MIT economist Simon Johnson - 'We now have a financial system completely based on moral hazard'

[swag]

Run time: 04:57 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLKuXwisOrc   Posted on YouTube: January 07, 2010 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: January 07, 2010 By DU Member: swag Views on DU: 1731

 

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. NOW???? How about for the last 20 years?

That is one generation that knows no other way. Think about it.

[fascisthunter]

2. psychos must be lovin' it

there's nothing like living off the pain and suffering of others, is there psychos?

[liberation]

3. Moral Hazard is kind of irrelevant: in the big scheme of things savage capitalism is sociopathic

Most modern economic models work under the following assumption: individuals in such systems behave in a matter which can only be described as resembling the MO of a sociopath. I.e. a lot of economists and MBA types really can't wrap their heads around some of the "indiosincracies" of human nature. I.e. why would a human being help another fellow for no economic gain? Or for example, the fact that some people may not operate under the guise that their only reason to exist is to add arbitrary digits to an arbitrary number which represents their "worth"... those people really throw off most economists and their models. They (money types) either can't simply not understand that, or they openly muse about it...

The fact that the common garden variety CEO may be indiscernible from a sociopath (administer a double blind psychologic test to both and I dare you seeing any difference) is not a coincidence. And I am perennially amused by the fact that people every now and then feign surprise when a system which looks, walks, and quacks like the system that a sociopath would come up with... ends up looking, walking, and quacking just how a sociopath would.

It is the curse of human nature, we seem to be stuck only worrying about the HOW but we never really stop to think about the WHY.

[90-percent]

4. Post # 3 is profound and well written.

All the institutions we rely on to pursue life liberty and the pursuit of happiness are squeezing us to the level of a depression. Literally making life and death decisions for many of us.

Our nation is being led by sociopaths.

If Bush can get away with lying to start a war of choice, when about 75%* of all Americans disagree with the Iraq invasion and over 50%* disagreed at the start, then they would certainly feel quite comfortable with a $80,000 day salary, running a company that denies life saving coverage to some of the people it covers?

We are in the present living under the same form of tyranny that pushed the Founding Fathers to wage our War of Independence.

You have got to be the most tuned out sheeple on earth not to realize this. It's pretty easy these days to strike up a conversation with another American and talk openly about how our government is controlled solely by corporations.

http://www.commondreams.org/print/51142


I find this link profound in it's clarity in irrefutably illustrating just how FASCIST our nation has become for the last 8 to 20 years. I suggest thinking critically about some of the subjects. Are the facts indeed irrefutable, or is the conclusion based on circumstantial/inadmissible evidence or opinion?

-90% Jimmy

*by memory, your statistics may vary. I hope we can agree it's at least 51%?

Nice related Chomsky link for bonus credits:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24302.htm

[metapunditedgy]

5. I assume you're allowing for the possibility

that a lot of people support the current system because they *ARE* sociopathic, and it rewards their base instincts. I know, I know, that sounds farfetched, but...

[Junkdrawer]

6. Amen. Adam Smith's "Unseen Hand" hides a switchblade. n/t