This weeks featured discussion: With the current melt down in global financial markets, to what extent should the federal government regulate big business? Was the bail out a good idea? and who should be responsible for costing the tax payer billions of dollars? Also, please give examples of change that need to take place within the global economic system that will deter this type of mismanagement in the future.
We will also be highlighting one organization every 2 weeks that has made an impact on social change around the world. If you would like to nominate a group feel free to post a comment including their wedsite address. Check our blogroll for a quick link.
This weeks organizational spotlight: endpoverty.org
Just for fun: every week we will be uploading a portrait od a famous philospher, social scientist, political scientist, leader, teacher, economist, or psychologist in the author’s avatar section. See if you can be the first to identify the picture. Please post your response in the comment section. Good Luck!
Mystery Man?
Congratulations Victoria!!!. You are correct, the mystery man is Alan Greenspan. He was the chairman of the Federal Reserve and/or a key economic consultant to the federal government for almost 30 years!!! He has navigated our country through numerous economic hardships in the past and has recently come back on the scene to aid in the current crisis, and answer some important questions pertaining to decisions he made in the past when addressing the US economy.
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This weeks featured discussion: With the current melt down in global financial markets, to what extent should the federal government regulate big business? Was the bail out a good idea? and who should be responsible for costing the tax payer billions of dollars? Also, please give examples of change that need to take place within the global economic system that will deter this type of mismanagement in the future.
Do a little research and tell us what you find
The mystery man is former Federal REserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
Dangit vicky… I knew the answer too….
Personally, I dont think the government should regulate a “free market”. If they did, a “free market” would be just another oxymoron. The bailout shouldnt have been carried out because the buisnesses should have been left to die for their mistakes. The companies who were responsible and didnt lend to people who didnt qualify should be the ones to posper after this whole ordeal.
Btw, thanks for showing the RvB PSA. That is one of my favorite PSA’s from them. Watch the zombie plan one if you get a chance.
The federal government needs to regulate what goes on in the banking industry. Due to the subprime mortgage crisis (where people were getting loans they couldn’t pay back) the finicial industry has taken a big hit. Banks need to make sure they are not giving loans to those who can’t afford them.
Another issue is the use of Credit Default Swaps. (http://www.newsweek.com/id/161199) The CDS’s were used a form of unregulated insurence should a third party entity default on its debt.
I think Europe did a better job with their financial rescue plan than the US originally did. The British and European governments injected capital within the banking sector to get money circulating again. The problem with the bail out and buy outs of the banks here, is that bank executives take a large chunk of the money given to the bank as a bonus for themselves.
There needs to be strict regulation for things like mortgage lending, CDS’s, etc. By continuing to allow banks to shift around money irresponsibly would cause a similar problem again in the future.
Well, the government should regulate big businesses by some how helping them survive this global meltdown. Big business are very vital in our modern economy because they are the ones that can provided an array of products for citizens of the United States by mass production. If the big corporations go bankrupt, imagine how many people will be effected by its downfall. Therefore, the government should try their best to help preserve them by providing loans or negotiate some sort of plan that would enable them to stay in business. The bailout is a good idea to some extent, I mean maybe the business made some bad choices ,but i feel if the corporation is wiling to work with the state and government they should be given the chance to fix their mistakes. On the other hand, if they just try to beat around the problem and avoid it, they shouldn’t be bailed out. The people that should be held responsible for costing the tax payers are the big corporations that allowed citizens of the U.S. to receive all of these loans and allow them to purchase things that they wouldn’t be able to afford. People wouldn’t be in this predicament of not having enough money to pay off what they’ve purchase , if it wasn’t for the banks, credit cards,and loan companies giving them the ability to borrow money they didn’t have or wouldn’t be able to pay back.
In the future, to prevent these problems from arising once again the government needs to enforce stronger rules concerning the economic aspect of our modern day. The big businesses should be more careful on who they lend money too. They need to take the time to research and analyze each persons money background and make sure that he or she will be able to pay them back. If they are careless and don’t do their “homework” our economy will suffer through a time of economic meltdown once again.
The federal government shouldnt have to regulate what the banks do. The banks should regulate themselves and since it they didnt they should have to pay the consequences instead of having the federal government bailing them out. The banks should have checked upon who they were lending to, its their responsibility to do it.
I agree with glenn I think that the banks should have done credit checks to see who they were handing out loans to. They were giving out money left and right and since a majority of the people could not afford to pay back the loan they received that is what lead to this crisis. Now since the government bailed them out whic lead the government to use a huge chunk of money, and guess who gets to pay that off……..THAT TAX PAYERS YAY!!!!!!!!!!!
It would be nice if the banks could regulate themselves, but the problem is that they haven’t been responsible. Because they haven’t been responsible, the federal government is now having to take much more drastic action to aid the economy.
to what extent should the federal government regulate big business?
They really shouldn’t have to but because morals are relative, regulation is necessary. As for the extent of regulation, the government should only do what is necessary to keep the peace. Even that is relative to each community, however, so those bureaucrats need to have good judgment if they’re to serve the people well.
Was the bail out a good idea?
We’ll see what comes of it. If the money is handled wisely this time around, then it’ll have good results. If the banks err in judgment and squander the money on no-revenue projects, then we’ll end up in an even stronger recession.
Let use this analogy. The banks are in a deep hole. The US government tossed down shovels and pickaxes for all of them to use. They now have three general options: Skillfully plan how they use their tools to carve a staircase out of the hole, dig deeper and hope to get to China, or start killing each other and feeding off of the defeated.
Let’s hope they have the balls to do the first of the three
who should be responsible for costing the tax payer billions of dollars?
