It was the biggest screw-up this hemisphere has ever seen. You had Secretary Paulson and Fed Chief Bernanke scratching their asses not knowing what to do, so then they go, ‘OK, we’re supposed to be a free market economy, and we’re supposed to be the Republicans—let’s try something different for a change since nothing else is working. Let’s go out on a limb and actually give this “free market” thing a whirl. Who knows? Maybe the “free market” really works the way we always say it does. Nothing else seems to work, let’s let the free market decide Lehman’s fate. Maybe corporate-socialism isn’t the answer.’ So they hung Lehman out in the free-market, and BAM! The. Shit. Hit. The. Fan. No shit, dudes—the free market is for suckers, didn’t your daddy teach you idiots that? Not only did Lehman collapse—everything collapsed; confidence in the entire system collapsed. And here’s what I’m trying to explain to simpletons like you: Our economy is just a confidence game. Don’t ask me how it got this way, don’t care.”
I tried saying something insulting to him, but he just talked right over me, lurching forward baring his laser-whitened teeth.
“I’m sure you have the answer, you and Ron Paul and all the other pot-smoking libertarian do-gooders have it all figured out. But what I’m saying is, no confidence means end of the confidence game. That’s what Lehman showed. Every single player in finance suddenly had to face the fundamental problem—this whole fucking economy is built on fraud and lies and garbage. So when Lehman collapsed, every single player panicked, going, ‘If Lehman was nothing but a Ponzi scheme—and I know what I’m running is a Ponzi scheme—holy shit, that means everyone else is running a Ponzi scheme too! Run for the exits!’ No one trusted anyone else, everyone pulled out, and the entire global economy collapsed just like that. And that meant your parents, my parents, every teacher, every fireman, every person in the country going into retirement, every price on every asset—wiped out.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.
[quote=CA renter]And this is exactly why we’re in trouble.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.[/quote]
Has there ever been a time when “confidence” and attempted enforcement of that confidence was not involved in any economy?
[quote=CA renter]And this is exactly why we’re in trouble.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.[/quote]
Has there ever been a time when “confidence” and attempted enforcement of that confidence was not involved in any economy?
[quote=CA renter]And this is exactly why we’re in trouble.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.[/quote]
Has there ever been a time when “confidence” and attempted enforcement of that confidence was not involved in any economy?
[quote=CA renter]And this is exactly why we’re in trouble.
The economy should be more about solvency and productivity than about wishing, hoping, and “confidence.” If “confidence” is the foundation of our economy, something is seriously f’ed up.[/quote]
Has there ever been a time when “confidence” and attempted enforcement of that confidence was not involved in any economy?
