Who Is To Blame?

I can't believe you (NewsWeek) actually discussed what happened in "banking" with YB without taking an active common sense perspective and addressing the inherent behavior of man to act in his own selfish best interest to the known detriment of all cloaked in "Objectivism". What happened was GREED! When individuals ("professionals" ???WTF) are allowed to make exceptionally risky loans, using others people's deposits, in such incredible ratios against those deposits; then launder the debt, and spread the debt, and insure the deals essentially either by actually AIG'ing the deals or shifting the loss to society by holding the banking system, that we all depend on, hostage is called calculated greed!!! How is it possible for executives and mortgage brokers to make a bonus for deals completed, year-to-year, when 2 - 5 years later the deals and the projected profit from become a losses? Their should be a maturity date/or vesting date...to bonuses that limit the lottery style bonus structure currently operating on Wall Street this way the bonuses are tied more closely to performance over the run of the loan not just the initiation of it.

The standards of logical thinking in the comments speak for themselves - appalling. If you are bothering to comment perhaps you should have the decency to back up mindless assertions.

Yaron Brook states his position and backs it up with a logical mechanistic argument.

The number of regulations on the US economy has been increasing exponentially.
In addition Capitalism clearly does not exist as pointed out by Brook. Capitalism means full property rights and protection for voluntary trade. The US government does not provide these protections as they should. The economy is mixed and highly controlled and regulated. There is no separation of economy and state.

Many, many thoughtful and intelligent young girls are going to be very sad at Ayn Rand's fall from grace. But she'll have some illustrious company - Ronald Reagan who gave us the "borrowing society," and "Barry Goldwater," who inspired him.

And all the insects who made Ayn Rand what John Hinckley made out of the Catcher in the Rye can follow them to complete oblivion.

If Ayn Rand is to blame then maybe we can pin some of the blame on Santa Claus too!

It is idiots like Ayn Rand and Greenspan who have allowed theory to guide their decision making to the detriment of Americans. BUT!

But how about the banks and other financial institutions that have highly paid employees specifically to prevent these types of disasters.......

Where were they?

Sleeping like Rip Van Winkle!

Or dreaming like Rand and Greenspan?

A very interesting article for its highlighting of the Ayn Rand Institute and Greenspan's relation to it. After reading so many comments I couldn't help wonder how difficult it must be for so many individuals to wander around with so much dogmatic baggage on their backs. Wow, so many labels: liberalism, libertarianism, objectivists, capitalism, communism, democrats and republicans. Looks like we all are shoved into a little stereotype box and forbidden to take variety of ideas from multiple sources. I haven't seen any "ism" or system that has all the answers all the time. Listening to one dogma growl at another is, at best, entertaining.

A very interesting article for its highlighting of the Ayn Rand Institute and Greenspan's relation to it. After reading so many comments I couldn't help wonder how difficult it must be for so many individuals to wander around with so much dogmatic baggage on their backs. Wow, so many labels: liberalism, libertarianism, objectivists, capitalism, communism, democrats and republicans. Looks like we all are shoved into a little stereotype box and forbidden to take variety of ideas from multiple sources. I haven't seen any "ism" or system that has all the answers all the time. Listening to one dogma growl at another is, at best, entertaining.

This is hilarious. I go to Vanity Fair and find an exquisitely written article by Joseph Stiglitz, world famous economists and nobel prize winner detailing precisely and accurately the causes of this miserable depression.

Among them plainly was the firing of Paul Volcker and the hiring of Rand hack Alan Greenspan:

"Volcker also understood that financial markets need to be regulated. Reagan wanted someone who did not believe any such thing, and he found him in a devotee of the objectivist philosopher and free-market zealot Ayn Rand. " That would be 'bubbles' Greenspan.

Stiglitz knows more in his little pinky than Yaron Brooks--or any so called Objectivists-- could learn in five life times. Why not interview Brittany Spears on the economy if you're going to go the hackneyed route? It will have as much credibility and --if you splash a big photo of her on your cover announcing something like 'Spears tells you whats wrong" in close proximity to her breasts, you'll sell far more magazines--apparently the only thing you guys are interested in anymore.

It certainly isn't informing your readers.

It is hilarious to me that the idiots (see Big Wes below for a great example) continue to whine about regualtion! Sure let's go back to the days of feudalism and lords of the manor and slalvery etc.! We are supposedly in an enlighetend age known as "civilization" now - a time of things called "laws" and "regualation" Of course the idiots who want to rule the rest of us want things as they always were - when they were free to trample on the rights of the rest of mankind! unfortunately - the rest of mankind has a slight objection to that! So screw you - deal with it - get over yourselves you fascist nazi right wing republican pigs! Come the revolution maybe all of you will die this time - no one will miss you!

