Financial Crisis
Governor Patrick Proposes More Budget Cuts ... We Can’t Afford this System Anymore!
The bailouts of big companies are reaching into the range of two trillion dollars. Two trillion. $2,000,000,000,000. Twelve zeros. Count them: twelve. That’s a lot of money. On top of that, another trillion dollars has been spent on the death, chaos and destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Capitalism Hits the Fan
The current crisis did not start with finance, and it won't end with finance.
Ask Dr. Dollar
Dear Dr. Dollar:
Isn’t the “bailout” of Wall Street like having a rotten tooth extracted? The extraction is very unpleasant, but it beats the alternative. Even if the dentist charges an unreasonably high fee, I am still going to pay and have the job done. Later I will worry about taking better care of my teeth. So shouldn’t people quit complaining about the bailout, suck it up, and get the job done?
—Peter Wagner, Weston, Mass.
Greenspan’s Higher Power
There was absolutely nothing flawed in former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s ideology or his understanding of what drives the market. Each corporation operates in accordance with its self-interest in the competition to increase profits no matter what it takes, no matter who gets hurt. The “invisible hand” can be counted on. As political economist Adam Smith assured the world in his seminal work of 1776, Wealth of Nations, each corporation endeavors to employ its capital so as to produce the greatest value. It has no intention of promoting the public interest.
Who’s Afraid of Socialism?
Walking in Davis Square two days before the election, I saw a rather dour-looking young man seated on a high pedestal holding a handwritten sign that read “No on Socialism.” Heading on by him, I looked at the back of his sign. It said, “Is Obama an American?”
Socialism has clearly returned to the agenda of popular debate, from campaign rhetoric to comedy shows. It comes disguised – not for the first time – as an ogre. Once we take note of who is presenting it that way, however, we may get the message that socialism could have something going for it.
