However, you cannot see the clear sources of policy and ideological responsibility for this mega-crash, and instead choose to blame a different (though still essentially monetarist) ideology that has had little if any direct influence on such explicitly capitalist free-market policy. Your presumed moral high ground does not even scale the heights of a grassy knoll. And yet you dare to snipe.

On reappraisal keith, it seems to me that your hypocrisy, and your cognitive and analytical rashness and confusion, suggest two possible causes. The first is the widespread cultural decadence that has produced: relativist doubt and bipolar thought processes sponsored to the point of established substitute for learned wisdom; feudal cults of celebrity and individualism, and; “user pays” corruption of health, education, and utilities. The second cause for your latest venture suggests a simpler explanation, amending my initial call about glue: a rush of liquefied cocaine, as long favored by many neolib bubblemakers, usurers and fawning media apologists.

You betcha I'm out to assign blame. Indeed, I want to do more than just point fingers: I want prosecutions for the ongoing thefts, frauds, treacheries and violations of sovereignty that the bail outs and guarantees represent. These cowards and traitors are a clear and present danger, threatening my children's future with hyperinflation, starvation, fascism and other such savagery.

*Thanks Col, I was looking for a definition for "PARASITE".*

Actually Fractelle, counter cyclical or value investing is not
about greed or being a parasite at all, its about common sense
to take advantage of those who were too greedy.

Note the present people who are jumping out of proverbial
windows. It is people who borrowed too much, people with
margin loans, hedge funds, people who bought too many houses,
ie those who wanted to make an easy quid.

Value investing is about letting common sense rule emotions,
not the other way around.

If the house that you live in, was for sale on the market for
a third of its price a few weeks ago, would you consider buying
it? Smart people would certainly consider it and that is exactly
what value investors do. They don't buy when the greedy are buying
up and they consider buying when the greedy run into trouble, as
like now.

Warren Buffett is a classic example of value investing, why would
you call him a parasite? After all, he is donating his wealth to
charity, doing far more for poor people, then you ever will.

Now take BHP for example. Just a few weeks ago it was valued
at 50 Australian $ a share. Now its valued at 25 Australian $
a share and the Australian $ has dropped by 25% or so, so its
value has dropped by 70% in international terms.

Yet the mines are still there, the production is still there,
the machinery is still there. etc. People will still buy
steel, nickel, petroleum etc, just a bit less. Why should anyone
who now buys BHP shares, be called a parasite? They are great
value after all, IMHO anyhow.

Ideology & dogma are comforting in troubled times but they can also have a nasty habit of getting in the way of clear thinking. As the authors of the article rightly suggest - and as most of the commentators seem to agree - ultra-free market ideology has played a major part in bringing us to where we are today. This type of capitalism is what John Gray calls an 'apocalyptic political religion' - Stalinist communism is another variety - a form of utopian belief that might be harmless if enacted on a small scale but which usually proves catastrophic if implemented at a national or global level (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Mass-Apocalyptic-Religion-Utopia/dp/0713999152).

Rather than resorting to futile name-calling and generalities about how 'capitalism has served us so well', we might better begin by looking at what the consequences of the dominant system have been & where it's likely to lead us. Given that we all inhabit one planet, I suggest it's better to do this on a global rather than a national level.

One of the fundamental features of the present system is its dependence on exponential economic growth (see the ‘Earth as a Magic Pudding’ story). Many respectable voices are now saying that to believe that this will be possible in a finite world is to live a dangerous illusion. The latest edition of the New Scientist magazine has a special feature on the need to 'banish the god of growth' that is well worth reading. Living this illusion for the past 150 years has brought us face to face with the time of the ‘Great Acceleration’ – converging, intensifying crises – energy & resource depletion, mass species extinction, runaway climate change, widening inequalities nationally & globally, increasing militarism, and now extreme financial & economic instability. We are actively reducing the life chances of our children and grandchildren.

