Charlie Rose

Dan  07/19/2008 07:41 PM Report

"It's almost like you pull a thread on a sweater and the whole thing dissolves." - Morgenson at 4:11 in.

"We know greed will always be in the system; what we need is for people who are willing to reign it in." - ibid., at 7:30.

"I don't know the answer but it is very disturbing. [with furrowed brows, no less!!!!!!!!!!\" - at 8:45.

O dear, is this the type of tripe people actually rely upon for their economic information [rhetorical question, obviously\? No wonder Charlie admittedly remains uninformed about economic issues; he's reading from bought-and-paid-for hacks. It's like financial info for Xanaxed-up suburban tennis moms.

Incidentally, look at who funds the Charlie Rose show - the foundations and endowments list like a Who's Who of the Establishment - and you'll understand why.

Read ATimes.com, other foreign press and indy business blogs daily if you want to know what's actually happening, here and abroad. Charlie Rose's show is for oblivious sheep, or for rich public TV funders needing genuflection.

freemarkteersuck  07/19/2008 08:58 AM Report

very interesting show but where were the investigative/business reporters months even years ago

when all this was going down why didn't they do

their jobs and report on this, even regular people like me knew the subprime lending was going to be a huge problem, even regular people like me knew that when Greenspan said

there was a danger in paying down the deficit too fast we knew it was a problem. Few people publicly disagreed certainly not business reporters or the WH

And then we have crack business reporters like little Erin Burnett from CNBC warning/threatening Americans

"be careful what you wish for if the Chinese are not able to produce things with lead...

the price is going to go up." Talk about nutcase no Erin we want poison in our food and products that we ingest, we like poison cuz its cheap come on we want to eat more poison cuz its cheap.

So I must say this show was great too bad these people didn't come forward months if not years ago warning everybody, its too late now,

damage done. The American public just got mugged by billionaire businessmen/oilmen who laughed and are still laughing

all the way to the bank

LR (aka FED Up)  07/18/2008 03:54 AM Report

Jimmy Carter gave that speech less than 5 years after Nixon's resignation. And yet, it's full of the spirit that defined our country for 200 years. Now, just over 30 years later, that spirit has been bastardized by people who chose to USE it for their own ends. Some will point out the things that have been accomplished. Some will point out that "the greenies" (or whatever we're calling them these days) have stood in the way. And yes, as Steve banicki says, "We may do it different now..."

Our current leadership has urged us to SHOP and wave the flag in the face of a crisis. We've been lied to about where we stand, whether in the world or at home. When it comes to the American people, our President seems a bit surprised that people didn't just keep believing him. There are times when investors believe that markets can actually only go one way. He seemed to believe that he could do whatever he wanted, that the people would go along no matter the consequences. I think he expected to be out of office before all this hit the fan. How easy it would be for him and his party to blame the next President! It's bad enough that he's leaving this massive pile for others to deal with. He's urged us to BE PATIENT, now, and let him "solve" it his way. He wants to start drilling wherever there's a drop of oil. He wants to be sure the leases are negotiated under his watch. He wants to do away with protections for our national lands, lease them for uses never intended. (And look how well THAT has been going for us!) There's still MORE that he wants to accomplish, and it's not in the best interests of the country. 180 days can be a VERY long time.

All this pain should be a wakeup call. (And for those of you not feeling it or noticing it yet, I'm talking about homes lost, retirement money lost, jobs lost, and real income declining in the face of real inflation - not capital requirements and what should be red faces) "Me first" and "screw the other guy" are not what this country was founded on. We've had a hard time living up to the early ideals, but it's only in the past 28 years or so that we've turned our backs on those ideals in all but name. When Carter spoke, he was speaking to a people who believed, at least to some extent, that we were all in it together. Try convincing Gordon Gekko of that. I mean that. TRY!

We need to open our eyes and see the full consequences of the complacency that allowed far too many of us to ignore what was going on around us. Even after 9/11, any possibility of THOUGHT was drowned out by those who saw a way to USE that pain to set us on a course that suited their own purposes. Why did it take over FOUR YEARS for people to realize they'd been lied to? Press statements notwithstanding, it was obvious early on. Why does George Bush still believe he's doing a good job? Could it be because he has accomplished so much of what HE wanted to do in the first place? Is it what WE wanted him to accomplish?

The first step to accomplishing what WE want is remembering that word. WE. Not the corporations. Not "I," the consumer or CEO. WE, the People of the United States of America. As Jimmy Carter said, "there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems" but "you know we can do it."

Roy Fassel  07/17/2008 08:27 PM Report

This whole business is a debate about free markets and capitalism. People must understand that the US Federal Reserve has a duel mandate to both control inflation and maintain a good economy. However, the Central Bank of the new EU (Europe) has only one mandate, and this, by law, is to control inflation. That is one of the primary reasons why the dollar has lost value the past few years against the Euro. Germany, the largest exporter in value in the world actually had a significant economic contraction the past quarter. America did not. This whole debate about the economy will ratchet up in a serious manner the next 3-4 months. For the past year or so, the Democrats (and the media which is in the tank for Democrats) pounded and pounded on the Iraq War that it is TIME TO TAKE OUR LOSSES AND GO HOME. Since that message has turned in a significant way the past months….........with suspended disbelief….....and that dog won’t hunt anymore, so we will hear about the end being near with the American economy. All the economic problems of today were caused by faulty policies over the past 20-30 years. As for electric cars solving our energy problem….........get real. We have a electric utility shortage in this country. The only way electric cars can make a dent of over 2-3% of our transportation usage would require well over 100 new nuclear.. repeat NUCLEAR plants. I would suspect that 98% of the people who are for electric cars are against nuclear plants. America has serious economic problems, but our problems are not nearly as desperate as most European countries or Japan. However, it is election time…and it is time for a change. Pile on.

steve banicki  07/17/2008 04:25 PM Report

Jimmy Carter told us 1n 1979 what to do about gas prices.

