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Re: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
yup, robdon67, whatever the sharks think up and begin eating in America is soon passed on to their homies in Australia and other financially sophisticated places. Soon, you are havingyour asses chewed and not even knowing why or what's going on.
No one is paying any attention anymore.
posted by
benzinha
on September 11, 2008 at 5:33 AM
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Re: Parachutes...
Like I said, majroj, I want to own a business like that, parachutes and guarantees and all, without any time in jail, too, please.
posted by
benzinha
on September 11, 2008 at 5:30 AM
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Re: Folks who were teen agers at the time of the great depression learned
Pat_B, you wrote what I think, too, except for the part about the people buying houses that they couldn't afford. That was true, but it was the banks offering ARM loans and all the other initials' loans to the very poor and to the economically shakey with no concerns, as they were then just immedaitely selling off the loans just made to the next financial institution person, to make a dime on it, too.....
Thanks for reading and for commenting.
posted by
benzinha
on September 11, 2008 at 5:29 AM
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When we first heard mention of these two organisations, in the Australian news, there was some amusement as one sounded like an old grandmotherly hill billy and the other sounded like some kind of extravagant rap singer but the amusement quickly ended when the economic reality began to register over here. Thanks for the run down of the history. FDR strikes me as being one of the great presidents with such a timely and broad sense of vision.
posted by
robdon67
on September 10, 2008 at 6:21 PM
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Parachutes...
The latest heds of the fannies were brought on board to cutrtail cooking the books. Each had a contract with a clause giving them millions of dollars (6 in one case, 10 in the other) if they were removed due to another entity taking over their organzation....how custom-fit was THAT?
posted by
majroj
on September 10, 2008 at 11:45 AM
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Folks who were teen agers at the time of the great depression learned
first-hand how to re-use, recycle, conserve, and live within their means. For the past 50-odd years, since the advent of TV marketing, we've been subjected to buy now pay later thinking. Consumerism. Buy the latest fad gadget now. Newlyweds expect to start out with all the furnishings and conveniences their folks had accumulated over time. Credit cards are not free money; they're traps luring the unwary into miserable debt patterns.
My Econ 101 professor pointed out that people could keep inflation low and be prepared for a rainy day if they took responsibility for their own future and paid themselves first. It's not the government's fault if people jump into a long-term debt on a house much bigger than they need, on an income that's not as certain as it should be, expecting everything to be all sugar plums and sunshine.
Greed is what got the mortgage industry tumbling ankles over elbows into a slough. Paying CEOs millions in salary, bonus and severence pay ought to be criminal. It's a matter of living within our means, expecting the sh*t to hit the fan from time to time, and using a little common sense. Luck follows rational thought.
posted by
Pat_B
on September 10, 2008 at 4:58 AM
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Re: well I sure learned a lot from this post. None of it very cheerful and just
Exactly, kabu, and your lazy fellow Australians, as you say, are letting very scary things go on back home and not keeping their eye on the ball.......either.
I think that we should bring tarring and feathering back, no??
posted by
benzinha
on September 9, 2008 at 9:56 PM
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Re: Benzinha I have been reading your most excellent ...
azur, Americans forget, or are ignorant of the fact that their presidential choice changes the world and not just our nation.
Vewy scawy............as my mom says this week.
Yup, my mom the English teacher and my dad the journalist, editor, diplomat taught me to research and then personalize and make simple some very complex issues.
I try to do that. Thanks for seeing Mom and Dad in my work.
posted by
benzinha
on September 9, 2008 at 9:54 PM
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Re: Outrageous!
Katray, it takes over an hour or two to teach the history of the changes in Capitalism in America since 'privatization and creative finance' appeared on the scene.
Needless to say, it is a vicious thing that we are spreading internationally in the name of 'democracy' rather than under its true name, Kapitalizm.............the new spelling shows the newer definitions of its activities.
posted by
benzinha
on September 9, 2008 at 9:52 PM
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well I sure learned a lot from this post. None of it very cheerful and just
why can't the people stop and think about what you have written. Only the people can fix it.
posted by
Kabu
on September 9, 2008 at 9:34 PM
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Benzinha I have been reading your most excellent ...
and comprehensive posts over the past few days. You must be a chip off the old block. i recall you writing of your editor father. I think it is pretty dismaying that people are not paying attention, more concerned that a candidate is a 'hotty' or something. I watch it all with some interest because I see the ripples, and some of them are tsunamis
posted by
Azur
on September 9, 2008 at 8:20 PM
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Outrageous!
On top of all this excellently researched and presented information, I would add the privatization of publicly funded services, now turned into scams and shams and the tax exempt rip-off schemes (I just found out that a motorcycle gang in my area, known for years to be involved in criminal activity, such as prostitution and drug dealing is a tax exempt social/pleasure organization,,huh??? and no doubt, this is only a tiny tip of that lovely, revenue draining structure also known as non-profiteering)..so many economic hit men/icebergs sinking the once touted American dream and all we can glimpse is the tips and of course, the depths when we are plunged into destruction..the middle parts where the truth lies hidden are so skillfully wrapped in manipulation, double speak, deception - hard for the working, frazzled masses to really decipher, but I completely agree with you, Benz, for survival's sake, we must begin trying.
posted by
Katray2
on September 9, 2008 at 6:50 PM
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