We desperately need (a) imaginative and bold alternatives – eg steady state economics based on ecological principles, and; (b) the political will to implement them. The first we have, it’s the second that’s in short supply

Yabby

"The global economy is at risk of a crash that would cause intense pain among millions of ordinary people, and not because of a few million homeowners overextending themselves, but rather as a result of a small number of savvy wheeler-dealers rigging an unregulated investment market in such a way that they'd always win no matter who else lost."

These are the parasites to whom I refer - not your average mum and dad investor.

The fact that you are trying to justify this predatory behaviour does not add to your credibility.

"It's certainly true that people got in over their heads during a frenzy of home-buying and refinancing, and it's also true that lawmakers from across the political spectrum have long tried to increase American home ownership -- it's a politically attractive antidote to inequality."

"But the focus on home mortgages misses a crucial point: Through mid-July, banks had written off about $435 billion in bad American mortgages, a drop in the bucket relative to the size of the global economy. There's simply no way that even a major drop in the value of the U.S. housing market could possibly threaten the economic health of most of the planet.

That's where "derivatives" come in. These instruments, which Warren Buffet called "the real Weapons of Mass Destruction," are "worth" about $500 trillion, or roughly 10 times the output of the global economy.

So just what is a derivative? A derivative is a piece of paper that can be bought and sold for real money but isn't attached to a real asset. Its value is simply derived from something tangible -- hence the name. You hear a lot of talk these days about the "real" nuts-and-bolts economy, and derivatives are in essence the exact opposite: They represent an unreal economy, created by financiers in mahogany-paneled office suites in New York and London, and it's this shadow economy that teeters on the edge of collapse today, threatening to bring down much of the real economy with it...."

Cont'd

Cont'd

"In large part, they exist in a shadowy world free of regulation or oversight, they allow investment bankers to repackage risky investments into something that appears to be relatively safe (or at least safer than they really are), and they allow investors to "leverage" their investments -- essentially buying securities that they don't have the money to purchase -- to a far greater degree than traditional investments allow." In large part, they exist in a shadowy world free of regulation or oversight, they allow investment bankers to repackage risky investments into something that appears to be relatively safe (or at least safer than they really are), and they allow investors to "leverage" their investments -- essentially buying securities that they don't have the money to purchase -- to a far greater degree than traditional investments allow." In large part, they exist in a shadowy world free of regulation or oversight, they allow investment bankers to repackage risky investments into something that appears to be relatively safe (or at least safer than they really are), and they allow investors to "leverage" their investments -- essentially buying securities that they don't have the money to purchase -- to a far greater degree than traditional investments allow...

...There are all sorts of derivatives. They are essentially bets -- you can bet that a market will go up, or down, or that a particular company will do well or poorly. You can bet on interest rates going up or down..." anything you like.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/103514/?page=1

This type of speculation IS parasitical - it contributes nothing overall to industry, workers or, as a result, the real economy.

As TOYB says,

Is the political will viable or is it still too controlled by a wealthy elite who care nothing for the average person be they worker or small investor?

*>>The great thing with SPECULATORS in a capitalist market, they work counter-cyclical, buying when the chicken littles are selling and selling when the chicken littles are buying.<<

Thanks Col, I was looking for a definition for "PARASITE".*

Fractelle, that was Col's quote and your response on Wednesday.

Clearly you are confused, for there are many counter-cyclical
investors and speculators out there, playing an important role.
You are lumping in everyone together, including loan sharks who
sell people mortgages etc, corrupt bankers with legit bankers.
Derivatives are something else again and I don't see what they
have to do with the comment, so maybe its just a red herring
from you, or confusion.

Just yesterday I was reading an article in Perth's Sunday Times,
about non bank lenders in Australia still selling people mortgages
at 12-13%, when banks reckon they don't have enough security for
a bank loan. The agents are of course on large commissions.

Now if these people fall over financially down the track, they
will have to carry the responsibility for their actions and to
try to blame it all on those naughty bankers is a bit naive.

Sure there are sharks on Wall St. Duh. So where were the regulators?

Politicians clearly let the people down. What happens in Wall St
is about what is legal, not what is moral. But that is common in
business. Anyone not aware of that, clearly does not understand the
business world, or certainly a good chunk of it.