On...The Future of Capitalism

Bailouts and Purges

If nothing else the whole bailout, stock market hiccup, etc is giving the nation a small economic lesson. Unfortunately the professor is a hungover drunk with a failing marriage and a hodgepodge degree in Marxist-Adam Smith tomfoolery. Which is the wonder of Economics. Nobody really knows much and everyone is tampering with the thing. Poking and prodding the carcass. Many suggest leaving it alone is best (see Joel Stein in LA Times), others praise the bailout (A Bill that Deserved to Pass), others look at the big picture and realize the painting has already been ripped off the museum wall and stuffed in a trunk. What is the common man to do? According to many of the political commercials they should be really scared and angry at Big Oil and Wal-Mart and Evil Banks. Ah, the 1930s all over again.

I myself am not astute enough in economics to make real observations that I feel are accurate at this point, and I don't like chasing black swans, but anyone else is free to get a dialogue going on that. But I do have the sense that old systems are shifting and the capitalists are running to the socialists in government for security.

Our politicians should have done what the founders have always suggested--do nothing rash. Sit on it, let our passions cool, then make formative decisions. The bailout bill was a total rejection of Enlightenment coolness of mind. It was a panic-filled free-for-all and buy-off. Instead using logic, we are further blending the state and the market in an orgy of passion and fear. The trudge towards the socialist twilight is usually not a good thing. It puts too much power in too few of hands, especially politician and bureaucrat's hands. We will take a further step in that direction is Barack Obama wins and a Democratic congress injects an European health care system into our bloodstream. If our economy is truly on the brink like so many doom and gloom pundits believe, this will be a potentially troubling move. I tend to be an optimist and believe it is hard to bring down a $14 trillion economy, but universal health care should not be in the cards at this moment (if ever).

I also want to say the whole Wall Street vs. Main Street simplicity is juvenile. Us versus Them. Nice. I love how the populists use the term Main Street as a good thing. They might want to check out where the term really came from--Sinclair Lewis' Main Street (1920). A scathing satire on the idiocy and backwardness of small town life. Clinging to guns and God fits the Main Street motif nicely. But oh, the wisemen will come and show them the light. Fun stuff. Further discussion on the impact the economy is having on the working class can be found in Ross Douthat's new blog posting HERE

Jacob Weisberg from Slate.com has a interesting dissection of the labeling of our new economic arrangement. The article sortof jumpstarted this blog.

Also two excellent economic websites are RealClearMarkets and The Skeptical Optimist.