OT: THE ECONOMY

[ZonkertheBrainless]

Well, the problem is unregulated international financial markets (where you exchange currencies). There's a reason why we started regulating banks after the great depression, it's cause there were runs on banks all the time causing, to put it mildly, excessive volatility in the market. Now a lot of the regulations they put in weren't really necessary, but some key regs were -- deposit insurance and reserve requirements being the most important. The international market has no regulators and therefore no regulations. So as the global financial system because bigger and more important, the lack of regulations is going to become a bigger and bigger issue. And since no one has sovereign power over it it's not likely going to be fixed any time soon.

[dobrojim]

Nate,

sounds like you and Kevin Phillips have some areas of agreement
esp wrt Alan Greenspan

however
I find it ironic that some folks (generally on the right) on these very pages
used the record levels of home ownership (in 2004) as evidence that the
economy was doing OK. "No problem here, move along."

I will say that I share some of your views on causes but you left out one...

chicken$#!+ politicians who refuse to tell the American people that they
actually have to pay for the things they buy AND that deferring payments
(huge deficits) makes the eventual payment higher and more painful.
I think fugop's buddy Jonathon C had something to say on the subject.

Of course, it could also be argued that we have only ourselves to blame
since we keep electing the same aforementioned pols to make choices
for us.