Jim Bacon is very right:
The nation-state scale Agencies – driven by the “leadership” of both political clans – are driving the US of A’s economy towards Collapse as defined by Jared Diamond.
The Great Recession was triggered by greed. The underlying problems are Wrong Size House in Wrong Location – thanks to Fanny and Freddie – dysfunctional settlement patterns – thanks to Autonomobiles – and burning through Natural Capital to pay the debt generated by Mass OverConsumption in this dysfunctional context.
NO ONE is willing to be honest and tell voters (citizens) that ‘policies’ to encourage hyper – growth and hyper – consumption including the subsidies to the US of A’s global competitors to produce cheap goods – is the collective responsibility of all citizens and that the solution is for all citizens to change their behavior. Ride the Tiger one more turn around the election cycle.
Now we have the nation-state scale Agencies dumping more stimulus money on the underlying causes of The Great Recession – more money for Wrong Size House in Wrong Location, more bail-outs for Fanny and Freddie, more help for those who have seen their jobs shipped overseas and who have not been told they need to find something else to do and more help for auto makers who have insisted on making the wrong size vehicle to support (no, require) dysfunctional settlement patterns.
Steven Pearlstein in today’s WaPo says it best:
“… what they’re proposing to do is to spend a lot of money that they don’t have in ways that won’t work to help too many people who are neither desperate nor deserving.”
He is talking about jobs but it applies to shelter, transport, banks, and the economy in general. The WaPo editorial nails the shelter problem.
A “bonus question” al la Larry G:
After the last two weeks, is there ANYONE who now believes the NY Stock Exchange is not just a gambling venue?
There is a light at the end of the tunnel but will enough citizens see it before it is too late?
EMR