Comments on: FreePassers and the Salvation of Capitalism http://dougroberts.com/2008/12/freepassers-and-the-salvation-of-capitalism/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:06:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: health insurance quote http://dougroberts.com/2008/12/freepassers-and-the-salvation-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-3805 health insurance quote Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:23:40 +0000 http://dougroberts.com/wordpress/?p=4#comment-3805 The government was "trapped" only because it refused to cut spending during the Depression. Today, government feels equally "trapped" because politicians have a very strong preference for buying votes with borrowed dollars. The entire Western world is now discovering that it is not possible to borrow ad infinitum; eventually the piper demands to be paid. A sound currency would make it much more difficult for politicians to consign our children and grandchildren to debt slavery; such constraints are not a bad thing, - unless one values the ease of politicians over that of our children. The government was “trapped” only because it refused to cut spending during the Depression. Today, government feels equally “trapped” because politicians have a very strong preference for buying votes with borrowed dollars. The entire Western world is now discovering that it is not possible to borrow ad infinitum; eventually the piper demands to be paid. A sound currency would make it much more difficult for politicians to consign our children and grandchildren to debt slavery; such constraints are not a bad thing, - unless one values the ease of politicians over that of our children.

]]> By: Danon http://dougroberts.com/2008/12/freepassers-and-the-salvation-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-11 Danon Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:37:00 +0000 http://dougroberts.com/wordpress/?p=4#comment-11 The system needs to be fixed and fixed now. The founders of all of these formerly great firms must being weeping in heaven right now at what these greedy and unethical men have done to enrich themselves at the expense of the country and the world. My greatest fear is that the concept of these people who traded (no pun intended) on their firms' reputations is a microcosm for what our current government and citizenship in general is doing based on the reputation of the United States. Great and honorable men and women formed this country as great and honorable people formed Merrill Lynch and AIG and many other companies. It can take generations to earn respect and only a day or year to lose it. We've lost a lot in the past year. It's time to start getting it back. The system needs to be fixed and fixed now. The founders of all of these formerly great firms must being weeping in heaven right now at what these greedy and unethical men have done to enrich themselves at the expense of the country and the world. My greatest fear is that the concept of these people who traded (no pun intended) on their firms’ reputations is a microcosm for what our current government and citizenship in general is doing based on the reputation of the United States. Great and honorable men and women formed this country as great and honorable people formed Merrill Lynch and AIG and many other companies. It can take generations to earn respect and only a day or year to lose it. We’ve lost a lot in the past year. It’s time to start getting it back.

]]> By: droberts http://dougroberts.com/2008/12/freepassers-and-the-salvation-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-8 droberts Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:08:48 +0000 http://dougroberts.com/wordpress/?p=4#comment-8 John, Thank you for posting. I believe that given the right incentive structure, Wall Street can self-regulate to a large degree. I will be discussing this in my next post and look forward to your response. John,
Thank you for posting. I believe that given the right incentive structure, Wall Street can self-regulate to a large degree. I will be discussing this in my next post and look forward to your response.

]]> By: James S http://dougroberts.com/2008/12/freepassers-and-the-salvation-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-5 James S Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:01:15 +0000 http://dougroberts.com/wordpress/?p=4#comment-5 Although I know that the Republican's contribution to this mess over the last eight years is enormous, the blame can and should be spread around. I don't see this as a Democrat vs Republican issue, and both have been complicit over the decades. In order for this dialogue to have value, I think it must be elevated above partisanship and focus on the destructive habits and practices that have become ingrained in our system of government and business. They say that, in human nature, the easiest time to get someone to change is when they've hit bottom. Well, our economy has hit bottom, and there will probably never be a better time to administer that "wake up" slap in the face. Doug, I appreciate that you've started this conversation and hope that it becomes an important part of addressing these complex issues. One final thought - how do you think this crisis will affect consolidation? Is it more likely that some of these international mega-corporations will swallow each other up, or that they will sell off pieces to form more controllable entities? Consolidation in the radio industry, for example, has promoted the FreePasser philosopy. What happens if these giant media companies are forced to divest themselves of assets, and those assets are acquired by smaller companies? Do they revert to more responsible practices? Although I know that the Republican’s contribution to this mess over the last eight years is enormous, the blame can and should be spread around. I don’t see this as a Democrat vs Republican issue, and both have been complicit over the decades. In order for this dialogue to have value, I think it must be elevated above partisanship and focus on the destructive habits and practices that have become ingrained in our system of government and business.

They say that, in human nature, the easiest time to get someone to change is when they’ve hit bottom. Well, our economy has hit bottom, and there will probably never be a better time to administer that “wake up” slap in the face. Doug, I appreciate that you’ve started this conversation and hope that it becomes an important part of addressing these complex issues.

One final thought - how do you think this crisis will affect consolidation? Is it more likely that some of these international mega-corporations will swallow each other up, or that they will sell off pieces to form more controllable entities? Consolidation in the radio industry, for example, has promoted the FreePasser philosopy. What happens if these giant media companies are forced to divest themselves of assets, and those assets are acquired by smaller companies? Do they revert to more responsible practices?

]]> By: john parikhal http://dougroberts.com/2008/12/freepassers-and-the-salvation-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-4 john parikhal Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:17:01 +0000 http://dougroberts.com/wordpress/?p=4#comment-4 Hi Doug, You're right - the analogy comparing the banking system with explicit music lyrics doesn't work. We got in trouble because bankers and hedge fund managers were lazy and greedy. Self-regulation doesn't fix that. The most disturbing part of your blog is the true statement that people bundling mortgages KNEW it was bad but went to the trough like hogs just to make money, knowing they would create terrible suffering for others when the party stopped. We got in trouble because the Republicans stripped away even basic oversight and got the regulators in bed with the finance folks (please don't blame Clinton because the Bush gang had 8 years to FIX any of his mistakes - and didn't). The legacy of unregulated free markets is a collapse in truly moral behavior (do the right thing without talking about it) and the substitution of Sunday best morality - where religious catch phrases replace true moral action (The spend and pray Republicans so beloved by the Wall Street Journal were the prime vectors of this phony morality). As long as 'finance' experts can cheat the average person and face few (if any) real consequences, self-regulation won't work. I look forward to your suggestions about how we can get real accountability if the fox is in charge of the henhouse. Hi Doug,

You’re right - the analogy comparing the banking system with explicit music lyrics doesn’t work.
We got in trouble because bankers and hedge fund managers were lazy and greedy. Self-regulation doesn’t fix that.
The most disturbing part of your blog is the true statement that people bundling mortgages KNEW it was bad but went to the trough like hogs just to make money, knowing they would create terrible suffering for others when the party stopped.
We got in trouble because the Republicans stripped away even basic oversight and got the regulators in bed with the finance folks (please don’t blame Clinton because the Bush gang had 8 years to FIX any of his mistakes - and didn’t).
The legacy of unregulated free markets is a collapse in truly moral behavior (do the right thing without talking about it) and the substitution of Sunday best morality - where religious catch phrases replace true moral action (The spend and pray Republicans so beloved by the Wall Street Journal were the prime vectors of this phony morality).
As long as ‘finance’ experts can cheat the average person and face few (if any) real consequences, self-regulation won’t work. I look forward to your suggestions about how we can get real accountability if the fox is in charge of the henhouse.

]]>