18 Sep 11
Serious question:
Should the banks lend more than they are currently doing?
Is building up their balance sheets (cash retention) harming main street?
Would lending kick start growth - or ultimately weigh the West down further in the global competitiveness league, as we struggle to service our debts?
19 Sep 11
Originally posted by invigorateGood questions. The first cartoon makes lite of the idea that deficits and debt are serious. The second wouldn't load at present.
Serious question:
Should the banks lend more than they are currently doing?
Is building up their balance sheets (cash retention) harming main street?
Would lending kick start growth - or ultimately weigh the West down further in the global competitiveness league, as we struggle to service our debts?
The US has 15 trillion in debt. I don't see anything funny about that. We owe as much as our GDP. While there are some very foolish consumers who have as much debt as their annual income, I think whether it is individual or national debt, it is foolhardy.
- Joined
- 03 Feb 07
- Moves
- 201737
19 Sep 11
Originally posted by invigorateWell, they really aren't lending anyway. They prefer to invest right now. I'm thinking they would prefer to be investment firms at this point. They're making lots of money on the markets. That they are supposed to be loaning money is just a pain in the ass for them.
Serious question:
Should the banks lend more than they are currently doing?
Is building up their balance sheets (cash retention) harming main street?
Would lending kick start growth - or ultimately weigh the West down further in the global competitiveness league, as we struggle to service our debts?
- Joined
- 03 Feb 07
- Moves
- 201737
19 Sep 11
Originally posted by normbenignIn US history, deficits have always melted away with economic expansion - almost never due to budget cuts, which are counterproductive.
Good questions. The first cartoon makes lite of the idea that deficits and debt are serious. The second wouldn't load at present.
The US has 15 trillion in debt. I don't see anything funny about that. We owe as much as our GDP. While there are some very foolish consumers who have as much debt as their annual income, I think whether it is individual or national debt, it is foolhardy.
- Joined
- 03 Feb 07
- Moves
- 201737
19 Sep 11
Originally posted by normbenignIt's not an argument. It's history. Not one recession has ended without government stimulus in some form. Reagan went on a spending spree to pull us out of the early 80s recession. Clinton spent to get us out of Bush, Sr.'s recession.
This one is different. The GOP used to make that argument, and I doubted it then.
19 Sep 11
Originally posted by KunsooYour examples are only recent US history, but go just a bit farther back and most US recessions were short, and required not government largess. Only since the Fed has big spending been the go to guy. And starting in 1928 the Great Depression went on at least until the end of WW II, probably a bit longer.
It's not an argument. It's history. Not one recession has ended without government stimulus in some form. Reagan went on a spending spree to pull us out of the early 80s recession. Clinton spent to get us out of Bush, Sr.'s recession.
- Joined
- 03 Feb 07
- Moves
- 201737
19 Sep 11
Originally posted by normbenignThat's right, and Keynesian fiscal policy gradually crawled us out of it - except 1937 when all of the sudden FDR panicked and caved to conservatives. It set the recovery back three years.
Your examples are only recent US history, but go just a bit farther back and most US recessions were short, and required not government largess. Only since the Fed has big spending been the go to guy. And starting in 1928 the Great Depression went on at least until the end of WW II, probably a bit longer.
Before that we didn't need fiscal policy on the same scale because the economies were much more localized. However, we did spend our way out of several recessions in the 19th century, with railroad construction spending and, yes, war.
19 Sep 11
Originally posted by normbenignAren't there lots of consumers who have mortgages bigger than their annual income?
Good questions. The first cartoon makes lite of the idea that deficits and debt are serious. The second wouldn't load at present.
The US has 15 trillion in debt. I don't see anything funny about that. We owe as much as our GDP. While there are some very foolish consumers who have as much debt as their annual income, I think whether it is individual or national debt, it is foolhardy.