Comments for dittologica http://dittologica.net alternate interpretations of ideas and events, past and present Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:56:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU hourly 1 Comment on The risks of “better regulation” by charles bogle http://dittologica.net/2008/11/02/the-risks-of-better-regulation/#comment-63 charles bogle Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:03:35 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=101#comment-63 ". . . citizens making democratic choices is not on the agenda because no major contender for political office has any intention of challenging the power of business to shape government policies." Is that so? Judging from the Obama quote below, taken from a recent Reuters article, the above statement--like so many currently being uttered to defame his candidacy-- is sheer nonsense: "It is time for the federal government to revamp the regulatory framework dealing with our financial markets," the Illinois senator said in a wide-ranging speech on the economy. In a month when the U.S. Federal Reserve helped shore up the ailing financial system and financed the takeover of Bear Stearns, a major Wall Street investment firm, Obama said the new rules should include liquidity and capital requirements for financial institutions. "If you can borrow from the government, you should be subject to government oversight and supervision," he said. “. . . citizens making democratic choices is not on the agenda because no major contender for political office has any intention of challenging the power of business to shape government policies.”

Is that so? Judging from the Obama quote below, taken from a recent Reuters article, the above statement–like so many currently being uttered to defame his candidacy– is sheer nonsense:

“It is time for the federal government to revamp the regulatory framework dealing with our financial markets,” the Illinois senator said in a wide-ranging speech on the economy.

In a month when the U.S. Federal Reserve helped shore up the ailing financial system and financed the takeover of Bear Stearns, a major Wall Street investment firm, Obama said the new rules should include liquidity and capital requirements for financial institutions.

“If you can borrow from the government, you should be subject to government oversight and supervision,” he said.

]]> Comment on The risks of “better regulation” by Evan Owen http://dittologica.net/2008/11/02/the-risks-of-better-regulation/#comment-62 Evan Owen Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:25:35 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=101#comment-62 An excellent piece, however, is regulation the solution, or is it the problem? The UK variety of regulation does not 'supervise' in the way we would expect, it is designed to regulate certain 'activities' which means the international banks and insurers will conduct business in the UK which is 'unregulated', see AIG at 1 Curzon Street as a case in point. This means that the UK is the biggest unregulated financial market in the world which exists right under the nose of the biggest and most powerful regulator in the world. The FSA allows things to fester then points at it, fines it and bans it, that is a waste of time and our money. What do we hope to gain from 'regulation'? Two decades of UK regulation has created such a mess on the financial landscape that it is going to take forever to untangle the red tape if 'regulation' is not abandoned in favour of tight 'supervision'. An excellent piece, however, is regulation the solution, or is it the problem? The UK variety of regulation does not ’supervise’ in the way we would expect, it is designed to regulate certain ‘activities’ which means the international banks and insurers will conduct business in the UK which is ‘unregulated’, see AIG at 1 Curzon Street as a case in point. This means that the UK is the biggest unregulated financial market in the world which exists right under the nose of the biggest and most powerful regulator in the world. The FSA allows things to fester then points at it, fines it and bans it, that is a waste of time and our money.

What do we hope to gain from ‘regulation’? Two decades of UK regulation has created such a mess on the financial landscape that it is going to take forever to untangle the red tape if ‘regulation’ is not abandoned in favour of tight ’supervision’.

]]> Comment on Mandelson’s Meddlings by The risks of “better regulation” « dittologica http://dittologica.net/2008/02/10/mandelsons-meddlings/#comment-59 The risks of “better regulation” « dittologica Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:57:30 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=25#comment-59 [...] Trade Commissioner to goad poor countries into adopting inequitable  neoliberal trade agreements [link]. Mandelson’s often quoted remark, that his Labour Party was ‘intensely relaxed about [...] [...] Trade Commissioner to goad poor countries into adopting inequitable  neoliberal trade agreements [link]. Mandelson’s often quoted remark, that his Labour Party was ‘intensely relaxed about [...]

]]> Comment on Who’s running the show? by The risks of “better regulation” « dittologica http://dittologica.net/2008/03/03/whos-running-the-show/#comment-58 The risks of “better regulation” « dittologica Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:50:52 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=30#comment-58 [...] The phenomenon of regulators cozying up to those they regulate and adopting a “non-confrontational” relationship is not limited to the United States. For neoliberal policy makers around the world it is axiomatic that pursuit of the highest possible profits by business should not be impeded by anything more than minimal attention to the risks to workers and the public. Thus, over the last three decades there has been a gradual reformulation and dismantling of safeguards put in place to protect society from abuses of corporate power. (Some instances of the power of business to coerce government into submission were the focus of an earlier Dittologica article. [link]) [...] [...] The phenomenon of regulators cozying up to those they regulate and adopting a “non-confrontational” relationship is not limited to the United States. For neoliberal policy makers around the world it is axiomatic that pursuit of the highest possible profits by business should not be impeded by anything more than minimal attention to the risks to workers and the public. Thus, over the last three decades there has been a gradual reformulation and dismantling of safeguards put in place to protect society from abuses of corporate power. (Some instances of the power of business to coerce government into submission were the focus of an earlier Dittologica article. [link]) [...]

