I've been up all night and thus haven't the energy to write a "real" post at the moment. So this is going to be a "What he said" post -- the "he," in this instance, being Lambert of
Corrente, who suggests making the banks into regulated public utilities.
Why shouldn't paying your mortgage, or your auto loan, or your student loan, be exactly like paying your light bill? None of those businesses should be hard, and none of them demand "complex," "innovative," "financial instruments," and they certainly don't require testesterone-driven Merry Banksters sucking enormous bonuses off the company tit. So cut the parasites out of the business and get back to basics.
Think about it. The banks create money. They do this when they make loans. Why is the creation of money considered essentially different from the delivery of gas to your stove?
One more advantage: Regulated public utilities tend not to fail, unless the privatizers get in and screw them up, and when they do, they're small enough to.
The reference, of course, goes to the way Enron screwed California.
3 comments:
Banks are also entities that demand the rate at which they will borrow our money from us to invest for themselves.
Miss P.
MSN:
Personal bankruptcies soar 33%.
My public member feels very private.
Hmmm...seems similar to what I've heard from a few Eastern Europeans lately. Why not have the federal government provide X service for us. Well...you do remember how that turned out right? Why not un-privatize everything?
My facetiousness obscures the serious questions, when does a service becomes unviversal and should be handled by the population at large (federal goverment)? In many places they have public health insurance. In some places they have public automobile insurance. When should we have toll roads and when are roads a shared service for all of us? Some countries are so hell bent on not charging people for services they do not consume that they actually have an "own and use a TV tax" (France & UK). Imagine little vans travelling around your neighborhood trying to detect your TV!
To me it is simple, if the service is used by enough citizens and the service can not be differenciated (like by competition) then consider nationalizing, otherwise leave it the fuck alone.
America has supported risk and I support America. Be liberal, support risk. Job liquidity is cool.*
P.S. DISLCAIMER: My personal risk was supported by unionized government employees.
P.P.S. And Joe, thanks for not always talking about Obama. You are Daily Show-esque ;-)
* (except for now and next year)
Post a Comment