Capitalism or free enterprise always succeeds. socialism or any other form
of collectivism always fails becaust the latter destroy the initiative of
man. SIMPLE.
On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 4:05 AM, Lone Wolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Ask the fat lady
>
> On Oct 15, 6:19 pm, "M.A. Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > "To condemn free-market capitalism because of anything going on today
> makes no sense. There is no evidence that capitalism exists today. We are
> deeply involved in an interventionist-planned economy that allows major
> benefits to accrue to the politically connected of both political parties.
> One may condemn the fraud and the current system, but it must be called by
> its proper names Keynesian inflationism, interventionism, and
> corporatism."Has Capitalism Failed?Ron Paul, Congressional Record US House
> of Representatives July 9, 2002It is now commonplace and politically correct
> to blame what is referred to as the excesses of capitalism for the economic
> problems we face, and especially for the Wall Street fraud that dominates
> the business news. Politicians are having a field day with demagoguing the
> issue while, of course, failing to address the fraud and deceit found in the
> budgetary shenanigans of the federal government for which they are directly
> responsible. Instead, it gives the Keynesian crowd that runs the show a
> chance to attack free markets and ignore the issue of sound money.
> > So once again we hear the chant: "Capitalism has failed; we need more
> government controls over the entire financial market." No one asks why the
> billions that have been spent and thousands of pages of regulations that
> have been written since the last major attack on capitalism in the 1930s
> didn't prevent the fraud and deception of Enron, WorldCom, and Global
> Crossings. That failure surely couldn't have come from a dearth of
> regulations.
> > What is distinctively absent is any mention that all financial bubbles
> are saturated with excesses in hype, speculation, debt, greed, fraud, gross
> errors in investment judgment, carelessness on the part of analysts and
> investors, huge paper profits, conviction that a new era economy has arrived
> and, above all else, pie-in-the-sky expectations.
> > When the bubble is inflating, there are no complaints. When it bursts,
> the blame game begins. This is especially true in the age of victimization,
> and is done on a grand scale. It quickly becomes a philosophic, partisan,
> class, generational, and even a racial issue. While avoiding the real cause,
> all the finger pointing makes it difficult to resolve the crisis and further
> undermines the principles upon which freedom and prosperity rest.
> > Nixon was right once when he declared "We're all Keynesians now." All of
> Washington is in sync in declaring that too much capitalism has brought us
> to where we are today. The only decision now before the central planners in
> Washington is whose special interests will continue to benefit from the
> coming pretense at reform. The various special interests will be lobbying
> heavily like the Wall Street investors, the corporations, the
> military-industrial complex, the banks, the workers, the unions, the
> farmers, the politicians, and everybody else.
> > But what is not discussed is the actual cause and perpetration of the
> excesses now unraveling at a frantic pace. This same response occurred in
> the 1930s in the United States as our policy makers responded to the very
> similar excesses that developed and collapsed in 1929. Because of the
> failure to understand the problem then, the depression was prolonged. These
> mistakes allowed our current problems to develop to a much greater degree.
> Consider the failure to come to grips with the cause of the 1980s bubble, as
> Japan's economy continues to linger at no-growth and recession level, with
> their stock market at approximately one-fourth of its peak 13 years ago. If
> we're not careful and so far we've not been we will make the same errors
> that will prevent the correction needed before economic growth can be
> resumed.
> > In the 1930s, it was quite popular to condemn the greed of capitalism,
> the gold standard, lack of regulation, and a lack government insurance on
> bank deposits for the disaster. Businessmen became the scapegoat. Changes
> were made as a result, and the welfare/warfare state was institutionalized.
> Easy credit became the holy grail of monetary policy, especially under Alan
> Greenspan, "the ultimate Maestro." Today, despite the presumed protection
> from these government programs built into the system, we find ourselves in a
> bigger mess than ever before. The bubble is bigger, the boom lasted longer,
> and the gold price has been deliberately undermined as an economic signal.
> Monetary inflation continues at a rate never seen before in a frantic effort
> to prop up stock prices and continue the housing bubble, while avoiding the
> consequences that inevitably come from easy credit. This is all done because
> we are unwilling to acknowledge that current policy is only setting the
> stage for a huge drop in the value of the dollar. Everyone fears it, but no
> one wants to deal with it.
> > Ignorance, as well as disapproval for the natural restraints placed on
> market excesses that capitalism and sound markets impose, cause our present
> leaders to reject capitalism and blame it for all the problems we face. If
> this fallacy is not corrected and capitalism is even further undermined, the
> prosperity that the free market generates will be destroyed.
