It Ends…

I waited a while to post this so I could make sure it was officially over, but I had to be sure. Chriswpieper lasted longer than the rest of them, but at least he struck up an interesting conversation:

The regulations help prevent future bank failures by restricting very risky investments. And the bailouts helped avoid an economic depression, so without them we could be a lot worse-off. As we can tell by the contrast between Hoover and Roosevelt, it's better to have a president who takes action instead of one who lets the economy recover on its own.

Another product of our educational system. FDR saved us all, right folks? Wrong. My response:

I know the regulations are put into place with the best of intentions, but as I’ve said, the people who put these things into place don’t often know how economics works. In the late nineties, Fannie Mae was regulated to give out loans to any family who asked for one. That’s the part of the story they don’t talk about enough. So unless that Regulation gets removed, we’re still headed for more trouble.

It’s not over though:

These regulations aren't the same as the one's in the late nineties. These are designed to LIMIT loans. And yes, I do agree that WWII was ultimately the main thing that got us fully out of the depression, but the new deal did help us get halfway out, and it helped avoid deeper depression, if not help grow the economy. I believe that if he didn't take action, the outcome would be a lot worse.

A Democrat president that limits spending. That’ll be the day. My response:

Yes, I can see that. They are hopefully limiting, but the problem is mainly that they have that power. Say that they know what they’re doing and that they manage to make decisions good for the short term. Whoever comes in to replace them MAY NOT have the same philosophies and you’ve continued the vicious cycle of the effects of poor legislation. That’s why government should have less to do with business practices altogether.

I would also like to ask, where is the balance? If Congress is allowed to spend more but Fannie Mae is not, isn’t that just taking the same problem and moving it elsewhere? And again, I would Googling “FDR's policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate” for more information on FDR’s policies.

It’s been four days since this ended, but it turned out interesting. I admit, for someone who started off with an insult, he did make me think more about my position. It shouldn’t have to be a fight, but I hope I made him think too.