need for more cash and how the “f*** Senate seat was worth a lot of money” (per the federal complaint).
ACT II The US Attorney here, Patrick Fitzgerald, is fearless and has jailed Republicans (former Governor Geo. Ryan) and Democrats alike. Some guys on Richie Daley’s staff are doing time for the same thing—taking bribes (sometimes described as campaign contributions). Ironically Blago was elected as a reformer and a break from the George Ryan school of corruption. In any event, Fitzgerald has kept the Justice Dept. fully informed of all the Blago investigations, wiretaps, bugs, etc., and where they were headed since he needed their approval (as well as a court’s) to run them. It is a certainty that the Attorney General knew of the Blago investigation because the target was the governor of a state (very high profile). Once Obama was elected Fitzgerald and the Attorney General saw what was coming—a Blago-Obama negotiation over the Senate seat. Given what they knew about the corrupt process Blago was engaged in through their taping/bugging, such a negotiation would be disastrous politically for Obama and possibly even criminal. Those tapes will have to be played in court some day. (That may be why Obama looked a little rattled today in announcing his total absence of knowledge and communication on the entire subject of his successor.) After the election Obama and his staff began to get briefings as part of the transition process. It is likely that the Attorney General informed him of the ongoing investigations of Blago and of the wiretaps and bugs. Obama got the clue, but perhaps forgot to tell Axelrod. But he did tell Valerie Jarrettt something because four weeks ago she withdrew her name from consideration for the Obama Senate seat. Normally in a federal conspiracy prosecution you let the tapes roll and the conspiracy play out in order to catch all the big fish. (I was a federal prosecutor in my distant past.) Remember, the feds have wiretapped Blago since 2004, per previous testimony in court. Once you get one of the conspirators to wire up, as the feds did here, you let him meet and talk to everybody forever—weeks, months, years even. However, since they already had the governor nailed, the only bigger fish left in the pond were Obama and his staff. And listening to Blago on the tapes they knew where he was headed—right to Obama to get his price for the Senate seat. So after the election, as Patrick Fitzgerald and the Attorney General pondered this, their choice was stark: 1. do we follow the normal protocol and let the tapes roll and may be reel in Obama staffers (or, God forbid, Obama himself) bargaining with Blago in the US Senate seat auction; or, 2. do we tip Obama in a briefing and abruptly terminate the investigation at the governor’s level and thus preclude it from reaching Obama and his staff. I think they made a political and legal calculation in the nation’s interest and chose the latter course. They saved Obama, or certainly his staff, from the taint of the criminal auction and also prevented the sale of a US Senate seat by a corrupt Cook County Democrat politician by arresting Blago today. That’s why Obama has been saying for weeks that he himself has nothing to do with the selection of his successor. Although such a position is contrary to common sense and political tradition, in this case, he’s probably telling the truth at least insofar as the past month is concerned. So Obama now owes the Justice Dept. and US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, in particular, a big one because he kept the president elect from stepping in to a first rate criminal scandal by tipping him on the Blago wiretaps and bugs. And the Bush Attorney General and US Attorney Fitzgerald probably saved the country a huge new scandal as well since Obama’s team would have been further ensnared in a federal criminal investigation after inauguration.
ACT III What job does Patrick Fitzgerald want since Obama owes him big time—pope, federal judge (even Supreme Court), ambassador to Ireland, attorney general (Eric Holder may not make it anyway because of the Marc Rich pardon and Obama would throw him over in a minute if Fitzgerald asked for it). We shall see, but the Cook County Democrat Machine certainly wants to be rid of Fitzgerald and the only way to do that is kill him (that went out with Capone) or promote him. Unfortunately for them, Fitzgerald professes to like his current job. And there is no way Obama asks for his resignation now or appoints a new US attorney unless Fitzpatrick wants to go. So you see, things are never quite what they seem to be here in Chi-town. You thought this was all about a lone crooked Cook County politician who became governor…That’s where the press will be headed because it will be entertaining. But now you know the likely story of how close we came to having a federal criminal case swirling around a new president.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this
P.S. to Amvet
Since God know the heart, I think He looks at greed by quality as opposed to quantity.