> > Corruption and fraud in the accounting practices of many companies are
> coming to light. There are those who would have us believe this is an
> integral part of free-market capitalism. If we did have free-market
> capitalism, there would be no guarantees that some fraud wouldn't occur.
> When it did, it would then be dealt with by local law-enforcement authority
> and not by the politicians in Congress, who had their chance to "prevent"
> such problems but chose instead to politicize the issue, while using the
> opportunity to promote more useless Keynesian regulations.
> > Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven't had capitalism. A
> system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a
> central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates
> that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank. It's
> not capitalism when the system is plagued with incomprehensible rules
> regarding mergers, acquisitions, and stock sales, along with wage controls,
> price controls, protectionism, corporate subsidies, international management
> of trade, complex and punishing corporate taxes, privileged government
> contracts to the military-industrial complex, and a foreign policy
> controlled by corporate interests and overseas investments. Add to this
> centralized federal mismanagement of farming, education, medicine,
> insurance, banking and welfare. This is not capitalism!
> > To condemn free-market capitalism because of anything going on today
> makes no sense. There is no evidence that capitalism exists today. We are
> deeply involved in an interventionist-planned economy that allows major
> benefits to accrue to the politically connected of both political parties.
> One may condemn the fraud and the current system, but it must be called by
> its proper names Keynesian inflationism, interventionism, and corporatism.
> > What is not discussed is that the current crop of bankruptcies reveals
> that the blatant distortions and lies emanating from years of speculative
> orgy were predictable.
> > First, Congress should be investigating the federal government's fraud
> and deception in accounting, especially in reporting future obligations such
> as Social Security, and how the monetary system destroys wealth. Those
> problems are bigger than anything in the corporate world and are the
> responsibility of Congress. Besides, it's the standard set by the government
> and the monetary system it operates that are major contributing causes to
> all that's wrong on Wall Street today. Where fraud does exist, it's a state
> rather than a federal matter, and state authorities can enforce these laws
> without any help from Congress.
> > Second, we do know why financial bubbles occur, and we know from history
> that they are routinely associated with speculation, excessive debt, wild
> promises, greed, lying, and cheating. These problems were described by quite
> a few observers as the problems were developing throughout the 1990s, but
> the warnings were ignored for one reason. Everybody was making a killing and
> no one cared, and those who were reminded of history were reassured by the
> Fed chairman that "this time" a new economic era had arrived and not to
> worry. Productivity increases, it was said, could explain it all.
> > But now we know that's just not so. Speculative bubbles and all that
> we've been witnessing are a consequence of huge amounts of easy credit,
> created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve. We've had essentially no
> savings, which is one of the most significant driving forces in capitalism.
> The illusion created by low interest rates perpetuates the bubble and all
> the bad stuff that goes along with it. And that's not a fault of capitalism.
> We are dealing with a system of inflationism and interventionism that always
> produces a bubble economy that must end badly.
> > So far the assessment made by the administration, Congress, and the Fed
> bodes badly for our economic future. All they offer is more of the same,
> which can't possibly help. All it will do is drive us closer to national
> bankruptcy, a sharply lower dollar, and a lower standard of living for most
> Americans, as well as less freedom for everyone.
> > This is a bad scenario that need not happen. But preserving our system is
> impossible if the critics are allowed to blame capitalism and sound monetary
> policy is rejected. More spending, more debt, more easy credit, more
> distortion of interest rates, more regulations on everything, and more
> foreign meddling will soon force us into the very uncomfortable position of
> deciding the fate of our entire political system.
> > If we were to choose freedom and capitalism, we would restore our dollar
> to a commodity or a gold standard. Federal spending would be reduced, income
> taxes would be lowered, and no taxes would be levied upon savings,
> dividends, and capital gains. Regulations would be reduced, special-interest
> subsidies would be stopped, and no protectionist measures would be
> permitted. Our foreign policy would change, and we would bring our troops
> home.
> > We cannot depend on government to restore trust to the markets; only
> trustworthy people can do that. Actually, the lack of trust in Wall Street
> executives is healthy because it is deserved and prompts caution. The same
> lack of trust in politicians, the budgetary process, and the monetary system
> would serve as a healthy incentive for the reform in government we need.
> > Markets regulate better than governments can. Depending on government
> regulations to protect us significantly contributes to the bubble mentality.
> > These moves would produce the climate for releasing the creative energy
> necessary to simply serve consumers, which is what capitalism is all about.
> The system that inevitably breeds the corporate-government cronyism that
> created our current ongoing disaster would end.
> > Capitalism didn't give us this crisis of confidence now existing in the
> corporate world. The lack of free markets and sound money did. Congress does
> have a role to play, but it's not proactive. Congress's job is to get out of
> the way.
> >
>
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