Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz showed up at “Occupy Wall Street” this week to show his support for the protest and clearly outline what he sees as the worst crimes of the American financial sector.
In a brief speech amplified by an “echo chamber” of protesters (who shouted Stiglitz’s own words as a group because they’re banned from using megaphones), the Colombia University professor said that Wall Street had become wealthy by “socializing losses and privatizing gain,” calling it a scheme that’s “not capitalism.”
“We bailed out the banks with an understanding that there would be a restoration of lending. All there was was a restoration of bonuses.
ReplyDeleteMy delivery driver cannot get a house loan...small business owners cannot get loans to improve or expand. This is disgraceful. The understanding was not enough. There should have been firm requirements, set in law, that lending would be restored. Congress failed to protect our interests...again.
vza joining the protests! We would have seen it all! :)
ReplyDeleteAs long as the Far Left loons or anarchist crazies do not try to take over and start doing stupid things, support will grow among citizens. But they had better keep in mind that MOST Americans are moderates. They are neither far Right or Left and will not tolerate destruction and/or goofy demands.
ReplyDelete" ... MOST Americans are moderates"
ReplyDeletemaybe that's the problem. "When I gave bread to the poor they called me a saint. When I asked why the poor had no bread they called me a communist." (Archbishop Romero)
Hey tgia and all. I've been pretty busy lately...But anyway, the protests came to my city today, and they were building it up on the news like it was going to be Chicago 1968, but today, it hardly even rated a notice on the traffic report. I happenned to have to go under the protests on the subway-and there were no cops chasing kids and clubbing them-just a normal boring day like everyday. I kind of see this movement as a leftish version of the Tea Party nonsense- a lot of people saying someone should do something but not really clear what. If they want to overthrow the government, they should just come out and say it-someone should, if for no other reason than to scare politicians into doing right.
ReplyDelete<span>Welcome back Joer..Maybe in your area nothing worth mentioning took place but what I've been reading and watching the movement is rather growing in all major cities. Maybe an impression, not sure.
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No doubt, the occupy(your town here) is a phenomenum. But it's not a widespread one, it doesn't have roots in the community, and it's unclear what the agenda is. They are not really part of the people they claim to represent. They moved into a park that is reserved-I don't know if it's official-for the homeless. It's one of the places they can gather in groups for safety from the dangers of the Philadelphia night. Then all of a sudden, next to mentally ill sleeping in cardboard boses, there are expensive weatherproof tents with high tech communication equipment with idealistic kids taking a year off after college running around giving press confrences. Odds are the original homeless are going to be pushed out of the park by the spectacle and the city government won't lest them come back. And I doubt these kids are going to be able deliver them real homes.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to be a cynic, but I've seen a few generations of these revolutionaries by now. They are super enthusiastic until their sleeping bag gets stolen or they break up with their boyfriend, then they get some corporate job and then go no further than hanging an Obama Hope poster in their window. If there is going to be a real movement, much less a revolution, it has to be made up and led by people who do not have the option of dropping back into the middle class.
ReplyDeleteVZA, 100% disagree. The purpose of the bailout is to prevent the world from ending.
ReplyDeleteWe remain extremely close to all financial institutions on our planet simultaneously failing, causing a severe depression for our species.
How can global financial institutions lend when it is uncertain whether they will even be solvent a few weeks from now?