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esantoro 03/10/2009 11:39 PM Report
In the _Conscience of a Liberal_, Krugman nails it:
"The legacy of slavery, America's original sin, is the reason we're the only advanced economy that doesn't guarantee health care to our citizens. White backlash against the civil rights movement is the reason America is the only advanced country where a major political party wants to roll back the welfare state. Ronald Reagan began his 1980 campaign with a state's rights speech outside Philadelphia, Mississippi, the town where three civil rights workers were murdered; Newt Gingrich was able to take over Congress entirely because of the great Southern flip, the switch of Southern whites from overwhelming support for Democrats to overwhelming support for Republicans."
esantoro 03/06/2009 11:22 PM Report
I know I've written this before in other threads, but vanron100 just raised the issue of corruption and why it is so difficult for the U.S. to deal with it. Good question.
I would rather live with the corruption in most European countries than the systematic corruption that exists in the U.S. In Europe, a citizen gets more for less of a per capita income.
I think the reason why it is so difficult for the U.S. to deal with its systematic corruption is because at the heart of that corruption the U.S. despises what it is, a collection of immigrants. The more the U.S. political class sees U.S. citizenry as less-Caucasian, the more it is able to rationalize and justify economic white flight. I waiver in the belief whether this is a politically conscious or subconscious undertaking. The more subconscious this treachery is, thus the more difficult to understand and remedy, the more devastating the repercussions for ALL Americans.
vanron100 03/06/2009 10:52 PM Report
Your question Charlie...how did we get here(re current financials)?
The answer is simple and oblivious, but everyone seems not to address it directly
- it's 'Corruption-Corruption-Corruption'.
ie. special interest groups, 'pork' add-ons, lobbyist, elimination of rules and regulations, the financial sector having contributed over $5.2B to political campaigns, same people who got us in this mess are now tying to get us out (humanly impossible...they will, and have instead spent most of the time & money trying to cover up the industry's underlining behaviour).
Corruption is the 'root' problem here...as it is everywhere. Until that gets fixed first...everything else is redundant...we're just pouring $$$ into the abyss!
Question: Why is it so difficult for US to deal with, and talk about the issue of 'corruption' in detail?
esantoro 03/06/2009 10:49 PM Report
Out of 435 members in Congress, 68 are either African-American, Hispanic, or Native-American, approximately 15 percent.
When the majority of our political leaders perceive that financial support is going to a growing number of non-Caucasian citizens, they consider it spending. When they perceive it going to their own social class, they call it investment.
This is the difference in investment/spending during the years after World War II and the years after the Immigration Act of of 1965.
IRISH 03/06/2009 04:17 PM Report
Excellent interview of Mr Rohatyn that should be received by a larger audience. In particular his pointing to the idea of investment vs spending must be seen and understood in a more informed electorate. As well investment vs speculation especially during the last 8 years in USA.It would be hugely advantageous to have an infrastructure bank that Mr Rohatyn explained to undertake expenditures necessary to keep public works expansion creating wealth in the economy.
ShalomFreedman 03/05/2009 10:37 PM Report
Rohatyn makes a lot of sense. His appreciation of the Government role in building great projects which moved America forward is highlighted in this interview. It is always a pleasure to hear Charlie Rose on an interview of this type. He truly does his homework and helps his interviewee a lot. Rohatyn proposes an Infrastructure Bank to help tackle the major reconstruction work which is ahead. His modesty in speaking about his own accomplishment in 'saving NYC' and in his understanding of the difficult situation of Paulson- Bernanke- Geitner in present crisis mark him as decent, fair , humane.
REMant 03/05/2009 04:08 PM Report
His history leaves a bit to be desired, but basically he is right, and it was not the Jacksonians who developed this country as some libertarians would have it. Govt does do a lot of things right. But he is certainly wrong about the current financial team many of whom who are IMHO as culpable as anyone. He should perhaps read Bray Hammond's classic history of 19th c US finance. The 2002 quote about deregulation is suggests the original view of liberty as granted by monarchy. It is certainly true that the most successful nations today are those that have emerged from long periods of absolutism and/or theocracy, and I think there is something to cyclical theories of govt. The French, for instance, are much less affected by present business conditions. Scandinavian countries have clearly benefited from their Protestant background, and so forth.