I really get what you are saying, but that thud that you think I may be for will only be bigger the next time, because we keep adjusting the safety net to allow for wilder and more erratic behavior. I honestly think a bigger thud was necessary. I also think hundreds if not thousands of people should have been in prison for double dealing and screwing their customers over. In the housing crisis, the banks more or less were protected on several fronts. They sold the crap to their investors, then shorted it, and then the government backed them for the rest of it. The mortgages themselves didn't get a bailout. The owners of the Mortgage backed securities didn't either. Only the morons that were holding CDO's worth billions that had to pay because those mortgages, and therefore mortgage securities became worth nothing. The changes I'm saying may happen with stock purchases ability just go to exacerbate the problem even further and in the end screw you and I even more. Plus it completely wrecks the whole notion of price discovery in an open market. Is it worth it? Do you disagree with my outlook?
Look there was bad behavior all around, but just as we hold politicians to a higher standard (let the jokes begin), I hold professional bankers to a bit of a higher standard as well. Goldman, who you and I both know is all kinds of tied up with Washington, came out of 2008 scot free.
And it will happen again, CDO's are being sold again. Banks are being risky again, and they will never stopped double dealing if it serves their interest. Look at the market run up s
And honestly, I have never advocated for any of Trump's position. It is just so much easier to critique Clinton as she is (less) of a moving target. Her positions change but not near as rapidly. I still don't take Trump seriously. I do think there would be some differences to a Trump candidacy, particular in the staffing of his administrations, judges, etc.
Part of me knows we are too far down the rabbit hole. But the other part hopes that there are enough people who care. DJI is up 65% over the last five years, and on what? Do you really see the lives of John & Jane Taxpayer improving by that margin?
My "Trump Sucks" response is an umbrella that covers all of these - the changes made are what allow this. But let's dive deeper!
Big Thud. That is/was the whole point of the entire Federal Reserve system that we have had since the 30's - STOP the big thud! And it has worked brilliantly until the last few decades when it started to be dismantled. There is NO inherent value or "need" to have a deep thud. Right on about selling garbage and leaving consumers holding the bag - that is the easily foreseen end result of "deregulation" we have been 'enjoying'. The only reason there could possibly be any surprise on anyone's behalf is the long discussed lack of knowledge of history. This was "done to death" in the past, and now Faux News Minions, people like Trump, and various others of that ilk have been advancing the idea of going back to the "good ole days" of robber barons and child labor! And now ya gotta ask...are ya feelin' lucky, .... oh, wait - wrong mixed metaphor! Ya gotta ask why hasn't the Republican dominated Congress advanced, or even allowed true changes that would put those protections back in place. This has nothing to do with Yellen - she is dealing with the short end of a very stinky sh$t stick that she was handed. The Fed has used every tool available, and we are truly at a good place economically right now, but the thunderstorms are gathering on the horizon - and Congress still sits on their thumbs enjoying that particular sensation!
Higher Standard. (2nd paragraph). There ain't no such thing! You cannot be naive enough to believe any of those two sentences - I know you are older than that. Bad behavior all around...yeah, goes to the whole concept of the last 3 decades of "enlightened self-interest", which gave us banking deregulation. It was a stupid idea on both sides - Dem and Repub. We know from history that is BS. And yet, nothing has been done for 8 years now - by the Congress dominated by whom?? In spite of calls for quite a while, early on, by Obama to put a bill on his desk to fix the mess. Today, business as usual. This is what happens when you can buy your own personal Congress. Remember all of Inhofe's pleas to big oil to give him more money, so he can help them even more...?
CDO's. Big banks are not being risky 'again' - they never stopped! No reason or rule to make them stop.
Trump. Never advocated, but implicitly support by "so much easier to critique Clinton". You said it, but not quite sure you realize the full extent of the part saying she is less of a moving target....on the big principle points of working for certain causes, you are dead on - she has been very consistent, veering slightly from time to time to broaden appeal. Some of them are extremely distasteful to me (2nd Amendment topics) but many are very good and align closely to how I feel. Social justice type issues. As for Trump changing after elected - well, no, he wouldn't have a different Presidency. He has shown in business that he is bigoted and racist - if you don't believe any of the comments he has personally made in this election, at the very least there is undisputed evidence of this with his real estate business dealings in New York for decades! Consciously, intentionally refusing to allow people of color to rent his apartments/homes. That is on the record. Fines were paid. Court orders were put in place. There is no doubt or wiggle room for rationalization. My earlier quote - "Well, yeah, I don't really agree with that..." still applies to the mindset of people who are going to vote for him.
Rabbit hole. Not yet, but the options are narrowing. Things were bad when Billy Bob was elected and we ended up with the single best run of economic prosperity in the countries history. AND had 4 years of budget surplus! And history repeats, as we as a nation would know if we paid attention. Obama entered with the second biggest mess since the 1929 Depression. And we got 8 years of good, solid economic performance. Came back from the second biggest abyss in 90 years! Recovered better than any other recession - perhaps the optics don't shine quite that direction, but that just shows how deep a hole it was we had to come back from!
And the DJI was about 7,949 when Obama took office. Today it is what...? About 18,290 a little while ago this morning. That is 230%! I hope you got in on some of that - if you have a 401k you did get some of it. Not as much as the C suite, of course, but some....
As for me and you - and all the other 99% John and Jane's, we are not benefiting from this "rising tide" anywhere near like the 1%. That has been the topic of many discussions here and elsewhere for a long, long time. It goes to policies put in place by the people who can afford to pay for their very own Congress to help them first, then if scraps are left, let the 99% bottom feeders grab a little.... That's why we have a minimum wage in place that is 40% less in real dollar terms than it was in 1968. Goes to a comment I have made many times - a commentary on philosophical bents if you will. To Democrats, low wages are the problem. To Republicans, low wages are the solution.
