http://www.dianaswednesday.com/2008/10/wednesday-night-1390/ Where the world comes together Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:46:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 http://www.dianaswednesday.com/2008/10/wednesday-night-1390/#comment-5063 The Princess Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:22:23 +0000 http://www.dianaswednesday.com/2008/10/wednesday-night-1390/#comment-5063 As usual, it depends on the side of the fence upon which one sits. A lot of so called ‘experts’, you know, the money market ‘experts’ who counselled everyone to re-finance their homes to invest In the stock market in order to have a ‘balanced portfolio’ i.e., get more commission out of their ignorant greedy clients, or those of us who sat back and watched over the years with a cynical eye to the whole thing knowing it smelt of previous financial debacles from 20 years ago....does anyone remember the savings and loans? Some people I know made $100million by buying in the trough in that fiasco. As always, when someone sells stock at a loss, someone else is buying it to make money...the only difference is the one doing the buying for the most part is being silent about it, and the one doing the moaning is the one selling off due to an article in a newspaper (they have papers to sell, n’est ce pas?...) so the more sensational they can make them the better... sells more papers. During difficult times people tend to start new business, which if one checks the economic indicators, is the largest growth area internationally...so...it is a bad time, or a good time? As usual, it is in the eye of the beholder. As usual, it depends on the side of the fence upon which one sits. A lot of so called ‘experts’, you know, the money market ‘experts’ who counselled everyone to re-finance their homes to invest In the stock market in order to have a ‘balanced portfolio’ i.e., get more commission out of their ignorant greedy clients, or those of us who sat back and watched over the years with a cynical eye to the whole thing knowing it smelt of previous financial debacles from 20 years ago….does anyone remember the savings and loans? Some people I know made $100million by buying in the trough in that fiasco.
As always, when someone sells stock at a loss, someone else is buying it to make money…the only difference is the one doing the buying for the most part is being silent about it, and the one doing the moaning is the one selling off due to an article in a newspaper (they have papers to sell, n’est ce pas?…) so the more sensational they can make them the better… sells more papers.
During difficult times people tend to start new business, which if one checks the economic indicators, is the largest growth area internationally…so…it is a bad time, or a good time? As usual, it is in the eye of the beholder.

]]> http://www.dianaswednesday.com/2008/10/wednesday-night-1390/#comment-5062 Antal Deutsch Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:17:04 +0000 http://www.dianaswednesday.com/2008/10/wednesday-night-1390/#comment-5062 I have a few comments on the Milton Friedman item. Not “faculty”, but some faculty members far from Economics, who never liked Friedman’s world view in the first place, are creating publicity trading on the ignorance of the lay public and some journalists to blame a downturn in the business cycle on the late Nobel laureate. I do not feel qualified to analyze Friedman’s life work, but the following points are obvious: 1. Friedman, in “The Monetary History of the United States” makes the central point that the Fed turned the 1929 recession into the Great Depression by failing to provide adequate liquidity to the economy. Following from that, it is reasonable to conclude that Friedman would now be advocating, pointing at his own results as his authority, the current policies of the central banks in the major Western countries. 2. Friedman used to argue that politicians do more harm than good in matters of economic policy. We now have ample evidence that pressure was put, by Democratic politicians during the Clinton Administration on the two FM giants to buy paper backed by subprime mortgages, so as to allow those too poor to buy a house to share in the American Dream. If the giants create a market for junk paper, people will act on the incentives provided (Adam Smith) and Wall Street will supply junk paper. All of this was the trigger of the current downturn. 3. Ever since people began to comprehend what Keynes wrote about, perhaps thirty years after his death, no serious economist would argue that there will be no more business cycles. Friedman would merely plead with governments not to make matters worse. <strong>Tony</strong> Antal Deutsch, Professor of Economics I have a few comments on the Milton Friedman item. Not “faculty”, but some faculty members far from Economics, who never liked Friedman’s world view in the first place, are creating publicity trading on the ignorance of the lay public and some journalists to blame a downturn in the business cycle on the late Nobel laureate. I do not feel qualified to analyze Friedman’s life work, but the following points are obvious:
1. Friedman, in “The Monetary History of the United States” makes the central point that the Fed turned the 1929 recession into the Great Depression by failing to provide adequate liquidity to the economy. Following from that, it is reasonable to conclude that Friedman would now be advocating, pointing at his own results as his authority, the current policies of the central banks in the major Western countries.
2. Friedman used to argue that politicians do more harm than good in matters of economic policy. We now have ample evidence that pressure was put, by Democratic politicians during the Clinton Administration on the two FM giants to buy paper backed by subprime mortgages, so as to allow those too poor to buy a house to share in the American Dream. If the giants create a market for junk paper, people will act on the incentives provided (Adam Smith) and Wall Street will supply junk paper. All of this was the trigger of the current downturn.
3. Ever since people began to comprehend what Keynes wrote about, perhaps thirty years after his death, no serious economist would argue that there will be no more business cycles. Friedman would merely plead with governments not to make matters worse. Tony
Antal Deutsch, Professor of Economics

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