Okay, a couple weeks ago I posted about “The Quiet Coup,” by Simon Johnson, a disturbing Atlantic article by a former chief economist at the IMF. His thesis (one which has gotten a lot of attention) is that the government has been gradually co-opted by Wall Street over several decades, and until we devise a greater separation between the two our economic troubles can only be deferred, and the cost can only rise with time. As it happens, Simon Johnson provided an extensive interview on NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday, for those who prefer to listen to his arguments rather than read them.
When I posted, I asked—begged, really—for anyone who might provide a cogent counter-argument to Simon’s article. Well, here you go: Andrew Leonard writes How The World Works, a blog at Salon.com. Originally it was a blog about globalization, but more recently it has almost exclusively covered the world economic crisis and has been an almost daily read for me (I also recommend NPR’s Planet Money). Anyway, Andrew Leonard has posted “Prophets of Doom,” thumbnail profiles and links to 14 economists and others—from Paul Krugman to Ron Paul—whose opinions about the roots of the crisis, its solutions, and their critiques of Obama’s stimulus plan could hardly be more varied. Right now (Thursday afternoon) it is the featured article on the front page of Salon.com.
In my daily travels, I hear basically two opinions about the financial mess: 1) “I trust Obama to get us out of this,” and 2) “The government is spending too much of our money!” Oddly, those who espouse Opinion #2 never seemed to have a word to say during the Bush administration about the massive deficits being piled up, and they seem to have forgotten the first $700 billion of government money was handed to the banks by that administration with no questions asked and no accountability. But that’s neither here nor there. Neither opinion is very satisfying in my mind.
After reading “Prophets of Doom” I don’t have any answers, but at least one thing is clear: Michele Bachman is an idiot addicted to publicity at any cost. Ditto Jim Cramer.
Final word: I almost made it through this post without mentioning teabagging. Snark, snark.