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If the long term health of the country were a priority for these politico's and bureaucrat's, then I'd agree...but it's always about getting thru the next month, quarter, year and tossing the problem to someone else. I think that explains alot of the popularity of a "spending gone wild"...

I've never used the ignore list, not once...but exGOPer was the first guy I really considered putting on there. Are you honestly telling me that you haven't noticed how many threads he starts (literally, all at once)? Or the fact that Joe had to intervene a week ago when he bumped about...

Thanks for the reply, Piezoe. I'm going to digest it a bit more and revisit it tomorrow. You definitely gave alot of thought to the questions...an interesting read.

Probably true, but the boomers are a "numbers" force that is difficult to contend with. I might be off, but I remember 1948 as being the "mean" of the boomer populus...so 64 going on 65. It's also a heckuva lot of consumer-ism going the way of the dodo bird. Bullet Ben and QE can only...

Well done...two sides of the same coin.

If/when the economy picks up, it's entirely possible that the chronic joblessness will persist. If the public sector shrinks at all (cue laugh track), that will just add to the problem. I still contend that the engineered housing bubble created alot of "temp" jobs and that structural...

Actually, Greenspan was a "hero" to the right, in case you had forgotten. All that free market b.s. that he used to spew. And I didn't ask you...

Yes, an "entrenched elite" and their cronies ruling via their command economy. Destroy the middle class and feed scraps to the impoverished (i.e. a complete takeover by the "state").

Agreed.

Serious question: If Ben Bernanke had been Fed Chairman from 1987-2006, do you believe that he would have done anything differently? Isn't it possible that he is even more "dovish" than Greenspan and would have kept rates just as low (if not lower) for just as long a period...which would have...

It must have been causing you sleepless nights, Don.

The guaranteed pensions are the biggest boondoggle in this entire fiasco. It would be slightly more palatable if treasuries were at their historical norms of 5+%, but in a ZIRP world where even a retiree not receiving a defined benefit plan would have a hard time generating that annual income...

Exactly. Instead the power was consolidated even more acutely since 2008. The biggest I-banks should "strip out" and divest of the many conflicting revenue centers that continue to put depositor's at risk and force the hands of the government to either: continue to bailout the shadow banking...

Are you such a coward that you won't even criticize a member of your own team? I guess that your whole "Ed McMahon" bit of showing up drunk and playing the sidekick is too good a gig to risk losing?

There are hordes of them, but they are mostly self-serving "do as I say, not as I do" types. Think Nancy Pelosi.

Well, I concede that point. There are enough third world countries that would pass the test. On the other hand, how many families would be able to make that adjustment? Years back I considered the sort of thing you speak of, but then the whole "creature comforts" became a drawback. For the...

Cool. Then we should also dismantle the unions and give the business to the lowest bidder. The private sector has been moving this way for decades, but the public sector (as completely inefficient as it always is) continues to run a protection racket and drive up the costs to the taxpayer...

They're already starting to default en-masse on student loans. There is no question they will be the "brokest" generation. Someone explain to me "where and how" the demand will be there once the boomer's are all living off SS and their ZIRP ravaged retirement plans (if those aren't confiscated...

I highly recommend "Little Haiti".

I'm not sure that I completely agree with that premise. A true third world country is one helluva scary place for someone with wealth. Kidnappings, ransom, armed private security forces, "walled in" enclaves, embedding GPS in your children to stave off the kidnapping/ransom epidemics, etc...