Some fascinating comments from Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman blaming America's economic woes on Ronald Reagan. Basically, Krugman says deregulation, the piling up of debt and the scrapping of financially prudent rules like for example limiting the ability of families to buy homes without putting a significant amount of money down actually laid the foundation stones for this recession.
No doubt the debate will continue with people pointing out to Krugman that Reagan did not create a budget deficit as big as the one Obama has established. And Reagan commentator Lou Cannon points out that Obama and Reagan share a lot of common characteristics, not least of all their ability to connect with people and their propensity to engage in best case economic scenarios.
The big difference of course is their view about the role of government. And if nothing else, this crisis marks a punctuation point in global history. The Reagan-Thatcher ideology that government should have nothing to with markets is dead. The new challenge will be finding the right balance and we are nowhere near that.
Since the recession, our lives became very complicated. There are layoffs and foreclosures everywhere. It seems unstoppable. Sometimes, getting away from this world is a really good idea, like going to outerspace. Ever think about astronauts? What is it like for them – floating up there, working on the Hubble telescope as they float through the heavens, dropping a very expensive spanner (paid for with taxes, by the way), you have to wonder if they think of what’s going on down here. Like the recession, or the stock market, or personal loans, or GM going under. It all does seem kind of insignificant. Still, it all goes on, and it does have an effect on the way of life we’ve concocted – which seems really silly once you consider the largesse of the universe. We could be exploring space, like the astronauts, as a species, instead of worrying about debt consolidation.
check out: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/05/28/atlantis-returns-spacemen-change-earthly-recession/
Since the recession, our lives became very complicated. There are layoffs and foreclosures everywhere. It seems unstoppable. Sometimes, getting away from this world is a really good idea, like going to outerspace. Ever think about astronauts? What is it like for them – floating up there, working on the Hubble telescope as they float through the heavens, dropping a very expensive spanner (paid for with taxes, by the way), you have to wonder if they think of what’s going on down here. Like the recession, or the stock market, or personal loans, or GM going under. It all does seem kind of insignificant. Still, it all goes on, and it does have an effect on the way of life we’ve concocted – which seems really silly once you consider the largesse of the universe. We could be exploring space, like the astronauts, as a species, instead of worrying about debt consolidation.