Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Obama in denial

Do you suppose Obama has the slightest idea how absurd he looks calling the CEOs into the White House woodshed and administering a verbal spanking? Yeah, that'll get them to lend more money.

Even beyond the fact that what Obama says he wants --more lending -- was just what led to the financial fiasco, the idea of any president of the United Snakes trying to place sole blame on the bankers and such -- sort of like a dimestore FDR, suggesting that to American "progressives" (do you suppose they'll let us have "liberal" back, or have they besmirched that brand so badly that nobody would want it anymore?) it is always the 1930s.

Sure, a lot of bankers made some bad loans, but they were responding to an environment created by the government, with the Fed's loose-money policies, the Community Reinvestment Act and all the regulators threatening to make lenders' lives miserable if they didn't give more mortgages to people who were obviously not qualified for them. Everybody knows this -- especially those who have read or read about Tom Woods' "Meltdown" or Tom Sowell's "The Housing Boom and Bust" (incidentally, he's coming out with a revised and updated version) -- except, apparently, the president and most of the MSM. Being in government means never taking responsibility but instead shoving it off on someone you're in the mood to demonize.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The real problem as I see it is moral hazard. It goes back at least as far as 1998 when the government bailed out long-term capital management. It would have been better to let them go under. If people don't have to suffer the consequences of their actions they will misbehave.

Alan Bock said...

So right.