In other words, a person of little meansw who knows full well they cannot afford or pay for a certain home but contracts to do so anyway is just as greedy in their heart as a multi-millionaire who steals from the stockholders.
By Chad Harris
December 28, 2008 11:58 AM | Link to this
The red flags Jay referenced are already emerging every day on the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. I also shoulder the blame on each and every individual investor, particularly the very rich. They had the means and methods to do their own due diligence. One lesson for me is that you can never, I don’t care who the administration is or the personnel, every rely on the SEC or any accounting firm to do the due dilligence. You had better know how to track your money yourself (it could have been done in each and every case) or else you put it in something steadier, more long term, and safer than a hedge fund.
There were huge red flags in the Geneva Hedge funds and they exhibited total negligence in turnign their backs to them according to the NYT story this morning.
By AmVet
December 28, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this
Corporal, you know me — a heathen. I could care less about yours or any deity’s forgiveness.
I believe in the US Constitution. And the laws of man.
I believe in justice and honesty.
I believe in sacrifice and honor.
That some people have now lost everything — their homes, their jobs, in some cases their very futures — because of really bad decisions and greed is their lot.
Some (many?) were the victims of predators, but they are nonetheless accountable for their ignorance and avarice as well.
You know, a fool and his money…
UNLIKE, the professional thieves who for their greed and crimes got millions of dollars in bonuses and were able to slipstream right into a seat of power in some other corrupt organization.
THEY are the ones who should live the rest of their sorry days in an eight by ten cell…
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this
To Amvet
I hear you but if there is no Absolute Truth from a higher power then we are free to make our own laws and there can be no good or bad.
One culture is as good as another.
In other words, a sacrificial/cannibalistic culture is just as valid as one with a U.S. Constitution which respects the rights of the individual to life.
By Taxpayer
December 28, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this
One cannot help but drool in awe at the inner workings of some of the more devout. According to their inner workings, first, we are all born sinners so it’s not like we’ll be doing it for the very first time, second, we will all be forgiven for any and all sins for as many times as needed by simply asking, and third we may as well take full advantage of these facts of life.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this
To Taxpayer
1) Yes, we are all born sinners. I believed that but didn’t fully realize it until I had children and watched their first temper tantrum or other acts they learned on their own.
2) We will not all be forgiven.
… For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to eternal life, and only a few find it.*
Matthew 7:13-14
3) Although we will not attain perfection in this life, we are to do our best to refrain from sinning:
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Romans 6:1&2
P.S. I had to miss church today because my wife is sick. Sincerely, I thank you for this opportunity. Maybe it was meant to be.
By GodHatesTrash
December 28, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this
This bust follows the double bubbles of the hi-tech tulip craze of the 90s, overlapped by the housing valuation inflation that exploded in earnest in the mid 90s.
It wasn’t so much greed but fear that drove these markets. Fortunes were made (and eventually lost) by buying and selling on market hype, not by buying and holding valuable assets and building good businesses and decent communities. The idea was always to get in early, and get out just before the last sucker bought in. With the death of the dividend (and the idea of houses as speculative investments), the whole American economy became a Ponzi scheme.
The Pultes of the world (not just the US) built crackerboxes and McMansions from horizon to horizon, mortgage brokers inflated the qualifications of lenders, banks lent money based not on the credit-worthiness of the buyer but the faith-based belief that the assets that the loans were backed with were going to always appreciate - until, of course, they didn’t.
The fear was always that you would be left holding the bag at the end, and realizing that the 1200 square foot house you paid $200K for in 2007 was back to its 2000 value of $110K in 2000 with you still having a $200K mortgage to pay (or the McMansion you paid $600K for was illiquid, with similar homes going for $400K after a year on the market), or that the stock you bought into early was liquidated by a down round or bankruptcy due to the fact that the financial projections the company’s valuation was based on were a fantasy, or in the case of the many Enrons out there, cooked books bought and paid for.
