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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (163041)	3/13/2009 11:05:48 AM
From: cirrus	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 361303

Obama's on the right track. We need to curb the excessive speculation that results in boom and bust cycles... as opposed to the mild recessions that are a normal part of the business cycle. But I doubt that will ever happen. Like it or not, "greed" however it's defined, is the bedrock of capitalism. A nice home is the American dream... but at what point does reaching for the dream give way to greed? At what point do prudent stock investments give way to greed? I suppose it's like the Winston Churchhill hooker story: Winnie asked an attractive woman sitting next to him at dinner if she would sleep with him for a million dollars. She thought for a second and said... yes, sure. He then offered a dollar. What the hell do you think I am? She asked, in a huff. We've already established that, replied Winston, we're now trying to determine the price. From the tulip bulb speculative fever of the 1800s to the Hunt brothers silver fever in the 1980s to Enron electricity in the 1990s and housing in 2005, capitalists always try to speculate on future value and get burned when things get out of hand. Perhaps as a start we should re-evaluate some things, like the deregulation of electricity. Perhaps it should be re-regulated and priced by state commissions at cost plus profit. Yes, the rates in theory might higher than the totally free market rates, but electricity is so critical to our way of life that we might be willing to accept slightly higher rates for stable supplies and stable rates? I'm all for free markets and minimal regulation... but without rules and regulations there can't be true and fair compitition. Where, for example, would baseball or football be without rules? I don't hear Rush Limbaugh or any other "anti-regulation" conservative howling that the NFL should abolish rules and just let the players play. But I ramble...