tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post2641533428313783861..comments2023-12-01T11:40:00.045+11:00Comments on Dikkii's Diatribe: Brutal carnage!Dikkiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897381809885423712noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-125887951972570822008-09-24T20:46:00.000+10:002008-09-24T20:46:00.000+10:00Hah - good call MB. The current crisis demonstrate...Hah - good call MB. The current crisis demonstrates the end of capitalism in exactly the same way that the collapse of the USSR signalled the end of socialism. (i.e. Not at all, except to deluded ideologues.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-35784199757025273202008-09-24T16:47:00.000+10:002008-09-24T16:47:00.000+10:00Dunc: Agree 100%. It’s sad, but it’s also very ve...Dunc: <BR/><BR/>Agree 100%. It’s sad, but it’s also very very true.<BR/><BR/>MB:<BR/><BR/>Nice to hear from you again. I don’t know why: It’d certainly be fun hearing right wing radio shock jocks falling out of their skins to explain how capitalism is very much alive and you could be living in communist Russia or some other argumentum ad absurdam.Dikkiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07897381809885423712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-39595356308236678352008-09-24T04:02:00.000+10:002008-09-24T04:02:00.000+10:00Why can't we call this the "Death of Capitalism"? ...Why can't we call this the "Death of Capitalism"? <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall#The_Fall.2C_1989" REL="nofollow">History ended</A> 19 or so years ago. Right?<BR/><BR/>{rollin'eyes}Michael Bainshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13734972725056899460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-32350179727425276722008-09-24T01:04:00.000+10:002008-09-24T01:04:00.000+10:00I would disagree that nobody learned from previous...I would disagree that nobody learned from previous crises - they just didn't learn the lessons one might hope. Instead, they learned that you can make a fortune provided you have no ethics and don't care who gets hurt.<BR/><BR/>Most of the <I>individuals</I> involved have acted in an economically rational way - they have made vast fortunes with very little <I>personal</I> risk. The fact that they've bankrupted their companies and wiped out my pension fund along the way is none of their concern.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-78011394702684436812008-09-23T13:47:00.000+10:002008-09-23T13:47:00.000+10:00I'd forgotten about Bell and Dow. As it happens, ...I'd forgotten about Bell and Dow. As it happens, I'm reading this history of the oil industry at the moment, and it had a great section on Standard Oil and John D Rockefeller.<BR/><BR/>SO did have competition. How the hell did Fannie and Freddie get the degree of market dominance that they did?Dikkiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07897381809885423712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-8103293089971161652008-09-23T12:44:00.000+10:002008-09-23T12:44:00.000+10:00Man, am I glad I got out of doo-hickeys when I did...Man, am I glad I got out of doo-hickeys when I did. It's dooveries for me from now on...;)<BR/><BR/>Don't forget Bell and AT&T... And DOW would be a contender now too, if it still happened...<BR/><BR/><I>privatise the profits, socialise the losses</I><BR/><BR/>Ain't that the truth...Plonkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01552546816593027504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-29062435983647760882008-09-23T00:29:00.000+10:002008-09-23T00:29:00.000+10:00The worst part about this, is that it's classic ag...The worst part about this, is that it's classic agrarian socialism: privatise the profits, socialise the losses. I'm pretty much convinced, now: Companies that are too big need to be broken up.Dikkiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07897381809885423712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-15884391894812692952008-09-23T00:10:00.000+10:002008-09-23T00:10:00.000+10:00It is amazing that they have the stones to suggest...It is amazing that they have the stones to suggest that the treasury pony up the money with no further interference. "We know what we are doing. Hand over the trillion dollars and STFU." It's surreal. Neither any lesson nor humility will be learned here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-87921607281966704632008-09-22T23:26:00.000+10:002008-09-22T23:26:00.000+10:00G'day Taj, To be fair, is anyone (anyone, that is...G'day Taj, <BR/><BR/><I>To be fair, is anyone (anyone, that is, even remotely informed and not prone in irrational fear) really saying this the death of Capitalism?</I><BR/><BR/>The Age carried this headline in an article last week. At least I think that it was The Age.<BR/><BR/><I>All I can see is "death of laissez faire" and such, which I think is closer to the truth.</I><BR/><BR/>I agree. But...<BR/><BR/><I>I might be a bit pessimistic here, in practical terms I don't think much will change, as the moneybags have too much lobbying power in the US and will continue to torpedo any serious attempts at regulation.</I><BR/><BR/>You're also quite right about this. We've already seen about the only great piece of work the Cheney administration came out with, Sarbanes-Oxley, get watered down to "ineffectual" status.<BR/><BR/><I>And of course the same people will ensure that the US's position at the WTO and at the international trade policy level will continue to push for deregulation in emerging markets as prerequisites for doing business with the US, ie do as we say not as we do.</I><BR/><BR/>And that's about right, too. However, we were already in the process of seeing the world's financial capital shifting to London from NYC before the crisis unfolded. I think that this has just about sealed the deal.Dikkiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07897381809885423712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115935.post-63428267969808046282008-09-22T22:17:00.000+10:002008-09-22T22:17:00.000+10:00To be fair, is anyone (anyone, that is, even remot...To be fair, is anyone (anyone, that is, even remotely informed and not prone in irrational fear) really saying this the death of Capitalism? All I can see is "death of laissez faire" and such, which I think is closer to the truth. And not even a very practical death, but as a sort of "lost the moral authority" kind of faux-death in the minds of more socialist-minded people.<BR/><BR/>I might be a bit pessimistic here, in practical terms I don't think much will change, as the moneybags have too much lobbying power in the US and will continue to torpedo any serious attempts at regulation. And of course the same people will ensure that the US's position at the WTO and at the international trade policy level will continue to push for deregulation in emerging markets as prerequisites for doing business with the US, ie do as we say not as we do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com