The dismal science of accounting become a creative art, numbers on everything from housing loan applications to 10-Ks were pulled pretty from the air and active imaginations of “financiers”, with less and less connection to reality and prudence, and whether or not the company was making $$, or the buyer had any ability to repay the loan.
Unfortunately, the bailout has handed more money to the people that built the engine that collapsed the economy, with the “hope” that these kool-aid drinking clowns (and criminals) could restart the Ponzi scheme.
By getalife
December 28, 2008 1:08 PM | Link to this
Crazy: Madoff Considering Insanity Defense Over $50 Billion Swindle.
Another coward who will never admit he is a greedy pos.
Our broken government governs for these greedy criminals.
By Chad Harris
December 28, 2008 1:12 PM | Link to this
Here’s a huge red flag that a private Swiss bank, UBP, with assets of $125 billion ignored to lose $700 million of their clients money. Memos have been uncovered they sent to customers saying that they had met with the great Bernie Madoff in person in his office every few years and were assured that everything was “going well.”
They should have said, “Ah kin sell you some Kudzu filled dirt fields at the same price ah kin sell you real estate at 53rd and 3rd (location of the Lipstick Building where Madoff worked his wonders on the 17th floor and made $50 billion disappear).
Madoff Dealings Tarnish a Private Swiss Bank
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/business/worldbusiness/24ubp.html?em
*And while there are many Swiss victims in terms of total exposure, UBP is the best-known private bank to get hit, with $700 million of its clients’ money invested with Mr. Madoff.
“Ultimately, these people were blind to what was going on,” said Michel Dominicé, a veteran Geneva hedge fund manager with $200 million under management.
He said the links between UBP, Fairfield Greenwich and Mr. Madoff, as well as the hundreds of millions in fees the firms earned by steering money to Madoff investments, pointed to conflicts of interests that penalize investors.
Mr. Dominicé was himself approached by a salesman for Madoff investments three years ago but declined to invest, saying he could not figure out how Mr. Madoff earned such steady returns, month after month. “It just didn’t make sense,” he said.”
By GodHatesTrash
December 28, 2008 1:23 PM | Link to this
In Vermont last week, we had below zero temperatures, and today we might reach 60.
Last week, when it was real cold, my dog woke me up to go outside to urinate and defecate. He did the same thing this morning.
So, you Bookman RightWingnuts, whether it’s cold or unseasonably warm, my dog is smart enough not to defecate or urinate where he eats, a valuable life lesson that evidently most of you haven’t learned…
By david wayne osedach, san diego/ U.S.A.
December 28, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this
When this recession is over and recover begins all of us will be back out there to ‘grab our share.’
By GodHatesTrash
December 28, 2008 2:22 PM | Link to this
oops - posted on wrong thread…
The housing bubble explained by a victim…
By Taxpayer
December 28, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
By The Corporal December 28, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this To Taxpayer
1) Yes, we are all born sinners. I believed that but didn’t fully realize it until I had children and watched their first temper tantrum or other acts they learned on their own. So, Corporal, precisely what sin did they commit via that so called temper tantrum. We all learn most effectively by example.
2) We will not all be forgiven. It’s there for the asking — just like I said in my earlier post.
3) Although we will not attain perfection in this life, we are to do our best to refrain from sinning: There are no requirements that we quit sinning.
P.S. I had to miss church today because my wife is sick. Sincerely, I thank you for this opportunity. Maybe it was meant to be. Always glad to try and teach you something, Corporal, but you old dogs are a tough bunch to get through to.
By Taxpayer
December 28, 2008 3:34 PM | Link to this
Child maid trafficking spreads from Africa to US. It’s a good thing that Republicans believe in un-regulated markets. It’s just getting so hard to find good cheap help these days.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this
To Taxpayer
As always, it’s your choice.
God bless.
