Comments on: Haircut Time for Bondholders http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/03/haircut-time-for-bondholders/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Barry99 http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/03/haircut-time-for-bondholders/#comment-41114 Barry99 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:04:54 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=7191#comment-41114 At bottom, the current economic free-for-all (or free-fall) can be traced to Reagan era Friedmanesque economic policy. Along with massive deregulation and miscegenation between the banking and securities finance sectors the actual producers in America - its laborers - were put on a wage diet. Incomes in the US have been declining or stagnating since the Oil Shock years of the Carter Administration. Yet we have been urged by the several million commercials all of us see since birth to spend freely, to covet increasing numbers of goods, and to identify and differentiate ourselves by what we consume. After 9/11 Bush told us to shop - and to buy houses, we are to be the 'ownership society.' The credit card companies even sent cards to our children. The net result is we've been - with each passing year - chasing more and more expensive goods with fewer and fewer dollars. And the banks told us we could have most any house we wanted, they would lend us the money, make a reverse mortgage, a second mortgage, a balloon mortgage, a sub-prime mortgage. We ran out of money to pay the mortgage (and to even pay down the credit card.) No problem for the mortgage lending bank - they packaged the mortgages together and sold them to a Wall street securities sharks - uh, firms. Speaking of cards, the house of cards began to collapse. And because banks and mortgage-lending had been melded into the securities industry and legalized gambling, one huge cesspool of greed, the pinball of failure bounced from bank to bank, from firm to firm, and from household to household - and in our copycat globalized economy - from nation to nation. And there is no end in sight. At bottom, the current economic free-for-all (or free-fall) can be traced to Reagan era Friedmanesque economic policy. Along with massive deregulation and miscegenation between the banking and securities finance sectors the actual producers in America – its laborers – were put on a wage diet. Incomes in the US have been declining or stagnating since the Oil Shock years of the Carter Administration. Yet we have been urged by the several million commercials all of us see since birth to spend freely, to covet increasing numbers of goods, and to identify and differentiate ourselves by what we consume. After 9/11 Bush told us to shop – and to buy houses, we are to be the ‘ownership society.’ The credit card companies even sent cards to our children. The net result is we’ve been – with each passing year – chasing more and more expensive goods with fewer and fewer dollars. And the banks told us we could have most any house we wanted, they would lend us the money, make a reverse mortgage, a second mortgage, a balloon mortgage, a sub-prime mortgage. We ran out of money to pay the mortgage (and to even pay down the credit card.) No problem for the mortgage lending bank – they packaged the mortgages together and sold them to a Wall street securities sharks – uh, firms. Speaking of cards, the house of cards began to collapse. And because banks and mortgage-lending had been melded into the securities industry and legalized gambling, one huge cesspool of greed, the pinball of failure bounced from bank to bank, from firm to firm, and from household to household – and in our copycat globalized economy – from nation to nation. And there is no end in sight.

]]> By: logan9 http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/03/haircut-time-for-bondholders/#comment-41107 logan9 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:47:00 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=7191#comment-41107 Immediate receivership of these insolvent financial institutions. I don't care if they claim to make a profit these first couple of months - you need to show me these rifts, open these books! Bondholders need to take the hit, remember risk does not always equal reward! Debt write-downs are must, specifically for the American Consumer. Of course, this would piss off Wall Street and Banks, as evidenced by Obama's Housing Plan, aka the "Cramdown." I'm not sure why other Americans can't see what is really happening! Dissolution of Wealth is staggering, unfortunately it's the people who need it most that will be affected the greatest. Another Fed ripoff! Immediate receivership of these insolvent financial institutions. I don’t care if they claim to make a profit these first couple of months – you need to show me these rifts, open these books!

Bondholders need to take the hit, remember risk does not always equal reward! Debt write-downs are must, specifically for the American Consumer. Of course, this would piss off Wall Street and Banks, as evidenced by Obama’s Housing Plan, aka the “Cramdown.” I’m not sure why other Americans can’t see what is really happening! Dissolution of Wealth is staggering, unfortunately it’s the people who need it most that will be affected the greatest. Another Fed ripoff!

]]> By: Sam http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/03/haircut-time-for-bondholders/#comment-41041 Sam Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:09:56 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=7191#comment-41041 We used to hang horse thiefs, whatever happened to that idea? We used to hang horse thiefs, whatever happened to that idea?

]]> By: kalidas http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/03/haircut-time-for-bondholders/#comment-41032 kalidas Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:12:40 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=7191#comment-41032 When compared to banking/finance, I always just assumed astrology was far more respectable. Same for politics. When compared to banking/finance, I always just assumed astrology was far more respectable.
Same for politics.

]]>