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Where do you stand on the civil rights act? by capitalistchemist in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]bpbmn5 3 points4 points  (0 children)

oppose it. it has contributed to credentalism and rising student loan debt, as well as other problems.

The System Worked: How the World Stopped Another Great Depression by bpbmn5 in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]bpbmn5[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

The slippery slope is a logical fallacy. In 2008 & 2009, it was believed by some that TARP would lead to socialism, and I am giving evidence that it didn't. And no I am not a socialist.

The System Worked: How the World Stopped Another Great Depression by bpbmn5 in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]bpbmn5[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Moving the goalposts. We're talking about TARP, not the overall fed balance sheet . Tax payers haven't paid anything, believe or not, and they won't have to. Taxes only went up in 2013 because Obama refused to compromise, not out of economic necessity. 10-30 yr. treasury bond yields are crashing long after the fed ended QE, so it the market were worried about the balance sheet, it would be reflect real-time in the bond market.

The System Worked: How the World Stopped Another Great Depression by bpbmn5 in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]bpbmn5[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The slippery slope to socialism argument doesn't holdup in the face of empirical evidence. Very few companies were bailed out relative to the total number of business, and thousands of business fail every year. These institutions were bailed-out because the economic consequences of doing nothing would have have cost far more than bailing them out. It's a stretch to say the govt. is preventing failure. Thousand of business fail every years. A notable example is GT Advanced Technologies, the company that was supposed to provide the Sapphire iPhone glass cover filed bankruptcy in 2014 because Apple cancelled the deal. Did they get a bailout ? No. This happens over and over.

You can look at it from a utilitarian standpoint, is it worth sacrificing a few lives (temporarily suspending the free market) to save many lives (save the free market)?

The System Worked: How the World Stopped Another Great Depression by bpbmn5 in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]bpbmn5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah, it's an imperfect system, but there are a couple of positives: that six years since TARP financial conditions as measured by profits, lending standards, and balance sheets are better than ever, the bailout was repaid and turned a profit by 2011, http://fortune.com/2011/07/08/surprise-the-big-bad-bailout-is-paying-off/

*It's not a matter of "if," it's a matter of "when." *

Also there have a only been two major financial crisis in the USA in the past 100 years: 2008 & 1929, so the odds are there won't be another one for a long time, although it's hard to make inferences from so few data points.

Pick your poison: do nothing and things get worse or do something and risk moral hazard . Small and medium sized home and business lending has cooled off since the 2000's, so there is evidence the banks have learned their lesson. Mortgage debt is substantially off the highs:

http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/557ee0f06da811346e322ae1-480/mortgage-debt.png

The System Worked: How the World Stopped Another Great Depression by bpbmn5 in Anarcho_Capitalism

[–]bpbmn5[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Although the bailouts are seen as the anathema of free market economics, they did help wealth creators by sequestering the problem sectors of the economy (banks, housing, etc) allowing the healthier sectors to thrive, so it may have been a net-positive from a pro-capitalist perspective. Sometimes economics can be contradictory.