A paradigm of ethical accountability regarding our economic policies is desperately needed and regulation is the answer.
Along with the rest of the world, I listened closely to President Obama’s inaugural address, which moved me to discuss one key point of interest. President Obama noted that, “What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.” The importance of this claim rests in the fact that President Obama has denied the old politics of power and corruption in favor of a return to government by and for the people. The cynics are always skeptical of change. They hold firm to the nostalgia of the past and some would argue they are anti hope. In fairness to the cynics, however, one could instead argue that they are governed by self-interest.…
Article comments
26 - Dan(Miller)
Bliffle,
It's pleasant to agree on something. However, I would like to modify your penultimate sentence as follows: I think the solution is to change modern corporations to be responsive to a wider range of
stakestockholders. That seems a good start, and might even be feasible.Dan(Miller)
27 - Dan(Miller)
Cindy D,
In addition to being a very pleasant gentleman, he also had a vast fund of knowledge about the origins and history of the FED in general, and was kind enough to agree to write an article for the Virginia Law Review about "Our Baffling Banking System" which I was privileged to edit. If you can find a copy of the article, it might be very helpful in your search. It was published in 1966. In the meantime, this (in PDF format) might be useful.Lots of luck. You have carved out an Herculean task. This provides a modest start. It mentions Howard Hackley, who was General Counsel of the Federal Reserve Board back in, as I recall, 1965, when I was a Summer intern there. Mr. Hackley
Dan(Miller)
28 - Baronius
This article is a great example of "poisoning the well". By using this method, you don't have to engage in debate with those who disagree with you. You declare them to be cynics, and speak with the authority of history that seismic change is taking place despite them.
29 - Dan(Miller)
Baronius,
I don't have any problem with being labeled as a cynic, skeptic or doubter. In fact, I rather like it; my only objection is to the pejorative sense in which the term is often misused.
Applying a pejorative label to something is a fairly common, albeit in my view disingenuous, method of attack. As so used, "cynic" has about the same meaning as "Asshole." Fun, perhaps, but not very enlightening.
Dan(Miller)
30 - Glenn Contrarian
Dan -
You'll probably think this is nuts, but on the subject of cynicism, I believe in the old saying, "moderation in all things". Just as one can be not cynical enough, one can also be too cynical...and the same goes for naivete - for such is one of the main ingredients of wonder - and once we've lost our sense of wonder...it's then that we become old and bitter.
I'm not saying you are or are not too cynical - I really don't know. This is just something I felt should be considered.
31 - Dan(Miller)
Glen,
I don't think that's nuts. "Everything in moderation; including moderation."
I really like chocolate ice cream with homemade caramel sauce (mainly butter and brown sugar). It's absolutely yummy. Too much, however, makes me sick, and I don't like that at all.
Dan(Miller)
32 - Cindy D
RE #27,
Thanks Dan(Miller),
That 1st link is not available. Any chance you have the name of the article?
I get this: "Session Cookie Error
An error has occured because we were unable to send a cookie to your web browser."
33 - Cindy D
You may like chocolate ice cream. Clearly cookies are not in your diet. :-)
34 - Dan(Miller)
Cindy D,
But I like cookies -- particularly chocolate chip.
I just tried to pull up the first link and got the same message. It worked before and my computer accepts cookies, so I think the problem is with the site. If you want to try again in a while, that might work. However, I think the other links may serve your purposes just as well.
Dan(Miller)
35 - (Mark) Eden
Cindy here's the abstract...(you have to register with Wiley even to get there and then you have to pay for the full article.) Title is: MEMBER BANK BORROWING, PORTFOLIO STRATEGY, AND THE MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL RESERVE DISCOUNT POLICY
36 - Roger Nowosielski
Mark,
Notice, some of the comments between #22 and #23 got deleted. Am I hallucinating? Does it occasionally happen, inadvertently I mean?
Roger
37 - (Mark) Eden
Roger, in the past entire sides of conversations have disappeared from the comments. This hasn't happened in a while, and in this case I don't think that our conversation continued beyond your 'OK'.
Mark
38 - Cindy D
Thank you (Mark),
I may actually have to buy that if I can't dig up a book or article somewhere. It's getting too frustrating sorting through, well stuff...
Wow, this punctuation is spreading.
39 - Roger Nowosielski
Thank you for your response, Jason on my own site; it was kind of you and I posted a response of my own. Should have let you know sooner.
I'm certain we'll be able to talk at length as time goes by.
Roger
40 - bliffle
Dan(Miller):
I said 'stakeholders' on purpose, because there are more stakeholders in a modern corporation than just the primary shareholders. There are more parties with financial interest than merely those who own stock, for example, employees with financial interest in ongoing health and pension plans.
In addition to direct financial interest, there are community members with stakes, for example, if a polluted river of effluent damages their environment and their home investment.
There are other members of the extended business community, such as bankers, suppliers, customers, etc.
41 - Roger Nowosielski
Bliffle,
"unholy alliance of government and business"
You're plagiarizing, stealing my phrase like that without giving me the credit. Shame on you.
Roger