joes

http://stafura.blogspot.com/
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8 Comments

    • Sun Nov 9th 14:40 PM | Rating: +4 -4
      Commented on:
      The Reagan Counterrevolution
      Reagan rode the back of the Kennedy investment in government driven by the large investments in NASA.

      He grew debt at an incredible rate and increased government spending in the areas least productive to the overall economy, created policies that led to a smaller group getting more of the rewards, he was an emperor with no cloths.

      Obama is going to need to spend, at the worst of times, after the failed Republican policies have mortgaged the future so that Wall Street Barons could have ice sculptures that peed alcohol and buy preserved sharks for $10 million dollars while people are losing homes and jobs.

      CDO's and Mortgaged backed securities are what passed for innovation instead of the things that came out of the government programs of the 70's, PC,s, space business, the Internet, all paid for originally by tax dollars. They paved the way for the "Reagan expansion and he frittered it away like most people that inherit wealth.

      The only question is whether the foolish ideological madness that made it acceptable to start a war that benefitted a sitting Vice President more than anyone else has dug us into a hole too deeply.

      For now I will maintain hope and confidence in the American People and the Global community that we will dig deep, even sacrifice where we need to and emerge as the great country we once were.
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    • Fri Oct 31st 10:46 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
      AIG should have been left to fail with Lehman's, McCain talks about Obama spreading the wealth while the policies that he supports provides Wall Street with our cash.

      Add to that the Wall Street statement that the chance of no bonuses is "slim to none" makes this the biggest robbery in the history of our country.

      If Wall Street wants to give bonuses, then give us our money back, Greenberg should be in jail and the American people's money should get the same deal as Warren Buffet, super preferred interest paying stock.

      Buffet will be on Obama's team and that is the best reason to vote for him.
      View article »
    • Thu Oct 16th 15:27 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Destruction of Wealth?
      It is interesting to see the theme of the "Great Depression" woven into so many postings. There are two parts of that story, what was lost that is the current focus (correctly and understandably) and what is so hard to feel in these times, what will be gained by the transformation of our economy and as a result our society.

      So many posts and articles also talk about how the "wealth bubble" was built on an unsustainable model, where the selling of "packaged" money was worth more than "unpackaged" money, with the truth being that it is until someone has to open the package.

      Understanding this so quickly after the fall should help us to attack the root causes of the systems problems and redesign something that works better, not perfectly because that is impossible, but something that is measurably (by our current almost certain to be flawed but better than guessing methods).

      On thing to consider is that the last recovery, the New Deal, was built on a set of firm principals that spread the opportunity, which spread the wealth through a more palatable manner than welfare payments. Jobs, training and yes, even loans were used to allow businesses to thrive.

      Now that model would be hard to replicate, but not impossible, because new businesses that can support people need to look for new ways to create value to present to the market. Whereas corner stores and restaurants used to work at local ownerships level that is no longer true.

      Regulations and restrictions could work but that would be the wrong application of Government, innovation into other things that people can do, maybe some based on the cheap communications and data portability enabled by the Internet.

      What ever the case it will require an entire country (and world) of people that care enough about the future and other people else to think about the long view, if we get that right the old New Deal will pale in comparison to the New New Deal.
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    • Tue Sep 23rd 16:05 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Making Sense of the TED Spread
      SO what do we do, give the keys to the treasury to the guy who was a key player in the cast of characters robbed it over the past three decades of free market madness.

      You know what the markets hate more than uncertainty, the lack of trust, which is the basis for the scant amount of certainty that the market can ever deliver. Until at least a dozen guys are in jail, maybe Paulson among them, there will be no trust, ergo, no business.
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    • Mon Sep 15th 12:29 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      A Look at US Debt Levels as a Percentage of GDP
      The position that there is something wrong with Social Security and Medicare is misguided, the problem is political not fiscal, there are plenty of studies that show that SS is more solvent than most Government programs. Medicare is a victim of our phony "market-based health care system that has resulted in Americans paying 2-3X the rest of the developed world for lower quality health care. Both candidates know this and plan on making changes.

      The money for our future is in the Defense Department budgets (over $1 Trillion a year and 12 criminals still knocked the towers down), once enough Americans crawl out from under their desks in Kansas and the rest of America they will see the light, impossible where there heads are positioned currently.
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    • Fri Aug 1st 14:01 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
      Splitting up SM and FM into private units to sell to the private markets assumes that there will be somebody to serve the tax payers best interest during the process. There has been a real shortage of concern for the tax payers during this debacle. Having Paulson, one of the true robber barons of our time heading the deal could be a reason. Having a group of entitled Ivy types telling us what they need to do to save us from what they were responsible for in the first place could be another problem.
      View article »
    • Thu Jul 31st 12:05 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Where We Should Be Investing: The Paradox of Thrift
      Great article, thank you for your views, it points to the corruption and mistakes made since the 80's on deregulation. Once banking became a private club run by a rather narrow set of views provided by the Ivy league schools of entitlement investing in real industries became a thing of the past. CDO and other packaged securities are the same as "three card monty". That banking fees have become a greater part of the GDP than traditional banking gains from productive loans shows how far we have drifted from any sustainable path.
      View article »
    • Sun Jul 20th 22:58 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Amazon: New Kindle To Tap $5.5 Billion Textbook Market?
      There are a number of very good reasons to move onto a platform like the Kindle for textbooks. First is the reduction of the cost of paper books and the elimination of the resource intense process of printing books. While there will be books for as long as we can think about, the cost of printing books often enough to keep them current is too high relative to the e-Book alternative.

      The screens will be amazing and finally will provide as good of an experience as printed books. The ability to update and correct an electronic book is a strong advantage for eBooks over printed copies.

      It will evaporate some businesses, but being from Pittsburgh it was clear long again that businesses are like species and they are all endangered. The networking capability will allow peer to peer to take on new tasks, tutoring, collaboration, and students will do things that we can't imagine.

      The good news is that the savings and higher level of performance from the eBooks will provide an educational advantage at a time that we really need one.
      View article »
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