(no subject)

[desh]

Man, I'm so glad the Republicans love the free market so much.

How long will it take for the idea that Republicans are about free markets and small government to die?

(At this moment, DJIA is down 3.13% for the day, 6.19% for the week, and halfway (from the perspective of the week's opening) to being below 10,000. But at least we're going to start more offshore drilling.)

Comments

[dagoski.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this creates a real problem with Moral Hazard. If investment specialists in financial and insurance firms develop this kind of expectations it only encourages them to take absurd risks. On problem though is that so many people and institutions hold AIG backed bonds that a default might tip us all the way into a depression. I never liked AIG as a firm. I had a smartly managed financial services mutual fund throughout much of the 1990s. Not only did its principal grow consistently, but the dividends paid enough that, once I had a large principal built up in it, I never needed to add money. Then AIG bought it out. They immediately ditched all the old reliables and started purchasing really dubious common stock. Within a month they had transformed the fund into the antithesis of what I originally bought it for. Then it started to tank, during a bull market even. I cashed out in time, but the experience taught me that AIG was less risk averse and way more avaricious than I was.