HEADS UP: CSPAN 2 Book TV Right Now - Discussion of "Meltdown" by The Nation.....

[marmar]

Featuring Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffrey Madrick, Barbara Ehrenreich and Bill Fletcher Jr.


http://www.c-span.org/

[JitterbugPerfume]

1. a fascination conversation

[lyonn]

2. Looks like this is very much worth watching

So far Barbara Ehrenreicht is dead on what the economic issues are.

[chimpymustgo]

3. Thank you so much for the heads up!

[chimpymustgo]

4. Stiglitz: homeowners' bankruptcy. We should treat homoeowners at least as well as the bankers.

That got a round of applause.

[xiamiam]

6. no..this is our faults or hadn't you heard?..especially those of us who invested everything

in real estate..our faults, that house values are half ..what we paid for them..our faults because we took the risk..and believed that some oversight was occurring..our faults because house values have not taken such a nosedive across the country because bankers bet against our loans...and made a lot of money doing it...our fault..for taking risks..or at least thats the talking point that the bankers pr firms sent out and even some here still believe

[Danascot]

18. Related: Stiglitz recently in the NY Times

Obama’s Ersatz Capitalism

THE Obama administration’s $500 billion or more proposal to deal with America’s ailing banks has been described by some in the financial markets as a win-win-win proposal. Actually, it is a win-win-lose proposal: the banks win, investors win — and taxpayers lose.

Treasury hopes to get us out of the mess by replicating the flawed system that the private sector used to bring the world crashing down, with a proposal marked by overleveraging in the public sector, excessive complexity, poor incentives and a lack of transparency.

Let’s take a moment to remember what caused this mess in the first place. Banks got themselves, and our economy, into trouble by overleveraging — that is, using relatively little capital of their own, they borrowed heavily to buy extremely risky real estate assets. In the process, they used overly complex instruments like collateralized debt obligations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/opinion/01stiglitz.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1

[kentuck]

5. No! No! No!

I have my hands over my ears! I don't want to hear it! They are anti-Obama!

[marmar]

7. Not at all, really. They're just talking about pushing him in the right direction.....

It's not at all a criticize-Obama forum. They're talking about the incredibly difficult situation he's in.

[kentuck]

9. I know. I was being facetious...

We all support our new President. But some folks take any criticism as being totally against the President.

[marmar]

12. Yup. Constructive criticism is essential........

..... Part of being a good friend is letting friends know when they're screwing up.

[chimpymustgo]

8. Ehrenreich: easy credit was subsitute for decent wages.

[marmar]

10. Eliciting screams by Marmar from the Amen corner......

:applause:


Much of the economic expansion since the Reagan era has been an illusion, conjuring up wealth that doesn't really exist.

[kentuck]

11. Bingo!

That's it! That's the answer to the whole mess.

[lyonn]

13. This is such a good conversation

For instance, the guy said to allow banks to only be "bankers", don't know his exact words, and not run a bank to become super rich in the process. That's so LOGICAL.

[chimpymustgo]

14. Lots of constructive IDEAS for how to improve the ecomony and people's lives.

[chimpymustgo]

15. Bill Fletcher: needs of auto workers have to come first. Says UAW needs to be on frontlines

fighting for workers, not trying to create "partnerships" with management.

[chimpymustgo]

16. The anti-EFCA campaign has taken on the mantle of protecting workers rights. Except they HAVE NO

rights. (Ehrenreich)

[chimpymustgo]

17. Pentagon budget up 77% - outside war costs??? Did I hear that correctly?

Hayes says military contracts are exploding.

[butterfly77]

19. But, they need that money to protect Americans..

as they live on the streets,cars,tent cities:sarcasm: Are they protecting women and children from crime,elements,as some froze to death this winter,someone maybe raped,robbed,etc...They are full of shit and this has been going on for years as they destroy generations of people and tell them they are protecting them..