Jimmy Carter delivered these statements in a speech on July 15, 1979.

"What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important.

Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 -- never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now and then reversed as we move through the 1980s, for I am tonight setting the further goal of cutting our dependence on foreign oil by one-half by the end of the next decade -- a saving of over 4-1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day.

Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my presidential authority to set import quotas. I'm announcing tonight that for 1979 and 1980, I will forbid the entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow. These quotas will ensure a reduction in imports even below the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo summit.

Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation's history to develop America's own alternative sources of fuel -- from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the sun.

I propose the creation of an energy security corporation to lead this effort to replace 2-1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day by 1990. The corporation I will issue up to $5 billion in energy bonds, and I especially want them to be in small denominations so that average Americans can invest directly in America's energy security.

Just as a similar synthetic rubber corporation helped us win World War II, so will we mobilize American determination and ability to win the energy war. Moreover, I will soon submit legislation to Congress calling for the creation of this nation's first solar bank, which will help us achieve the crucial goal of 20 percent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000.

These efforts will cost money, a lot of money, and that is why Congress must enact the windfall profits tax without delay. It will be money well spent. Unlike the billions of dollars that we ship to foreign countries to pay for foreign oil, these funds will be paid by Americans to Americans. These funds will go to fight, not to increase, inflation and unemployment.

Point four: I'm asking Congress to mandate, to require as a matter of law, that our nation's utility companies cut their massive use of oil by 50 percent within the next decade and switch to other fuels, especially coal, our most abundant energy source.

Point five: To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress to create an energy mobilization board which, like the War Production Board in World War II, will have the responsibility and authority to cut through the red tape, the delays, and the endless roadblocks to completing key energy projects.

We will protect our environment. But when this nation critically needs a refinery or a pipeline, we will build it.

Point six: I'm proposing a bold conservation program to involve every state, county, and city and every average American in our energy battle. This effort will permit you to build conservation into your homes and your lives at a cost you can afford.

I ask Congress to give me authority for mandatory conservation and for standby gasoline rationing. To further conserve energy, I'm proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. And I'm asking you for your good and for your nation's security to take no unnecessary trips, to use carpools or public transportation whenever you can, to park your car one extra day per week, to obey the speed limit, and to set your thermostats to save fuel. Every act of energy conservation like this is more than just common sense -- I tell you it is an act of patriotism.

Our nation must be fair to the poorest among us, so we will increase aid to needy Americans to cope with rising energy prices. We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. In fact, it is the most painless and immediate way of rebuilding our nation's strength. Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives.

So, the solution of our energy crisis can also help us to conquer the crisis of the spirit in our country. It can rekindle our sense of unity, our confidence in the future, and give our nation and all of us individually a new sense of purpose.

You know we can do it. We have the natural resources. We have more oil in our shale alone than several Saudi Arabias. We have more coal than any nation on Earth. We have the world's highest level of technology. We have the most skilled work force, with innovative genius, and I firmly believe that we have the national will to win this war.

I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. I do not promise a quick way out of our nation's problems, when the truth is that the only way out is an all-out effort. What I do promise you is that I will lead our fight, and I will enforce fairness in our struggle, and I will ensure honesty. And above all, I will act. We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice."

To bad we did not listen Let's do it now. We may do it different now, but we need to do it.

Bruce  07/17/2008 06:04 AM Report

One of the problems when Mr Rose discusses the current economic crisis with the so called experts from the media is the delusional thinking by everyone that the capitalistic system as it is currently practiced is alright and all we need is a plan for the current crisis. The system isn't healthy and hasn't been for many years when most of the American public have not received an increase in their wages for the past 30 years and the rich continue to get richer; something is wrong with the fundamental system we live in.

The Guardian of London today published an article about a report called 'Measure of America' funded by Oxfam America, the Rockefeller Foundation and others which despite spending the most per capita on healthcare and having the second highest average income per person: the US is 42nd in life expectancy and 34th in infant mortality rate. The report also states the richest fifth of the US average income is 168,000 and the lowest fifth is 11,000 per person. The non access to healthcare by 47 million people and the limited access by another 50 million has created a miserable quality of life for many. When you have a system which is responsible for these kinds of inequalities and the lack of quality of life for most of the people; it is not surprisong the corrupt elements in business and government have created the massive crisis we are in. Until the country makes social justice the first priority and commits to doing everything in its power to clean up the corruption; we will be stuck with a broken system. If the country can succeed in making social justice the priority; then free enterprise is a wonderful incentive for people to improve their lives but not at the expense of the entire society which is what we have today.

It is not surprising that in today's NY Times; there is not one mention of the aforementioned report. The link to the article is: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/17/internationalaidanddevelopment.usa

Uncle Ron  07/16/2008 10:20 PM Report

I was surprised that Ms. Morgenson commented that U.S. exports were weak when just the opposite has been true. In fact, exports have been a major "positive" in the economy's performance - something the Democrats never seem to figure out (or really know but they have to parrot their "union buddies" propaganda). As for the environment, I just heard a radio discussion about the failure of "wind power" in Europe - it isn't the panacea for energy problems.

ab irato  07/16/2008 09:00 PM Report

TABS points out the FBI is all-at-once on the scene. Where the freak they been since the outset - years ago. Selective prosecution of course. The fat-cat category of the wise-guys will get their 'chutes' and safely fade from view - probably offshore to a high-value currency country. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The elitist (college fraternity - skull & bones type cliques) self-satisfied club-house smug rapers of human frailty all need an appointment with that renowned surgeon Dr Jessee Jackson. Celibate them anyway in case it doesn't take.

