Ben White: “Europe’s Crisis Is Real, Ours Is Self-Inflicted”

Baloney. Ultimately every crisis is self-inflicted. The Europeans created the Euro, the Americans outsourced 5 million jobs and sustained their bleeding, hollow economy with a huge bubble. Now we all have to face the music, except, of course, the financial tycoons.

Cut deficit by 1.2 trillion over 10 years even though there is another $1.6 trilllion added to our deficit this year. We are in for some major correction in markets and standard of living. Watch the dollar become worthless.

These arguments about supply side vs stimulating demand could bear a little rational thought. When you really analyze it, neither supply nor demand can progress very far without the other. Re-invigorating the economy will come slowly in a stepwise fashion and not by over-reaching on either side.

Demand should not be overstimulated with borrowed money; in the long term that's counterproductive because that money has to be repaid, with interest. The consumer is not going to spend when there's a risk that his resources will be cut off or because the government hands out a one-time wad of money. Likewise, businesses are not going to hire and spend to overproduce if they don't forecast a demand or they suspect hidden costs will add to their burden. Forcing the left foot to get too far ahead of the right won't get us anywhere. Bottom line: government needs to stop trying to force the issue, stay out of the way, and let the market work its magic.

Yesterday we said, "what's a few million to the budget, only dandruff",
Today we say, "what's a few billion to the budget, only dandruff",
Tomorrow we'll say, "what's a few trillion to the budget, only dandruff".
If we keep this up, after tomorrow we'll all be taking a scalping so we'll lose our heads with our hair and we won't need dandruff shampoo anymore.

Ben White: “Europe’s Crisis Is Real, Ours Is Self-Inflicted”

regardless of what side your'e on or who you want to blame,
no one can argue with that statement, however ...
I feel they're all real and all self-inflicted

Time for everyone to vote for independent leadership, the two party's who have created all these failed policy's should be thrown under the bus......

Printing more money at this point causes more harm than benefit. We have rode that horse till it is close to death. Lets attack the real problem which is we the American consumer are sending too much of our paychecks overseas to create jobs there. USA needs to tax products and services created with foreign labor but sold here. This will force businesses worldwide that want to sell it here to produce it here. There is no other workable answer. If we stay on this path almost all jobs will move overseas in the next 10 years. The buyer demands the lowest price and business must deliver or die.

No one is addressing demographics as a big factor in the world wide downturn (and won't until it's really too late). Unfortunately the concept is beyond the mental capability of many of our politicians. It's much easier to whip up the electorate's concern about trivial controversial religious and ideological issues or put the blame on a particular individual, rather than addressing a key issue.

All these pundits should be forced to disclose what their stake is in the outcome.

The crisis was self inflicted over the past decade. Now it's a debate over default
sooner, or later and speed of inflation.

I have something to say about the Market. It seems that many are bemoaning the fact that it is unstable. My question is why does it even exist? Investment was set up for businesses to raise capital in order to produce a product. We now have the technology to directly invest in the business of our choice without the intervening market. That might not have been the case 100 years ago, but it is today. May I suggest that the market and prices will stabilize if people quit playing with it? When you make a KILLING in the market, you are taking money from another individual. It is not free money. It comes from somewhere. Probably from widows and orphans or working people whose pensions are invested there. The market produces no product but chaos in the financial world. Playing is right, and these people are playing with our economy and our children's future. Just exactly why are we allowing them to do that? The Market is no longer necessary to anyone but the people who parasitically make a living by manipulating it.

Ever notice that the equivalent to a million dollars suddenly became a billion dollars? How could that happen with very low inflation and the cost of living increases being reported by our government as being near zero?

Everyone wants to cut spending. OK we know where it comes from the left, so let's look for the Republican "Pork Barrel" spending. Remember, that's something like ,"i give you a little somethin and you give me a little somethin somethin" Can we all look for that wasteful spending and meet back here tomorrow. ------PS I know, I know you need that to create profits, opps my bad ,I meant job.

Right, you can buy a home in the US for what it costs you to buy a garage in Europe... Propaganda.

Come on people things are as they have always been. The powerful (read big money) rule the jungle; it has been that way since the beginning and will remain so. Big money owns our government, directs our national agenda with advertizing, political propaganda and scare tactics via "news" media, and is reinforced by the magical thinking of religious fools. Until we clear the system of the influence of money and the irrational musings of the "believers" we will remain stuck where we are today. The daily crises will change but the underlying problem will remain the same.....

Lets start with cutting subsidy's to billion dollar corporations and farmers. close the tax loopholes and break up the too big to fail banks. that would be a good place to start.

You mean that starting two endless wars at a cost of three trillion, while cutting taxes for the rich [that "only" cost 2.7 trillion] was a bad idea?

For the record, Social Security is not an entitlement. It is money that I paid and my employer paid in lieu of salary into the system. Are all you people who think it needs to be eliminated planning on paying back my money? This is not the stock market where you get to steal it legally without penalty. This is money people were forced to pay into the system. Do you really think we are going to sit quietly by and let you steal it? You want a debt crisis. Get yourself in the position of having to pay back what was paid into social security. I am not going to let you steal my money.

His last comment on the debt reduction......"I see no progress at all". What else would we expect from Washington?? DUH!!

Self inflicted by Greed. A human condition. And Greed is not isolated to any particular party, individual, business, religion or member of congress.