Monday, January 5, 2009

Bizarre: Reading an Anti-Bailout Piece in the Toronto Star

The Toronto Star picks up David Ignatius' syndicated column on the subject of bailouts. Though he goes a little wobbly at the end, I was surprised to read this: (here)

The first precept would be that bad behaviour brings a rescue. If Wall Street investment banks can get away with it, why not auto companies? And if auto companies, why not the guy who bought a house he couldn't afford, or who maxed out his credit cards without a hope of repaying the debt? What the heck? We're all living in bailout nation. As a prominent foreign investor observes: "In America, loans have gone from `something to be repaid' to `something to be refinanced.'"

I shudder to think about a world where it's assumed that people will walk away from bad debts and get away with it. The returns to capital, let alone hard work, would be puny.

A second course, and this seems more likely, is that the bailout that's now in place won't work...


Obama tax cuts and a Star piece that trumpets individual responsibility. What a strange news day.

2 comments:

  1. I would be equally surprised if it was a Star editorial but... it isn't and it won't be unless Iggy supports it of course. Even then, they would tentatively back it with a cautious warning to their friends in high places not to get too carried away.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Talk about the full circle. Red China and the USSR are now capitalist. America is socialist. The Toronto Star is now writing and commenting about American socialism, and the merits of capitalism. This would have been a bad acid trip back in the 60s.

    ReplyDelete