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Old 03-10-2009, 05:46 AM   #4
tw
Read? I only know how to write.
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 11,933
Quote:
Originally Posted by classicman View Post
But its crystal clear to me that congress is on autopilot and its just business as usual for them. There is no crisis, no catastrophe.
I believe it shook them out of their boots when Bernanke and Paulsen said do nothing and the entire economy will collapse. Congress' problem has more to do with direction. They could respond quickly to the crisis but could not agree on a direction. Very little history exists for how to fix an economy like this. Almost all facts come from overseas meaning most Americans (and Congressmen) do not appreciate the value of those lessons. Even the definition of 'systemic risk' is arbitrary - maybe nothing more than wild speculation. Can anyone really say AIG in bankruptcy would destroy the economy? Congress has no direction because no one really *knows* what (at their level) works.

Worse is an apparent lack of appreciation for a major problem. Accounting (the spread sheets) are still to often a pack of lies. There appears to be no interest in restoring domestic accounting standards to something that more resembles honesty. No, that would not fix the economy. But the elimination of Enron accounting is essential for our log term economic stability. That one objective should be obvious. As of yet, no sign that Congress wants to touch it.
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