We posted a photo of the growing tent city in Providence RI on July 4th on Eyeonmiami. As you can see from the recent NY Times story, we were onto something. I read news reports about the economy "turning the corner" and am filled with disbelief. For me, there is no happiness in statistics about the economy contracting less rapidly. If there are green shoots, they are being buried by fertilizer. The number I'm looking at: $11.8 TRILLION committed by the federal government to stabilize the economy, or, 84% of GDP. It is a good time to be a Wall Street executive, backstopped by guarantees of the US taxpayer, with your fingers in the Treasury till. The better indicator of the performance of the economy is rising homelessness and families seeking food assistance. Where are those statistics? Today the NY Times editorial page called this, "The Great Recession". No one likes using the "D" word, but I wonder... Is the economy turning the corner for you?
2 comments:
Below are the four most recommended comments to Paul Krugman's column, "Rewarding Bad Actors", in the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes. com/2009/ 08/03/opinion/ 03krugman. html?_r=1
"Eva" from California writes:
Why be so coy, Paul?
You write: "Citi has received around $45 billion from taxpayers; Goldman has repaid the $10 billion it received in direct aid, but it has benefited enormously both from federal guarantees and from bailouts of other financial institutions. "
Why not just state that the amount GS has received in federal aid was over 50 billion dollars, of which they've only repaid ten billion in TARP funds.
And that GS paid only 14 million dollars in taxes last year thanks to offshore tax havens.
And why not mention that D.A. Robert Morgenthau has asked every U.S. Treasury Secretary for the last 35 years to shut down the offshore tax havens?
And that every U.S. Treasury Secretary for the past 35 years has refused to do so, because they are beholden to the President who is beholden to campaign donors who benefit from said offshore tax havens?
Why not just call it for what is is? REGULATORY CAPTURE.
As a witness to the largest ever transfer of wealth from the middle class to the banking sector, I can't believe people aren't rioting in the streets.
"furious" from somewhere in the USA writes:
And if this wasn't enough to cause outrage, please see this article in the Financial Times on how the banks are basically making a fortune off of our government http://www.ft. com...
What is going on now is disgraceful and criminal. Even more than the bankers, our political leaders should face charges for taking our money and essentially handing it over these monsters.
Our families, our communities. ..so many good people, teachers, firefighters, artists...suffering because of the havoc these greedy people caused so that they could have 4 yachts, not just two...and now, our bought and sold politicians respond by giving them billions while we must suffer and try to find some sanity again in our lives.
Keep it up Washington.. .just a few more stories, and I, and millions of others will just have enough....we will march and stand at your offices and doorways and throw you out in the street where you belong!
"John Moreau" from Connecticut writes:
I do not know a lot about economics. I do not know a lot about Wall Street. I do know that I lost my job, I lost 60% of my investments, and I lost my ability to give a hand up to the next generation of my family. I am not asking for a handout, I am not asking for someone to give me a break that I do not deserve. What I am asking for is that people start to think about what they are doing when they take what is not theirs. I am asking for someone to say " how can I be different". I am asking for people who are still benefiting from this rotten economy to understand their role. I am asking for the impossible. I am asking for civility.
Good Luck!
"n. sails" from nm writes:
Mr. Krugman. Why do you not just state the obvious. Goldman Sachs was President Obama's largest single-enitity campaign contributor. Citigroup was in the top five. The same holds true for many Congressional / Senatorial Committee Chairman.
President Obama and the Democrat party have becoming full-time employees of the NYC banking establishment. Watch for the fallout to begin in 2010.
Your readers are pretty smart people, so I'm sure they all heeded the signs of things to come, which is now. We have been getting ready for this since the 2nd Bush election. If that administration had only lasted 4 years, we would not be in the mess we are in now. So we got ready, just like during Hurricane season. We paid down our debt. We planted a garden that grows larger every season. We made sure we had good running equipment. We can cut back our employees' hours, and, if need be, run on a smaller scale than before. Reduced bills. Cut back on needless shopping. Now we're ready to coast through for the next few years. And I'm much more relaxed with this administration. Bush really stressed me out!
The other M
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