Amazing Adventures from the New Depression
As control of major US financial institutions inevitably falls to the federal government, we will begin to hear how US taxpayers now have a major or majority stake in their ownership.
Yet again, it will be an elusive kind of ownership, for we will have no say in daily operations, no vote at board meetings, no vote as shareholders even. And the culpable decisionmakers who caused the losses in their institution will still be deciding. While hearing from government reps from two parties that agree on nothing.
And we are the stakeholders who’ll own these sad, ungainly, disrespected collectives managed by overpaid idiots.
What do we get for our tax dollars?
1) Overvalued stock that will drop that we can’t cash in to limit our losses.
2) Lower gas prices, while food and almost everything else remains overpriced (remember how they claimed those prices went up because of the cost of oil, aka transportation?).
3) Higher unemployment.
4) Stagnant wages if we luckily keep our jobs.
5) Republican resistance to every presidential initiative except tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
6) Bailouts to everyone - including companies that completely rejected the lessons of the 1970s - except for the innocents who are jobless and broke because of all the powerful, intelligent and well-educated incompetent people. Who will still be making all the decisions and reaping all the benefits.
This is the result of free markets, global trade, deregulation and 28 years of the ‘conservative’ revolution. How’s it working for ya, folks?
Update: Paul Krugman points out the reason nationalization is necessary.
