On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:04:46 -0700, "Hawke"
wrote:
snip
The only catch is that the people
working in the government have to be competent. In the last eight years we
just saw a government where the people had two problems, they were not
competent, and they had a philosophy that prevented them from using the
government to do anything to aid the average American. Put the two together
and you get a useless government. I think I just accidentally described the
Bush administration.

Hawke
===========
What you are seeing is the government run like a business.

The problem is that no one thought to ask what kind of a
business, and the model used was somewhere between Gulf+Western
[buy, ruin, sell], Enron [never give a sucker an even break], and
Crazy Eddie [bust-out scam].

The problem is that the US government is the top of the food
chain, and there is no place to externalize their costs to, nor
any way to abrogate their obligations through chapter 11.

To see the end result of running a business like a business [in
this sense] look at GMC, Ford and Chrysler. Their stock prices
are the lowest in 30 years using CY dollars. When inflation is
considered, their stock prices are at levels not seen since the
depths of the depression.

One major difference is that the depression era leadership took
decesive action, and the businesses survived. It is highly
likely that after the US presidential election, GMC will enter
chapter 11, shortly followed by Ford and Chrysler. Be reminded
that in many ways GMC and Ford are *NOT* car companies but
financial conglomerates [e.g. Diatech Funding, ResCap] that also
happen to manufacture cars. Chrysler is much more of a dedicated
car company, but is leveraged to the hilt, and any steep increase
in the interest rates will likely spell their doom. As inflation
starts to bite, interest rates will increase, and the last time
there was this much excessive liquidity the FRB discount rate was
set at 16.39% [annual] in 1981. FWIW -- the amount of liquidity
is even higher now that it was then.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releas...l/H15_FF_O.txt


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).