TABS  07/16/2008 07:55 PM Report

One thing is certain about ole Charlie Schumer (D) NY, is that he is like a Bull Frog who by puffing himself up and croaking alot makes himself look important. Charlie Schumer sure knew the G men were onto INDYMAC and used that knowledge as a soundbite, photo opportunity. He sure has a habit of doing that over and over and over again.

TABS  07/16/2008 07:29 PM Report

No answers today, just some observations........

Ole Charlie Schumer senior Senator from NY opened his mouth to hear himself talk, get a good soundbite with photo op and wound up sinking INDYMAC. I wonder if anybody has taken him to the woodshed on that one? Imagine his surprise when he found out that his reckless rhetoric actually has ramifications. Or was it an exercise in power and was to serve as an object lesson? Today we find out the FBI is investigating INDYMAC for possible loan fraud. Suddenly the G men are back on the job...............

Ole Georgy Bush sure has the look of being hunted when he gave his little talk yesterday. HE HAD FEAR IN THE EYES..."Why can't anything go right on my watch, I'm tired of all this hard thinking, I just wana go back to Crawford. How many more days is it again, before I can go?".................

Mr Bernanke, "Yep the Federal Government stands behind Freddie, and Fannie. The banks, well that doesn't bother me either, that is all manageable....but what scares me to death is that credit will dry up going forward, interest rates will go up dramatically and business and commerce will all grind to a halt."....................

Mr Cox of the SEC, "We will not allow anymore naked selling short of the financial stocks, ohhhh wait that is already illegal? Well then we will just make sure the rules are enforced then." Maybe the fact that the SEC is back on the job, has made all the mice straighten up?....................

What a difference a day makes, the FED, the G Men and the SEC are back on the job after a long lunch, and throw in some good earnings from Wells Fargo and things turn around pretty quick.

ab irato  07/16/2008 07:06 PM Report

SERIOUS CONSIDERATION SHOULD BE GIVEN TO SERIOUS JAIL TIME FOR THE FINANCIAL WISE-GUYS THAT INDULGED THEIR GREED IN THE SUBPRIME LOAN SCAM. THEY - ABOVE THEIR VICTIMS - KNEW BETTER. Jail time and ALLOWED failures sans bailouts will deter future "moral-hazards." Otherwise the Savings and Loan and subprime schemes will arise again in the future. Greed is perpetual, especially without constaints (regulation, jailtime, ethical education).--------------------------------------------------------------------------------These rapacious, calloused, greedy sons-of bitches have caused and are causing untold misery. How many of them are living under a bridge. Their golden parachutes need to stuffed up their sphincters and the ripchords pulled. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maybe there's hope. The FBI is supposedly investigating the Indymac failure. No breathes should be held, however.

Christi Chung  07/16/2008 05:57 PM Report

I want to see both programs a second time. Please replay them asap

Thanks

Robert Rogers  07/16/2008 05:56 PM Report

Excellent program: both segments. It is infuriating that these are the really important things in everyday people's lives, yet the politicians barely address them, and even then in some twisted, glancing manner.

What particularly puzzles me is the man from Rocky Mountain Institute talking about ways to save energy, yet he didn't bring out one of the most monumental wastes which occours all day every day, and this is the incredible loss in power transmission. I have lately seen figures of 80% losses; and it would seem like this would set people's hair on fire. Would Ford make 100 vehicles, but only twenty of them run and be salable, and hope to stay in business? When you see a train of 140 coal cars, each with, for example, 100,000 lbs in each car, and realize that only 20,000 lbs (half a semi truck load) will create the energy that gets to your house, doesn't that get anyone a little excited?

What else should be considered is who pays for the rest of that carload of coal,-the power consumers, of course, because utilities are permitted by the regulators to make a profit; and the overhead costs of their inefficiencies are not addressed. Supposidly much of this waste could be cured by different wiring methods, but probably the microgeneration is the ultimate answer.

Something else he didn't touch on was that the drilling in the artic is primairly beneficial to and lobbied by steel interests, since it would require a new pipeline -this has next to no relationship as to whether the field is economically viable.

Jake  07/16/2008 05:32 PM Report

Several comments made during the recent Senate hearings are puzzling. If the Fed was given power to oversee lenders since the early 1990's, why did they wait so long to address the subprime problem? They are at the nexus of receiving information flow - surely they were receiving data on what was happening over the past few years. And yet they chose this week to intervene? THIS WEEK?? It would seem that they could not have mishandled it any more than if it had been deliberately ignored. As in Watergate the answer is probably in "Follow the money." Who benefits the most from the crisis that was created?

