As "speculators" are now the scapegoat for the run-up in oil prices I find it funny how the gov. (do they even deserve to be capitalized now) specifically the senate (again, the respect that capitalizing a letter in the name of an organization is very undeserved in this case in my opinion. And after all this is my forum for my opinions ;) ) drags "Hedge Fund" operators to testify in front of a panel of POLITICIANS! If my memory serves me right, politicians are failed lawyers who in turn failed math in school :). Do they even know how markets really work? Speculators grease the wheels of the markets by taking risks others don't want to take. These same "speculators" built American markets from scratch and will continue to make and lose vast sums of money (whether in formal markets or ????) long after the politician has moved onto the next new thing that gets their face on camera. While markets behave irrationally at times, this is what they do. Sometime in the future the oil market, baring any unforeseen calamities (again, politicians and administrations can force a "calamity"), will right itself and fall below its intrinsic value. When this happens (I predict after the Nov. elections) a politician will be there to take credit. Can you tell I have a chip on my shoulder with respect to politicians.
Instead of dragging speculators in front of know nothing panels, what the representatives of the people should be doing is balancing the federal budget by eliminating PORK!!! My views have lately been influenced by reading Alan Greenspans book "The Age of Turbulence" specifically his years as Fed Chairman. He experienced Presidents from Richard Nixon to george II and found the bush's (again notice the lack of capitalization. Wow, I'm mean today) to be the most politicized of them all. This means instead of focusing on what would make the American economy strong, robust and flexible, and in turn those same citizens, they chose to do the politically expedient and "friendly" thing (do you know that george II didn't veto any of the first 60 bills that crossed his desk. The power of the veto is one of the BASIC checks and balances of our governmental system. To not use this as a check on congress, opened the floodgates to new and creative ways of wasting YOUR money). This has lead to record deficits that have decreased the value of the dollar and thus increased our costs of most raw materials (as most commodities are priced in U.S. Dollars). This is what the senate should be investigating, but they are a smart bunch and know if they throw out the word "speculator", they will deflect the real blame away from them and onto the age old evil doer, the Speculator.
PS The President, from Nixon to georg II, with the best economic record when it came to doing the right thing for the American economy most of the time (they can't be perfect all the time with respect to economic issues. They after all, are politicians) according to his record and the accompanying results from those policies, is................... drum roll please ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Bill Clinton, a tax and spend Democrat who put programs and policies in place to retire the debt of the US by the mid to late 2000's. george II, a fiscally conservative republican, has taken that legacy and turned a possible zero debt balance into 9 Trillion dollars of crushing debt. For a few hastily figured figures, that equates to 360 Billion dollars in INTEREST per year (at 4% anum.), 986 Million per day, 41 Million per hour, 684 K per minute, 11 K per second. See you later.
2 comments:
you capitalized "Hedge Fund" though.
I think you've been watching a little too much North & South ;)
Clinton may have done wonders for our economy, but he took our morals back light years.
I can't believe I am going to say this. In hindsight, I think Clinton is probably no worse, morally, than most presidents; he just got caught. Look @ Bush II... basically lied to the US people to launch a Gulf War II. First time in US history, that the US was an aggressor on such a large scale. That basically torpedoed our worldwide credibility.
Bush II and his cronies has hi-jacked the Republican Party and shaped it to suit there own political means. Same goes with the Democrats, as they just complain about Bush II. Look, the Demo's have had a majority in Congress for well over a year, and still nothing. It's not all just Bush II. It is both sides of the aisle. You know it has got to be bad if Dad is thinking about voting for Obama. I think what Obama has going for him is the lack of "Washington Experience". If that makes sense. He is not perceived to be a part of the "Washington Machine". But alas we all now that any politician is part of some political machine.
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