I could not possibly disagree more with Buffett’s opinion. He says the government might be criticized for not battling the rot that was building in the housing market. The government caused the rot that was building in the housing market. He clearly is in the camp that wants to re-write that history by deflecting the blame.
His overall premise is that the government solved a big problem. I contend that only government would be capable of causing such a big problem, and that is precisely what happened. And furthermore, the problem has not been solved. Not even close.
He says that the housing bubble was caused by mass delusion that housing prices could not fall. That is the height of subterfuge to deflect the blame from where it squarely be
Hear, hear! Although I disagree with your very last, Bucyrus…the buck pragmatically always stops on the consumer’s doorstep. At least, in a real democracy, there’s really no one else to blame.
(…oops! I’m not supposed to actually be in political discussions!)
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selector,
I don’t understand what you mean. What did I say that you disagree with? What do you mean when you say there is no one else to blame?
I don’t agree or disagree as the final chapters in this saga have yet to be written. With millions out of work and a national debt in the trillions I am less than optimistic about the outcome…Warren Buffett is a verey intelligent man…but so is Alan Greenspan and so are alot of other people… .who were dead wrong.
Was Mr. Buffet writing about THE Uncle Sam, the one that is depicted as the symbol for the United States?
I thought there were many interesting observation made by Mr. Buffet, and he may be right about the “world looking far different” had not the ‘troops’ he wrote about done whatever it is they did, although I might be tempted to think that mismanagement by those very same ‘troops’ might have be at least partly to blame for the problems they “fixed”.
About one thing I am certain: the world certainly does look different to the millions of unemployed than it does to a moneybag.
…More politics again. You can’t put the blame for all we’re going thru on one side only…We all know there is blame to go in many directions.
And sure I hear you saying “Freddie & Fannie”…We all know that, but we know there was buildup of trouble from other actions too. We are to stay out of politics here, so I’ll stop here.
Bucyrus, we in the modern democracies have a lamentable, perhaps a laughable, habit; we like to blame the people we elect to office for everything that happens to us subsequently. We feel we have no further input or output other than a few of us turning out to actually vote. Then, when poo hits the fan, we foam at the mouth, roll our eyes, fall on the floor, and bang our heads and heels against it. We, the consumer, as you put it, are the ones to blame since we are the users of government, banks, mortgages, and policies that got you folks into this mess in the first place. The “power” in congress at the time was sufficient, and sufficiently canted, that it used threats against the very institutions that we soon came to vilify if they did not abbey their own carefully determined and robust selection criteria with respect to mortgages. Few citizens of your fair country know that, and few really care…now at least. My contention is that the people get what they deserve in an electoral process, and can therefore only blame themselves.
One of your psychologists, Martin Seligman, coined the term “learned helplessness.” It has gone through a number of revisions and analyses since its introduction about 40 years ago, but it seems to at least partly account for the way people opt out of overt action in determining their way ahead.
I respond to this thread against my better judgement. You can all flay me later.
Crandell
[quote user=“selector”]
Bucyrus:
selector,
I don’t understand what you mean. What did I say that you disagree with? What do you mean when you say there is no one else to blame?
Bucyrus, we in the modern democracies have a lamentable, perhaps a laughable, habit; we like to blame the people we elect to office for everything that happens to us subsequently. We feel we have no further input or output other than a few of us turning out to actually vote. Then, when poo hits the fan, we foam at the mouth, roll our eyes, fall on the floor, and bang our heads and heels against it. We, the consumer, as you put it, are the ones to blame since we are the users of government, banks, mortgages, and policies that got you folks into this mess in the first place. The “power” in congress at the time was sufficient, and sufficiently canted, that it used threats against the very institutions that we soon came to vilify if they did not abbey their own carefully determined and robust selection criteria with respect to mortgages. Few citizens of your fair country know that, and few really care…now at least. My contention is that the people get what they deserve in an electoral process, and can therefore only blame themselves.
One of your psychologists, Martin Seligman, coined the term “learned helplessness.” It has gone through a number of revisions and analyses since its introduction about 40 years ago, but it seems to at least partly account for the way people opt out of overt action in determining their way ahead.
I respond to this thread against my better judgement.
The fact remains that we have the best governments that money can buy. It is bought and sold every day at all levels.