Cameron L. Stewart  07/16/2008 04:53 PM Report

It's been said that the other name for the Federal Reserve is "The Creature From Jekkyl Island". The Federal Reserve was the brain child of JP Morgan, John D Rockefeller and their various associates. Founded in 1913, it was the culmination of a dream going all the way back to Alexander Hamilton: The dream of a permanent central bank with the unlimited authority to mint currency at will. In a sense, you could say that the economic problems created by central banking are a legacy of an unresolved dispute between the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Hamiltonian Federalists during the founding of this country over 200 years ago. With the establishment of the Federal Reserve system came what is now known as "fractional reserve banking", whereby banks could lend up to ten times or more of their reserve deposits. The bankers loved the system because by gradually abandoning the gold standard, it eliminated the problem of liquidity in the financial markets. The first indications of the inherent instability of this system and the need for regulation to ensure order, came with the crash of 1929. Critics of the Federal Reserve system include Republican Senator Ron Paul, and the late Murray Rothbard of the Ludwig Von Mises, Austrian School of Economics. There are several chief complaints that have been uttered by this school since the 1930's: 1) The system is secretive and not subject to public accountability 2) Fractional reserve banking is inherently inflationary because the money supply tends to expand faster than the economy. 3) The liquidity of the system translates into excess money to lend, which in turn leads to overinvestment, overproductivity, and overspeculation. This in turns forms the underlying cause for all business cycles. 4) Because it is inherently inflationary, the resultant inflation further causes wealth to be transferred from the rest of society to the bankers and large corporate borrowers on top. The Federal Reserve responded to the crash of 1929 by contracting the supply of money, which only aggravated the problem further, creating a domino effect with collapse of even more banks. This is the historical rationale for the recent Bear-Stearns bailout. Even in good times, fractional reserve banking is inherently insolvent. It works only so long as most people leave their money in the bank and do not try to withdraw it. Hence, human psychological perceptions and faith in the system are an essential part to keep the system running without crashing. In addition to the creation of the FDIC and the SEC to properly police the system, restore public confidence, and prevent a recurrence of 1929, FDR and Truman's response to the problem became know as "Keynesian Economics and the Permanent Wartime Economy". This functioned by eliminating the gold standard (at first domestically), and then pumping in large quantities of money into the economy. Money was first pumped into the military war machine and then later into infrastructure investment in developing countries, once Europe and Japan were helped back on their feet via the Marshall Plan. As others below have noted, the result was to export jobs out of this country via free trade, turning the United States from a creditor nation to a debtor nation. Inequality of labor and environmental standards between trading nations further tilted the trading balance away from the United States. The next major crises after 1929, came in 1971 when the United States could no longer redeem dollars for gold in international markets. The system continued to hobble along after Nixon dismantled the 1947 Bretton Woods International Exchange agreements, and Nixon converted the United States from the Gold Standard to the Petro Dollar system in international exchange. Via a military security agreement with Saudi Arabia as the worlds largest oil producer, the Petro Dollar system forced all oil to be traded in dollars, allowing the dollar to continue to function as the worlds reserve currency. Meanwhile, we continued to mortgage the future through imbalance of trade, and running up more government debt. In the name of "tax reduction", a progressive tax system became a regressive one, favoring large corporations and the wealthy, simultaneously creating huge government deficits for future generations of the poor and middle class to pay off, while our infrastructure began to deteriorate. The Ronald Reagan and George Bush II years are most notably the worst in this regard, along with the abandonment of regulation safeguards to protect the public and help keep the system sound. The Bush administration's war in IRAq and proposed war in IRAN was not only intended to guarantee that Middle East oil would continue to be controlled by the United States, but that oil would continue to be traded in dollars, thus maintaining the strength of the U.S. dollar as the worlds reserve currency. In practice however, it has had the exact opposite effect and has further destabilized the financial system. The point in briefly reviewing all this history is that the present financial crises in the United States is the result of "current events colliding with history". These problems - like peak oil and climate change - are a long time in the making and we have been warned for many years of the impending crises. We are long overdue for a major paradigm shift in our financial system, one that is founded on sustainability rather than the unsustainable quest for world empire, and the exploitation of both people and the environment by our banking system and the large transnational corporations. This paradigm shift however must be a coherent integrated shift, one that properly connects the dots. It must encompass economics, energy and farm policy, international relations and trade, transportation, health and the environment, education, infrastructure, corporate law, and so forth. We have to completely re-think our whole system in a new, coherent, and sustainable way, one that the U.S. and hence the rest of the world can follow. Until we do so, the paradigm shift we so desperately need in the 21st century will not occur and those on the extreme right will continue to fan the flames of bigotry, fear, hatred, and intolerance by force feeding the public with narrow, fundamentalist views on politics, religion and morality, government, taxes, investment, free trade, and the free market economy. These views have already been proven wrong by history, and the current financial crises is simply one more example of a defective, worn out paradigm that needs to be replaced.

MrsP  07/16/2008 04:27 PM Report

This interview last night was alarming. My Economics Professor talked about the crashing of American economics in the winter of 2006. Greed is another reason. Sell that higher, raise that price more. I enjoyed the show but was alarmed at the prospect of my little money not being there in the morning. Many have savings over $100,000 and have paid into 401's more than $250,000. Pride goes before destruction.

Diane Dickey  07/16/2008 04:18 PM Report

Watching Gretchen Morgenson and Allan Sloan last night gave me the jitters. Also, the fellow who appeared after that (with the Rocky Mountain Institute) had some interesting views about energy. I strongly recommend to Charlie Rose and everyone reading this to rent the documentary, "Who Killed the Electric Car." For a preview, go to: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/

(Charlie, maybe you could have the makers of that film appear on your show.) It's about how General Motors, in 1996, created a plug-in electric car (the EV1), and allowed consumers to lease the cars to test them out. The cars were a huge success. They were a compact size, not miniatures, and they were peppy and fast. The people who leased them, loved them. Then GM pulled the plug on them and pulled all of those cars back - even though the people leasing them begged and pleaded to buy the cars they were driving. All the cars were taken from them and sent to wrecking yards and shredded. (The truck hauling the EV1s had to drive through a picket line of lease protesters to deliver the EV1s to the wrecking yard.) The cars were new. (It makes me wonder what the oil companies whispered in the ears of GM executives while they were in bed together.) So now, when I hear that GM will need a couple of years to come up with an electric car, I bristle. They already have the cars designed. All they need to do is dust off the manual that contains the EV1 prototype, and manufacture them and bring them back into the market.

