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Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

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Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#21

Post by javert »

noad wrote: post #14
cs702 wrote: post #6

This reads like something that normally would be written about an underdeveloped country, which, lacking established institutions and rule of law, is run by a kleptocracy for the kleptocracy. Yet we're talking about the United States. It's embarrassing for the country on so many levels. Unbelievable.

I saw an armored Mercedes car on the streets of Denver for the first time a couple years ago. I have seen dozens of them in Africa and Latin America, but it was a really depressing moment for me when I first recognized that in my home town. I think that people who are not well traveled are not even aware of this slide, but we have been moving towards becoming a highly stratified developing nation for 20 years now. Th…

I concur, but coming from a more historical/legal perspective.

The U.S. has always fundamentally been like the Central and South American countries, just with a thin layer of Lockean rule of law and property rights.

That layer is quickly eroding. The U.S. will become more like Mexico or Argentina (for instance) over time.

Love him or hate him, Trump did a lot to advance this timeline. You can see that his style is much more reminiscent of Central and South American politics. His followers want to replace the Lockean style with a political system built around a strong central personality.

Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#22

Post by 1MachineElf »

vmception wrote: post #2

This is the same whether it is mortgage backed securities or treasuries too. I would consider this faux controversy because exactly what kind of person would be a better steward of these decisions. The "revolving door" is funny to see how ridiculous it can get, but really who of the citizenry would be better prepared to steward these organizations? What exactly would the pedigree of that person look like? The Fed was…

Sometimes the truth hurts, e.g. the downvotes on this.

Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#24

Post by arolihas »

1MachineElf wrote: post #22
vmception wrote: post #2

This is the same whether it is mortgage backed securities or treasuries too. I would consider this faux controversy because exactly what kind of person would be a better steward of these decisions. The "revolving door" is funny to see how ridiculous it can get, but really who of the citizenry would be better prepared to steward these organizations? What exactly would the pedigree of that person look like? The Fed was…

Sometimes the truth hurts, e.g. the downvotes on this.

Muzinich may be right for this role but he should still properly divest his interests ethically.

Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#25

Post by ghufran_syed »

Couldn't you write the same thing about every government worker with a [retirement plan that contains stocks](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrift_Savings_Plan)? - that the actions they took led to personal financial gain? Note that the same was also true for every member of the Obama administration in the bailouts of 2008-2010.

We should care about when government action directly picking individual winners and losers in the economy leads directly to financial benefit for government individuals who made those choices - whereas this seems more analogous to complaining that government action improving the air quality in a city helped a government official's asthmatic child breathe better - why is it a problem unless the benefits are specific to his child while the costs are borne by the broader population? That certainly doesn't seem to be the case here.

Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#26

Post by thoughtstheseus »

jgalt212 wrote: post #4

These articles would have a lot less bit if Congress were looking after the working man as nearly as well as Treasury and The Fed are looking after the investor class. My beef is not necessarily with the investor class, and its protectors, but I believe the rest of us need someone effective looking after our interests as well.

This is true. The fed telegraphed its move into corporate credit for a long time. Many current and former high ranking fed officials said the market was a problem long before and no one did anything until there was a problem. The Fed is just good at its job, the byproduct of that is that people keep asking them to do more and more when they should not.

Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#27

Post by rthomas900 »

javert wrote: post #21
noad wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw an armored Mercedes car on the streets of Denver for the first time a couple years ago. I have seen dozens of them in Africa and Latin America, but it was a really depressing moment for me when I first recognized that in my home town. I think that people who are not well traveled are not even aware of this slide, but we have been moving towards becoming a highly stratified developing nation for 20 years now. Th…

I concur, but coming from a more historical/legal perspective. The U.S. has always fundamentally been like the Central and South American countries, just with a thin layer of Lockean rule of law and property rights. That layer is quickly eroding. The U.S. will become more like Mexico or Argentina (for instance) over time. Love him or hate him, Trump did a lot to advance this timeline. You can see that his style is mu…

A Mexican friend, long living in the USA, told me how much the Trump family reminded him of corrupt elite families in Mexico: "The dad thinks he's above the law and constantly cheats on his wife. The sons wear their hair slicked back and boast about how good they are at business even though they've never done anything in life but sponge off their dad's companies. And the daughters think they are glamorous fashion models and dream of owning a lifestyle brand."

Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#28

Post by gorbachev15 »

javert wrote: post #21
noad wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw an armored Mercedes car on the streets of Denver for the first time a couple years ago. I have seen dozens of them in Africa and Latin America, but it was a really depressing moment for me when I first recognized that in my home town. I think that people who are not well traveled are not even aware of this slide, but we have been moving towards becoming a highly stratified developing nation for 20 years now. Th…

I concur, but coming from a more historical/legal perspective. The U.S. has always fundamentally been like the Central and South American countries, just with a thin layer of Lockean rule of law and property rights. That layer is quickly eroding. The U.S. will become more like Mexico or Argentina (for instance) over time. Love him or hate him, Trump did a lot to advance this timeline. You can see that his style is mu…

Politics is downstream of culture, and as the demographics of the country shift more towards those of Mexico or Argentina (for instance) we should not be surprised when our political climate reflects that.

Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#29

Post by cosmie »

noad wrote: post #14
cs702 wrote: post #6

This reads like something that normally would be written about an underdeveloped country, which, lacking established institutions and rule of law, is run by a kleptocracy for the kleptocracy. Yet we're talking about the United States. It's embarrassing for the country on so many levels. Unbelievable.

I saw an armored Mercedes car on the streets of Denver for the first time a couple years ago. I have seen dozens of them in Africa and Latin America, but it was a really depressing moment for me when I first recognized that in my home town. I think that people who are not well traveled are not even aware of this slide, but we have been moving towards becoming a highly stratified developing nation for 20 years now. Th…

Being in Denver, that particular example may be related to someone in the cannabis industry. The bank lockouts and cash build up that's common in that industry make individuals in it prime targets for robbery[1]. With extreme violence[2] involved in some cases, it'd make sense for those stuck in this situation to invest in things like an armored vehicle if feasible.

While still a situation that's a direct result of and reflection on US policies, it may be a more specific issue than a general national trend towards greater stratification.

[1] https://www.coloradopolitics.com/opinion/at-risk-of-robbery-...

[2] https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/nation/fugitive-...

Re: Treasury official is running the bailout. It’s been great for his family

#30

Post by [deleted] »

dfxm12 wrote: post #8
jgalt212 wrote: post #4

These articles would have a lot less bit if Congress were looking after the working man as nearly as well as Treasury and The Fed are looking after the investor class. My beef is not necessarily with the investor class, and its protectors, but I believe the rest of us need someone effective looking after our interests as well.

Who is lobbying congress? The investor class is certainly among those who are. The working man certainly isn't. If you're unhappy with your representatives, there are elections coming up in November.

[deleted]
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