A Laissez Faire-y Tale

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Libertarianism and deregulation successfully trashed the US economy. Americans lost their savings, their homes, and their jobs in record numbers unprecedented since the Great Depression. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's libertarian philosophy that markets know best is responsible for the U.S. financial crisis that erupted at the end of George W. Bush's presidency. Greenspan's acolytes – Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, and Timothy Geithner – also bear responsibility for the existing international economic debacle. And it all began with Ayn Rand.

Rand immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1926, the year Alan Greenspan was born. The celebrated fiction author of the novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), Rand championed libertarianism. She famously told Mike Wallace in a

that she believed in "the separation of state and economics." She opposed all regulations of markets. Greenspan became her pupil and she was present when he was sworn in as President Gerald Ford's chief economic advisor. That she came from an oppressive government regime likely explains her extremist laissez-faire attitude – something that Republicans love. By the time Rand became a Hollywood screenwriter, President Franklin Roosevelt had signed the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass–Steagall Act). This New Deal legislation established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and introduced banking reforms to control speculation. Following an era of corruption, financial manipulation and "insider trading" that resulted in more than 5,000 bank failures after the 1929 Wall Street crash, Glass–Steagall Act also allowed the Federal Reserve to regulate interest rates in savings accounts.

Deregulation fever took hold in 1980 with the enactment of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA) that gave the Federal Reserve greater control over non-member banks. Among other things DIDMCA allowed banks to merge, forced all banks to abide by the Fed's rules, and removed the powers of the Fed under the Glass–Steagall Act to set the interest rates of savings accounts. Ronald Reagan became president that year, famously saying that government was not the solution to the country's problems, "government is the problem."

The Alternative Mortgage Transactions Parity Act of 1982 (AMTPA) removed regulations that barred banks from making anything but conventional fixed-rate loans. That gave birth to the kind of mortgages that put borrowers in default situations today. Adjustable-Rate mortgages (ARM), Balloon-payment mortgages, and Interest-only mortgages crushed borrowers. The option-ARM allowed borrowers to underpay by as much as they want during the first few years of the loan so that the unpaid monthly interest got tacked onto the size of the loan.

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http://blogcritics.o...z-faire-y-tale/

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum) was the originator of the "civilized man vs. savages" line in regard to Israel vs. Arabs, which Pamela Gellar appropriated this year for her bus ads.

Some may have "celebrated" her, but "Rand's fiction was poorly received by many literary critics, and academia generally ignored or rejected her philosophy."

Still, I had a teacher who required us to read her ####### in high school.

[Karee 4,190]

More hit and run.

[dalegg 143]

I'm curious.

What specific law did the Bush Administration abolish that led to the Financial institution crash of 2008?

[Karee 4,190]

I'm curious.

What specific law did the Bush Administration abolish that led to the Financial institution crash of 2008?

That's his deal. Post some crazy a$$ things and you never see him again. Don't expect a response. It's Steven.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

That's his deal. Post some crazy a$$ things and you never see him again. Don't expect a response. It's Steven.

[Darnell 8,478]

Greenspan is labelled a Libertarian now ? OK !

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

http://blogcritics.o...z-faire-y-tale/

Do you think the Act signed by Bill Clinton July 12, 1999 that allowed mortgage lenders to loan up to 125% of the value of the home, with minimal documentation and required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to cover it if their stock market investors failed to had nothing to do with it? Seriously?

[kytwell 179]

Did the author of this trash purposely skip over Clinton's years in office; while Greenspan was in charge of the Fed?

Ayn Rand and libertarians in general are in favor of central banking and the Federal Reserve?

Edited August 27, 2012 by kytwell

[lostinblue 1,989]

That's his deal. Post some crazy a$$ things and you never see him again. Don't expect a response. It's Steven.

What a liberal is best at.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

What a liberal is best at.

There are plenty of people on this board who are NOT liberals and do not answer questions. So let's get off the high horse and realize both sides are flawed, okay? Okay.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I'm curious.

What specific law did the Bush Administration abolish that led to the Financial institution crash of 2008?

I'm curious. What specific part of the article claimed that the Bush administration repealed any law that led to the financial institution crash of 2008?

[웃 910]

I'm curious. What specific part of the article claimed that the Bush administration repealed any law that led to the financial institution crash of 2008?

I was wondering the same thing. Or where did Steven make this claim?

[mawilson 2,133]

I'm curious. What specific part of the article claimed that the Bush administration repealed any law that led to the financial institution crash of 2008?

I was wondering the same thing. Or where did Steven make this claim?

Wow, so Bush is not to blame for the crisis? That's great news! Somebody better tell Obama because he keeps making a fool of himself telling people it was GW Bush.

[웃 910]

Wow, so Bush is not to blame for the crisis? That's great news! Somebody better tell Obama because he keeps making a fool of himself telling people it was GW Bush.

Obama saved or created millions of jobs. He saved or created the auto sector.

He saved or created health care.

And he saved or created the Bush Tax Cuts 2.0.

He is the Savior and Creator.