tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post8111723036358929298..comments2024-03-22T06:05:36.544-04:00Comments on Kids Prefer Cheese: Wrestling Greased Capitalist PigsMungowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340064320347875601noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-13918773168389871242009-04-16T23:39:00.000-04:002009-04-16T23:39:00.000-04:00While I agree with the proposition entirely, I thi...While I agree with the proposition entirely, I think this article makes an important mistake that I wish more economists would speak up about. In the highlighted paragraph, the author confuses the identity of management & owners. When talking about "banks", we're really talking about owners. The executives who walked away with big salaries & bonuses during & after they drove the businesses into the ground are an entirely different animal. For the most part, the owners have been left with nothing or next to nothing. The owners have definitely not "escaped with millions". (There may be shareholders of bondholding companies that are lined up at the trough now, indirectly, via TARP, but that's also a different issue.)<br />When the story gets told in this confusing way, it leaves the general public with the idea that this country has 2 types of people - the rich who never lose, and the poor who suffer at their hand. The public is all too happy to hold this view. But, nobody has been hurt worse than shareholders, and outside of the CEO class, the wealthy have lost a decade of gains, or in the case of bank shareholders, a lifetime's worth.<br />I am surprised that you would highlight the very passage where this mistake has been made.kebkonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-38960789688492847812009-04-16T22:07:00.000-04:002009-04-16T22:07:00.000-04:00Long as heck...reminds me of that old saying, Neve...Long as heck...reminds me of that old saying, Never wrestle with a pig. You'll get muddy and the pig will love it. Or something like that....<br /><br />Anyway, there are some good thoughts in this. It is hard to defend capitalism sometimes. Not the concept but the people, the pigs, so to speak. But, the thing I have finally realized is that these "capitalists" who have helped ruin this economy were acting like liberals! Acting like politicians! Acting like they knew the someone would bail them out all along. <br /><br />They left capitalism. It did not leave them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com