5 thoughts on “The Capitalist Manifesto”

1. William McChesney Martin, the great Fed chairman of the 1950s and 1960s, once said that his job was to take the punch bowl away just as the party had begun. No one wants to do that in America anymore—not the Fed chairman, not the regulators, not Congress and not the president.

   This is a huge problem. We’ve decided that we’re too good to reap the full effects of our mistakes. Our financial/real estate exuberance bit us, and the goal of politicians isn’t to let asset values fall to market values and let the system correct itself, but to figure out a way to inflate those values up again as quickly as possible. We have a hangover, and we’re curing it with more booze, instead of coffee. It’s a quick fix that gets results, but just postpones the headache.

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2. We haven’t had true capitalism for a very long time. Might be because we can’t accept one of the core principles — failure. Yet, this is one of it’s best features.

   We need to get over this.

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3. I agree with both of the previous comments. What has gotten this nation into trouble is the current “entitlement” mentality. Instead of having goals and saving for them, too many Americans want what they want, and they want it NOW.

   Too many people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people who don’t care.

   The other massive problem in this society is the “victimization” of people. Everyone is a victim, and people suffer from amnesia when the plan comes crashing down, instead looking for someone else to blame.

   I covered that aspect of the current financial situation on my blog titled “Death of Personal Accountability and the Rise of Entitlement” found at this link:

   http://thenationalreport.com/?p=105

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4. Ever since Newsweek ran that piece with “We’re all Socialists Now” on the cover, I can’t respect their financial coverage. This is not socialism, it’s cronyism/corrupt-capitalism.

   This is a good read on the “Laissez Faire Myth”:

   http://www.populistamerica.com/the_laissez_faire_myth

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5. You’re dead on Mark and Susan.

   I’ve chafed at the Fed’s easy credit policy for many years. But that is partly because I’ve had more savings than debt.

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