Magic numbers: retirement/investment coffers

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As ugly as they might have been, TARP and the Wall Street bailout were successes.

I am annoyed that even now detractors are saying, "Big help that was! Let's try cutting spending instead." Without considering that it could've been even worse, but we won't know because we don't have a control to compare to.

I've been meaning to ask a staunch fiscal conservative, "If cutting taxes makes the economy grow, what happened since the Bush tax cuts?" I'm aware that, like my above statement, this decision does not operate in a bubble, but I'd like to hear a rationale from the same people who knee-jerked against TARP.

Let me clarify my previous comments about TARP.

It was definitely better than not doing anything at all BUT with hindsight it seems too much of the money went to propping up company balance sheets rather than say, helping people keep their homes by restructuring loans etc. Too little was targeted towards direct mortgage relief, job creation and stimulating consumption.

Krugman says it better than me.

Putting it another way the stimulus package needed to go early, go hard, go households.

(Australia's stimulus package was later described by a nobel laureate as "one of the most impressive economic policies I've seen, ever")


Instead the US TARP "went late, went soft and went boardrooms..."

I'm not sold on TARP and the bailout. As said, we have no control. It helped Wall Street and now they are sticking it to the little guy (in part through loudmouth Tea Party advocates … anybody remember just where Rick Santelli's rant took place? hint… wasn't in the stockyards). But W$ may be sealing their own fate with this… they may be needing a bailout oh… middle of next week maybe? Nobody thinks the market's calming down anytime soon and B of A and some of these other banks could be weak. There's not as much liquidity in the system as there should be. And that means that things could go down … fast … 

For those who think China will save the world economy:

http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/601007/n/China-s-Ghost-Cities

Even the most outspoken proponents of capitalism are in doubt; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8655106/Im-starting-to-think-that-the-Left-might-actually-be-right.html

Never a dull moment.

I'm curious why my employer's stock ended the day with a 10.38% drop. I don't see any news to explain it.

Maybe there's a fear that they'll be stuck with a lot of WebOS devices.

Heh, no. That would be the client, not my employer.

Ah, forgot about the one remove. Still, sorry to hear about your mysterious re-evaluation.

Hmmm. There must be a lot of cashed-up investors in Australia waiting for a "bargain." Every time the All Ords drops below a key number (4200 and 4000 seem the rough numbers) it bounces back up as people snap up "bargains."

I remember people talking about "bargain" shares in early 2008 when the All-Ords was 6000 though.

I wish I'd convinced my Dad to cash out last year but no, he wanted to "wait & see..."

DPBD!

Sickening...

I agree Tony. I think we and other countries would be better off without 'wall street' and some of the things they do. Can't there be an open source money/currency et al?

There is. It hasn't been working out all that well.

I more-real one. :)

Well, there's this. It's an open currency... you can stick your arm through it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creditanstalt

This phrase is being thrown around a bit today...

DPBD!

I smell an enron-sized rat...

TPBD!

http://www.smh.com.au/business/toxic-rembrandts--ratings-agency-sandbagged-20111004-1l71d.html

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According to an email found in pre-trial discovery, one employee of S&P chided another, writing, “You are the wuss for bending over in front of bankers and taking it… You rate something AAA, when it is really A-?”

I hope the ratings agencies have DEEP pockets

Oh, and on a tangent:

Europe's problems summed up

Pythagorean theorem: 24 words
Lord’s prayer: 66 words
Archimedes’ Principle: 67 words
Ten Commandments: 179 words
Gettysburg address: 286 words
US Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words
US Constitution with all 27 Amendments: 7,818 words
EU regulations on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words

This bailout superfund that they've announced the other day (the EFSF) is relying for its leverage on the very financial instrument that lead to the 2008 crisis: Collateralised Debt Obligations...

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_people_vs_banks/?cl=1303920774&v=10566