--- AMERICA IS GETTING WHAT IT *DESERVES*! ---   07/16/2008 02:51 PM Report

Americans loved *GREED*: "GREED IS *GOOD*!", SAID THEIR BUCCANEER CAPITALISTS! Americans loved DEREGULATION -- thinking that they would all be multimillionaires, in just a matter of a few years interval, betting on THE DOTCOM BUBBLE, or THE HOUSING BUBBLE, or THE SUV BUBBLE (deregulated automotive standards), or any other artificial GREED BUBBLE that came alone -- and so did not want to be fettered in their GREED by sane and humane economic/corporate regulations. But there were previous deregulation economic crises as prior warnings, like THE HALF-TRILLION-DOLLAR SAVINGS & LOANS CRISIS in which THE CORPORATE RICH WERE BAILED OUT! _____ AMERICANS LOVED REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS -- NO MATTER HOW OBVIOUSLY *SENILE* AND/OR *STUPID* -- or REPUBLICRATS (like Bill Clinton who loved *corporate-subsidized* so-called "free trade"/"Globalization", where international RACE-TO-THE BOTTOM DEREGULATED CORPORATISM dominates in a world-wide economic free-for-all, where *even* the *Mexican & Central American* 'NAFTA peasants' would *NOT* be paid a living wage, and Latin American staples farmers would otherwise be driven off their land by U.S.-subsidized agricorp). _____ LASTLY, AMERICANS -- WHO ARE ALMOST ALWAYS TAUGHT TO ECONOMICALLY BLAME *DOWNWARD* AND NOT *UPWARD* -- *HATED* SOCIAL BENEFITS/PROTECTION PROGRAMS (EXCEPT FOR *CORPORATE* WELFARE) as money "WASTED" on "the wwweak" (underprivileged minorities, the general lower income class and especially the poor). SO THE AVERAGE AMERICANS WILL BE THE *LEAST* PROTECTED among the advanced nations as the world economic crisis deepens. _____ NO ONE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD IS GOING TO CRY FOR, IN PARTICULAR, AMERICANS -- THE PEOPLE WHO SMUGLY THOUGHT THEY COULD HAVE IT *ALLL*, REGARDLESS OF THE COST TO OTHERS (*AND* STILL HEEDLESSLY AND RECKLESSLY BOMB ANYONE AMERICANS WANTED TO). _____ *BEHOLLLD* THE SUPERIOR AMERICANS *NOW*!

T.G.  07/16/2008 10:35 AM Report

As I watched this informative segment, I could not help but think about the Federal Reserve's role in creating the housing meltdown. I doubt that enough people truly appreciate the legacy of Alan Greenspan and his unapologetic arrogance that laid the groundwork for our economic mess. In this sense, I have sympathy for Ben Bernanke who has been charged with cleaning up a disaster that was thrown on his lap by Greenspan, aka Mr. Magoo.

And yet, the remains, why is it the moral responsibility of the tax payers to underwrite the risk of JP Morgan? This pointed question should be posed to Ben Bernanke and his Fed colleagues--especially Tim Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Voters ought to understand this fact:

The U.S. Congress created the Federal Reserve -- not the other way around. Thus, the Federal Reserve answers to the U.S. Congress - not the reverse. We should be vigilant and keep reminding our Congressmen and Senators of his basic fact.

Carol Bahr  07/16/2008 06:38 AM Report

I say the Plunder & Blunder Gang has ruled US on a grand scale. The current Gang corrupted the economy by turning the U.S.A. into the U.S.E. - as in Enron model- with the same crash & burn results -for everyone except the Few. These intractible blind Few did make their personal fortunes, convinced themselves they were smart & ranked themselves top of the heap, yet sunk the system that allowed their success. They corrupted every institution. The U.S.E. has even given the perfect opportunity to smart international corporation alliances & smart foreign adversary governments to weaken, buy or destroy US. While Homeland InSecurity pours our wealth to military, ex-military, military-based corporations (so they can make their personal fortunes)to "protect" US from peril, Homeland Security is lost because of unwise financial policies & practices. And Plunder & Blunder could not only sink US, but sink the global economy. Now I expect the scared rulers to keep the financial systems somewhat functional for a few more years until the Greatest Depression stops the show around 2013. You say I am being simple? It wouldn't take much now for a total collapse. One unexpected strategic disaster? Two? How about a big earthquake in L.A. to shut down the banking system. According to a military study such an event would result in a global depression. Shudder. Oh, in case the Chattering Class (not you, Charlie) didn't notice, I am reporting that years of growing fear has built public alarm to a level where it can no longer be ignored - might make a run on the bank. Oh shit!! Oh well! Hope I can sleep after watching tonight's program. Rough viewing for the midnight hour, but glad I didn't miss this program! Charlie Rose should be aired at 7 pm so that US can view an informative, valuable program, have time to chill and then hopefully sleep.

