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Muta · 10-07-2011, 03:42 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/opinio...html?hpt=hp_t2

Interesting article.

I do have an honest question, what's everyone's opinion of the US Government's 2008 bailouts?

My opinion: At the taxpayers' expense, regular citizens were footed the bill to bail out institutions that raped those very same citizens with gross banking misconduct from the start. As experts, these institutions should have been aware of the bubble that they themselves were inflating. Instead, the warnings were cast aside, while banks made more and more money. These 'experts' were clearly not looking out for anybody's interests except their own. You have to have faith in these experts because they're skilled in this line of work, and just when Americans needed them the most, they turned their backs on them and laughed all the way to the bank. Hence where we are today.

Was it within their right to manipulate the system like that? Sure, everything was legal because most of them were lobbying the government for non-reforms to the system preventing illegal activity or they were part of an 'old boys club' that just scratched each others backs (Larry Summers, Ben Bernake, etc.). Was it also the fault of the consumer for taking these loans unknowingly? Absolutely. But as a consumer, they must put their faith in the banking system and likely had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. There was a flawed governance system that needed reform, and I'm willing to bet most people had no idea about this whatsoever.

On a semi-related note, Ford Motor Company decided not to take a bailout that year, instead going alone and relying on their own internal financial resources and ingenuity to carry them through... and their product has improved so much since then. Great example of smart management and strategic decisions.

10-07-2011, 03:42 PM	#126
Muta Franchise Player Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Auckland, NZ Exp:	http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/opinio...html?hpt=hp_t2 Interesting article. I do have an honest question, what's everyone's opinion of the US Government's 2008 bailouts? My opinion: At the taxpayers' expense, regular citizens were footed the bill to bail out institutions that raped those very same citizens with gross banking misconduct from the start. As experts, these institutions should have been aware of the bubble that they themselves were inflating. Instead, the warnings were cast aside, while banks made more and more money. These 'experts' were clearly not looking out for anybody's interests except their own. You have to have faith in these experts because they're skilled in this line of work, and just when Americans needed them the most, they turned their backs on them and laughed all the way to the bank. Hence where we are today. Was it within their right to manipulate the system like that? Sure, everything was legal because most of them were lobbying the government for non-reforms to the system preventing illegal activity or they were part of an 'old boys club' that just scratched each others backs (Larry Summers, Ben Bernake, etc.). Was it also the fault of the consumer for taking these loans unknowingly? Absolutely. But as a consumer, they must put their faith in the banking system and likely had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. There was a flawed governance system that needed reform, and I'm willing to bet most people had no idea about this whatsoever. On a semi-related note, Ford Motor Company decided not to take a bailout that year, instead going alone and relying on their own internal financial resources and ingenuity to carry them through... and their product has improved so much since then. Great example of smart management and strategic decisions. Last edited by Muta; 10-07-2011 at 03:45 PM.