]]> Comment on Accumulation, Bubbles and Crisis: an ABC for our time. Part 3 by Otis Cribblecoblis http://dittologica.net/2008/07/26/accumulation-bubbles-and-crisis-an-abc-for-our-time-part-3/#comment-46 Otis Cribblecoblis Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:48:51 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=64#comment-46 Somehow you seem to have mentioned everything but what actually will happen. The world economy will take its toll as once agains it's busted down from general to buck-private, horrible financial damage will be done to millions, and once it can go no lower, affected economies will begin to rebuild--only this time the damage will have been severe enough to restore the regulation of credit, especially mortgage lending, and the recovery, thanks also to the growing necessity for economic and planetary sustainability, will tend far less toward bubbledom in the future and more toward moral and social awakening. The vast majority in the developed world will downsize both out of moral and financial necessity in that they'll consume less which will cause substantial tempering of the global economy through the rise of local food industires, declining populations, and far less consuption. It will be a largely peaceful, uneventful, and entirely positive upheaval. Somehow you seem to have mentioned everything but what actually will happen. The world economy will take its toll as once agains it’s busted down from general to buck-private, horrible financial damage will be done to millions, and once it can go no lower, affected economies will begin to rebuild–only this time the damage will have been severe enough to restore the regulation of credit, especially mortgage lending, and the recovery, thanks also to the growing necessity for economic and planetary sustainability, will tend far less toward bubbledom in the future and more toward moral and social awakening. The vast majority in the developed world will downsize both out of moral and financial necessity in that they’ll consume less which will cause substantial tempering of the global economy through the rise of local food industires, declining populations, and far less consuption. It will be a largely peaceful, uneventful, and entirely positive upheaval.

]]> Comment on Accumulation, Bubbles and Crisis: an ABC for our time. Part 2 by egbert souse http://dittologica.net/2008/07/06/accumulation-bubbles-and-crisis-an-abc-for-our-time-part-2/#comment-42 egbert souse Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:33:37 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=56#comment-42 If there was a more virtuous way to grow and spread the material and financial wealth once concentrated in the US and, secondarily, Western Europe, to the much hungrier masses that have since been escalating out of poverty by the tens of millions--it would have presented itself. You're saddled with a terrible burden: how to take a situation that is hopelessly, helplessly yin and yang, erase the yang, and try to make just the yin into a cogent argument. It's impossible! If there was a more virtuous way to grow and spread the material and financial wealth once concentrated in the US and, secondarily, Western Europe, to the much hungrier masses that have since been escalating out of poverty by the tens of millions–it would have presented itself. You’re saddled with a terrible burden: how to take a situation that is hopelessly, helplessly yin and yang, erase the yang, and try to make just the yin into a cogent argument. It’s impossible!

]]> Comment on Accumulation, Bubbles and Crisis: an ABC for our time. Part 1 by egbert souse http://dittologica.net/2008/06/16/accumulation-bubbles-and-crisis-an-abc-for-our-time-part-1/#comment-37 egbert souse Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:27:49 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=52#comment-37 I await the next installment with bated breath . . . I await the next installment with bated breath . . .

]]> Comment on Middle East saved from threat of peace by egbert souse http://dittologica.net/2008/05/01/middle-east-saved-from-threat-of-peace/#comment-35 egbert souse Mon, 19 May 2008 01:53:56 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=40#comment-35 Excellent entry! Excellent entry!

]]> Comment on The end of the nice decade by egbert souse http://dittologica.net/2008/05/18/the-end-of-the-nice-decade/#comment-34 egbert souse Mon, 19 May 2008 01:51:33 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=47#comment-34 It was a wonderful, profitable decade for me, anyway, a college dropout with no prospects ten years ago and a $100,000 debt to the that most ferocious of all creditors, the IRS. Not only did they not see one dime of that money, for the last four years the IRS has written me yearly checks that all together have surpassed that amount! It was a wonderful, profitable decade for me, anyway, a college dropout with no prospects ten years ago and a $100,000 debt to the that most ferocious of all creditors, the IRS. Not only did they not see one dime of that money, for the last four years the IRS has written me yearly checks that all together have surpassed that amount!

]]> Comment on Of Laptops and Miracles by egbert souse http://dittologica.net/2008/03/18/of-laptops-and-miracles/#comment-27 egbert souse Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:35:11 +0000 http://dittologica.wordpress.com/?p=33#comment-27 A general link between the MO's of McCarthy and Bush can be found in the blatant falsification of information that enabled both of their crusades to get up and running. Let's hope that Bush gets his comeuppance as McCarthy did. A general link between the MO’s of McCarthy and Bush can be found in the blatant falsification of information that enabled both of their crusades to get up and running. Let’s hope that Bush gets his comeuppance as McCarthy did.

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