tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post528487963030120136..comments2024-03-28T06:49:24.930-04:00Comments on International Political Economy at the University of North Carolina: Is the Subprime Crisis a Transformative Event?Thomas Oatleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14092437150746625670noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post-46219382091302087122010-05-26T17:09:34.677-04:002010-05-26T17:09:34.677-04:00Ah, but they are hypocritical, KW:
1. If what the...Ah, but they are hypocritical, KW:<br /><br />1. If what the IMF did in Asia were a model of crisis response, then its current head wouldn't be so keen on <a href="http://ipezone.blogspot.com/2010/04/imfs-strauss-kahn-buries-washington.html" rel="nofollow">putting distance</a> between current efforts and past ones, would he?<br /><br />2. The IMF is for balance of payments troubles, not fiscal ones. To use it for the latter purpose indicates <a href="http://ipezone.blogspot.com/2010/04/actually-imf-isnt-mandated-to-help.html" rel="nofollow">double standards</a>. Why should poor countries which have been major contributors to the IMF as of late have their monies used to bail out rich country fiscal crises?<br /><br />3. The American government employs so much double talk it even <a href="http://ipezone.blogspot.com/2010/05/rising-us-foreclosures-excellent-news.html" rel="nofollow">lies to itself</a> by not admitting the extent of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's woes as on-budget items. <br /><br />Sounds like Enronitis to me. As with the Asian crisis, citing others' comparably minor fiscal woes as needing remedy while not even recognizing your own, far larger ones is hypocrisy. The truth is that America is bankrupt in the commonly accepted use of the term, and we should all hope that the lie is revealed sooner rather than later to get real changes underway.Emmanuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615366847433704476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post-65042322843634466232010-05-26T12:22:33.105-04:002010-05-26T12:22:33.105-04:00None of that addresses the crux of my post, which ...None of that addresses the crux of my post, which is that the Atlantic economies have *not* been hypocritical in their response to crises, therefore there is no crisis of legitimacy. But to address your points:<br /><br />1. Look, Moody's is not going to downgrade the U.S. Did you see what lengths it went to before it finally downgraded Greece? And the U.S. can monetize its debt in a way that no other country can, so servicing the debt is less of a concern than it is in other places. <br /><br />2. I don't know what's behind recent market actions, and neither do you, but I doubt it has anything to do with U.S. deficits. Those have been pretty constant while other things have varied.<br /><br />3. Discipline America for what? For going into to debt to buy their goods? For taking their investment dollars that they can't/won't spend domestically? The U.S. has had willing partners in digging the whole they're in now, so getting on a high horse about it now is just laughable.Kindred Winecoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14330671232391851377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post-89382042323100864692010-05-26T04:35:00.755-04:002010-05-26T04:35:00.755-04:00??? -
We've been through this before. To par...??? -<br /> <br />We've been through this before. To paraphrase Dick Cheney, "deficits don't matter because the ROW will lend us all we care to borrow." Consider...<br /><br />1. Some have actually bothered to <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/Moodys%20AAA%20Sovereign%20Monitor.pdf" rel="nofollow">do the math</a>. Even if you take the dubious assumption that America can borrow at low rates indefinitely, debt servicing costs will become such a large part of the US budget that the current fiscal trajectory is indeed unsustainable.<br /><br />2. Aren't fears of excessive government borrowing exacerbated by the crisis behind a lot of recent market action?<br /><br />3. The real problem in the world economy is disciplining America. Its actions have been worse than useless in that housing prices are not appreciating despite de facto nationalization and an unlimited lifeline. Hopefully, rising delinquencies and foreclosures will (eventually) drive it into the ground and recognize the folly of its ways.<br /><br />The dysfunctional US housing segment which triggered so much grief is even more so now than before. Some progress.Emmanuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615366847433704476noreply@blogger.com