Buffett says government is doing the right things

reply to post by poet1b


All economies have "boom bust" cycles, it is the natural order of things. However, in free market economies recessions are more commonplace, they are shorter however, and the booms are not nearly as extraordinary..

Reaganomics is just another piece in the puzzle since the 1920's that has supported a economic system that stimulates economic growth, even when there is no growth to be had. Eventually the growth expands to a maximum and the markets reset. This makes "booms" seemingly longer even though often the wealth being created is highly centralized. It also makes the "busts" all that more harder. Because you have to compare the new "bottoms" to the "artificial highs".

This is market manipulation, if Free Market ran supreme we never would have gotten out of the 2001 recession. As most believe, like me, we honestly never did. GDP grew, markets ballooned, but the vast majority of wealth was centralized in housing.... the damage done to our economy due to the past 20-30 years is incredibly hard to imagine.. Even if we make it out of this recession shortly, a period of stagnation and periodic recessions will be sure to follow. We have only treated symptoms. The true problem is interfering in the economy.

reply to post by Rockpuck


I am glad you are able to recognize that the things done under Reagan did not move us in the right direction, were not good for our economy, and in fact are what has created our boom and bust cycles.

Still, you talk of a free market, which is what the people who supported Reagan claimed to be creating with de-regulation. The result of de=regulation has consistently been consolidation of the markets which pushed competition out of the market through crooked practices, and down right fraud.

What markets need to improve efficiency is competition, and competition will only exist when an evenly enforced fair set of rules are in place. This requires enforcement of laws, or in other words, regulations.

Markets don't need growth, they need a steady exchange of goods and services. The only thing growth does is make the wealthy even more wealthy. Market growth is what creates the invisible tax of inflation.