Who Is To Blame?

Anyone who has actually read any of Ayn Rand's works knows that Alan Greenspan is no Objectivist, and his policies at the Fed were not free market. No one of the "the free market failed" camp seems to want to actually look at the details of the regulations already in place that largely caused the financial meltdown, i.e. The Fed's massive expansion of credit out of thin air, the Community Reinvestment Act forcing banks to take on risky loans at the point of a gun, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac subsidizing loans to high-risk people. The banks such as AIG that got themselves in trouble were acting on the belief that the Fed would keep the party going by continuing to inflate the money supply. Had the Fed, the CRA, Fannie, and Freddie not done what they did, these banks would not have taken on such risky loans. They would have regulated themselves just fine. When you have the Fed in control of the money supply and can increase it or decrease it at any rate it wishes at any time, how can anyone honestly say that the so-called "freedom" of the banking industry is what caused this mess? I also find it striking that people denounce Ayn Rand considering the fact that she promoted the idea that YOUR thought and YOUR action is what keeps you alive, that people require freedom to act on their own best judgment, and that free trade is required to expand wealth beyond what anyone person can achieve on his or her own. Anyone against this must be either incapable or unwilling to think and act for his own survival, and wants to make slaves out of those people that can. The beautiful part of Atlas Shrugged is that it demonstrates that the capable men and women can "shrug" off the non-contributing fleas any time they want.

Thank you, Dr. Brook. It's always refreshing to find a defense of free markets and to know that there are still some rational minds functioning during a time when most politicians, intellectuals, and mass media seem to be succeeding in sucking everything in their path down the toilet bowl of socialism.

The assertion that "Free markets are in disrepute" is absurd on it's face. We do not have a free market and have not known one since my birth in the late 1960's. Any intellectually honest American who has taken the time to wade through the CFR would laugh at the premise.

The belief that a "lack of regulations" is to blame for our current situation is simply intellectual sloth. A cursory examination of the facts leading to the current banking meltdown tells us the more Government gets involved, the worse it gets. Our current system of government has a long history of creating distortions in the market to the detriment of our economy. The Republicratics have long since abandoned any pretense of principle in free economic choice, instead creating a barrage of "range of the moment" laws and regulations each with it's own set of unintended, perverse consequences.

The current crisis we face is no surprise; in fact, it was desperately needed. Now the Republicratics are reacting with more of the same poison that is killing us and when it gets worse, they can only reply with more. It seems that each election becomes increasingly staged and phony, with each of the anointed candidates from the party of power promising more "change" and delivering more of the same. And yet we re-elect these corrupt men and women again and again. Each time blaming "the other party" whilst turning a blind eye to the rank corruption within "our" party.

Nothing will change unless the American citizens decide to return the the principles that were the progenitor of this once great nation.

The assertion that "Free markets are in disrepute" is absurd on it's face. We do not have a free market and have not known one since my birth in the late 1960's. Any intellectually honest American who has taken the time to wade through the CFR would laugh at the premise.

The belief that a "lack of regulations" is to blame for our current situation is simply intellectual sloth. A cursory examination of the facts leading to the current banking meltdown tells us the more Government gets involved, the worse it gets. Our current system of government has a long history of creating distortions in the market to the detriment of our economy. The Republicratics have long since abandoned any pretense of principle in free economic choice, instead creating a barrage of "range of the moment" laws and regulations each with it's own set of unintended, perverse consequences.

The current crisis we face is no surprise; in fact, it was desperately needed. Now the Republicratics are reacting with more of the same poison that is killing us and when it gets worse, they can only reply with more. It seems that each election becomes increasingly staged and phony, with each of the anointed candidates from the party of power promising more "change" and delivering more of the same. And yet we re-elect these corrupt men and women again and again. Each time blaming "the other party" whilst turning a blind eye to the rank corruption within "our" party.

Nothing will change unless the American citizens decide to return the the principles that were the progenitor of this once great nation.

