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Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy
I think we are really blowing this out of proportion. No legitimate economist has said that we were headed for another depression if we didn't pass a bailout. (perhaps I'm wrong, but I haven't seen it.)
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I'm not sure what newspapers you read, but just about every respected economist, financial analyst, etc. I know of said there was a decent chance of entering another depression if Congress didn't approve the bailout (in one form or another). I don't pretend to know everything about this crisis, but when dozens of people like Warren Buffet are yelling fire, I listen. Before you attack Buffet's credibility, let me add that he's one of the brightest minds in America, lives a modest lifestyle despite a net worth in the billions, and isn't part of some conspiracy to defraud the taxpayers.
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Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy
Mass sectors of the populace were not making runs on banks and depleting them of their funds. Yes, there is economic hardship but from my way of thinking that requires a national "tightening of the belt" and frugality.
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When AIG, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, WaMu collapse in short order and dozens of other bedrocks are on the brink of extinction, it's not just a "tightening of the belt." We haven't seen so many reputable financial institutions collapse since 1929 and your average businesses are feeling the crunch. The market for commercial paper totally collapsed. Well capitalized businesses can't get loans. I work in mergers and acquisitions and I've seen about 70% of the deals I was working on simply die because of lack of financing.
I'm not saying a Great Depression was or is inevitable, but we were or are standing on the edge of the cliff. This is NOT the same as the recessions we faced in 2001, 1991, 1987, etc.
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Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy
The cookie jar is open, my friend, and every greedy, unethical corporate type with the authority to do so is going to shove their slimy fist inside.
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That's a very populist message, one that Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs would be proud of, and probably resonates with the vast majority of Americans, but it doesn't really say anything. It doesn't address the nature of the crisis, our viable alternatives, etc.
I certainly don't want to give nearly a trillion dollars to companies that f'ed up. Why the hell would I? But many people have got the question we face all wrong. We shouldn't ask, "Do I want to give $700B to corporations that made bad business decisions?" We should ask, "What is the best response to the current crisis we face?"