Our Problem: Too Little Capitalism?
I spoke to Ham of Soc Engineer, and he railed against the bail-out of AIG for a much different reason than revenge against well-paid CEOs. No, he says that as a forest needs a wildfire every now and again for its health, so does our economy need be purified in the fire of a recession.
He makes some good points. He says we're in this bind not due to too little regulation but too much, in the form of the existence of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. Lenders were also forced to make stupid loans by a government that wanted to eliminate "red-lining".
Ham has a lot to lose. A good job and a huge nestegg. So the fact that he's willing to experience finanical pain even to the point of losing it all is rather impressive. Modern society is pain adverse in a way unimaginable for all of recorded history; it'll be interesting to see if capitalism is compatible with pain aversion.
Reminds me of Amy Shailes recent book "The Forgotten Man" in which the claim is made that FDR put the "Great" in "Great Depression". Similarly it looks like the government has made things worse and will continue to here forward...
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