What an amazing thing to see- truth in the media! I think it's so hilarious when armchair economists blame everything on "the market" without really understanding the historical perspective of what brought us here. Thinking that executives who manage trillions of dollars of our economy and create most of the living standards for our country are overpaid is very immature when basketball players right out of high school make far more, for hardly any contribution to the country at all.
When will people recognize that all these regulations stop out industry? Thats why jobs are leaving, Taxes and Regulations!
Anyone who thinks differently, obviously has never owned a business or managed any real amount of money.

these business man are like unattended children. when the little miscreant tykes (aren't they precious?) misbehave government must exercise it's role as mommy and daddy and make them behave. to say we don't have to regulate is to allow these greedy little monsters to run riot. does not government regulate how we can drive? why is that? because if they don't we'll be naughty. ever notice how everyone slows down when a cop car is on the highway. good little boys and girls. imagine what we would happen if we didn't have any rules to follow or any cops to get in our way. what fun!

"Posted By: Vikas @ 12/10/2008 8:29:38 PMThis guy is silly. Objectivists will continue to support the free market despite all the evidence that an unabated free market will allow wealth to collect into the saavy hands at the controls while the majority of the population is subjugated and is tied together into lines of economic slavery by those very same saavy hands."

First off, Fidel, I don't think the communist lifestyle has done the world much good. Capitalism in a pure form is excellent. It is nature's monetary food chain. The capable will rise, while the incapable will fall. Blaming the current problem on capitalism is like blaming infidelity on your sexual organs.

When you flood the market with houses, consumers and cash at the same time it is not going to end well. There has to be a major up-turn in building to match the demand that is built up by supplying so many people with such easily available loans. Once those poorly based loans come due it is just a matter of time until the whole thing start to unravel along with a soaring inflation rate caused by all of the extra money that was plowed into the economy.

Also, who are these morons with "MBAs" and such that so worthless they can run into the ground a long-running corporation? How did it get to become that these people now get $10M+ in bonuses, but all they do is talk about what cars they drive while out playing golf? I'd be willing to bet these same people are most likely just as useless in any other position. The only problem is nobody is ever really tested nowadays.

Don't forget.. when the government turns towards individual interests and the greater majority are getting unfairly treated, there will be those that strike back.

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

John Galt asks, "Who is Guy Fawkes?"

Interesting that the John Kenneth Galbraith quote is easily found but the "James Louis LaSalle" quote seems fabricated...

It would appear that the folks who have posted comments so far prefer to have someone else manage their affairs rather than do so themselves using common sense and objectivity.
..btw - Yes I have read "Alas Shrugged' several times and found the message inspirational. We are who we are but we can always do better. I suggest that some of the posters think someone else can do better for them.

What a misleading and dangerous article! The financial collapse of 2008 would not have happened if Congress had simply passed legislation years ago that would disallow teaser rate A.R.M. mortgages (= mortgage defaults = source of the crisis), outlawed collateralized debt obligations of sub-prime mortgages (the unregulated selling of immense $ packages of sub-prime mortgages),and strictly regulated Credit Default Swaps (a largely unregulated, and wildly speculative form of insurance for these "financial weapons of mass destruction" (quote from that old Socialist Warren Buffett). It was not the availablility of easy credit that caused these problems; it was the irresponsible behavior of the grossly overpaid executive management and CDO/CDS managers of Lehman Brothers (& sisters like WaMu) and the government's lack of regulations (i.e. vision, backbone, and realism) to prevent these excesses from happening. Now we're all paying a horrific price while a few thousand men who made hundreds of billions of $ from this debable will live in incredible luxury for the rest of their lives (financed by shareholder, stakeholder, vendor, and taxpayer losses).

'A hands off' approach to the economy started with Ayn Rand? Ummm...i think it started before her dude. Like the colonial British during the 1870 famines in India(and, au contraire mon frere, the term laissez faire is French )
Ayn Rand was crazy,. but she wasn't secretary of the treasury, chairman of the federal reserve, Phil Gramm, or
a POTUS.
Here, read a good article by Joseph Stiglitz about the historical roots of the current crisis:
http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/stiglitz200901

Also read 'Bad Money' by Kevin Philips:
http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Money-Reckless-Politics-Capitalism/dp/0670019070/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228961076&sr=8-1
And the 'War for Wealth' by Gabor Steingart
http://www.amazon.com/War-Wealth-Story-Globalization-Broken/dp/0071545964/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228961136&sr=8-1

"The modern liberal is engaged in man's oldest exercises in immoral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for doing nothing and having those that actually work, pay you for doing nothing."

James Louis LaSalle

Debt is the root cause of our current problem. Personal debt, corporate debt, and especially government debt. Real estate goes incycles, everyone knows that - and when the real estate values turned down, all the 90% and higher loan to value mortgages went underwater. Unfortunately, banks operate on very small margins, so one mortgage default wipes out the profits for hundreds of "good" mortgages. This is what put the banks in trouble, nothing else - but now we're in the dreaded 'downward spiral" where everything is contracting. Horrible mess, but don't blame Greenspan and don't blame Ann Raynd. Blame our overly large and debt laden government.

Give us a break, Doc ! You're blaming the Regulators? You do mean the Regulators who weren't allowed to do their jobs because of intercessions by people in political power and their lackey Lobbyists who stopped any threats to the NEEDED Oversight which may have stopped this mess we're in, before it started?

The American People are demanding a change from " Business as usual " on Wall Street, without someone watching these thieves very closely from now on.