The businesses that loaned all that money. They should pay back their debt to the government as soon as possible and get on their people that authorized the failed loans.
please give examples of change that need to take place within the global economic system that will deter this type of mismanagement in the future
Of course… there is always the option of a single worldwide currency… And if we had a single leader, he would have complete control over the world’s economy, preventing any mismanagement other than his own…
…Just thought I’d throw that out there…
Nice, I feel so far both sides, in terms of the bail out, have presented a good understanding of the issues at hand, very impressive. The bail out became necessary in order to sustain the economy and keep the work force employed. It also was necessary to free up money so that it can circulate through out the consumer market as well as provide funding for business loans. BUT we can’t forget how we got into this mess and the parties responsible need to be held accountable for their mismanagement. Hopefully in the long run the funding of these corporate entities will benefit the tax payer through the same high interest yields that the mortgage industry, credit companies, and banks have profited from the consumers. The issue with not bailing out “big business” is the fact that their mismanagement and demise in the end would hurt the working middle class which is the life force of our country and success. In my opinion restructure the ownership dynamic in failed companies and turn over the vested interest to the employee base, allowing them to prosper from their own hard work. Power to the people.
First of all, The federal government shouldnt have much to do with big businesses. These large companies should be responsible and be able to regulate themselves. Like we said in class, if the federal government begins to control our economic standing, things will be more socialistic.
Secondly, I’m a bit split on the bailout issue. I know that it was necessary in order to sustain our economy. However, part of me fells that since Wall Street got itself into this mess that it ought to get itself out of it. Sadly, if we didnt have the bailout, many jobs wouldve been lost and our ecomomic structure wouldve taken a huge nosedive. Throught it all though, a lesson can be learned that no matter how much money you make, no matter how big the company you work for, you have to be prepared to lose it all.
Lastly, The businesses that loaned the money should undoubtedly be responsible for costing taxpayers all this money. They should pay back the goverment and penalize the people that were giving out the loans.
The federal government, as previously stated by many, should not have to regulate big businesses at all. They should be responsible for handling their own money wisely. Unfortunately that’s easier said than done. So I think the federal government does need to regulate big businesses, but not go so far as to control them completely. Maybe those business guys will eventually learn to be more responsible (and less selfish) and eliminate the need for regulation!! Woohoo.
I suppose the bail out was a good idea. I mean, if the government didn’t bail out those businesses, lots of people would be out of a job, which is bad for the economy.
The businesses that got us into this mess are definitely to blame for costing the tax payer billions of dollars. After all, they are the ones who just decided not to do credit checks and give out loads of money to people who couldn’t keep up with the payments.
Hmm… as for change that needs to take place… I’m not sure. I’d say we just need more honest, trustworthy, responsible managers of every business who will take the time to do things right!! Yeah that’s a little far-fetched. But I’m feeling optimistic right now.
Capitalism = beautiful. And…Americans needa take some classes on economics…and probably money management classes too.
As far as government regulation, they just need to oversee where those big bucks are going. Like victoria said, most company heads take more than they really deserve.
I think the bail-outs are good..for now not forever. We don’t want unemployed citizens. Yep. That wouldn’t do well for our taxes. Asinine, but there are lots of people who don’t mind living on welfare >;3
who to blame? incompetent businesses that loaned of course. plus the people around us. *hands you all guns* i mean if we didnt love worldly posessions so much =/ we wouldn’t have to take out loans every time a new ipod (or a sexy new hummer) comes out ^_^ (yeah, i know i exaggerate) xDDD
changes…i liked matthew’s idea but he;s just trying to take over the world….
Business regulation. Watch where the money goes.
Stop consuming so much.
lol..agree we can’t let Matt take over the world. So I vote to regulate Matt’s global domination agenda. Sorry Matt no pie for you.
You’re all just jealous you don’t have any plans for success
Victoria, Reynaldo, Ellie, all of them have even promised to shoot me if I succeed. Such nice friends huh?
“You’re more successful that us, so we’re gonna kill you.”
“You’re more successful than us, so we’re gonna kill you.”
Corrected.
lets stay on task sorry for our brief detour.
I think that this topic goes back to the sustainabilty issue we had in previous discussons. This huge financial melt down happened because of greedy men and women in this wonderful country we call America. We might see a short term change in the way these ceratin buisnesses because we have invested all of this money into these companys but in the long run they will become greedy and get into this situation again its just a matter of time. Sadly, this viscious cycle will continue due to the greed of American Buisness men.
they should not have to regulate big businesses at all because they are worrying about other problems when they cant even take care of their own problems.
The bail out its a combination of a good and bad thing, first of all it saved many people jobs but we did lose a lot of money what can you say were learning from our mistakes.
I think that the banks should be responsible for costing the tax payer billions of dollars.
AMERICA IS IN A BIG FINANCIL MELT-DOWN BECAUSE THE STUPID BANKS GAVE STUPID PEOPLE LOANS THAT THEY COULDNT PAY OFF. NOW AMERICA IS IN DEPT. ONLY IF THE BANK WERE A LITTLE SMARTER WHEN THEY GAVE OUT THESE LAONS WE WOULDNT BE IN THIS SITUATION. THE BANKS DIDNT LOOK AT THEIR CREDIT AND BACK ROUIND. NOW TODAY ITS HARDER TO GET A LOAN, BUT ITS KINDA TOO LATE. I ALSO THINK THE BILL THAT BUSH MADE FOR THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ISNT GONNA WORK. WE NEED MORE MONY THAN THAT TO RUN A COUNTRY. I THINK THERE ISNT ANY SOLUTION TO THIS MATTER. TO ME THIS IS ANOTHER SIGH THAT JESUS IS COMMING BACK. NOW ITS SO HARD TO GET A JOB. IM WORRIED THAT THERE WILL BE ANY JOB OPENINGS IN THE FUTURE FOR ME AND MY KIDS.