For years, I've listened to conservatives who have blasted Obama for being a "socialist" or for not having respect for the free market system, etc. At the same time, conservatives (as well as everyone else) are unhappy about high gas prices and want the president to do something about it.
To digress for a moment, I think everyone is aware by now that the former Bush Administration took a mostly hands off approach when it came to their responsibilities to regulate our financial and commodity markets. At least in part, this was because it was their philosophy that the free market system would self-correct etc. In their view, the free market was better equipped than the federal gov't to respond to problems -- and even to abuses. They held this view because they believed that the free flow of information regarding markets would invariably lead to market corrections.
It's a nice theory.
But if fails to take into account the all too human trait known as greed. The financial crisis of 2008 is a perfect example of that because powerful banks gamed the system because of easy credit which led to real estate speculation, liar loans, and the use of unsecured CDSs by the big banks which were little more than unsecured insurance policies on essentially worthless derivatives which were given high valuation ratings by credit rating agencies in order to sell those deriviatives on the secondary market. Thos credit rating agencies weren't even evaluating the risk. They were just selling their services. Look where that got us.
It's a truism that one can't have it both ways. For a market to truly be free doesn't mean that the gov't should not be involved. It means that people have to be able to trust the market if they are to make good decisions. Market manipulation is a threat to that freedom.
Well, look what happens when powerful interests manipulate the so-called free markets. In this particular case, it's the commodity market and the oil traders who made millions by manipulating oil prices. That translated into higher gas prices for all of us.
So, to all the conservatives who blast Obama and his administration for failing to do anything about high gas prices, make a choice.
Do you want the federal gov't to keep it's hands off the market and endure market speculation and abuse that leads to high prices? Or do you want the federal gov't to take a role and protect consumers from this type of abuse.
In cases like this, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=NEW YORK/WASHINGTON
To digress for a moment, I think everyone is aware by now that the former Bush Administration took a mostly hands off approach when it came to their responsibilities to regulate our financial and commodity markets. At least in part, this was because it was their philosophy that the free market system would self-correct etc. In their view, the free market was better equipped than the federal gov't to respond to problems -- and even to abuses. They held this view because they believed that the free flow of information regarding markets would invariably lead to market corrections.
It's a nice theory.
But if fails to take into account the all too human trait known as greed. The financial crisis of 2008 is a perfect example of that because powerful banks gamed the system because of easy credit which led to real estate speculation, liar loans, and the use of unsecured CDSs by the big banks which were little more than unsecured insurance policies on essentially worthless derivatives which were given high valuation ratings by credit rating agencies in order to sell those deriviatives on the secondary market. Thos credit rating agencies weren't even evaluating the risk. They were just selling their services. Look where that got us.
It's a truism that one can't have it both ways. For a market to truly be free doesn't mean that the gov't should not be involved. It means that people have to be able to trust the market if they are to make good decisions. Market manipulation is a threat to that freedom.
Well, look what happens when powerful interests manipulate the so-called free markets. In this particular case, it's the commodity market and the oil traders who made millions by manipulating oil prices. That translated into higher gas prices for all of us.
So, to all the conservatives who blast Obama and his administration for failing to do anything about high gas prices, make a choice.
Do you want the federal gov't to keep it's hands off the market and endure market speculation and abuse that leads to high prices? Or do you want the federal gov't to take a role and protect consumers from this type of abuse.
In cases like this, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=NEW YORK/WASHINGTON
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=NEW YORK/WASHINGTONhttp://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&where1=NEW YORK/WASHINGTON