Ricardo C. Amaral  07/16/2008 04:58 AM Report

Once in a while I read Gretchens articles on The New York Times. Now I have a face that goes with her writing and she is a very attractive woman. By the way, I have a soft spot and I love blonds with blue or green eyes. Anyway I have been writing on my articles for many years about all these things that were on the pipeline. I am not surprised by anything that is happening in the real estate and in the financial markets.

Quoting from my article published in November 2002. Seems to me that the financial markets of the world lost any common sense, and they are driven only by hype and nothing else. In the new deflationary environment that we will be living in the future, God knows for how long, the US economy is in a position for a repeat performance of the great depression of the 1930's.

It is like a recipe for big trouble to be in debt during deflationary times. The housing bubble is ready to be burst, just like the stock market bubble. From that point on, consumer confidence and everything else will go down hill.

By the way my screen name on that forum is SouthAmerica. You can read portion of some other articles at:

Over 75 years ago Wall Street Crashed; but today the New Crash is already

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1996411#post1996411

TABS  07/16/2008 04:57 AM Report

Yes Americans have been lied to, by your government and your media. Charge it, after all you can afford it has been the mantra since the 60's. Don't Americans get it, post WW2 American prosperity was an ABERATION OF HISTORY. After WW2 America had NO FOREIGN COMPETTION to speak of. If you wanted a tractor in Japan, Korea, India or Africa you basically had to buy American. That created untold wealth for the US and created the rise of the large Middle Class. Where else in history, has a factory worker been able to be Middle Class? The US beginning with the Marshall Plan of the 1940's decided it was in our own best interest to rebuild and help develop nations economically, mostly as a buffer against the spread of communism. So that by the late 1960's the US was facing increasing economic competition around the world. From that time period on the US standard of living has been on the downward slide (read as wages in the US declining to have parity with our foreign competition). So what does the future hold, certainly not a return to 1960 prosperity and American omnipotence. However the American people economically may begin to resemble America of 1910.

--- HOWEVER THE CRISIS IS SOLVED, IT WILL BE SOLVED IN A WAY TO BENEFIT THE RICH ---   07/16/2008 04:48 AM Report

Comment by FED Up! on Wednesday, Jul 16 at 04:12 AM: "What I find despicable is that the very people who caused the problem are the people who benefit from the bailouts. Heck, some of them are the ones engineering the bailouts, so what do we expect?" _____ You know what, there is a large *VERY* EXPENSIVE RESTAURANT on the mainstreet of my neighborhood -- and IT'S PACKED *EVERY SINGLE DAY*!! -- those people haven't skipped a beat! -- NO WONDER MCCAIN ECONOMIC ADVISOR PHIL GRAMM CALLS THE REST OF US "WHINERS" AND SAYS THE ECONOMIC CRISIS IS ALL IN *OUR* HEADS. _______ Btw, ALLAN GREENSPAN'S HERO IS AYN RAND: NEED I SAY MORE?

--- GET REALLL!!: lies, damn lies, and statistics ---  07/16/2008 04:20 AM Report

Comment by TABS on Wednesday, Jul 16 at 03:44 AM: "As a bright spot, unemployment in the US is at 5.5% which is still outstanding." _____ Unlike in many European countries "unemployment" in the U.S. has been steadily *re-defined* over the decades in a way to make the statistics artificially low. For example, people who have run out of unemployment benefits are *NOT* considered "unemployed". People who have given up looking for work -- the long-term unemployed -- are *NOT* counted as "unemployed". _____ (This is especially, historically and even currently, handy for the government and its mainstream corporate media handmaiden when one doesn't want to count the MUCH HIGHER unemployment of those historically discriminated / underprivileged 'pesky' traditional minorities of color. AFTER ALL, ONLY *WHITE MALE UNEMPLOYMENT* HAS HISTORICALLY 'REALLY MATTERED' IN, OR FOR MOST OF THE HISTORY OF, THIS COUNTRY.) _____ And no matter *how* FEW hours --and how ever low the pay-- one may have found to work in P/T, one is counted as though they were fully and happily "employed". THE ACTUAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN THE U.S. IS *AT LEAST DOUBLE* WHAT THE GOVT STATISTICS CLAIM. ______ E.g., in Germany the unemployment rate was even recently *well over* 8% -- now it's around 8% and the German government thinks that's GREAT! -- and Germany is Europe's largest economy -- and Germany is not a poor country: it just counts "unemployment" more honestly. GERMANY, THOUGH IT HAS A HIGHER "UNEMPLOYMENT" STATISTIC, ACTUALLY HAS A HIGHER % OF ITS POPULATION EMPLOYED THAN THE U.S. DOES.

FED Up!  07/16/2008 04:12 AM Report

I might be content to "let free markets solve this" if ONLY that meant that the losses would leave everyone in the same boat. It would mean horrendous pain for me and everyone else, but if I knew that ALL the players were suffering equally, it might be worth it. What I find despicable is that the very people who caused the problem are the people who benefit from the bailouts. Heck, some of them are the ones engineering the bailouts, so what do we expect? Now, you can say that we all benefit in some trickle down way, but I think it's about time we retired not only that phrase, but the whole concept. Either these guys believe in free markets, or they don't. If they believe in them for ME, they darn well better believe in them for themselves! Otherwise we can add the (admittedly rather puny) epithet "hypocrites" to the long list of far more egregious ones. I'm reminded of the now famous and ugly chatter among Enron's energy traders, and the internal memos that put the lie to the brokers' rosy dotcom recommendations. No commensurate punishment was ever meted out for those guys, and never will be for those behind the sub-prime loans, the CDS's and the rest of the infernally acronymed instruments that greed begat. Being left with even 10% of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars beats even 50% of the average person's "retirement fund."

