US Treasury Takes On Powers Stalin Only Dreamed Of
IT has finally dawned on less august media that the proposed legislation I described some days ago as -
‘the US Treasury acquiring the sort of untrammeled power that Stalin dreamed of’
- would, indeed, give the US Treasury the sort of untrammeled power that Stalin dreamed of.
Well, at least the New York Times has, noting that the Treasury Secretary -
‘will be vested with perhaps the most incredible powers ever bestowed on one person over the economic and financial life of the nation. It is the financial equivalent of the Patriot Act’
Perhaps Anorak readers could comment on whether this is a ‘Good Thing’?- Stevie…
Posted: 23rd, September 2008 | In: Anorak In New York, Money Comments (19) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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September 24th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
….does such a thing exist…? I was under the impression that within the skull was a vast echoing space, only inhabited by an under-educated, over-sized ego….?
September 24th, 2008 at 1:16 am
I am very patriotic but selective in it! It is all about money over here when it comes to politics and who gets into office. Look at Bush, his daddy has money, he has money his friends have money, NRA has money( and they backed him with money and guaranteed votes), and he is what we got for President! Look at his appointees to Government positions - not all of them appointed because they were ‘qualified’ to hold such positons but it was who gave the most money to his campaign and favor owed! Way back when, Ambassadors usually rose through the ranks to gain such a honour - not anymore gang, you become an Ambassador if you gave enough money to the campaign. In my view, this Government if not for all the people, it is for the millionaires in this country! It is run by millionaires. They are the ones who have the money to buy the ads that run on TV, radio and in newspapers to say all the right words that the ordinary gullible people want to hear.
However, I do have to say there is one thing millions couldn’t buy - Bush brains!
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
According to the New York Times, both the Senate and the House of Representatives have rejected Hank ‘Call Me Uncle Joe’ Paulson’s proposal that he become ‘First Dictator’, possibly because he wasn’t accompanied by a blow up Sarah Palin doll.
Actually, I made up the bit about the Sarah Palin doll, but the rest is true.
It’s thought that Hank ‘My Friends Call Me Adolf’ Paulson will rethink his proposal, and reapply tomorrow, once he’s got his tanks in position around the Capitol…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/economy/24fannie.html?pagewanted=1&ref=business
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
It is most sad that two of the worlds leading so-called democracies are steadily becoming more dysfunctional.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:38 pm
David
I don’t want to worry you unduly, but you might have some difficulty in finding a bank…
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Gloria
It sounds as if life is pretty awful at the moment; the failure of your investment manager to mention the thriving Asian bond markets is probably the least of your worries.
I feel sure that our former leader and his gracious wife have lots of lolly tucked away in areas of outstanding beauty in pleasant parts of the world; Andorra, the Netherland Antilles, the Bahamas all come to mind.
Though our Tone’s ability to pull in the dosh on the speaking tours may dwindle a bit if we really do go bottoms up; people can be so ungrateful…
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
A financial equivilant of the patriot act???
Does this mean I’ll have to show 26 forms of ID to make a bank transaction now?
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Yup, gotta go! Bye now.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Ah… Bonds, Nomura Bonds …. I don’t know what they are, but I’m almost certain I wouldn’t be able to get any!
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Tricks are tricky, June, very tricky I’m afraid! I’m with ill parent, helping to move parents nearer to all the rest of the family, trying to sort out what to take and what to let go, on-call every half an hour or so, away from my Smudds for weeks on end, so it’s not very nice at all. I will probably be called away from here in a few minutes anyway. Howz you?
Re the above topic, I’d just like to know if Tony and Cherie will have only £35K of their wealth guaranteed in the event of individual building societies tumbling, or have they got their money stashed somewhere less precarious??? Or do they have very lumpy cash-stuffed mattresses in each of their palatial dwellings????
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Good question, oh Glorious one!
My guess would be bonds in things like Nomura, ie a very long way from the New York-London axis.
It’s too much to hope that they had lots of money in Lehman Brothers shares…
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:13 pm
The flats in Bristol, and that £3 million house? Goddess! they are so hard done by - poor TB being the roving Peace ambassador,and Cherie not paying the train fare, remember that? allthat scrimping i dunno
Afternoon Gloria - how are tricks?
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Wouldn’t it be nice to know where Tony and Cherie consider it safe to keep what little savings they might have managed to scrape together during the last few years…
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Ain’t that the truth.
Part of the problem is that people who have never been to war have a very different view of it to people who have been in a war; Tony Blair was the archetypal nerd fantasising about himself as a warrior.
So is George Bush.
A lot of people have died as a result of that…
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I think Cheryl’s desired position behind the US leader is near enough to boot him out.
Sadly for the past decade we have had vainglorious would be ‘Statesmen’ instead of the more humble politician. World class leaders they were not, sadly just greedy for power and wealth and for their own ends
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
cheryl - your patriotism shouldn’t be affected by who your leader is - if I were American I would certainly be patriotic (your country does have a lot to be proud of) but I would most definitely not be standing behind your leader!!
love of country doesn’t equal devotion to leader in my book…
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
The very thought leaves one with a sick feeling in their stomach that could such an action ever take place.
The U.S. Patriot Act passed out of paranoia and fear! Look at the powers bestowed by that Act and Courts knocking them down one by one in a multitude of cases from the wide spread abuse by the Goverment agencies!
One real problem over here I’ve noted, majority of the public actually believe every word of bull shit the party candidate feeds them and vote accordingly. Few use common sense and think it through by looking back on history and then looking ahead down the road. One many times receives what they freaking wish for and the people wanted revenge out of high emotional reactions to 9/11 and look what they got - the Iraq War!
Enough said as it has been suggested to me that I tone down my comments re the Iraq War and the multitude of ills over here as it could leave one to believe I’m not a patriotic citizen and not standing behind our leader!
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm
It seems to me that the financial crisis and the Iraq war both stem from the same massive failure; that of understanding and quantifying risk.
For 20 years first the financial markets, and then the management consultants, climbed aboard the belief that it was possible to ‘manage’ risk.
If something can be ‘managed’ then it isn’t risk; a nasty reality which was wiped from the mindsets of the people taking the risks.
The growth of hedging instruments was spun as a wonderful way to take risks without actually taking risks; the end result is that the credit default swaps debacle is just as much to blame for the ongoing crisis as the granting of sub-prime loans in the first place.
The coalition of the willing that took the decision to invade Iraq simply didn’t think beyond Day 7; it’s as if they couldn’t even begin to think of realities as opposed to soundbites.
The hubris that drove both events is, almost, beyond satire….
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
That its been noticed yes, lets hope the US legislative/financial bods sit up and take real notice and stopping one person assuming too much could only be a Good Thing.
Look at that other idea from the US fairly recently -’ lets bomb Iraq’ - wasn’t that fun?