By sunshine and thunder
December 28, 2008 4:52 PM | Link to this
JAY
Greed, avarice, selfishness, avidity are all words I have heard applied to private businesses by well meaning people.
Unfortunately they also apply to our government.
Greed is a human trait. It isn’t limited to those in private industry practicing capitalism. It is rampant on college campuses. It is widespread in professional sports. It is pervasive in the media. It is a defining trait of government from the Federal level on down to the municipal.
It is also responsible for the majority of the standard of living we enjoy. If you can think of one modern convenience from the automobile to the IPod that wasn’t created for self profit I’d like to know about it.
How many books would never have been written without the profit motive? How many architectual wonders would never have been created? How many works of art of any kind would we never have had the pleasure of knowing without the ever present profit motive.
And, of course, it goes without saying that every time a country has tried to regulate all of the economy it has been disastrous. In fact, the less regulation the greater the success.
Take Hong Kong for example. A mixed population of many nationalities sitting on a barren rock next to the ocean should have been a recipe for eternal infighting.
Instead, the British governor who oversaw the territory for many years simply left it alone. The result was the creation of a profoundly wealthy enclave of banking, finance and trade.
Compare that to so many countries in Africa where dictators attempt to rule with an iron hand and simply destroy the economy with fiat.
Jay, you need to add another word to your vocabulary. One that I seldom hear Obama say. That word:
FREEDOM
By @@
December 28, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this
Good column, jay.
There are technical explanations, political explanations and folk-wisdom explanations.
And the only one of any value is the “folk(s) wisdom”. It all goes back to the individual. Heck! the hucksters couldn’t profit if we applied wisdom in our daily lives.
As one measure of its power, for example, greed has helped to transform a religious celebration of the birth of a poor, humble baby in a manger into a festival of consumerism and consumption.
Since you brought it up, the secular progessives seek to consume THAT religious celebration to what end or for whose benefit I would ask?
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. — Matthew 6:31 - 33
By Chad Harris
December 28, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this
The reason you don’t hear Obama say the word freedom besides that you need your midlevl frequency hearing check is because of course, in Obamatopia you and all your homeboys will be on a leash jerked by the Taliban as if that isn’t already the case under Bush.
From Tom Friedman (How Dumb the US remains):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/opinion/28friedman.html?hp
“How many times do we have to see this play before we admit that it always ends the same way?
The one where gasoline prices go up, pressure rises for more fuel-efficient cars, then gasoline prices fall and the pressure for low-mileage vehicles vanishes, consumers stop buying those cars, the oil producers celebrate, we remain addicted to oil and prices gradually go up again, petro-dictators get rich, we lose. I’ve already seen this play three times in my life. Trust me: It always ends the same way — badly.
So I could only cringe when reading this article from CNNMoney.com on Dec. 22: “After nearly a year of flagging sales, low gas prices and fat incentives are reigniting America’s taste for big vehicles. Trucks and S.U.V.’s will outsell cars in December … something that hasn’t happened since February. Meanwhile, the forecast finds that sales of hybrid vehicles are expected to be way down.”
Once again the US becomes slaves to Bush’s hand holding with his girlfirends the Saudis or is it the Saudis hand holding with their girlfriend Bush.
Obama needs to have the guts to increase the federal gas tax, but Bush has left him in a recession or arguably the Great Depression of 2009 to commemorate the Great Depression of 1929. It’s the 80th Anniversary Party.
According to AAA, U.S. gasoline prices now average about $1.67 a gallon. Funny, that’s almost exactly what gas cost on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. In the wake of 9/11, President Bush had the political space to impose a gasoline tax, a “Patriot Tax,” to weaken the very people who had funded 9/11 and to stimulate a U.S. renewable-energy industry. But Bush wimped out and would not impose a tax when prices were low or a floor price when they got high.
Get out your SUVs and Hummers and Boogie. $200 a barrel is comin’ down the interstate and you is gonna pay more than $6 if not $7 per gallon. Yippie Kah Yea Hummernistas and Soooooveeeeediehards.