I do understand that a certain amount of bailing out is necessary. I do understand what's at stake here, and I'm not anxious to live in the world that natural consequences would create. That is, after all, my point. Unrestrained greed, or unrestrained capitalism if you will, turns those of us with small purses into serfs. As amazing as it is that this has been allowed to go on so long by people who actually know better, it's even more amazing that our so-called free press failed to listen to the alarm bells being sounded by good minds all over the country. Alan Greenspan says (to this effect): Buy a home! ARMs are great! It's duly "reported" and rarely questioned, especially in main stream media. They failed to stray from the Spin being dished out on an almost daily basis by those who had the most to gain, and now either they continue to parrot the feel good lines or they promulgate panic by shedding more heat than light on what's going on. (Heat sells. Light doesn't.)

As an example of how deep it all goes, consider the real lack of education that produces "consumers" (we used to be called citizens) who don't question being able to borrow ten times their annual income (or more!) for "affordable monthly payments," and who have little to no clue what FDIC is or that there's a limit to how much is covered if the bank fails. Of course it was greed that motivated some of them. Hey, buy a house, live there a year, walk away with "a lot of money," and then do it all again next year! It was greed abetted by ignorance that led even those people to believe that trees grow to the sky. I certainly don't excuse them, but they were, in effect, pawns in a much bigger scam, weren't they? And THEY will pay the price along with the rest of us who knew and did better but will suffer anyway because without the special privileges that wealth affords, there's nowhere to run or to hide.

TABS  07/16/2008 04:03 AM Report

One thing here folks the crisis we are facing is not one of recent making, the US has been on this road of financial ruin since the mid 1960's. It was at that point in our history that America decided that it could have it all. It was LBJ that said we could fight a war in Vietnam and have a Great Society all at the same time. Guns and Butter. As time went on the US bank account has dwindled to about nothing and the expenses have continued to increase, putting a greater and greater strain on what resources America has left. Not only has America mortgaged the farm but we have been selling pieces of it off to foreign entities. Now America maybe faced with the prospect that we don't own much of the farm anymore. Has reality hit Americans in the face yet? One wonders?

Wilkie and Patricia Talbert  07/16/2008 03:52 AM Report

Thank you, Charlie for having my favorite Realist provide his insight on energy matters. He sees it so clearly, but Congressmen can't!!!

I wish to order a transcript or video DVD ASAP by credit card. Please notify me. Note that your transcript people don't do it anymore.

TABS  07/16/2008 03:44 AM Report

Mr Bernanke didn't seem concerned with the solvency of Freddie or Fannie, that has been guaranteed. Nor does he seem concerned about the failure of Banking. These crisis seem to be managed. WHAT HE DOES SEEM CONCERNED (SCARED) ABOUT is the extension of credit going forward. Without making loans the system starts to grind to a halt. For instance if your bank is unwilling to make a home loan then your not able to purchase nor sell a piece of property. Without capital small businesses will not be started nor existing ones be able to finance expansion, nor in the case of GM survive a rocky financial period. Money will always be lent, however are we ready for much higher interest rates that will be prohibitive to business and consumers......This is a financial box that we and the world have gotten ourselves into. There is no clear path to solving it nor navigating your way out of it. One has to chose a strategy that one thinks will work and stick to it as an act of faith, a vertible CATCH 22.....As a bright spot, unemployment in the US is at 5.5% which is still outstanding. One of the benfits of the cheap dollar is that US exports are much more competative. That is a positve for the US economy going forward. One has to remember that time is an ally, as the engine of human enterprise eventually will unwind these problems.

--- HELL-FOR-LEATHER CAPITALISM! ---   07/16/2008 03:38 AM Report

So, Gretchen Morgenson simply has *NNNO IDEA* why the Bush Admin and the feds had no contingeny plan for the current economic (especially mortgage securities-based) crisis (not to mention the two current elective wars that the U.S. has put on its Chinese-issued credit card -- and the only major country stupid enough to join or stay with the U.S. in the fighting is England). ______ Well, hey, folks, IT'S BECAUSE THE REPUBLICANS DON'T BELIEVE IN REGULATIONS! -- BUT THEY DO BELIEVE IN LAISSEZ-FAIRE, ANYTHING GOES, ROBBER BARON, HELL-FOR-LEATHER, NO REGULATIONS OR DEREGULATED CAPITALISM! -- SO THIS IS WHAT YOU GET AMERICA!! -- THE PERFECT STORM HAS FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH YOU AMERICA!

Fred Blank  07/16/2008 02:05 AM Report

I just watched a program on Tuesday evening on July 15th between 11:00 and 12:00 PM that featured a man from a Rocky Mountain Institute ( or something ) who talked about alternate

forms of energy. I would very much like to purchase a copy of this program if possible. The program aired on WSRE, the Public TV station in Pensacola, FL. The gentleman spoke with such authority and clairty. Thanks.

ab irato  07/16/2008 12:40 AM Report

The desired leadership Charlie wanted his guests to cite is too late. The Fed should have required the regs scheduled for October 2009 decades ago. The stupidity of 2009 instead of now is symptomatic of the children running the system. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SERIOUS CONSIDERATION SHOULD BE GIVEN TO JAIL TIME FOR THE FINANCIAL WISE-GUYS THAT EXERCISED THE PRIME LOAN SCAM. THEY ABOVE THEIR VICTIMS SHOULD HAVE AND DID KNOW BETTER. Jail time and failures will deter future "moral-hazards." Otherwise the Savings and Loan and subprime schemes will arise again in the future. Greed is perpetual, especially without constaints (regulation, jailtime, ethical education).