History has shown time and again that the more government involves itself in trade, the more those economies fail. From Rome to Moscow, no regime has been able to maintain a strangle-hold on free trade and stay alive. Until we learn from those historic lessons, we are doomed to repeat them.

Governments should exist, but only to enforce peace and contracts. It should be totally separate from the economy, for exactly the same reasons that the forefathers saw fit to separate the government from religion.

The federal government caused these problems with Fannie and Freddie, the Community Reinvestment Act, the coercion of the banks to lend or else, the Federal Reserve manipulation of the money supply and interst rates, the "too big to fail" mythology, and all the other financial and housing regulations too vast to enumerate. Now it is going to help us resolve the crises by more of the same. God help us!!!

To Dausuul,

I do not think anyone is denying that there are natural fluctuations in the market. Even in a purely capitalist market there are ups and downs due to foreign wars, domestic troubles, natural disasters, and other such things. We are are talking about artificial credit expansion, leading to a mis-allocation of capital. In the 1920's boom, it was stocks bought on margin and now it is low-interest mortgages with low down-payments. All of these and many others are caused by the Fed (or prior to that, state and local banks) artificially driving down interest rates, making credit easy. Then, all the government has to do is favor some industry with this cheap credit, e.g. real estate through the community reinvestment act and Fannie and Freddie, and you thereby have a boom and the subsequent bust.

To Dausuul,

I do not think anyone is denying that there are natural fluctuations in the market. Even in a purely capitalist market there are ups and downs due to foreign wars, domestic troubles, natural disasters, and other such things. We are are talking about artificial credit expansion, leading to a mis-allocation of capital. In the 1920's boom, it was stocks bought on margin and now it is low-interest mortgages with low down-payments. All of these and many others are caused by the Fed (or the pre-Fed equivalents) artificially driving down interest rates, making credit easy. One that is done, all the government has to do is favor some industry with this cheap credit, e.g. real estate through the community reinvestment act and Fannie and Freddie, and you thereby have a boom and the subsequent bust.

Those who appreciate the work of Ayn Rand can find kindred souls at http://www.rebirthbofreason.com while those who want to meet other Ayn Rand fans in person can visit http://www.propelobjectivism.com to make new friends.

All those "Panics" occurred under the auspices of a Federal Reserve, which at the time was called the Central Bank of England.

If the Community Re-Investment Act can survive the crisis, I predict that Ayn Rand will as well

He sounds like the defenders of communism when the Berlin Wall fell...

Greenspan did not take a hands off approach to the economy. The economic meltdown was caused by the Federal Reserve's central economic planning, inflationary monetary policy and fraudulent fractional reserve banking. Greenspan betrayed Ayn Rand by not advocating the gold standard as the U.S. Constitution requires. The Federal Reserve should be abolished, so that we can go back to sound, constitutional money. Support H.R. 2755.

I believe you can't pinpoint the blame on one person. I think the main cause was greed acted on by numerous people.
Many took advantage of economic policies for the purpose of self increased wealth. This can not be pinpointed on any one individual but on many at different aspects. Two small examples: 1) Mortgage originators closing mortgages that people could not afford for the life of the loan. 2) Purchasers who took out loans they could not afford based on hopes of either later increased income, flipping the property before rates adjust or refinancing before rates adjust. There are many other examples. Outlandish bonuses....many times over Senior Execs may find a way to save the company money and have big layoffs and then take a big bonus for their 'helping' the company....(perhaps they could've foregone the bonus and kept a few more employees employed and their families with income...) Many other examples ....greed, greed, greed.

hmm? Perhaps Al just pulled off the utlimate "Francisco".. With any luck there will be enough rational thinking Americans to wake up and realize this system we have was built by bankers and politicians to their benefit. When all else fails pile the debt on the populace with higher prices and more taxes.. .

Michael Shermer of Scientific American magazine makes a good argument for Rand being a cult leader, and for Objectivism, a cult. Frankly, I take Objectivism about as seriously as I take Scientology. See:

http://www.spiralnature.com/phil/objectivism/unlikelycult.html