Unbelievable. Sen. Dorgan Called the econ crisis exactly.1999 debate on Gramm Bill

it was easy to call because it happened once before. shamefully, as the Dorgan pointed out in his speech, people were working against new deal regulations their entire careers because they believed we were too smart to let another collaspe happen. some people just don't factor in the greed factor.

 

Glynch, I'm glad that there were videos because I would never trust anything printed in the DailyKos.

That said, Congress made a serious mistake in "relaxing" regulations and the SEC and related agencies compounded the mistake by not investigating suspicious financial schemes / enforcing regulations.

I once was in favor of privatizing Social Security, but I admit that I am now thankful Congress did not go for it. What a disaster that would have been!

Once upon a time I was furious Bush Sr. stopped short of crushing Saddam when he had Saddam by the throat. Now I see his wisdom and the poor judgment of his son -- proving once again that hindsight is 20/20 just as we are doing in this thread with Dorgan.

I am not and will never be shy about sounding alarms about what could happen because exploring possibilities is a methodology for preventing disasters. However, all we can do is pray our leaders have common sense and take a wait and see attitude. Nevertheless, that's not saying we shouldn't take steps to hedge our bets on the future.

 

We have dumped trilliions in Iraq and bailed out the financial institutions, why couldn't we do the samething in 40 years to bail out SS if needed?

Yes Thank God for not privatizing SS! If we just dumped a couple trillion dollars in SS how long will it remain solvent? Another 100 years?

 

I fear that a Social Security will not be viable in a few years, let alone 40. When the Chinese dump our Treasury notes, inflation wil go through the roof. I'll be lucky if my SS check will buy a week's worth of groceries. That's why I'm taking steps now to be energy/shelter and food sufficient far away from the street riots I fear are coming. I really, really hope I am as wrong as I was about the two opinions I cited earlier in this thread. However, I feel that preparation is prudent.

BTW, if you believe inflation is coming as I do, now is a great time to buy more house that you can afford. A $250K house, for example, may be worth $25K after the inflationary burst, but it is still a nice house that you can pay for with inflated dollars -- assuming the Administration does not suspend or abrogate contracts.

 

That's why I'm fleeing the urban scene. If street thugs (regardless of what they call themselves) want me, they'll have to pack a bag and take a field trip!

 

I think the civil war over hyper-inflation has been greatly exaggerated.

I do think we're going to see massive inflation,

BUT,

I don't think we'd ever see massive riots, etc. because it won't happen overnight. 4 years of 10 to 12% inflation would probably be worst case scenario.

Then they'll jack interest rates up,

and

We're just going to be a lot poorer as a country for the next 20 years.

 

You're right. Short of a dollar crash, the government won't cut social security payments. They'll just inflate to the point that the social security liabilities are manageable, and social security payments aren't enough to keep you out of poverty.

 

If were I doing any investing right now, I'd invest in the best greenhouse company I could find. I foresee more and more people turning to Russian-style plots to grow food / raise chickens for personal consumption. We'll be lamenting people getting shot for poaching in backyard gardens.

 

SS will be a drain on our budget pretty soon anyways.

 

huh?

move back?

we never left no matter how many fancy speeches Reagan, Bush, Limbaugh, or whoever gave to the contrary.

unless you are talking about a very narrow sets of banking regulations being all that held us back from the dark ages.

 

Unregulated markets and greed, replete with rampant and incautious speculative investing, causing massive economic crises have been a persistent and recurring feature of the United States since the early 19th century.

(not so much disagreeing with you as pointing out that this sort of economic crisis, with almost precisely the same motives and results, is not new and will continue to happen as long as the fundamental problems posed by a speculative market with little or no oversight go unsolved).