Go to PDF Version | Go to Recent Issues
To save time in the future, you may select one of the preferences below. You may update your eIBD preferences at any time by going into My IBD and selecting Update Your eIBD Preferences.
Set Web-Based Version as Default Set PDF Version as Default Set Recent Issues as Default
Get QuoteSearch Site
Daily Graphs Online
Geithner: Recovery of some bailed out businesses is “deeply unfair” to average Americans. AP View Enlarged Image
Economy: A major problem this administration has is it continually downplays the power of free markets to right themselves. That was apparent in remarks made by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Thursday.
Speaking on NBC's "Today" show, Geithner said the bailouts and buyouts and other aid to companies were "deeply unfair" — especially given the way it's played out.
True enough, today many companies are reporting booming earnings. Even banks look healthier.
Average joes don't look so good. More than 8 million have been laid off since the recession began in December 2007, and unemployment at 9.7% is "terribly high and is going to stay unacceptably high for a very long time," Geithner said.
"Just because this was the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a huge amount of damage was done to businesses and families across the country," he said. "(I)t's going to take us a long time to heal that damage."
He goes on to blame risk-taking by businesses for the country's ills. "It's the government's job ... to do a better job of restraining that kind of risk-taking," he said.
He's wrong. The economy is taking a long time to heal because of too much government regulation — and an almost willful misreading of the causes of this slowdown. Risk-taking isn't at fault — government ruining once-healthy housing and financial markets is.
Yes, businesses took big risks. It's what they do. But the risks they took were influenced by the federal government's meddling regulation of the housing and banking industry.
Last year, a $700 billion corporate bailout and $862 billion stimulus failed to create any jobs at all. As part of that effort, the U.S. government took a 60% stake in GM and 10% in Chrysler, and began bossing Wall Street CEOs around and controlling their pay.
Any wonder the economy's recovery is slow?
Add to that the fear of massive tax hikes coming from ObamaCare, which will cost $2.3 trillion over 10 years, and the the possibility of a trillion-dollar cap-and-trade bill to attack climate change, and it's a wonder that any company is active at all.
If companies are recovering, it's because faced with dwindling business they cut debt, fired workers and hunkered down. Last year's stimulus did little to help, but it did enlarge our debt by more than $1 trillion. Many companies had the bailouts shoved down their throats — kind of like how ObamaCare has been shoved down ours.
Instead of criticizing, Geithner and his policymaking pals should learn the clear lesson: The wisdom of government bureaucrats is never as great as millions of free minds operating in a free market.
Diplomacy: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is often described as sidelined from the big jobs in foreign policy, given her political rivalry with the president. But to look at the areas where she is active shows a lot of messes. As if it were not bad enough that the Obama administration is ...
Differences of opinion and ideology, passionately held, drive the opposition against ObamaCare. Yet to shut down the effort to overturn ObamaCare's unpopular assault on freedom and prosperity, the left resorts to a frequently employed tactic. They and their media co-conspirators find whack jobs ...
Economy: A major problem this administration has is it continually downplays the power of free markets to right themselves. That was apparent in remarks made by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Thursday. Speaking on NBC's "Today" show, Geithner said the bailouts and buyouts and other aid ...
Iran: March ended with the raised possibility that new international sanctions will be pressed against Tehran in response to its nuclear weapons ambitions. Sounds promising. Yet it's unlikely that anything will change. The Iranian government has been rolling toward nuclear weapons capability ...
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The coming battle for control of this ancient crossroads city will be the toughest challenge of the war in Afghanistan — not because it will be bloody, necessarily, but because it will require the hardest item for U.S. commanders to deliver, which is an improvement ...
Posted By: Old Navy(120) on 4/1/2010 | 10:36 PM ET
WIth this administration anything business does is a big risk. Now the guy who forgot to pay taxes things that they have to curb success. That fits....
Posted By: Bkahuna(5) on 4/1/2010 | 9:00 PM ET
"once-healthy housing and financial markets" Smart bankers et als built this to fail. Pushing hokey mtgs to people who didn't see it. How could they when the "smarts" say they couldn't see it coming either? Ha Ha! Fin. mkts built on lies too. "businesses took big risks. It's what they do." Come on. Biz take calculated risks. The other is vegas and lotto tix. Dem. or Rep. it started long time ago but all you do is rant from the right. BTW TG was one who shoulda seen this coming. GWB too. Liars
Posted By: pmoke(45) on 4/1/2010 | 8:17 PM ET
Nice thoughts, but you're dreaming if you think they will in any way curb their own delight in meddling.
To participate in Community areas, please Sign In or Register
Register
Overconfidence in your investing skills can lead to fatal mistakes.
Get QuoteSearch Site
Read Full Article »
