All Posts Tagged With: "bailout"
The Knowledge Problem
The first in an occasional series exposing the “pretence of knowledge” of government officials.President Bush’s press secretary, Dana Perino, on the possible bailout of GM, Chrysler, and Ford: I don’t think that there’s any possible way that this president would agree to allow taxpayer financing to go toward firms that are not willing to make [...]
17Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedTaxpayer Protection
In arranging the various multi-billion-dollar bailouts, members of Congress and the Bush administration incessantly promise “taxpayer protections.” That’s most considerate, except for one problem. What the taxpayers need protection from most are Congress and the Bush administration!
16Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedRepublican Betrayal on the Auto Bailout
The Senate Republicans who killed the auto bailout betrayed the free-market principles they claim to embrace. (I know what you’re saying: Is this really news? No, it’s not.)Why betrayal? The Republicans did not say they opposed a bailout on principle under all circumstances, which is what free-market advocates would be expected to say. Rather they [...]
13Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedRobert Higgs Told Us So!
According to Reuters: The credit crunch is not nearly as severe as the U.S. authorities appear to believe and public data actually suggest world credit markets are functioning remarkably well, a report released on Thursday says.As a result, governments are pumping masses of public money into the economy across the world because of the difficulties [...]
12Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedBankruptcy Doesn't Equal Death
Good article on the more honorable option of bankruptcy for the failed auto companies in the WSJ today by Freeman columnist Don Boudreaux:Bankruptcy Doesn’t Equal Death
11Dec2008 | Mason Drake | 0 comments | ContinuedGovernmental Logic
Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, had this to say in connection with the auto bailout: We will not let the taxpayers spend their hard-earned money on ailing carmakers unless these companies are forced to reform their bad habits — either inside or outside bankruptcy. So the way McConnell sees it, we taxpayers want to [...]
11Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Case Against the Auto Bailout
1) If no conditions are attached, then the taxpayers would be forced to aid unaccountable companies.2) If conditions are attached, then the taxpayers would be forced to aid (quasi) nationalized companies.3) Both scenarios are objectionable.4) Ergo, the bailout is objectionable.(The New York Times today discusses the implications of nationalization.)
9Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 4 comments | ContinuedLong Live the Czar
It appears that Congress will bail out the Big Three of Detroit. But don’t worry. We are assured that taxpayer protections will be built into the rescue plan. This includes appointment of a “Car Czar.” The rumored candidate for the position is pictured below Feel better?
8Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedBailing Out Statism
The key to understanding the saga of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—the newly nationalized twin government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that dominate home financing—is this: They were created—intentionally—to distort the housing and mortgage markets. That is, government planners were not content to let voluntary exchange and spontaneous market forces configure those industries unmolested. So—holding the taxpayers hostage—they [...]
1Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 2 comments | ContinuedSins of the Past
Our friend and summer lecturer Steve Horwitz has some wise words at “The Austrian Economists” blog. Read it all, but here’s his summation: We really are living out the extended negative unintended consequences of the Great Depression. If so, it only goes to show how important it is for us not to do what precisely [...]
29Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Sky's the Limit
From the New York Times: The federal government unveiled $800 billion in new loans and debt purchases on Tuesday, hoping another infusion of cash can help unfreeze troubled credit markets and make borrowing easier for homebuyers, small businesses and students.The Federal Reserve said that it would buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed assets from [...]
25Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedToo Big to Fail?
This week, Henry Paulson said in an interview with the Washington Post that he wants the Federal Reserve to be able to regulate and ultimately take over any failing financial institution that it considers crucial — including hedge funds. This echoes a notion that has been endorsed by executives of some industry associations, that to [...]
22Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedTGIF: Auto-Destruct
The Big Three automakers got a cold reception in Congress this week when they asked for a bailout loan of $25 billion. But I wouldn’t count them out just yet. After appropriating over $700 billion to bail out the financial industry — with nothing to show for it but an ominous precedent and a scary [...]
21Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedBail Out Detroit?
It seems certain that the taxpayers will be forced to save GM and the rest of the Big Three, if not during the lame-duck session of Congress, then some time after January 20. The bailout backers say the United States can’t survive as an economic power without them, but why should we believe that? About [...]
17Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedBush to Tell G-20 Not to Dismantle Free Market. Really.
George W. Bush today will “urge leaders of the world’s biggest industrial and developing economies not to abandon principles of free-market capitalism as they seek an escape from the international financial crisis, calling it the ‘best system’ for delivering growth” (Bloomberg).That’s not a joke. I swear. Really. Stop laughing. Please. (Is there anything left of [...]
13Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 28 comments | ContinuedBeware "Stabilization"
The inestimable Robert Higgs, a Freeman columnist and senior fellow at the Independent Institute, has another insightful entry at The Beacon. In “Stabilize This, Stabilize That,” Higgs rips the mask from government programs ostensibly designed to bring stability to the economy. As he puts it: [L]ike most government policies, those purportedly aimed at stabilization are [...]
13Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedRegime Uncertainty
Nothing can stifle economic activity like uncertainty about what the government will do next. Robert Higgs has written a good deal about how “regime uncertainty” kept the U.S. economy from getting out of the Great Depression. In fact, it’s what made the depression “great.”No one knew what FDR would come up with day to day.We’re [...]
12Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued-
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