The Seeds Of Our Financial Crisis Were Sewn By…

By Monday November 2, 2009





14 Comments
  1. Eric says:
    11/2/2009 at 8:35 pm

    I think if more Wall St types tried to emulate these guys instead of Gordon Gekko we’d all be better off.

    Reply
  2. Hmeyers says:
    11/2/2009 at 9:19 pm

    There is no financial crisis, because dollars are an imaginary currency (i.e. not the gold standard).

    It is a labor crisis.

    Specifically, no business wants to build production in the USA.

    No production = no jobs = no wages to tax = financial crisis as symptom.

    Treat the disease, not the symptom fools!

    Reply
  3. GetSmart says:
    11/2/2009 at 10:08 pm

    #2 Hmeyers: I think you may be on to something there. At some point, it doesn’t matter how cheaply you can price Chinese made shit at Walmart, if no one has money to buy it, you can’t sell it. Wonder how many of us will have starved to death before the plutocrats figure that out.

    Reply
  4. deowll says:
    11/2/2009 at 10:13 pm

    #3 Plutocrats rarely figure anything out. They just get replaced.

    Reply
  5. Zybch says:
    11/3/2009 at 12:23 am

    God bless Terry Gilliam.
    Now one of the DU editors just needs to find some good clips from one of his other movies, Brazil. It sure looks like its an accurate depiction of where we’ll be in another couple of years.

    Reply
  6. thecommodore says:
    11/3/2009 at 12:42 am

    Heh, probably TPTB have punch down lists with items like low wage jobs and production all being shifted out of country, but the only item they actually follow up on is “why Americans aren’t wearing more hats”. Problem is there isn’t a group of old Brit pirates coming in to mow these idiots down.

    Reply
  7. amodedoma says:
    11/3/2009 at 2:50 am

    Ah yes, the short feature presentation before that great Monty Python classic, the Meaning of Life. Curious, they should choose a skit about these old coots. Obviously it’s a commentary about basic human nature. We all need to survive, but we all have ambitious dreams, and while ambition will get you far – it can also take you over the edge of the world.

    it’s fun to charter an accountant
    and sail the wide accountancy,
    to find, explore the funds offshore
    and skirt the shoals of bankruptcy!
    It can be manly in insurance.
    we’ll up your premium semi-annually.
    it’s all tax deductible.
    we’re fairly incorruptible,
    we’re sailing on the wide accountancy!

    Indeed, it’s about time we took the term ‘piracy’ out of Computing and put it where it belongs – in Accounting.

    Reply
  8. alienbike says:
    11/3/2009 at 7:19 am

    And now for something completely different . . .

    The meaning of life

    Piss Off . . .

    FYI: IFC started running Python last month.

    Reply
  9. Glass Half Full says:
    11/3/2009 at 7:28 am

    #2 – And how do you solve that? Socialism? Force private businesses to ‘build’ stuff here against their will? To you build a wall around the country or re-introduce the 100% tariff? Just let us all know how we’re supposed to build TVs cheaper than a country like China with a fake economy (gov supported) and near slave labor wages. Hmmm.

    Reply
  10. Phydeau says:
    11/3/2009 at 7:57 am

    Spelling flame alert: seeds are sown, not sewn…

    Reply
  11. bob says:
    11/3/2009 at 8:16 am

    Thanks Phydeau… I was biting my tongue

    Reply
  12. amodedoma says:
    11/3/2009 at 9:11 am

    #9 GHF

    There’s always room for top quality products. The US, should it wish to recover past glories, would need only to produce top quality products, and high tech. I’d pay 10x the price for household appliances that last at least 10 years, for example. Something that used to be status quo for US manufacturers before planned obsolescence. The first truly efficient and effective electric car should’ve been american and the battery technology too. Of course you can’t compete with some third world countries when it comes to manufacturing on the cheap. But I sincerely believe that there’s no need to. Unfortunately it’s the business model that’s at the heart of it – quick returns and minimal risks. That, and the foolish idea that money invested in and administered by the government is all wasted. Who can you trust? Nobody, but mistrusting the public sector more than the private, now that’s just plain stupid.

    Reply
  13. GetSmart says:
    11/3/2009 at 9:49 am

    I think we should embark on a 5 to 10 year program to build the latest most up to date, fully automated plants and factories to produce everything needed for life as we know right here in the US and essentially close the goddamn borders except for export. If we’re mostly all going to be unemployed anyway, at least we could have the means of production right here to help support the welfare state. And if the international companies don’t like it, they’re welcome to leave. After, of course, they leave their money, factory sites and equipment here.

    Reply
  14. MikieV says:
    11/3/2009 at 10:44 am

    @ amodedoma [#12]

    ” I’d pay 10x the price for household appliances that last at least 10 years, for example.”

    But most of your fellow Americans wouldn’t, from what I can tell.

    WalMart has been trying to build a few stores in the Portland, Oregon area for years – with only a couple of stores built. Why can’t they build more stores? Because people claim they would be too popular, and cause too much traffic for the nearby roads…

    I find it ironic that the opponents of WalMart wonder why the company doesn’t give-up in the face of opposition to its stores – when the main argument against the stores is that they would attract swarms of customers…

    ” The first truly efficient and effective electric car should’ve been american and the battery technology too”

    Don’t you remember GM’s EV-1 electric car that you could lease through Saturn dealerships – only in California – because California was trying to mandate zero-emission vehicles?

    Or the movie about why they were all destroyed?

    The movie was titled: “Who killed the electric car?”

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/

    Reply

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