How the 'Experts' Missed the Crash: Philosophical Flaws, No Sense of History

Let me put it straight: most economists, policymakers and Wall Street strategists are just not smart enough, that's it! Only idiot or a person without any common sense didn't see anything suspicious in the fact that marginals with bottom low incomes "bought" mansions en mass, drove luxury cars and had bottomless credit lines. But Wall St. CEOs are not stupid. Most of them clearly saw what was going on, but they just didn't give a rat's ass about consequences. They are paid according to quarter's results, and they made enormous amount of money during the "boom". So, they don't care if their banks are broken at the end of the day.

How is it that those closest to the Sun are the ones that can't see the light of day?

Crooks never predict their own downfall.

It is because humans cannot predict the future. Experts make money by being experts. They don't make money by correctly predicting the future. If they knew how to predict the future, they would have made a fortune.

i still think that they should put the brokers and ceos in jail with a very friendly cell mate.

Really? Where and when were these predictions published? Please give us links to dated video clips of these predictions. Peter Schiff predicted these economic events six years ago. He has many such interviews recorded on his website. He was publicly attacked by many economists for his dire predictions, most of which have started to come true, and some of which I hope never come true. Some of those economists have apologized to him. Why is no one apologizing to Galbraith? What proof does he have of his predictions? What exactly did he say would happen, and what would be the final result? I don't see much depth to anything he is saying in these interviews. It all looks like Keynesian apologetics at this point.

I was right to pull out in time

The "experts" knew all along what was coming down. But, they let their greed get in the way, trying to suck up every last penny before all hell broke loose. I say to them, get a job.

If you rearrange the letters in the word Denial you can spell Nailed. something to think about.. ha ha

This Galbriath dude has a Commie father. Both of them predict the doom of capitalism for their entire careers. Once in a while they'll be right for a year or so. Pathetic really!

It could be even simpler. Most economists, policymakers and Wall Street strategists didn't see the crash coming because they made too darn much money. They could afford houses, so they didn't notice the disconnect between what people earned, and what houses cost, a disconnect that was obvious to all reasonable, non-wealthy people.

Pretty simple really, people were spending future returns, leveraged to the hilt, no collateral, no job, no possible way to keep tearing out trees and selling houses etc. Uncle lost all his revenue by giving corporate thieves the right to earn anything with no taxes while bleeding the middle class. Today's new rich think they pay their fair share only because they were never alive or rich when Uncle required wealthy to pay their fair share.

I new it and I barely got out of high school. They new it too. Americans are all being played by the elite and very very wealthy. The rich are getting richer off of our 401 k's and our tax dollars. Anybody could see this coming.

"If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done." Peter Ustinov (1921 - 2004)

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight things was ever made......Kant

tandj7081 - ditto. No regrets. Starting moving to cash in 4q07 and was 90% out by April 2008. Too bad I left a little in, oh well. Cash is King. Will be for another 3 - 5 years too.

POVERTY DON'T STOP FOOLS, GREED ENCOURAGES STUPIDITY....WHO WAS WATCHING THE CROOKS.

I would add that it is such a systemic problem in two ways. One is the short term massive rewards we give each other. By that I mean, the companies pay big bonuses and we reward them by buying the stock based on short term numbers and managers down in the bowels are pushed to "hit the numbers" on a very short term basis. The other side goes to other poster who said "they are not smart enough". I would say rather that they are not systemic enough.. They have been taught to look out for number one and no one has the overall system in mind. That is what the government is supposed to do and did not. here we are. You can not ask a banker to take care of the banking system, they will play generally within the rules, but look to push for advantage. That is how they honestly believe the game is to be played. It is every person for themself and that is a great way to kill a system. We have made the bed.......

Let em eat cake!

One stop is right. they all new it. Americans are being played and stolen from with the buy outs. It is criminal what the government and big business is doing.