RE Mant  07/16/2008 12:20 AM Report

Econ 201

These days for all practical purposes debt = money and money = debt. It is not a commodity and has no inherent value.

Banks and corps can create virtually unlimited amounts of debt, hence of money, by simply issuing notes, regardless of savings.

But the debt needs to be serviced by productivity and if it isn't the debt or money loses value and prices rise.

Those holding money try to keep it from losing value by creating even more debt, which they call liquidity, insurance or pump-priming, but which is actually a Ponzi scheme, and discourages productivity, because it redistributes funds from the thrifty to the profligate. However many ppl think the increase in wages and prices means they are wealthier.

Nevertheless some ppl eventually decide to cash-in starting a sell-off and begin buying and hoarding commodities, which they think will hold value, but are of little value themselves in the absence of some use for them.

None of this could happen if the debt had to be borrowed from actual savings. It would also decrease the disparity in the distribution of wealth, and encourage ppl to be more productive, as well as returning power to ordinary working folk.

John D. Furber  07/16/2008 12:17 AM Report

Why so much surprise? Didn't they read Paul Erdman's novel, "The Crash of '79", thirty years ago?

Robert A. Black  07/16/2008 12:13 AM Report

Gretchen Morgenson stated that IndyMac's failure would take 25% of the FDIC's reserves in a bailout of depositors. According to Peter Cohan, however, "The Wall Street Journal ... estimates that the FDIC used between $4 billion and $8 billion of its $53 billion deposit-insurance fund for the IndyMac bailout." (See "FDIC Closes IndyMac...," at BloggingStocks, 7/11/08; found on the Internet on July 15th, 2008 at http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/07/11/fdic-closes-indymac-second-biggest-bank-failure-in-history/)

Yes this is a big failure, according to reporters more accurate than Ms. Morgenson. But the bailout appears to be more on the order of 7.5% to 15%. Why does she feel the need to exaggerate? Or is she misinformed? Moreover, she doesn't say that the FDIC may eventually get some of that money back as it liquidates the illiquid but perhaps valuable assets that IndyMac could not sell quickly.

We need more accurate information, not inflammatory and imprecise rhetoric that will certainly make a bad situation worse. Look at the difficult position that Senator Schumer's comments put the system in. Could IndyMac have gotten out of this? Perhaps, but not after public comments like those. The whole banking system has made foolish loans, after the Boston Fed insisted on "community reinvestment" and the Clinton housing policies encouraged rewriting rules for qualifying under-qualified applicants for mortgages (two moderately good ideas that have been taken to ridiculous extremes under the compulsion and direction of government regulation and intervention! Should we advertise that all banks are bad, and that everyone should withdraw all deposits? I also have concerns that Ms. Morgenson wants more regulation. Not more of that kind, please.

On the other hand, perhaps talking up a Great Depression will, while sacrificing the country's economy further, boost one political party's fortunes over the others. By the way, unemployment peaked at 25% or so in 1933. Unemployment in 2008 is 5.5%, but if we keep hearing exaggerations and quackery as we heard tonight, it certainly could get worse.

Robert Bestani  07/16/2008 12:06 AM Report

Charlie,

We have met a couple of times at the Council on Foreign Relations over the past few years. I continue to love the show.

Much as I enjoyed the discussion this evening with Allan Sloan and Gretchen Morgenson I'm afraid they missed the central point behind the financial crisis we are currently in. Specifically, we are in a period where there is far more in the way of investment funds relative to global GDP. McKinsey Global Institute last year estimated that there was $140 TRILLION in surplus funds in the world looking for investment opportunities. That was 3.5 times global GDP. They just increased that figure to $167 trillion, while Robert Kimmitt, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, wrote an article in Foreign Affairs placing that figure at $190 trillion.

With this overhang banking has degenerated into “throwing money against the wall” and hoping that it sticks. After all, no one pays bankers to sit on idle funds. The sub-prime mortgage problem is just one manifestation of this. But if it was not sub-prime it would be some other problem. Worse yet, once we get out of the sub-prime problem, the core over hang problem will continue.

Of course, this crisis has come in the midst of all of the other problems such as historic oil prices, the budget deficit, the current account deficit, etc. Taken together these factors have created the perfect storm of financial danger and getting out will be difficult.

But the core problem of the enormous overhang of money is only getting worse as the Fed pumps out more easy money to stimulate the problem. The overhang is largely a function of the very easy money post 9/11 (used to re-stimulate the economy) as well as a function of the accumulation of unabsorbed funds in Russia, the OPEC countries, China, Singapore, etc.

Please invite Ted Foresman to come in and discuss this issue. He wrote and excellent article on the in the WSJ on July 3rd.

tevo durham  07/15/2008 11:38 PM Report

well...i didnot enjoy a single word of this interview, but I appreciate it greatly.

my big take-away: it's not that insiders high up didnot see big waves coming , it's that they went ahead with a bad hand for some unrevealed reason...which to me (unfinancially astute little old me) strongly suggests that they were willing to gamble big because the stakes are higher than we can even see at present.

this was such a well conducted gutsy interview . Charlie's position/ queries really simplified and illuminated the guests knowledge.

what to do - aside from watching markets the guests delineated - would be a great follow-up.

FG  07/15/2008 11:15 PM Report

. . . and we've been borrowing $$$ for what?