Friedman has been writing the same column every year, and nothing gets done except that gas prices bounce up a few dollars per gallon higher each time they go up.
The bounce is on the way.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 5:14 PM | Link to this
Trouble in Paradise
Just wait, he ain’t seen nothin’ yet !
HONOLULU – The media glare, the constant security appendage and the sheer production that has become a morning jog or a hankering for an ice cream cone – it’s been closing in on Barack Obama for some time.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16882.html
By Midori
December 28, 2008 5:23 PM | Link to this
Corporal,
I suppose there is a “point” to your 5:14; however it escapes me.
Would you be so kind as to connect the dots for me?
Are you saying that Obama is the only politician who is followed by paparrazi?
Please elaborate.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 5:24 PM | Link to this
Good Quote
To all of you revisionist history buffs out there ……..
Lies about history can poison both the present and future, but only the truth can do justice to the past.
By sunshine and thunder
December 28, 2008 5:47 PM | Link to this
There are some terribly misguided souls out there who seem to think that artificially upping the price of a commodity will decrease the use of that commodity.
Many of those same people also believe that oil companies are vicious, evil, greedy capitalists who make too much money.
(Exxon paid about 35 billion on about 100 billion in profit in 2007. How much is enough? Now that oil has come back down do we add Exxon to the bailout? Does anyone educated in a government school understand profit margin?)
Governement gluttony already takes around 45 cents a gallon from each tank of gas you use. Isn’t that enough to “discourage” the use of gasoline? Where does that money go? The same rat hole of social security?
Oh sure, the price of oil will go back up sooner or later. And then it will come down again. The world is expanding its use of petroleum because CAPITALISM is spreading like wildfire now that the Soviet Union is gone and China has discovered the wonders of it.
The demand for oil is going up.
But, never fear. The free market will find an alternative if the government will leave it alone and let it. If that happens I guarantee that the price (and use) of oil will come down and stay down.
The cost of government intervention in markets is a high one.
That’s why Americans should not be so dumb as to listen to lying politicians say they want universal healthcare. It will only force us to look to the government for (soon to be rationed) medical services.
Politicians know that. They just want the power that comes with government control.
Bow down and lick the hand that feeds you.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 5:54 PM | Link to this
To Midori
It wasn’t meant as a negative comment - only the real world.
He is not even President yet. Security will wratchet up even more. He will have to get used to it or he will place himself (and his family) in even more danger if he forces any cutbacks. He can do that, as he is the President, but it would be very unwise.
Camp David will help as a retreat, but it’s just not the same. You live in a protective bubble and it gets old very quickly. Your only privacy is in the living quarters in the White House.
Sad but true. Goes with the territory.
It will be especially hard on the two girls.
By Chad Harris
December 28, 2008 6:10 PM | Link to this
A gas tax will decrease use of gas. Everytime Bush’s boyfriends at Opec artificially up gas when they upped it before stats were gas use decreased, and SUVs are piled up in lots now. Just take a drive through Gwinette county to see the SUV graveyards. The stats where SUV sales are back up that Friedman cites (you have to read the article though to see them and that’s apparently diffecult for some) correlate with the temporary low gas price point. It’s not going to last much longer, and we will see $200 a barrel. The Big 2.5 in Detroit have been dead a long time. Bush has just wasted your money and prolonged their burial.
By AmVet
December 28, 2008 6:12 PM | Link to this
getalife, condolences on your Saints. They played tough and almost helped the Falcons out.
A win in the desert and we play for an NFC title.
Andy, wassup wit yur Bears? An early Obama malaise? Global warming?
I love in it Christmas Story when the old man refers to the Monsters of the Midway as the Chicago Chipmunks.
And is it just me, or does the old Black and Blue division look Pink and Mauve?
…if there is no Absolute Truth from a higher power then we are free to make our own laws and there can be no good or bad.
Corporal, we ‘ll just agree to disagree, OK?
Merry Christmas to everyone.
And a Happy New Year!
