Official — Economic Crash Not Computers' Fault 386
itwbennett writes "A 2-year government investigation has found what we pretty much all knew to be true: High speed trading systems were not the cause of the 2008 economic crash. 'The crisis was the result of human action and inaction, not of Mother Nature or computer models gone haywire,' according to a leaked copy of the report's conclusions revealed in the New York Times."
Ban human trading (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Economic Collapse due to Class War (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Economic Collapse due to Class War (Score:5, Interesting)
What's more, our institutions are arranged in such a way that this is the natural outcome. The state has colluded with business since the beginning of the United States; this is how the colony projects were formed. George Washington was the richest man on the continent at the time of the revolution. It is only natural that he (and others like him) set up a system that makes sense from their perspective.
At one point or another, the common man needs to set up a state that works for his interests. Eventually working Americans will grow tired of working to enrich others while they suffer from illiteracy and treatable diseases. They will seize control of the state and industrial structures and finally determine their own future.
The biggest questions are when this will occur and will they have a plan for what to do after it happens, or will it succumb to demagoguery?
Nationalize the Banks (Score:5, Interesting)
If this were happening to any other country on earth the State Department would be leaning heavily on them to nationalize their failing banks. It's happened hundreds of times in the past and will happen again. Now that it's us, we're just too damned proud to suck it up and do what needs to be done.
Re:Economic Collapse due to Class War (Score:5, Interesting)
Indeed. Consider this. The economic losses to banks alone from the Financial crisis are estimated at 4 trillion [nytimes.com]. Total property crime in 2009 adds up to 15 billion [fbi.gov]
That's less than half a percent! When you look at it this way, it's not disproportionate to suggest that the entire law enforcement budget of the United States be spent on bringing these criminals to justice. Yet, in most cases the people responsible for crashing the entire economy get million dollar bonuses for it.
Honestly, the only way I can interpret this is that it's intentional. Our system is not intended to provide justice at all. It exists only to protect the wealthy. We have no justice system in the US, we have an exploitation system.
Re:Economic Collapse due to Class War (Score:4, Interesting)
You put the cart before the horse. Government is just a tool, like a gun. It can be used for good or for evil. Tools do not have motivations of their own. They do what their owners make them do. We own our own government, but we have let it slip out of our control.
Monopolies exist outside of government creation and control. Natural monopoly is only one case where the free market fails. When it does, we need another mechanism. The free market will not stay free on its own. The rich will use their wealth to control and dominate the market, with r without government. In fact, it is easier for them to dominate the market without government regulations.
Our government is a democratic republic. It is hard for the wealthy to maintain control over it. They would rather it simply not exist, or failing that, that it do nothing to protect you, the cattle, from them, the owners. Government is not the problem, the rich controlling the government is the problem.
Re:Economic Collapse due to Class War (Score:5, Interesting)
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_monopoly [wikipedia.org] :
A natural monopoly arises where the largest supplier in an industry, often the first supplier in a market, has an overwhelming cost advantage over other actual and potential competitors. This tends to be the case in industries where capital costs predominate, creating economies of scale that are large in relation to the size of the market, and hence high barriers to entry; examples include public utilities such as water services and electricity. It is very expensive to build transmission networks (water/gas pipelines, electricity and telephone lines); therefore, it is unlikely that a potential competitor would be willing to make the capital investment needed to even enter the monopolist's market.
The reason we do not have more economic activity is that the rich will not invest in American business. Why would they, there is no demand for more products because people are too poor. The rich will gain a greater profit by investing in countries with poor labor, workplace safety, and environmental laws. They can exploit poor countries much more easily than rich countries.
The Fed is controlled by rich banking families, not by the government. It is a "quasi-governmental agency," meaning it is entirely a tool of the rich. Again, government is not the problem, the rich are.
Re:Economic Collapse due to Class War (Score:4, Interesting)
50 years ago that would have allowed you to comfortably raise a family on a single income, with plenty of time to spend with your kids ...
Pushing everyone without the talent to rise to the top 10% into poverty will end up with most of the citizens into the US confined in ghetto's while the few remaining rich live it up in the majority of the country which they own outright ... a new feudalism, except this time they don't need any peasants any more because robots can do the farming.
Is that really the future you want to see?