By GodHatesTrash
December 28, 2008 6:30 PM | Link to this
AmVet - Duh put his Urlacher Jersey up for sale…
By getalife
December 28, 2008 6:35 PM | Link to this
Thanks Amvet.
Da Bears are out, the Cowboys are getting crushed and the Jets are in a fight.
Go Falcons!
By AmVet
December 28, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this
GHT, that is one of the FUNNIEST things I have seen!!!
Truly LOL!
Thanks!
By Hillbilly Deluxe
December 28, 2008 7:03 PM | Link to this
The U. S. has had financial panics in the 1790’s, 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, the 1890’s, 1907, 1929, and now again in 2008. Each generation comes along and thinks everything is brand new. I suppose each generation or so we have to relearn things the hard way. We don’t know our history so like the man said we make the sane mistakes over and over.
By AJC/DNC Management
December 28, 2008 7:06 PM | Link to this
Yeah, the sports teams in Chicago have become just like the majority of Oblahma supporters that now populate this trashy city, total freaking losers.
I couldn’t agree more.
By Midori
December 28, 2008 7:43 PM | Link to this
isn’t it amazing and so very pitiful and sad that Andy sees a negative Obama connection behind EVERYTHING??
I’d be surprised if he bathed each day for fear of seeing an apparition of Obama in his bath water.
How very sad it is to live your life like that.
By The Corporal
December 28, 2008 7:58 PM | Link to this
To Amvet
Yes…. without being disagreeable.
To Midori
Did you see my 5:54 to you ?
By GodHatesTrash
December 28, 2008 9:54 PM | Link to this
Amvet - check this out:
Duh’s favorite player - you can’t make this stuff up!!!
By Abbott
December 29, 2008 6:11 AM | Link to this
Jay, You and I are on the opposite ends of the political spectrum…you are liberal..I’m conservative…you are democrat…I’m republican…You are an Obama fan, I was for anybody but Obama. However, I agree completely that greed has brought us to where we are today…but it also greed of those who wanted something for nothing, who want more than they can afford, who want to live in homes they can’t pay for. It was greed from the lowest level to the highest. And yes, greed has corrupted Christmas. The thing about greed is that it has a way of correcting itself. That is what is going on now in the economy.
By dbm
December 29, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this
It is not laissez-faire that has failed; we have never practiced it. It is mixed-economy statism that has failed.
By Bill Field
December 29, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this
Our Founding Fathers believed unequivocally in the “wisdom of the majority”. America’s governance has been placed in the hands of special interests. Now is the time for Voters to take back the power of the vote, and put the almost derailed Nation back on the track that leads to prosperity for all.
By Andrew
December 30, 2008 1:28 AM | Link to this
Capitalism is not synonymous with Greed. Capitalism is largely responsible for the great nation that the US has become. While certainly it can go overboard at times, being rewarded for working hard and making wise decisions encourages people to get up from the cave, kill something and drag it home.
If the person chooses to pursue success they have a very good opportunity at reaching it within a capitalism model. Capitalism affords the ability to give generously to charitable organizations and those in need. Yes, there are absolutely people who take it too far and make decisions based on greed. However, capitalism should not be demonized just because of poor decision making by some corporate types. Capitalism is what allows the small business owner to have a chance to attain his or her dreams.
By Jimbob
December 30, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this
Captilism and greed did not cause our troubles…it is our corrupt government and their Socialist intrusions and meddling in the Capalitist system that has brought us here! When government forces banks to give loans to losers, when governement redistrbutes wealth thru 41% corporate tax rates and an evil progressive tax system and when government officials are corrupt and take bribes that allow ponzi schemes, you get what we have now. This include both the Democrats and the Republican politicians. THE POLITICIANS GREED has put us in this spot! Jimbob
By Jimbob
December 30, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this
I am also guessing that Barney Frank epitomizes greed when he took ‘donations’ (bribes) from Fannie and Freddie and then stated they were financially sound. If a corporate exec did that they would go to jail! Jimbob